Happy Turkey Day!

Happy Thanksgiving to all our friends and family. Know that even if you aren't with us you are in our thoughts. Love Geoff, Wendy, Eleanor, Mookie, and Foswhitt.

Here are some pictures of our little Turkey Bird.

The Name of New Baby Grove

With baby Grove's arrival coming up in less than a month I think it is time to share his name. Wendy and I have decided on a name and have kept it private from everyone. However, I've been inspired by Colbert's Alpha Dog of the Week Mark Ciptak (who named his new daughter Sarah McCain Palin behind his wife's back) and realized I can name the baby while Wendy is weak and drugged from giving birth. The newest member of the Grove clan will be (drum roll please) . . . Foswhitt Santonio. The appeal of the name is obvious and I like that we can call him Fozzy or Whitt or Fozzy San or Foz Tone. While you ponder the power of Foz Tone here are some more pictures of our girl.


Here is Eleanor's first ponytail. It looks good on her but the tie doesn't stay in her hair long once she knows it is there.


We took Eleanor to an OSU Hockey game and she got to meet Brutus up close for the first time. She was a bit startled by him at first then she warmed up and gave him five. After that, she watched him all around the arena. Whenever she saw him she waved, even if he was 8 sections away.

Nora also has been enjoying playing peek-a-boo with her hands or a blanket. Here she is making the diaper changing process more bearable.

Tricks and Treats

For trick and treating this year Eleanor went as a ladybug. We went over to the Lynaughs as their neighborhood is very kid friendly. Almost every house had people sitting on the front porch to hand out candy and some neighbors were even cooking out together. Trick or treating mixed with tailgating . . . I like it.

The Frymyers were also there to join the fun. Here is Maddie as Scooby Doo.
Taryn was dressed as a nice ghost. Part of being a nice ghost is to pose for a picture, unlike our ladybug who I believe is running after the cat and trying to get out of the frame.

The dads took the kids out for candy and the moms held down the fort. As I mentioned, Nora was much more interested in the neighborhood dogs than in getting candy, so we didn't have a huge haul of goodies. We did have a good time walking around and meeting people (and dogs) then we headed home and Eleanor got to sample some of the candy.

Pumpkinin' Part 3

Here are some shots of Eleanor's first pumpkin carving experience. We got her all set up, but she didn't quite understand the purpose.

We thought she'd enjoy playing with the innards, but she seemed to think we were serving her a new kind of dinner. She was especially confused when we brought out a spoon and she wasn't allowed to use it to eat anything. Note my hand holding her back from eating a spoonful of pumpkin guts.


She does look good in hats though doesn't she?

Here is the pumpkin carved by Wendy. I took too long on mine and by the time I was finished Wendy and Nora were in clean up mode and the camera had been put away. Anyway mine looked something like this.

EKGs First Obsession

Our girl is now officially obsessed with dogs. Eleanor has always loved Mookie and loved playing with him even if it meant getting knocked down or licked to death, but over the past couple of months she reacts with pure joy at the sight of any dog. In the car if she sees a dog she will yell "da," sometimes with a slight "g" at the end, and point and wave. While trick or treating she was much more interested in the dogs in the neighborhood than candy, pumpkins, or other kids. We spent most of the time going up to dogs and asking people if we could pet them.

It doesn't matter what size or shape the dog is she loves them all and will get quite agitated if we can't go see them. It also doesn't matter if the dog is real; she loves pictures, dogs on TV, statues, and even creepy Halloween skeleton dogs. Today at the grocery store she grabbed a brochure for dog food and kept pointing to the picture of the dog on the front. In the picture above, Eleanor is waving to a statue of a dog on a porch we passed on our way back from the Columbus Italian Festival.

She obviously still loves her Mookie and giggles every time he does much of anything. Here she is sharing her water with him. She saw us fill his water dish and she decided to help out. What a sweet girl.

Last week on the computer with Eleanor I did a youtube search for kids videos and stumbled across a video made with a Justin Roberts song about dogs (I need a D O G). I kind of wish I hadn't played it now as Nora is completely obsessed with the video. We have easily watched it 30+ times over the past 3 days. She watches transfixed with a smile on her face and as soon as it ends with the last "woof," she does her sign for "more." She doesn't like the slow beginning so we usually start it 50 seconds in and she sits in amazement until it is over.

Eleanor is never happy when we leave the computer or if I try and look at anything else. Although the video is extremely cute and it is nice to have EKG sit still for a bit, I'm about tired of seeing the same dogs run around. I tried showing her other dog or cartoon videos but none held her attention like the one linked above. Oh well, I suppose that song will be in my head the rest of my life.


When not obsessed by dogs, Nora has taken to enjoying her rocking toys. The first picture she is on her blue dog rocker from Steve & Kathy Arnold. Here she is climbing on the cool motorcycle rocker her Uncle Scott handmade Nora for her first birthday.