From the Mouths of Babes...

Spring 2011

2011-05-13T13:18:00.000-07:00

2011-02-25T18:31:00.000-08:00

It's been so long since we've posted that we are just going to pretend that no time has past and update you on only the recent happenings in the Malden household. If you don't like that, well, you are going to have to take that up with mom. ...aaaaand we should warn you, she's been a bit cranky lately, but more about that in a minute.

So last month was occupied mainly by our birthdays if you as us. Gavin had a super crazy scientist party. It was a blast!

We made oobleck.

And did lots of crazy experiments.

But of course everyone's favorite was the dancing raisins because we got to drink it. :)

I had my party a couple weeks later. Mom actually thought she might get away with not making too big of a deal out of mine since planning Gavin's party kind of wore her out, but with all that fuss for Gav's party, of course I started talking about how fun MY party was going to be. ....Sooo they had to throw me a party, too! Well, actually two, one family party and one with friends. Altho, apparently we didn't get too many photos of my friends--oops :)

Family party. That's daddy's hand making sure everyone stays on beat for the birthday song. Ha!

Friends party. We had a big inflatable

September

2010-09-08T07:08:00.001-07:00

Cousin visit; August 2010

Elliot chilling w/ the tigers.
Gavin and Leighton playing w/ Leighton's bday gift. He's FIVE!

Cuzzy snuggle time!

Elliot & Lexi bubblin'!

We got to watch a cicada bug emerge from it's shell. Pretty cool!

Summer's coming to an end...really??

2010-08-15T21:16:00.000-07:00

Elliot, here! Well, you'd never know it's go-back-to-school-time around here! It's still beastly hot...and we're not going to school! :) But we're making the most of it. Just a few comments about recent days.

We've been kinda bored this summer because it has been crazy hot (as I already mentioned), so we were stuck indoors much of the time and that's just a drag. We have successfully twisted mom's arm and scored a few zoo trips--only to leave after less than 1.5 hours because the aquarium wasn't interesting anymore and there are no other airconditioned spots at the zoo.

Daddy built us a tree house. It's awesome, awesome, awesome! We'll post pics as soon as we finish painting it. Plans are to add a slide soon, but for now it just has two ladders and it's way up high and no girls are allowed. We really really enjoyed helping daddy build it. We'd get out in the heat for some of that action. He let us pound nails and paint with cool green paint--he's really rad!

Gavin is still reading and learning like a crazy man, and I get the good end of things b/c he's teaching me some stuff. He gets a little crazy sometimes, tho. Like when he's telling me "Push the STOP button, Elliot," he doesn't really get it that I can't quite read yet. Ugh. He just needs to step up his teaching, that's all. He likes to tell me all the names of places on the map--that's one of our favorite things to learn together. We also practice the sounds the letters make and how to draw them. It's very rare that I draw typical two-year-old scribble art; I am always trying to mimic Gavin's letter writing or make a smiley face. I really like to paint, too, and altho the letter theme is a pretty common one in my work I branch out a little more with watercolors because they do such cool stuff when you combine colors and such.

One update on a sad note: My pacifier went the way of all pacifiers. It took a ride into the wild blue yonder tied to a half dozen helium balloons. It was a pretty sad time for me. We went out to a sunshiny park and made sure the balloons were all securely attached and then my old friend Nunu rose slowly into the sky and drifted away on the wind. I watched it every second until it was out of sight. Ironically all the balloons had smiley faces on them. I think that was just poor taste on Mom's part to pick happy balloons. She should have known what a solemn occasion it would be. In the end it was probably harder for her to watch me putting on such a brave face than for me to muster up the courage to say goodbye to my old friend Nunu. ...I do still miss him some nights tho...and mom does too, when I'm fussing in the middle of the night :).

I am really loving our church. My room mom is one of my best friends. When we wake up on Sundays and mom or dad reminds me that it's church day I always mention something about Ms. Terry. Love her! Oh, and there are other fun kids in class, and play dough, and snacks, and other fun things...but Ms. Terry is the coolest!

Speaking of cool: that's one of my favorite things to say. Parent or sibling will show me something new: Oh, that's cool, is often my reply. Usually quite nonchalantly, I might add. :}

Ok, it' s late in this time zone. Eyes are closing...so ...

Here are some photos...

This is me, Elliot...just bein' goofy wearing a winter hat in the blistering summer heat of Louisiana.

Here's ole Gav wearing an exercise mat on his head. I'd argue that that's even sillier than the winter hat in the dead of summer.

This is me counting money like daddy. That's what he does all day long. He's a banker. ;)

Oh, yeah, we're getting our hammer on. Daddy lets us do dangerous stuff when we hang out with him, cuz he's cool like that.

Six Month Update Yikeroos!!

2010-06-15T04:44:00.000-07:00

In the interest of time, this post has not been edited. Please overlook typos, misplaced modifiers, verb tense irregularities and other snafus. Might have time to edit in future, but no guarantee :). ~em

Whoa, when I checked on the blog to see how far back I'd have to go to catch everyone up I knew it would be a while, but I never would have dreamed that nearly SIX MONTHS have gone by. I haven't kept very good notes over these months, but I take lots of photos (altho not as many as I used to), so I'll be using those to update on specific items of interest. In general, though, we've been busy. December 2009 - June 2010 has been pretty hectic. Thus the lack of blogging.

The big news that set our recent flurry of activity into motion was an offer from Jon's old company to bring us back to Baton Rouge and pay Jon a respectable salary (which they weren't doing before :). After much deliberation and prayer we realized that this was the way God was leading us. So we set that whole process in motion. There were houses to sell and buy and boxes to pack; trucks to load ... well I really don't want to bore y'all with the details, but those selfsame details are what has been taking precedence over blogging: there were millions and they were as boring as they were stressful.

So with that as the backdrop, we attempted to continue our normal life until the move date which was set for February 1, 2010. Christmas was quite eventful. We travelled to Baton Rouge to be with my family (first Christmas without my mom). We were all together except two of my sisters (Jael was in Norway helping Jessica and her family out with the birth of their fourth little girl). We missed them, but we were grateful the rest of us could be together. It wasn't to last, tho. Crazy enough Elliot got a really scary case of croup and for Christmas Eve, Day and the day after Christ I was IN THE HOSPITAL with him. Of course his health and safety were everyone's foremost concern, but after a year of crazy occurrences it was sort of icing on the cake that a freak case of croup would keep our family from celebrating Christmas day all together. Elliot was a good patient for a couple of days (while he felt really really terrible), but when he started to feel better he was climbing the walls of his hospital room. I could go the rest of my life without trying to keep a two year old calm in a hospital room. Whew.

The big events in January were the boys birthdays and my half marathon. For Gavin's birthday (turning 4) I had a day at a kids ranch all planned out, but it was 17 degrees that day and they weren't open. So we went to the Houston Children's Museum which was packed (popular indoor place usually b/c of the heat, but works just as well when it's too cold). The boys had a really great time, and it was my first time to have help (Jon) while enjoying the museum, so we were each able to chase a boy around which was a lot of fun for us, too. Elliot's birthday was a small event at home. Our super fantastic wonderful amazing neighbors, Bob and Carolyn, who the boys adore came over and helped us celebrate. Well, truthfully, they were the party. Elliot was over the moon and it was a perfect evening :).

Gavin's Birthday

Elliot's Birthday

My 1/2 Marathon was an amazing experience about which I will post more separately. UH-mazing!!

At the end of the month our wonderful dog Lady Mac got run over right in front of our house (and right in front of Jon, Gavin and I). It was a really horrifying experience. The drivers of the truck that hit her stopped and were just beside themselves as she limped to the side of the road screeching in pain. I rushed her to the vet and miraculously she had sustained no internal injuries other than a broken pelvis and dislocated hip. After a few days of observation she came home. In a few weeks she was back to nearly normal. She'll probably always limp, but we are so thankful that she was spared to be with our family for years to come. Communicating with Gavin about all of that was a challenge, but I tried to be as straightforward with him as possible; kids can understand so much more than we give them credit for.

