Chicago!

Our little cupcake living the good life in Chicago

Eleanor and I accompanied Dave to his College Arts Association conference this past week at the Hyatt in Chicago. Grandma and Grandpa Bennett trained down from Minneapolis to spend time with us all. We had a blast visiting museums and seeing the sites of downtown Chicago, and though we may have been a very small distraction for Dave, we think he enjoyed having us along for the ride.

Daddy took time from his busy schedule to meet us at the Shed Aquarium

Turtles, fish, sharks!

I don't think Eleanor's feet touched the ground much during our trip

Ready for the big water show

We saw a wonderful whale and dolphin show at the Shed Aquarium

Eleanor enthralled

Eleanor's first taxi ride to the Chicago Art Institute

Art looks at Eleanor

Eleanor looks at art

Grandma and Eleanor appreciate art and each other

Eleanor home at last (and we're all exhausted)

Back to the daily-grind (today we explore post-it notes)

Eleanor brings big city style to our small town

Baby Gaga Performs (Exclusive to Blogger)

This is clearly not Eleanor's 'Poker Face'

Something classical. . .

Eleanor tries her hand at the turn-tables

'I live to perform'

You Are Our Sunshine. . .

Our only sunshine,

You make us happy when skies are gray,

Oh you don't know dear, how much we love you,

And we thank the Lord for you!

Eleanor is 11 months!

Eleanor's Day of Art and Culture in Montreal

Eleanor had her own tour guide

We took at day trip to Montreal on Friday! I had to drop off a painting at Articule, and The Museum of Beaux Arts had a J.W. Waterhouse show (he's one of my all time favorites!!!!!), and so we packed the car full of baby books and toys and goodies and headed to Canada.

Almost like being there in person

Eleanor models idyllic childhood poses

Eleanor in front of another of Mommy's favorites

A lesson on facial anatomy

Mommy frames the moment

Eleanor took a break to play Peek-a-boo Barn on the Ipod

The mini-Thinker

I couldn't take photos in the absolutely gorgeous Waterhouse exhibit, but I can say that Eleanor almost attracted more attention than the paintings. I've now learned how to say 'cute baby' in french.

In the permanent collection, Eleanor responded expressively to all the baby Jesus painting and sculptures. Below is a video in which I ask Eleanor to mimic the baby. . . She doesn't do it in the video, but she did do it after I stopped filming (:

And no trip to Montreal is complete without a little. . .

POUTINE!!!!!!

Baby Cakes meets Baby Gates

Baby gates arrived just in the nick of time!

Eleanor can now pull herself up from sitting to standing. She can also crawl really, really fast, and as we learned today. . .

Oh oh, and double oh, oh caught on camera.

Eleanor's fake 'camera smile' (she makes this expression whenever I get out the camera) and her new fancy Haba blocks from Grandma and Grandpa.

Here is a variation on the 'camera smile;' with an extra dose of cheese. Auntie Molly, this one's for you.

Eleanor and Her Monkey

Eleanor, Daddy and Monkey

Eleanor was given a great big monkey for Christmas from her Great Aunts Chris and Marilynn. We felt the monkey deserved its own post. When blogger fixes its video problems, I'll post a movie of Eleanor alternately hitting and hugging her furry little friend.

Eleanor hits the monkey

Eleanor also learned to 'tickle' the monkey's tummy

CATS!

Ever since Eleanor started being more mobile, our cats have been struggling to renegotiate their relationships with her. And we can all see the results of these renegotiations. . .

Ramona coping:

Gracie May coping*:

*And by coping I mean biting.