Elliot Family Party Videos

Here is the birthday song w/ solitary candle for everyone who was too far away to join us for our family party. We wish you could have come to celebrate with us. (Gavin picked the key we started in; that's why mom sounds like a squeaky door :o).



Here I am digging into my cake. Those white bits are marshmallows. It was pretty yummy, but what gives with that gooey frosting?? No wonder kids end up eating mud...they think it will be buttery, chocolaty yumminess!



Well anyway, I couldn't get over that frosting, so mom & dad wiped me down and gave me 'clean cake' (no frosting). Smooth move! I ate plenty of that and then the sugar kicked in.

Elliot's First Birthday

We had a little family party for Elliot today to celebrate having him as part of our family for a whole year! He wasn't really sure about the frosting this time.

Gavin's Third Birthday

Here are some pictures from my 3rd Birthday.



This is me wearing my funny birthday hat. You can't really tell, but it has 3 candles on it. As you probably can tell, it's plenty silly :o).


Mom & dad brought me to ride the ferris wheel downtown. I get pretty excited about riding it.

I told you...pretty excited.


Here we are on the train. It chugs around the grounds where the ferris wheel is. It even goes in a glass tunnel through an aquarium filled with sharks!


That was fun, too!

Our Elliot is a Whole Year Old!

We are so blessed to have had Elliot with us for a whole year now. He is a ray of sunshine wherever and whenever. If you've spent any time around him you know what I mean: he has a ready smile that lights up the room; he will giggle at the slightest provocation and belly-laugh if you are at all persistent. He is always scanning the room trying to catch someone's attention.

He's been walking for a couple of months now which has opened up a whole new world to him: the backyard. I think he'd live out there if he could. He mainly just walks around, but he finds it very entertaining.

One of his favorite things to play with is a ball. He likes to carry them around, bounce them, kick them... He loves to play with someone rolling it back and forth. It makes him giggle his head off :o). He's also tried to throw it through a hoop already--watch out NBA!

His teeth have finally taken on a more conventional formation. He has 8 now: 4 on top and 4 on the bottom. He's been working on more for a while, but they are a little slower in coming.

His trademark look is the mowhawk he's been sporting for a while. The sides are starting to fill in, but there is still a distinct central swath that is thicker.

Pacifier use is decreasing and vocab is increasing. He still doesn't say too many things that are acually part of the English lexicon, but we recognize when he wants more, or milk. And he has some unmistakable non-verbal ways of getting his point across.

He waves hello and bye-bye (along with a grin, of course). And he loves to hear his name.

He is always happy, very curious, a bit stubborn, and seems to be as perfect as he can be. We are so very glad he's part of our family!

Playing Ketchup

I've been falling behind on posting pictures...and I like ketchup--so there's the explanation for the title. My uncle Zane took a few of these -- thanks U Zane!

This is me w/ the super cool book Miranda sent!


Daddy was helping Eli open one of his gifts.


Oh, yeay! More presents!
Elliot's studious look for the tambourine.



Flying!

See, that ended well! :o)

More Birthday Stuff

Well, I'm almost a year old, but I got to celebrate early and often :o). Here is a video of me chowing down my first cupcake. Mmmmm!

Birthday Bonanza!!

Well Elliot & I have birthdays in the same month. Mine was yesterday and Elliot's is in a couple weeks (on the 26th). Mom promised this won't happen often, but she combined our parties this year. She also did it last minute so several of our friends couldn't make it, but we had a really great group. We older kids (2 years plus) had a scavenger hunt in our back yard and had some pretty sweet headgear to help us out. Check us out. More pictures to come. ~Gavin