February was pretty much moving and all that jazz. Boring and stressful but God was so gracious. Jon's dad came and helped Jon do the heavy lifting and a ton of cleaning on the house in Houston. Wow. What a blessing!! And it was decided that it would be easier for them to work if the kids weren't underfoot. I was nervous about driving 5 hours with them by myself and with a severely injured dog, but that was the best way to allow the men to work. Well, maybe it wasn't the driving that made me nervous. I had visions of me trying to allow Lady Mac to, ahem, use the grass, while my four year old was clamoring for the potty. Next I'd have to keep my two year old from touching any surface in a public rest room while helping the four year old negotiate the big yucky potty (of course, also, w/o touching ANYthing!). Oh and then I might have try to use the facilities myself... PANIC! My solution was to put extra absorbent diapers on both boys (took a little convincing with the four year old who hadn't thought about diapers in over a year) and to just drive through. No stopping. Neither boy fell asleep at any point on the trip, but I kept the kids tunes pumping (I broke out the real rock and roll when they got restless) the books and toys rotating, and somehow my eyes ere mostly looking at the road. We made amazing time and when we got to my sister Mel's house both boys had poopy diapers and even Lady Mac rushed (as best she could) to use the grass. Wow, sometimes I feel like my life revolves around bowel movements. Writing posts like this force me to confess that in a lot of ways, it does!

We got our second snow day of the year in Feb. Awesome!

February, March and April we lived in a house we bought here in Baton Rouge about 8 years ago. We'd actually had it on the market since November of 2009, but it hadn't sold. It was really convenient to have a house here waiting for us. The boys loved the big yard and tree house, so thankfully the relocation was an easy (relatively) transition for them. We also spent a lot of time with family which was a special blessing. My sister Mel and her family were already planning a move away from Louisiana before we decided to move back, so it was wonderful to stock up on time with them. She has a son and daughter who close in age to Gav and Eli and although on some days you might never guess, they LOVE playing together. They moved at the end of April and we miss them so much. My sister, Jess and her family were in from Norway for the whole month of April, so we got to spend a lot of time all reunited which was really great. We are becoming quite a crowd: six adults and eight kids under age 5. We had a crawfish boil out at dads, a non traditional Easter dinner (we did keep our tradition of Easter bread, tho) and an egg hunt at Mel's, a crazy playdate/dinner at our house. It was some really really nice family time.

Cousins playing in our backyard :).

It only took a couple of weeks to sell our house in Houston--I probably don't need to tell you what a HUGE blessing that is. Our buyers were very excited about the house and the sale went through without a hitch. Meanwhile we were doing some work on our Baton Rouge house while living there in hopes of making it more marketable, because we planned to get it back on the market. We got it back on the market right before the tax credit for new homebuyers expired (eek!) and got a contract on it in just a few days. This sale, however has had lots of challenges and is still in the works. We are praying that it will go through. All the while we'd been shopping for a house and bought one in Zachary, Louisiana, which is about a 20 minute drive from Jon's office. We are now small town folks and it's really been nice. We live close to my Dad and younger brother and sister and also some dear friends of ours. And we're not far from town, so we feel like we get the best of all worlds :). Our new house has lots of space and a really super fantastic yard, so come visit!! :)

Here's just some random recent photos.

These are from a trip to New Orleans. Jon had some training and we did some exploring.

These three pictures were taken at the house we're trying to sell. We've since redone the hardwood floors that are a disaster in this photo (L)...they look gorgeous now :). Boys playing in a whopper thunderstorm (R), and you'll notice Lady Mac is right there with them; she seems to be all healed up and feeling great. And the booty shot is just classic boy stuff ;).

These swings are an important part of our new yard. Sometimes there is fighting centered on the swings, but thankfully there are two of them and usually it's a peaceful way for the boys to play together :).

Photo update-Merry Christmas everyone!!

2009-12-18T06:44:00.000-08:00

We got snow for the second year in a row! I didn't think it possible, but the boys had even more fun with it this year! Even Lady Mac got in on the action.

One of Elliot's favorite things is eating ice, so you can imagine how excited he was when he realized that this snow stuff was nothing more than tiny ice bits just waiting for him to eat them.

We dressed up the boys and attempted to take our own Christmas pictures this year. The light was low and the camera was slow, so in frustration we just did silly ones. We didn't want to send out a dozen pictures with each card, so these didn't really work for that, but they turned out fun.

Riding the train at the mall.

Gavinisms from the past few weeks--

2009-10-26T14:49:00.000-07:00

Looking at the letter W: "If you turn it over with your head then it's an M."

Flipping through my Bible on the couch: "Mommy, do you want Exodus (pronounced eck-SAWdust)?"

"It's one, two, three sides that make the triangle -- awesome!"

"I'm going to make a lemon miguel pie." He meant lemon meringue.

I came out of the bathroom with a pale colored mud mask on my face. "Ooooh mommy look at you! Look at you!!! You're all colored up. Your face is all colored in white out."

Gavin: "Soy dench poo poo, mommy."
Emily: "What's that?"
Gavin: It's special poo poo, like diarrhea, but certainly different.

Fall is fun!

2009-10-20T11:32:00.000-07:00

I knew it had been a long time...look at the date of the last post: Sept 6. Well, It's been a busy month for us around the Malden Territories. Mommy has us on this roaring fall schedule--well relative to our summer calendar it's busy, but we love it. Mondays are MOPS days which is boring meetings for mommy, but we get to go to our church classrooms and have a great time. I don't get to be with Gavin on these days so there have been a few tears at goodbye time lately, but I have a great time w/ all my nearly 2 year old pals. Our classroom is often dark when mom comes to pick me up b/c turning off the lights is wild fun (not tall enough to turn them back on yet...I'm sure that will be just as raucous!). Gavin was bumped up to the 4 year old class for MOPS days and he loves that; he gets to make more crafts and play games---super fun. This past MOPS meeting was especially cool for Gavin b/c he got to go see a firetruck. Someone thought I was too small...hmm. Anyway, he liked that and of course asked questions that mommy couldn't answer b/c she's not a firefighter.

Tuesday is an off day which these days means lots of playing in the yard. The weather is splendid and our yard is even more fun than previously because daddy (with some help from Peepaw and Uncle Daniel) made us a CLUBHOUSE!!!! It is high in the branches of our holly bush and it has a cool railing (great for driving cars on) and steps to climb to get up there. It's fantastic! Even Lady Mac likes to chase us up there. Fun. Daddy also made us a seesaw. It's pretty fun to sit and go up & down w/ Gavin on the other end, but what we really like to do is walk up from one end, balance in the middle and then run down the other side. That gives mommy little heart flutters (especially when I do it), but she just needs to get used to that. We also have a balance beam that is a little advanced for me, but Gavin loves to walk across it. It's a regular outdoor wonderland; I guess we should start charging admission :).

Wednesday is WOW (Women of the Word) Bible study day at our church. Me and Gav get to play in the same class and we love it! We see a lot of the same friends we see at Sunday church and MOPS so it's a good time together.

Thursday is CBS (Community Bible Study) day. We get to walk to this one b/c it's only 2 blocks away (at a different church than ours)! Gav and I are in separate classes for this one, too. Gavin LOVES going to CBS. He's learning memory verses and doing all sorts of cool cool crafts. He has the best time. I really like my teacher, but my class is full of kids that are smaller than me and not as many cool toys as my classes at our church and so ... I tend to get in trouble. Well, c'mon, I like to climb and do rough and tumble things and my classmates just don't get into that stuff. I can't figure out why they don't like being mowed down by my big burly self. Hhh. Oh well, I'm getting there. Each week my teacher gets better and better at keeping me occupied (it's pretty much self-preservation). :)

Friday is another off day. We like to go to the library (if we remember) or we run the errands we've been putting off all weekend. I looove the library, but I'm not real keen on that rule about being quiet. What the...?? Libraries are hilarious fun: what with the rug with letters and numbers, all those cool books, and studious strangers to be met (bugged). I know why kids grow up thinking libraries are boring tho...all this about being quiet. Harrumph!

