Eleanor 5 months

Maui 2018: Kapalua Beach, Lahaina and Kaanapali

Since Maui was a few hours behind CA time, the kids were up at least an hour early everyday, until the very end when they finally acclimated! We took advantage of the early risers, to get up and out the door pretty early every day, which helped beat the crowds and the heat. Everyone was up bright and early with the intense Maui sun, so we headed to Kapalua beach for some tidepooling and playing at the beach.

This one has sensory issues… not sure how she feels about grass!

Island baby.

Everyone was screaming, “I WANT TO HOLD ELEANOR.”

We hiked along the rocks to reach the tidepools and found some colorful starfish, sea anemones, urchins, and an octopus.

Ouch! Amelia took a spill. Good thing I had the diaper backpack with me… another lady fell, and cut herself so badly there was blood everywhere. We helped her wrap it with an extra disposable baby changing pad I had on me until she could get help.

Sammy was excited about her colorful finds.

Meredith reflecting on the meaning of life.

After the tidepools, the girls played on Kapalua Beach for hours.

Kapaula beach was tiny, but picture perfect. It was packed by the time we left, but wasn’t bad while we were there, early in the morning.

I had packed a 12 month swimsuit for 5-month-old Eleanor, thinking it would fit her perfectly. But when I tried it on her in Maui, it wouldn’t even go past her legs! I had to buy a 24 month size swimsuit for her! Everywhere we went, we were flooded with comments about the chubby mermaid baby!

Eleanor was not sure how she felt about sand.

The girls made some new friends, and Meredith kept confusing the little girl for her friend, Maple, back home.

The boys declared war on the girls after Meredith kept dumping water into their sand hole.

That apparently wasn’t enough beach time for the girls, because they wanted to go back in the afternoon. We ate in Lahaina and walked to Kaanapali Beach for the evening.

Watching the crazy divers do back flips off of Black Rock was entertaining.

The twins were exhausted after all the swimming they did.

Even though the sun was setting, it was still incredibly hot, so Eleanor and I found a nice spot in the shade and observed from there.

Playing oopsy daisy with Daddy.

On island time, without a care in the world.

Lots of love,

Eleanor 5 Months and Baby Blessing

5 Months old and delightful as ever!

Eleanor started solids at 5 months and couldn’t have been happier! She takes 2 long naps and 1 short nap a day and sleeps 7 p.m. to 6 a.m.

Amelia, Samantha, Meredith & Eleanor, 5 Months Old:

Eleanor never rolled over! She’s so content on her back or when we put her on her tummy for tummy time that she just doesn’t see the point of rolling over on her own. That, and she’s so chubby that it’s probably impossible! She’s working on sitting up on her own, but is still pretty wobbly.

Getting too big for her milestone blanket!

Eleanor is so interactive and loves to smile and coo at everyone she sees. From her perch in the Ergo carrier, she is obsessed with greeting her fans, especially at school drop-off and pick-up. Random strangers just can’t resist giving her legs a little squeeze or coming up to chat with her– she’s very magnetic!

Eleanor loves sweet potatoes, butternut squash and oatmeal!

Such a joyful baby!

We finally had Eleanor’s baby blessing on November 15! A few days shy of her 5 month birthday, she was the oldest of any of the other girls to get her baby blessing… I kept having to order dresses that didn’t end up fitting because our chubby baby kept growing out of them! 1 p.m. church is kind of nightmare for her since that’s right in the middle of her longest nap, so we finally decided to have her blessing at home on a weeknight when the Bishop was available.

It was very low key since it was just our family, but it was our favorite blessing ever because the girls listened and got to see the blessing up close! Ironically, even though Eleanor almost NEVER fusses, she was cranky during her blessing, even though it was just at home… argh. Who knows whether she would have been quieter during church, but oh well. Despite Meredith crawling around my lap and banging on the piano and Eleanor crying, Jake kept his cool and gave her a very thoughtful blessing. It was a peaceful, intimate experience and everyone gave our little angel a little squeeze afterward, even though she was a little fuss bucket!