BREAKING NEWS: Toes Discovered!

Every few days Eleanor seems to make a major discovery. On the car ride home from Michigan, I noticed that Eleanor kept stubbornly putting her foot on my arm (yes, I rode in back with her) no matter where I placed it. Hours later, she reached up with both feet, like a little monkey, and grabbed at her mini mobile with her toes. She now reaches, holds, and sucks her little feet, socks and all.

Her finger sucking came to a frenzy this past weekend. We'd hear her slurping, sucking and squawking with her fingers, thumb and fist in her slobbery little mouth at all hours of the day.

Yesterday, I noticed that she was grabbing at things WITH PURPOSE and then of course, putting them in her mouth. Now anything within reach goes directly into her mouth; blankets, hair, body parts that are and art not her own, kitty fur, bibs, toys, stray socks, you name it! She even tries to 'talk' to us when things are in her mouth, and makes hilarious noises that seem to mimic creaking doors, ancient winged mammals, and delicate feminine sighs that melt my heart.

These developments are so much fun for Dave and I to witness. And they seem to literally happen from moment to moment. We are completely smitten with our giggly, smiley, messy little friend.

We're back in Potsdam

Hooray! I am SO over that car seat!

Daddy is so glad to not drive 11 hours/day!

Goodbye Michigan...Potsdam Ho!

Playing Patty-Cake with Grammy & Papa

Tomorrow bright and early we'll leave for our 2-3 day trip back to New York. We've had a wonderful two-month journey and Eleanor has met so many people that are so important in our lives that it could not have been a better trip. Here are a few parting shots of our last night in Michigan.

Tummy Time Eleanor peering over Mommy's knees

On the shores of Lake Michigan

Grammy, Papa, and Annabelle

Eleanor reading to Daddy (wait a minute...)

Cherry Hut, Art Walk and Friends At Last

Eleanor's first trip to the Cherry Hut

This week Eleanor had her first outing to the Cherry Hut; a very cherry Beulah, MI tradition. We sat in a corner booth and Eleanor entertained herself by looking round at all the bright red faces that make up the restaurant's logo. We had cherry chicken salad, cherry muffins, cherry-aide and of course a bright red cherry pie to take home.

Crystal Mountain Art Walk

We also went on a fabulous sculpture walk in the forest trails of nearby Crystal Mountain Resort. Eleanor didn't see much because she was asleep in her Bjorn, but we're certain she gained at least a little culture through osmosis.

Since Arcadia and its surrounding cities were very warm, we spent some quality and air conditioned time at home with Grammy and Papa. We were also pleased to see that our kitty Gracie May finally made peace with Annabelle The Dog. A few days ago there had been an incident when Gracie May hissed and swatted at Annabelle in order to steal her supper. It seems now that Annabelle has forgiven our wayward kitty. Hooray for gentle Annabelle. It cannot be easy to suddenly share one's home with two felines, especially when one of them is such a stinker.

Eleanor and Papa

Grammy and Eleanor

Gracie and Annabelle are friends at last

Happy Father's Day!

Dave's first Father's Day

Eleanor has one fantastic father! She also has two wonderful grandfathers. She was lucky to see both grandfathers for extended periods of time during the last few weeks.

We celebrated today with church, a lovely Father's Day brunch (cooked by Grammy) and a relaxed afternoon of eating ice cream at the Trading Post and napping. Ah, napping. What a great day!

Dad and Papa with their little peanut

Papa bounces Eleanor on his knee

Malts, popcorn and drinks at the T.P.

Dad's week at Arcadia

Eleanor in Grammy's lap

Dave finally came back to us today after his wild week as a teen camp counselor at Camp Arcadia. He had a great group of campers this year and as always some fabulous fellow counselors. Eleanor and I spent most meals and many afternoons with the wives of the other counselors. We had the difficult job of sitting on the patio chatting and swinging on wooden swings on the beach looking out at Lake Michigan. I spent many blissful hours reading on the beach while Eleanor napped. The weather was perfect. Here are a few photos from the week.

Dave on the porch with his group t-shirt

All the children of the counselors who are

working at camp this week pose for a picture

Happy family on camp's 'Dress Up' night

Dave pushing a sleeping Eleanor in the Trading Post Soda Fountain

Pretty Ladies

Good Times in Arcadia

Eleanor at Arcadia

Since Dave is working as a counselor this week at Camp Arcadia, Eleanor and I get to go into camp for lunch and dinner every day! The chef at camp is very talented and makes the most delicious meals from mostly local producers. We've had so many delicious meals so far and have a cook out there tonight!

With Grammy on the deck

Wide Awake!

Sunny times in Michigan

Papa and Eleanor have a chat

We are at our final destination on our round-the-midwest-tour and have landed at Arcadia, MI for two happy weeks with Eleanor's Grammy and Papa.

Time with Grammy!

We spent our first morning visiting a Beck family favorite- the Trip Dog Cafe. Grammy and Papa treated us to delightful pastries and fun coffee drinks. Eleanor enjoyed their view of the bay and watched her 'Aunt Annabelle' (a pointer) with intensity. She enjoys Annabelle's high-contrast fur.