Speaking of letters and numbers: there are only a few letters that I have trouble identifying. And I let mom & dad in on a secret this weekend: I can already count to 10 by myself!! They were so shocked and proud; I might just have to surprise them with more things like that :). All this and I am still in the point and name phase of talking. I've put a couple of words together, but mostly I just like to point at stuff and try to say what it is. Guess that's why they were so surprised that I can count. Oh, I love to sing too, not really getting words out per se, but it's pretty clear when I'm singing even if the lyrics are garbled.

I still like to eat with a fork and spoon (rather than fingers). I don't like bread. I love black beans. I like fruit and most veggies. I am good at reading regular books but tend to tear up board books. Gavin and I are sleeping in the same room at night now; it's fun. I love trains. I love cars. Daddy getting home is the highlight of my dad; he is so great! I rarely walk; I run mostly. I finally don't make a bee-line for the street every time I walk out the front door; I'm getting really good at following Gavin and it keeps me pretty safe. I really like looking through our photo book of family friends; I am getting better at remembering people even when we don't see them a lot. I am still a really cheerful, friendly and happy kid...a bit more mischievous as the months go by, but it's all in good fun :).

Well, that's it for now, I guess. It's pretty tough to get much more in one update...I'll just have to write more later.

~Elliot

Apples to apples

2009-09-06T14:00:00.001-07:00

Which is which? Elliot is a couple month older than Gavin was when we took his picture. Can you guess who is who? :)

Update from Gavin: I'm 3 and a 1/2!

2009-08-07T12:32:00.000-07:00

Update from Gavin 3 1/2 years old :) I am learning more and more about time these days, but I get a little mixed up sometimes and say things like: It was my birthday 3 miles ago and when I get big like daddy I'll be 40 pounds like mommy. What??!! I know it needs a little sorting out, but I'm just enjoying talking and sounding as much like the grown-ups as I can. I'm trying to get mommy to teach me how to read a clock (the one with hands, not just digital ones), but she keeps telling me that I need to learn how to count by fives first. Huh? Anyways, I've also been really into directions, street names and compass bearings. We have a nifty digital compass on the rear view mirror of our RAV4 and I love to announce which direction we are traveling in. I am also known to bark out orders like: Take 610 South mom--we need to go South! I'm usually wrong about where we're going, but she's pretty sure that I could direct someone to our house because I recite the turns before we even get to them. What can I say? It's boring just riding in the car; I want to be driving! One sidenote on driving: There is a tollway in Houston called Katy Tollway that we pass a couple times a week. I call it Katy Trollway--always makes mommy smile and think of her dad, my Poppa. :)

So we brought Elliot and mommy to their first pro baseball game a couple seconds ago...I mean a couple weeks ago (I'll get it, I'll get it!!). We had super-duper fantastic seats (5 rows from the dugout!), but Elliot and I weren't really understanding why we should sit still and watch some dudes throw a teeny tiny ball around. Every now and then the crowd would clap and cheer and we could get behind that, but other than that we just wanted to explore the stadium...talk about some majorly cool stuff! Mommy wished we could have watched more of the game, but maybe next time. Though we didn't make it through the whole game we did all have our Astros gear on which was lots of fun.

Well, reading is still great, but now I'm bored with a lot of my baby storybooks and we are taking more trips to the library (which is close by) to get fresh stuff for me to read. Mom tries to hide her freaked out look when I plow through books that are for 5-7 year olds, but that's pretty normal for me. I just like to read and learn--that's it. Here's a video of me reading a library book about helicopters. Mom was trying to cook dinner and sent me to the living room to read until she was done. Then, next thing I know she's in there w/ the video camera -- instead of cooking. Hhh! [more blog after video :)]

I got to go to Vacation Bible School for the first time this year. What a blast!!!! We learned cool songs, made crafts, took a nature hike, played outside and even had a concert in front of our parents! I pretty much just sat on the stage and looked around most of the time--not yet sure whether I'm a natural born performer. It was so fun. I want to go again!

We've been riding with daddy on his bike. Well, we're not on his bike, but Eli and I have a little trailer that we ride in. Elliot belly-aches much of the time because he doesn't like his helmet and it' s hot or whatever. But we are exceedingly cute in our huge, round bike helmets and I never mind looking cute, so I have fun. Besides we get to watch daddy work really hard to make the bike go fast and that is always entertaining.

So for a while I'd ask to play with daddy's cell phone as soon as he walked through the door in the evening. Eventually I realized that was rude (daddy told me) and that I should say "Hi, nice to see you daddy" instead. So for a while I said the obligatory "Hi, nice to see you." and then immediately asked for the phone. Then I realized even that didn't go over too well, so now I have an handful of polite little phrases I say (usually) at the socially acceptable time.
Hi, daddy, I'm so glad you're home; it's nice to see you.
Mommy did you have a nice run?
Mommy did you have fun playing with so-and-so's mommy?
Have a good day at work, daddy.
Sweet dreams, Elliot. Shhh. Go night-night now. I love you.
Hi my name is Gavin Malden; it's nice to meet you.

And finally, just for fun: here are some things mom wrote down over the past few weeks...

One of Gavin's toys plays several short melodies. He named them. I asked him a few times and he remained consistent with the names:
the sailing song
strench go
the sleepy song
drenching trashcan
the video song
strench fan
island mcdonald

Gavin offered to draw a picture of Poppa one day. I corrected him thinking that he was drawing a picture *for* Poppa. He assured me it was *of* Poppa and proceeded to narrate as follows. here's his beard like a big circle and two brown eyes. and now he needs his sword! and this is his bday hat on his big strong head. and this is his arms ... and then i need some yellow for his ears ... big beard. like a big strong man...

A few days ago the boys and Jon were playing w/ balls inside. I try to keep them from throwing inside (Elliot has a killer aim and a really strong arm). Gavin said: We are going to roll the balls and do sports with the balls. We are going to do foolish things with the balls.

Well, that's it for now (5 pages later).
~Gavin

Update from Elliot at 18 Months

2009-08-02T13:18:00.000-07:00

Addendum 8-03-09
I forgot to tell y'all that I pretty much only eat with a fork like a little man. It is pretty messy, but it's so uncouth to eat with one's fingers.

Also, though my vocabulary has exploded I still haven't mastered some of the finer points of verbal discourse. For example: if something pokes me or falls on my foot while playing it is sure to get an earful from me, but that pretty much just involves pointing an accusing finger and a string of jibberish. It gets the point across, ya know?
Okay, here's the original update :).

Update from Elliot:
Howdy folks, we've got some ground to cover, so let's get down to business. I'm 18 months old now and woooooweee life is crazy! I have been talking a lot more. I have too many 'words' to keep track of but some of them are: fish, hi, bye (think cowboy accent and you're hearing the way I say bye.), good girl (that's for my dog Lady Mac), Lady, flower, banana, ball, egg, apple, thank you, airplane, truck, tractor, night night, leche (I prefer the Spanish to English here because mom has no problem telling what I'm talking about when I say leche--just doesn't sound like anything else.), water, outside, down, up, bath, triangle, circle, square, lion, monkey, bear...ok this is getting too long, you get the picture. I try to repeat anything and everything and then there are dozens of words I can say whenever. --all that I guess I could have said with "I am talking a lot lately." But, mom, ever the teacher, wanted me to list some off so she wouldn't forget. I love learning about letters (de ja vu anyone?) and shapes and colors. Those little board books with single words labeling colorful pictures were made for me; I spend a good bit of time with them every day.

So my dog Lady Mac and I are really good buddies. She's the baby of the family, not me, and that means that I can chase her, play with her and rough-house with her and I don't have to feel like the youngest around here. We love to run around the house: me screeching in delight and her not really sure if I'm going to attack or just run right by. I'm not too rough with her, so she alwyas comes back for more crazy playing. She's also a lot of fun in the yard, but she only listens when mom tells her to drop something, so I am always annoyed when she takes my ball from me. Guess I'd better learn how to intone the "DROP IT" like mommy does.

