Papa and Mimi

Papa and Mimi came into town for a quick weekend visit, and Eleanor and Henry both got some good grandparent time.  Saturday and Sunday were super nice out, so we got to have some extended park time as well.  Actually, there were a bunch of nice days this week, and Eleanor really enjoyed the opportunity to play longer outside.  This week was really the first time that she spent an entire park session without wanting or needing parental assistance.  She can climb up the steps, go down the slide, and repeat… all by herself.  On Saturday she played in the sandbox at the park for a good 15 minutes with Lala, just scooping sand in and out of a bucket.  I can’t wait to have fun with her in our sandbox all this summer.  Eleanor also took her language explosion to a whole new level this week – she just starting saying all kinds of words while reading some picture books.  One particular reading session with Mom produced probably 20 new words on its own.  Oh yeah, and she can count.  Up to eight.  Up until this week I had only heard one and two – and then all the sudden while reading “8 Silly Monkey” (thanks Mimi!) Eleanor said “eight” while pointing to the last monkey on the page.  So we pointed to the other monkeys in turn, and she rattled off one through eight.  Crazy.  Now she wants to do it every time we read that book.

Not to be outdone, Henry is maturing before our eyes as well.  Smiles are much more common now, and he has even started to make some happy noises – not quite giggles yet, but definitely the precursor to giggling.  It won’t be long and we’ll have full out giggles – and probably some rolling over too.  He had some good half rolls this week, as well as a couple times holding a toy in his hand.  He hasn’t started reaching out for toys yet, but he is doing more grabbing with his fingers when you hold his hands.