Walking with Papa at Trick Dog

As of this morning Dave has begun his weeklong teen camp counseling gig and has moved into his shared room at Camp Arcadia (with a Lake Michigan view) where he will no doubt get as little sleep as I since he's still technically on duty at night and is installed in the middle of the boy's dorm. Eleanor and I are scheduled to come to camp at lunch and for dinner to check in with him and get to know the other moms and kids. I've spotted two other girl babies thus far and look forward to introducing them to Eleanor throughout the week. I'll post more pictures of stunningly beautiful Arcadia (and a few of Eleanor I'm sure) as the week progresses!

Eating our Way to Arcadia

Chubby fist is Eleanor's snack of choice

Today Eleanor said goodbye to her Grandma and Grandpa in Wisconsin and left for a two day road trip to Arcadia, MI to see her Grammy and Papa. Tonight we're staying in Escanaba, MI and have just devoured pasties bigger than Eleanor's head! I had the vegetarian version with carrots and potatoes and Dave had the big beefy meat version. Pasties are pastries filled with meats and potatoes for those who haven't had the experience. Dave has looked forward to this Upper Peninsula specialty for over a year and after consuming his pasty in a flash, lamented that he'd only purchased one for dinner. Eleanor must be experiencing pasty envy as she's gnawing at her new wooden chew toy voraciously.

Where's the Beef?

Daddy is Back and The Busy Weekend

Dave returned on Friday from his month long residency at the Kimmel Harding Nelson Center. He looked very rested (unlike mommy) and was full of neat stories about his time there. I salivated listening to his stories about sleeping for 8 hours at a time, eating complete meals in peace, and about his visits to a real movie theater. But even better than that, Dave rode in a police car (for artistic reasons, not because he was arrested), planted 18 acres of soy beans with a farmer, delivered pizzas and more all for his art!

So happy to see Daddy!

This week I also got to introduce Eleanor to another one of my best, oldest friends! Kristi came by to meet Eleanor last night on her way back home to Rochester, MN. She is working at the Mayo doing fancy Alzheimer's research for her post-doc and will be going to med school in the fall- whew! Go Kristi!

Eleanor says 'you have how many degrees?!'

Dave and I were fortunate to meet our friends Nate and Miranda in college at St. Olaf 7 years ago. They came to the cities to see fellow Oles this past weekend and drove to NE to have dinner with us at our local Thai restaurant. They brought along their adorable daughter Emma, who delighted us to no end at dinner as she shared with us her sweet observations on life and ate her ice cream in the most creative way we've ever seen. She spent time getting to know Eleanor and covered her with a blanket at least 20 times!

Emma says 'I'll have my own little brother baby to play with soon!'

Miranda also organized an Ole party at our friend Laura's house on Sunday afternoon in South Minneapolis. There were no less than eight (9 if you count baby Isaac who will be born soon) St. Olaf offspring at the event and as all were under 3 years of age, we had quite the wild party. Sippy cups, toys and cheesy grins were flying everywhere. Here's to the future classes of 2025- 2027 at St. Olaf!

Despite the craziness of the party, we were able to spend a few stolen moments with our friends Melissa and Jeff, and their two children Amelia and Graham. The two of them were busy charming everyone with their smiles and laughter. Amelia was looking so sweet in just about the cutest outfit we've ever seen (complete with a hair bow)! And Graham amused us all as he cruised happily around the dessert table many times (the brownies and cookies were at eye-level).

This weekend we also spent some quality time with Grandma and Grandpa. My parents drove Dave, Eleanor and I around to all our old Minneapolis haunts. We spent time shopping in downtown Minneapolis, drove to Uptown and posed outside the garage in which we got engaged over 5 years ago and we also visited the Walker Art Center for a fabulous Elizabeth Peyton show.

Our engagement garage (it happened 5 years ago!)

Eleanor in the IDS skyway

The shirt says it all

Eleanor's mirror heaven (the Ladies' Lounge one the 12th floor of downtown Macys)

Lunch with Grandma at the Macys' Skyroom

Full of beans after a busy weekend

Eleanor's bonnet

Tomorrow we head up to our cabin one last time for a few days before heading to Michigan to see Grammy and PaPa. Dave will be a counselor at nearby Camp Arcadia for their Teen Week and then we'll all spend a week together. Let's hope Eleanor does well with another round of travel!

3 months and counting

Eleanor had several firsts this week. We were so glad that her Auntie Molly and her Grandma and Grandpa were able to witness her first real belly laugh and could see her holding up her head on her own for the first time. She's also developed an interest in her own voice, and 'scolds' us by chanting baby babble, and often 'sings' for extended periods of time. She seems quite amused by her own grainy little chipmunk voice.

Chuckling to herself during tummy time

Happy in a Bennett family dress (Molly and Emily wore this)

Time to shout!

A few minutes closer to nap time. . .

Time for our nap!

This week Eleanor was in Minneapolis and in Cable/Hayward at our cabin. We did all sorts of activities, but found ourselves mostly just clustering around Eleanor no matter where we were. She's such such a little magnet.

Sitting patiently at a salon with Auntie Molly

Checking out stylish nursery furniture at Target

Seriously cute

'G' is for Grandpa (thanks for the book Cliff and Kathy)

Carpet surfing

In hipster skinny pants at the cabin

Reading with Grandma at the Cable Public Library

Eleanor demonstrating her new neck muscles with Auntie Molly at the cabin

Shy in a pink bonnet

We wish Auntie Molly could hold us always!

Eleanor's first laugh. . . No I don't have a terrible cold. She first chuckled when Grandma coughed, and we discovered that she also thinks sneezing is funny. . .