Gavin and I have a really good time these days, too. It is to be expected that the younger brother grows up a bit more rough-and-tumble than the older one, but I may be pushing that theory to new levels of danger. I have a pretty incredible record of daring acheievements already. It started with climbing several months ago (you'll remember my triumphant scaling of the dining room table several posts ago.) well, it has continued. I have been able to climb onto big beds for sometime now and they are ever so much fun to bounce on, and even moreso if Gavin is helping me. Sadly, however, they don't make them with safety nets and I've gotten numerous bonks. You'd think those injuries combined with mom's fussing would keep me grounded, but it's waaay to much fun to jump on the bed. I've also grown bored with simply sliding down our small play structure in the yard, it's much more fun now to run down the slide (yes, on my feet) and face-plant in the grass. Or even better, I like to go headfirst through the window-type openings and land on my head. Fear not, I'd never put myself in real danger, I've only got a few inches to fall each time and I like to push my physical body--just to see what it's capable of. Needless to say, we never ever put the playground on the concrete. And again, needless to say, mom is very hesitant to get a larger playset for our yard. Oh, and Gavin actively encourages these outbursts of irrational and dangerous behaviors on my part: he's been known to cheer me on ("Great running Elliot!") and give tips on how to make something even more hazardous ("Put your head through first!").

I am a baller. What does that mean you query? If there is a ball -- anywhere -- I must have it. I beg for them in the store, I whine for them in the car (even if it is a picture of a ball on a billboard; I. must. have. it.), I tackle Lady Mac for them in the yard, I chase Gavin for them in the house. I throw them and roll them and carry them around everywhere. I will sit motionless and watch kids at the park playing soccer or basketball. Did you catch that? Motionless!!! I'm never motionless, not even when I'm sleeping! We have a tyke sized basketball goal in our yard and I throw anything and everything through that basket. I've even started to whine and beg for basketball goals when I see them--even if they are the real deal and hundred miles above my head.

As I approach my two-year birthday, I am gaining an assertiveness [euphemism], but I'm still a really cheery little man. I'm super giggly and smiley. I love to go to the grocery story because there are lots of people to flirt with. I love playing with other kids and adults.

I'm so all about daddy these days. About an hour before he comes home each day I start looking for him and asking for him. And as soon as I see him out the front windows I let out a very loud and high-pitched "GAGA!!!" -- that's how I say daddy. He absolutely must hold me until he gets his dinner and then I scavenge food off his plate and don't let him out of my sight til bedtime. He's the best ever!

I am still working on getting rid of my pacifier. Ugh. It's the bane of my parents' life. I only use it for bedtime...and for in the car........and for when I'm generally cranky. Oh, dear. I guess I'm a little attached. Anyway, I won't be that kid with a paci at 12, but it may be a few more months.

Well, that's basically where I'm at. I'm a happy kid. I like to play. I like to laugh. I love my family. And I like my pacifier. Ha!

Cuidanse (take care of yourselves!),
Elli-bear (mom's latest nickname for me)

Gavin reading about Battle Creek, MI

2009-07-16T11:36:00.000-07:00

Gavin taught me today that Battle Creek, MI is called "The Cereal Bowl of America." Who knew?? ...We're casually working on annunciation, but I'm not in a hurry for him to do anything perfectly because he's obviously a pretty self-motivated 3.5 year old. :)

Fun in the Sun

2009-06-29T16:27:00.001-07:00

Just some pictures here. An update is looooong overdue, but it will have to wait for a less hectic day...

Cracks me up: The Lady Mac Attack

2009-06-17T18:49:00.000-07:00

Okay, not really sure why I think this is so funny, but I can't help cracking up every time I watch it! Our little Lady Mac sleeps much of the time, but about once a day she goes bonkers...

Elliot's camera smile--hilarium!

2009-05-15T11:53:00.001-07:00

Deadbeat Blogger...

2009-05-15T08:27:00.001-07:00

oh, boy it's been a loooong time in blogger terms. lots has been going on. it's getting warmer and we got outside many times per day. we got a pool and i can't think of any living things that could have more fun in a pool than two young brothers. there was more squealing and laughing than i thought possible...i was in heaven watching them! as an alternative we got a sprinkler, too. it's not quite as fun as the pool, but it makes hot afternoons bearable.

elliot has been talking more. he still has trouble making a variety of sounds, but he's getting the concept. he excitedly points out fish, airplanes, birds, the moon, balls, squirrels, dogs, and several other things. he also is starting (FINALLY) to understand the concept behind "easy! elliot, easy!" which we tend to say over & over when he's slapping someone in the face. he'll dial it down a little and pat their cheek but if we stop saying "easy" he starts hitting again. ...and not one bit of malaice in those smacks, by the way, he thinks people like to be abused. ahhhh.... he's also finally learning not to throw things from his highchair, which is so nice.

unfortunatley eli has discovered climbing and and we are hard pressed to keep him off elevated surfaces. all our dining room chairs are lying on the floor unless in use. looks pretty weird, but keeps him out of danger for the most part. of course we can't very well lay the big furniture on it's side, so he can still do crazy things, but he can't inadvertently tip over the couch, so he's a little safer on the big furniture. sad to say, tho, that he has bonked his head a record time over the past couple of weeks.

well, i'm being summoned outside...gavin needs a playmate b/c elliot is napping. more soon...

--emily

Great Easter weekend visit with Bizettes

2009-04-14T15:28:00.001-07:00

Aunt Meli, Uncle Rhett, Leighton & Lexi came to visit with us for Easter weekend. What fun! I especially enjoyed harrassing Lexi in her bouncer and getting Uncle Rhett and Aunt Meli to hold me as much as possible. We went to the zoo; Gavin and Leighton had ice cream cones; we ate lots of yumminess; played outside a lot...had a great time!

At the zoo. Showcasing my mad rockclimbing skill.

That's me on a lilypad in the kids area of the zoo.

Gavin on the yellow brick road (there was some Wizard of Oz thing going on)

Leighton checking out a bird.

Gavin looking at the clown fish--I'm right behind him (that's my hand).

Leighton and Gavin crawling through an aqarium--I'm still to young for that.

We went for an exploring adventure at George Bush Park on the west side of Houston. It was pretty cool and nice and peaceful--a nice way to spend the evening on Easter Sunday. Can you tell me and Gavin are brothers? I bet if mom had kept daddy in the frame he would have had his left arm up, too. Ha!

Crayola John Hancock -- seeing the trend?

2009-04-14T15:18:00.001-07:00

Okay, so I thought Gavin's little 'signature' stunt with the sidewalk chalk was a coincidence, but check this out.

Sidewalk chalk John Hancock

2009-04-07T11:48:00.001-07:00

I've started tracing letters, but I don't know how to write yet. Even so, I was playing w/ chalk the other day and thought this little doodle looked like my name. I showed mom my "name" and she took a picture, of course. She thinks I must be important if I have a signature b/f I can even print. Ha!

Update from Gavin

2009-04-04T08:12:00.000-07:00

Here I am painting. I like to talk about Nana when I'm painting. Miss her...

And here I am tracing the letters in my name; one of my newest endeavors. :o)

So I haven't updated y'all in quite some time. It has been so long that I'm not even sure where to start...

Well, let's start w/ my boy Elliot. He is getting more cool by the day. He laughs at my jokes and he does silly things that make me laugh. He is getting bigger and more stable so it takes a little more to knock him down than it used to. Translation: I get in trouble for pushing him a little less often b/c he doesn't always fall down anymore... I like to take his hand and lead him to my room to play with our toys; he thinks that's fun, too. So all around, we have getting along pretty well and I'm learning how to play nicely and we have a really great time.

I'm still reading away. Mom gave me the comics from the Sunday paper the other day. They are very cool: bright colors, cute pictures and lots of words. The trouble is that they aren't really for kids...at least not my age. There was a lot of things I didn't really understand--and mom says I probably shouldn't understand some of those things yet.

Another thing I like to do with words is spell them out verbally. The other day I was challenging mom to tell me what the letters I reeled off spelled: t-e-c-k-o what does that say, mommy? like that. Well, she started to tell me to tell her what these strings of letters said so off I went: h-o-u-s-o. small pause. "houso!" Boy was she surprised! Ha!

Me and the potty are really good friends. I go visit a million times a day. I have very few accidents anymore. There are toilets everywhere. Did you know that? And there are special rooms for men and women. This has led to many a conversation about the difference between the sexes. Well, it's has been pretty abstract so far, so I still get a little confused at time. A few weeks ago we went to visit one of these public restrooms and out of curiosity I asked a stranger: Are YOU a woman?. Mom was a little embarrassed because apparently it was very clear that he was not a woman. Anyway, luckily, he thought I was just saying something cute and he just smiled and nodded.

We are almost all settled into our new house. We have a super cool backyard with a couple small trees I can climb. Dad tied a swing to one of them just to keep mommy on her toes -- little brothers don't learn to stay back from swings until they are at least 2 years old. It has a big maple tree, a couple of Japanese loquat trees and a big ole holly bush (we're not supposed to play with the berries; they're poisonous). We also have a lot of patio space to ride bikes and roll balls and stuff. I have a new room, but all the same old toys, so although I do miss our old house a lot, our new one feels pretty homey already. We still go to the same church and see the same friends, so this move wasn't easy, but wasn't quite as hard as moving from Baton Rouge.

We get to walk around a lot now. There are parks to walk to and the roads make a big loop in our neighborhood so we can just walk for the fun of it if we don't really want to go anywhere.

Mom wanted to make sure I included this little list of Gavinisms:
NeighborHERD=neighborhood (already a little social commentator)
insurrection=interesting
stumfing=something

Well, I'm sure there are more, but we can't think of them right now.

~Gavin

Don't mess with Texas!

2009-04-02T14:03:00.000-07:00

So we took a little exploration trip today to a part of the Houston area we've never visited: the lovely east side--Pasadena really. We weren't really headed anywhere in particular, but I started to see a few signs for the San Jacinto Battleground State Historic Site, so I decided we check it out.

As we're pulling up to the entry guard Gavin is chattering away about the signs he sees: One has the name of the park; another has the speed limit; there's a Don't Mess with Texas sign (anti-litter for those of you who aren't regular visitors to TX); and one with a schedule of fees, etc. I'm trying to talk Gav through them as we go, but there are really too many, so I give up and decide that a quick overview of where we are would be more pertinent. So I start in: "Gavin, this place is where the battle of San Jacinto was fought. Groups of people came here from all over to have a big fight over who would get Texas." Gavin cuts in and says, "Mommy, you don't mess with Texas; Texas is dangerous."

--Alas, left the camera at home, so no pix.

Trip to BR

2009-03-31T11:18:00.000-07:00

We made a trip to BR last weekend. Here are some pictures :o)

On top of the world...

2009-03-27T11:46:00.000-07:00

...well, maybe just the table. The blocks were worth the climb.

Safari!

2009-03-23T07:18:00.000-07:00

We were invited to a super fun birthday party at Bayou Wildlife Park. We got to play w/ friends, ride a tram and feed crazy animals, and ride ponies! Here are some pictures. We had a lot of fun!

Here is Elliot on "Babe."

Gavin on "Babe."

Gav and daddy on the tram checking out some furry guys.

Daddy and Eli

We'll post a video soon...

A day in nature

2009-03-18T16:36:00.000-07:00

We met up with some friends at a local park. Saw cardinals, hawks, dragon & damsel fly nymphs, mosquito larvae (mom's fav), turtles, a blue heron, and lots of beautiful Texas wildflowers.

As always the nunu is on it's way back in to Elliot's mouth. It's days are numbered...

Gavin running around in the discovery garden.

Cool tractor in the background...

Elliot playing on the alligator tube.

Gavin checking out the creatures that live in the pond.

A cool snowy egret weather vane (apparently roosters are passe).

A little bit of bed head :o)

Just Pictures

2009-03-12T06:46:00.001-07:00

Sad news

2009-02-26T12:05:00.000-08:00

We have been dealing with a very sad occurrence in our lives. A few weeks ago, my mom (Nana to the boys) left this world and entered eternity. It was very sudden, but thankfully peaceful. We are still very much in a season of mourning and we will miss her tangible presence in our lives very much. Mom gave so much of her life to those around her--most of all her family. She continues to give us comfort in her passing, because she lived her life ready to leave this world. We know we'll see her again. She loved our boys so much and her absence from their lives is the hardest thing to face. Countless people have been praying for our family and I know that's the strength that we feel as we walk through our grief. We really appreciate each thought and prayer. Please let this sad time in our lives motivate you to hold your family close. We strive to do the same. ~Emily

Elliot Family Party Videos

2009-01-26T19:08:00.000-08:00

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

2009-01-26T18:59:00.001-08:00

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

2009-01-26T18:36:00.000-08:00

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!

2009-01-26T16:05:00.000-08:00

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

2009-01-23T09:20:00.001-08:00

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

2009-01-13T16:16:00.000-08:00

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!!

2009-01-10T18:23:00.000-08:00

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

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!

2008-12-24T10:33:00.000-08:00

Well, we had snow a couple weeks ago, but it looks like we'll have a tropical Christmas day (temp is supposed to be in the 70s): so I guess we are getting the best of both worlds this year in Houston :o). We've been sick, so blogging has been on the back burner...upstaged by sipping antibiotics, puffing on inhalers (that's Elliot, he had some lung congestion issues), and keeping the snottage under control. But, we didn't want to miss a chance to wish everyone the Merriest of Christmases and a Happy and Healthy 2009. We started counting our blessings on Thanksgiving day and we're still counting. Thanks to all of you for your friendship and love! We hope to see and/or hear from all of you soon!

--Gavin & Elliot (and parents :o)

Snow? In HOUSTON?

2008-12-10T16:15:00.000-08:00

You betcha! Here's proof :o)

Elliot Toddling

2008-12-10T15:02:00.001-08:00

It's really tough to catch the action, but Elliot has been toddling much more lately. He doesn't even wait for encouragement anymore: if he feels like walking rather than crawling, off he goes! He can walk about halfway across a room before stumbling or getting so excited he just lunges for his target (as seen in the video :o).

Christmastime is here!

2008-12-04T13:50:00.000-08:00

Our church hosts a small Christmas festival. We went while grandma was in town. Here are some pics.

The skinny on Elliot

2008-12-04T13:14:00.000-08:00

So here's the skinny on Elliot:
1) He's not skinny.
2) He's saying Mama (which doubles for mom & milk), Dada, and Gaga...the latter being his version of my name and the thing he says the most.
3) He's capable of eating anything. Mom found him crunching on one of my crayons and moments after she extracted that, she found him munching on a small screw that had fallen from a hinge he dismembered (by leaning on the door of a small cabinet). Crunch crunch.
4) He's a superstar at church because he laughs for all the ladies taking care of us. Guess I'm being upstaged.
5) He has a mohawk.
6) He dances like a white boy, but he likes hip hop. Dig?
7) He sooooo knows how to walk, but chooses to crawl much of time, probably b/c mom thinks crawling is really cute.
8) He loves to eat food, but only if he can feed himself; he's not real hip on the spoon-feeding routine.
9) He's only 10 months and he's already working the system: He climbs up on me and then shrieks in dismay when I roll over and he falls. How is that my fault?
10) The best way to get him to be still while changing his diaper is to sing numbers to him.
So there you go, 10 facts about Elliot who is already 10 months old!
Peace,
Gavin

Here's a video of my boy schoolin' the bushes. ...Somebody's gotta show 'em who's boss.

Thanksgiving

2008-12-02T19:00:00.000-08:00

Well, we have lots to be thankful for--food for one thing! The video is Elliot enjoying food like only a 10 month old can. And Gavin didn't need any encouragement to dig into his grub either (note the cheek full).

Recent activities - photos :o)

2008-12-02T16:49:00.001-08:00

Nov 11, 2008 Looks like Gavin wrote all these words, but he doesn't quite have the fine motor skills for that. These are just all the words he could think of for mommy to write down.

2008-12-02T16:41:00.000-08:00

Nov 11, 2008
Here is a picture that Gavin drew. Mom asked him to draw a picture FOR Mr. Doug (our neighbor that brings him goodies all the time). He presented this to mom and said triumphantly: Look mommy, it's Mr. Doug! Granted it doesn't look a whole lot like the the actual Doug, but it resembles a human face on a rudimentary level. Mom was proud.

Riddle time - Gavin

2008-12-02T16:34:00.001-08:00

How can you fit a whole pot into this small plastic container (with the lid closed)?

Lame-o

2008-11-18T18:38:00.000-08:00

Yep, that's what they call it when you have a blog and you don't blog: LAME - O! Anyway, you're going to have to cut us some slack because we've been dealing with a stomach virus among other things, but that alone has caused many an extra load of laundry along with the extra baths needed to repair damaged hieny. :o(

Like father, like son - Elliot

2008-11-06T12:35:00.000-08:00

So I caught Elliot playing with the remote control a moment ago -- a pretty big no-no around here. Feeling like I should be playing with him anyway, I just got out a big foam ball to see if he would drop the remote on his own. A second would have to be divided into many parts to define how quickly the remote hit the floor. :o)

Of course part of it was that he'd rather play with something animate (me) than push rubber buttons on a remote, but I see a parallel to daddy here. Jon will switch off almost any sporting event to go actually toss a football, play golf or whatever. I guess if our boys carry on like Eli he'll have eager participants when they are a little older...and I'd better get in shape...or get coordinated...or both, or I'll be stuck home watching football by myself. Ha!

Trip to BR

2008-11-04T18:24:00.000-08:00

So we drove for a long time -- a looooong time, because a lot of our favorite people live in this place called Baton Rouge and we like to visit them from time to time (and we LOVE it when they come visit us :o). Anyway, I'm getting better at riding in the car for hours on end, but I still can't fall asleep in my carseat like I used to. Hhh.

Anyway, we had a great time! We saw lots of friends and learned some important things.

I learned that I am not two-and-a-half anymore I'm "two-and-a-three-quarters." Thank you Aunt Jess Concienne. Now sometimes that comes out before I even introduce myself because I love the reaction I get :o).

I learned how to climb into the treehouse at Nana & Poppa's by myself.

After four full days I finally talked myself into taking a bath in a new tub, only to realize anew that taking a bath is fun and a different tub isn't necessarily a bad thing.

I learned that I have a special bed at Greg and Miranda's house AND a special bed in Aunt Jael's room; who else is that lucky??

Oh! And I have a NEW COUSIN! Where did she come from?? Mom says she came from Aunt Melly's belly, but that rhymes and sounds like a whole lot of silliness to me. Anyway, I really liked going to see her in the hospital. I like saying her name: Lexi (it's the first L sound I've been able to pronounce). My comment was "I think she's really cute." We got to see her one more time before we left town, but I was a little distracted playing with my boy Leighton. I did perk up when Mom was holding her; it still doesn't sit well with me when mom holds other little babies---guess I'm not ready for any more siblings yet. But cousins are wonderful!!!

Well, we are back home and enjoying that. I'd better go watch the election results. My boy McCain better pull this one out (whatever that means...). Okay, a little late for a plug; polls are closed in most places...anyway... tootle loo!
Gav

Uh, already need an update on that jiggy bit...

2008-11-04T18:15:00.000-08:00

So minutes after posting the news of my first unassisted steps, I created a need for an update by taking several steps in a row! I thought one was a rush...wow this walking thing is really cool!!!

Gettin' jiggy - from Elliot

2008-11-04T11:54:00.000-08:00

I had a really big weekend. Not only did we drive all the way to Baton Rouge, but I took my first steps and said my first word!!! The first step was for Nana; she's very proud of that :o). I think my parents might have doubted it (they were away attending a wedding), but I am more than happy to oblige anyone who asks now: walking (stepping, really) is hilarious fun. All you have to do is reach your hands toward me and say "come on" with a big smile. I almost fall down laughing, but then I usually take one tiny step and then collapse, giggling into the waiting arms.

Now on to the other big news: my first word. Oh yeah! I said Mama!!! Mom & dad have both been working on me consistently, but I think mom was more insistent since Gavin said Dada first. I'm going to be her favorite! Haha!

I was introduced to Nana & Poppa's dog Bjorn this weekend. I crawled right up to him with only a hint of hesitation when he moved to meet me. He was a gentleman (he didn't knock me down) and I love big hairy things!! We had fun rooting around in the grass and I was really gentle petting him.

We stayed with our friends Greg & Miranda who are so much fun. They also have super cool stairs that are very fun to climb...funny this will probably be the only time that I can go up stairs, but I can't walk across the floor.

I'm going to let Gavin tell you about the rest of our trip, but we had a really good time seeing everyone.

In just general Elliot news, I now have a half a mouthful of teeth. The bottom four are in a nice neat row, but the top is--well, to put it kindly I have a bit of a pirate grin. One of the top middle teeth has yet to break the skin (it's soooo close), and I've got another gap on one side. Goes sort of like this tooth - gap - two teeth - gap - tooth. Aye matey, I'm a handsome feller!

Feasting Eli Style

2008-10-27T18:56:00.000-07:00

So, I started sprouting teeth not too long ago and so mommy thought perhaps I'd be ready for a little texture in my grub. She tried a bunch of different things and got the expected icky-face response, and then I'd start gagging and usually ended up throwing up all over the place. Well, it didn't take her long to wise up and try the texture first so that I wouldn't throw up a whole meal each time, but I still wasn't tolerating any texture, not to mention solids. She started to think that maybe I was just not going to be as easy as Gavin in the whole eating arena.

Then one fair evening a couple weeks ago she got the notion to put some peas on my highchair tray just to see what I would do. You are a genius mommy! Nobody likes to eat peas all ground up; they are perfectly packaged for tiny fingers to grab and tiny throats to swallow. Now, that's not to say one hasn't caught me by surprise and caused a little gagging, but they were a big hit.

It did take some practice to actually get them to my mouth. I'd say I was swingin' at about 2% that first day. And yes, I realize that means 98 out of every 100 ended up in my highchair rather than my mouth. We persevered tho, and within a couple days it was 50/50 and I'm happy to say that I'm now getting about 80% in my mouth--gotta leave SOMEthing for mom to clean up; she sweeps three times per day!

So, the end result of all this work? I ate exactly what everyone else ate tonight: creamy chicken soup with yummy veggies and barley. Mmmmm!

Latest Gavinism

2008-10-12T20:12:00.000-07:00

"kumbaYAWN": kumbayah

'Nuf said, but makes it funny to know that Gavin was singing this at the top of his lungs while we were eating outside at the Central Market (nice, but slightly stuffy store near Highland Village in Houston).

Hurrication

2008-10-12T18:43:00.001-07:00

Here are some pictures from our hurrication as they are calling it now. They are roughly chronological.

Guadalupe State Park

Playing in Andy & Aubrey's yard

They have rockin' trees.

Daddy made me a swing.

Fredricksburg

Nice romantic bathroom in the cottage...cool rug.
Our cottage was on a working ranch; these Elk are part of the "working" part. We couldn't touch them, but they were very close much of the time.
Elliot in the cottage.
Gavin looking at goldfish in town (Fredricksburg).
Elk are cool.

Labor Day Weekend - Family Time

2008-10-12T18:30:00.000-07:00

Meant to post these pics weeks ago. Guess we got all in a tizzy over the hurricane. Anyway, we did some cool stuff over Labor Day.

We checked out Brazos Bend State park. It was a sweltering hot day, but I hiked over 2 miles on my own two feet. There was lots o' sweat and a little bit of whining toward the end of the hike, but I made it and mommy didn't have to carry me. Instead she challenged me to count my step; that distracted me enough to finish the last 250 steps or so.

Next we went to Lake Houston. There is a pretty neat park there and even tho it was still sweltering hot there was a stiff breeze coming off the lake to make it bearable. Did a little walking there, but not nearly as much. ...Oh, and where was Elliot amidst all this walking??? As you'll notice he's riding high in the sky in the backpack carrier. I know! I think mom & dad are slipping with him. He's gonna expect the world on a silver platter now...

Elliot Videos

2008-10-12T18:21:00.000-07:00

Some cute Elliot videos

The truck the Briggs gave Gavin for his first Christmas is now a favorite of the smaller Malden manchild.

Here I am making my newest sound. It's longish and of course I don't say much til the end of the shoot.

Mike and Gust

2008-10-10T18:53:00.000-07:00

Can't remember if I told you, but I got two fish a few weeks ago. I finally named them...well it was a team effort with mom. She thought we could name them Mike and Gus sort of in honor of the two storms (Ike and Gustav) that have recently effected our lives. So mom mentioned the names to me and I said "YEAH! Let's call 'em Mike and GusT." No matter how many times I try to say Gus it comes out Gust; so Gust it is.

Footnote: Hurricane Ike actually saved Mike and Gust's lives b/c we were having some issues balancing the chemistry of their tank and somehow with 16 days of no interference from us they got it all figured out, so thanks hurricane Ike for saving my fish!

Stump Garden In Honor of Hurricane Ike

2008-10-10T07:35:00.001-07:00

So daddy had a great post-Ike idea. He's been collecting stumps for my stump garden. Check it out.
~Gavin

Quiet time with mom

2008-10-10T05:36:00.000-07:00

I got up early to hang out with mommy this morning. She thought she'd get some quiet time. We couldn't know what was about to happen...

Everything was fine till she wanted to write an email and I stuck stickers all over her (thanks Nana!!)

...Then she morphed into the sticker monster!!!

As you can see she was very aggressive and dangerous: this shows her in the full attack posture. But don't worry, I contained the situation: a sticker monster w/o her stickers is gentle as a kitten.

~Gavin the fearless monster-tamer

Just a rainy October day

2008-10-07T17:54:00.000-07:00

The joy of teething biscuits. What a mess. Yes, he was placed directly into the bathtub.

And this is a moment that mommy hopes will get more & more common as we get older: I'm not teasing Elliot, imagine that.

Classic

2008-10-07T13:42:00.000-07:00

We are two studious little boys.

Adventures with Cheerios - Elliot

2008-10-07T07:50:00.000-07:00

I got a formal introduction to Cheerios last night. Here is some evidence. Half the pictures came about because mom was trying to capture a good shot of my current crazy dental situation. Check out the chompers...you know you're jealous!!!!

Elliot

Blog News from Emily

2008-10-04T18:46:00.000-07:00

Well, I've posted everything back to Gavin's first birthday post and I plan to get the rest on here soon (tho I'm not sure anyone will really care to read that far back...). Anyway, they will all be in one place, pictures and all, so people can glance back if they want. Hopefully I can post a little less content a little more often in this format. For those of you who don't know this all started as emails to friends and family each month and I just recently decided a blog format would work better than jamming mailboxes with pictures and lengthy emails.

Can you tell who's who?

2008-10-03T22:23:00.001-07:00

Church anxiety

2008-10-03T13:13:00.000-07:00

So, we've been going to our new church for a few months now and everyone seems so nice and there are several kids for me to play with and a super cool play area and very cool blocks and toys and lots of nice people and pretty windows and nice paintings on the walls and nice music and ... can you tell I'm avoiding something? Well, I have this little problem: I'm not so crazy about going in the nursery on my own.

The first few times I as just a wreck: crying & clinging, then screaming & clinging. I felt pretty silly for making such a scene, but it was pretty scary stuff. Of course once I got over the initial separation I had a really good time playing and learning. After a few visits I progressed to doing all that freaking out before we left home and mommy thought we'd have a really terrible time getting me into my class then, but apparently I got much of my anxiety out before we got out of the car, so that meant I didn't cry as much at church, but I sure did have the
I'm-trying-to-be-brave-but-this-is-really-scary look on my face (complete with very sad chin-quivering).

Today I didn't do any crying, but I spent much of the morning at home very quietly hiding under my blanket reassuring myself that I would have lots of fun playing with all my new friends. So I guess I'm making progress, but it really is tough to go out on one's own at first.

Of course mom always comes back to get me and we both enjoy a very big hug and then I show her all the fun stuff I've been doing while she was singing or learning or studying. ...For the record Elliot has never cried once at being left in nursery...but then again he's not to that age yet. We are hoping he has an easier time than I do.

~Gavin

A couple of Pumpkin Patch Pix

2008-10-02T21:41:00.001-07:00

Crawling, and teeth, and sticks--OH MY!

2008-10-02T21:04:00.001-07:00

Oh, dear, it's been a long time hasn't it? Well, we've been a little tied up. What with the 16 day hurrication and all... We did fine through the storm because we weren't here (doubt we would have slept much if we had been). Our carport collapsed and our power was out for just over 2 weeks, but no major damage. Our neighbors who stayed apparently had a wild time tho, because we lost about 10 trees on our street--we live on a very short street!! Most of them were sizable oaks, so that may shed some understanding on exactly how crazy it got around here. From what I hear much of the area experienced similar stuff.

But, anyway, none of you want to hear about boring hurricanes and dull storm damage!! That's old news. Here's the juicy stuff you're looking for. I (Elliot) am still crawling most places; but I am super fast. I keep trying to get mom to enter me in a crawling derby, but she doesn't really see things the way I do (she walks uprightly after all...). I took my first trip all the way up the steps the other day (I've had many trips interrupted by concerned parents...). Hoo! What a rush. I zip back over there every chance I get, but mom keeps them all blocked off most of the time. It will be all of the time once she gets a gate with a door in it. :o(

I have 5 teeth and more crowding in every day, but I still gag on food with any texture. I am getting adept at the pincher grasp, which means I can put nearly anything (no matter how small and perilous) into my mouth. My latest conquest was a small bit of wicker from one of the baskets in which I keep some toys. Mom was praying all the while she was digging in my throat trying to rescue that little stick. For the life of me I can figure out what the big deal is...she's still in a tizzy about that. Anyway, I was totally back to my normal jolly self after I re-positioned my esophagus, so she and the doc don't think there is too much to be concerned about, but I can't try any more tricks for a few days b/c she's watching me like a hawk. Arg!

Gavin is learning the concept of availability since he seems to think that anything in my (and any other kids') hands is just waiting for him to play with it. He's doing okay, but still has to be reminded 8 thousand times a day. I'm getting so tired of mom asking "Gavin, is that available??" Hhhh!

That Gavin, he says all sorts of wacky things (especially when put up against the cute little sounds I make ;o). Here are a few:

"That is the _____est my ever seen": that is the ____est thing I've ever seen. Doesn't really come through typed out, but it's really cute in person.

"Pepper-ernie": pepperoni (especially cute b/c we have a friend named Ernie)

"Mommy almost comes back": mommy always comes back (exclaimed when mom collects him from the nursery at church; he's still not very good at letting mom and dad go to church, Bible study or MOPS meetings)

"Lets sing another picture": please sing the next verse of a given song

He gets confused about the whole Mr. and Mrs. thing. He called daddy's former boss Uncle Rick because the Mister confused him. Now he's trying to get it straight, but still pops out with a Mr. Jennifer rather than a Mr. Alan (Jennifer's husband), or a Mrs. Andy rather than Mrs. Aubrey (Andy's wife). Maybe he's just old fashioned.

"Women": lemon. This is especially funny b/c Gavin really likes lemons (thanks Josh & Jess), so he's almost guaranteed to shout out in restaurants as soon as daddy's iced tea arrives at the table: Daddy I want your women! I looooove womens!!

Another funny situation happened when daddy arrived home a couple minutes later than normal one day. Earlier in the day mom had been sweeping the back steps and the broom was still near the back door (outside). The combination prompted Gav to run outside and greet daddy saying: "Daddy! You been sweeping around??!!" Which sounds exactly the same as if Gavin had said: "Daddy! You been sleeping around?" Got quite a laugh from the parents.

Oh, me, there are so many more; cute things are said everyday around here. I just can't remember them all...

~Elliot

Look Mom, no hands!

2008-09-30T08:18:00.000-07:00

Elliot is creeping closer & closer to walking. I catch him standing alone all the time now. At first he didn't realize it, but now he does it deliberately--especially when there are TWO cool toys he wants to play with. I've been trying to teach him all the cool moves I know, but he's still pretty content to crawl around after me.

Gav

Big Brother Chronicles - Pets and parking

2008-08-26T17:01:00.001-07:00

Well, it's official these are the dog days of summer. It is so hot & yucky outside that we only go to the park or walk or go to the zoo, or do anything in the morning. And that's pretty tough b/c Eli likes to nap somewhere in there, so if he's going to have any shot at a normal day we stay home a lot. Anyway, to alleviate our cabin fever dad scrubbed off my playground and brought it inside. It's a little cramped to be sure, but much better to have it to climb on inside rather than all the furniture. Elliot thinks he can climb on it too and that makes mom plenty nervous.

Well, I'm experiencing another first: I got my first pets over the weekend. We got two fish and put them in my playroom. They are very high maintenance and have already had a scrape with death when the ammonia levels got too high in their water--whatever that means. Anyway, we like to watch them swim around and the are piggies so they are fun to feed, too.

So Elliot wasn't kidding, I really do like to play with my letters. It's a great thing to do inside and in the car (I have magnet letters & a small board that they stick to); I love to put 'words' together and sound them out; sometimes I get it right. The best is to string a whole bunch of letters together and ask: What does that say, mommy? XPRYEPNMBCQRI haha!

Mom has been telling me what some of the traffic signs say to keep me occupied in the car, so I've become something of a backseat driver: That sign says SPEED LIMIT, mommy! Yellow means slow down. That sign says ONE WAY. It says END ONE WAY over there. There are the railroad tracks! W-O-W that says wow! (billboard). P-h-a-r-m-a-c-y: what's that say mommy? Nooooooo parking!!! All in all, she takes it on the chin.

Well, that's all I can think of for now. Hoping for cooler weather soon!
Gavin

Elliot's Update - 7 Months

2008-08-26T16:43:00.000-07:00

Hey Everybody!
I'm seven months old today. I'm crawling like crazy and cruising quite comfortably along anything that will hold my weight. Yes it's early to be cruising already, but one good thing about starting so early is that I'm too short to bonk my head on tables when I walk under them and I'm not heavy enough to pull chairs over on myself. I've also been cutting my teeth on letters...no, no, not like that. Mom isn't that much of kook about teaching reading early...I mean literally chewing on some of Gav's letters to help my toofers come through. And really, I would chew on anything, letters just tend to be handy most of the time since that's something Gavin likes to do most of the day.

So we've been experimenting with some various foods since I wasn't really digging the plain Jane veggies mom was cooking up. My favorite way to eat meat is mixed with plenty of avocado--nice and creamy :o). I also like sweet potatoes, finally. Egg yolk is okay, but doesn't taste like much. Other than those, I eat pretty normal baby stuff: squash, peas, rice & oatmeal cereal. I'm almost old enough to try some soft finger foods, but mom made my food just the tiniest bit lumpy today and my ultra sensitive gag reflex kicked in: super big yucky mess.

I'm still not saying too much, but I do like to practice copy mom & dad saying hey and my favorite syllables: oy goy goy goy which I say very easily around my pacifier. :os I've started to wave my fingers, but mom's not sure if that's a howdy doody or the sign for milk. Guess we'll see when/if I start to do some more signs. Of course I still laugh about anything but teething & throwing up.

Oh, fun thing: The Beach - Went to the beach Aug 23. Left home around 4 pm, so we arrived at Surfside at 5 pm. It was perfect timing. We didn't escape the sunscreen slatheration, but nobody got too much sun and it was cooling off nicely. It was also low tide and there was this perfect little section of water for me to play in. It was about ankle deep and protected by a sandbar, so new water came in every now & then but it was nicely protected from breaking waves. So I was able to crawl around all over the place (which was good b/c daddy forgot the blanket) without sand sticking to my hands and mom didn't have to worry about waves breaking over my head. I got a couple splashes in my face from crawling a little to exuberantly, but most of the time I just chased after whatever caught my eye: seaweed, shells, light dancing in the water, etc. What a fun way for a crawling creature to enjoy being outside!! Gavin had his usual hoot of a time scooping wet sand that acts so much like mud and checking out the stuff that washes up on the beach.

Well, better catch a nap.
Later,
Elliot

Big Brother Chronicles - Back in the Saddle Again

2008-08-24T12:41:00.001-07:00

Well, I'm pretty much back to my normal inquisitive self these days (what's that sign say, mommy? how bout that one? and that one?? and THAT one????). I am loving the book reading even more now because I get to practice my sight words and sounding out if I want. I'm back to napping and night-nighting with out too much of a fuss...and I don't wake up mad that I'm in the new house anymore. I'm back to playing on my own for more than 26 seconds at a time which gives mommy a little respite during the day. I'm back to only flipping out a couple times a day and for only a couple minutes each time...okay there's an occasional meltdown, but it's not everyday anymore.

We took a trip to Baton Rouge and that seems to have really helped me. I really wasn't so sure that garden of Eden was there anymore. Mom gave me the heads up that we were going and I was really excited about seeing friends & family, but I looked a little bewildered when we drove up to Nana & Poppa's. They told me it was still there and everyone was fine, but nothing reassures like seeing it in person. I had a hoot of a time (tree houses, pool, and fun, oh my!), but I was actually happy to be home once we finally got back (LOTS o driving!!). I'm finally okay with this house being our home now.

And lately I've been counting everything I can get my hands on. I can count all the way to 30, but I unless I really focus I don't always get the orders right. So when I'm just playing it's not uncommon for me to count & count & count a bunch of things and then exclaim with great satisfaction: Mommy, I counted all the way to ELEVEN! The truth of course is that I counted about 57 things, but I ended up saying eleven last, so that's what I counted to.

Elliot finally popped his first tooth out the other day, but you know those cute front teeth in the middle on the top & bottom that usually come out first? Well those are still snuggled in his gums it's one of the next set on top that has made it's debut, prompting mom (that's what I call her lately) to theorize that the other 5 (3 on top & 2 on the bottom) will be out in a hurry to balance things out. We'll see if she's right. Elliot is also cruising all around holding onto furniture (stable and not-so-stable). He can get from one room to the next faster than mommy can keep up.

Gotta git,
Gavin

Counting

2008-07-18T22:00:00.000-07:00

Ao, lately I've been counting everything I can get my hands on. I can count all the way to 30, but I unless I really focus I don't always get the order right. So when I'm just playing it's not uncommon for me to count & count & count a bunch of things and then exclaim with great satisfaction: Mommy, I counted all the way to ELEVEN! The truth of course is that I counted about 57 things, but I ended up saying eleven last, so that's what I counted to.

Little Nipper News

2008-07-08T12:45:00.000-07:00

Well, it's about that time again. I'm now five months old and I have lots to tell you.

June 4th: I'm rolling all over the place these days. I like to be on the floor, but it's pointless to try to keep me on a blanket.
June 15th: Well enough of that rolling already, I'm crawling...not too fast yet, but I'll get there. I get frustrated being in anything that confines me; I want to be on the floor!
July 7: Getting around pretty well these days and actually learning the official crawling motion.

So there you have my locomotion update. I don't have any teeth yet, but I drool lots. Mom & dad will be sad when I get some b/c these days I make the silliest toothless-guy face by sucking my lips completely into my mouth: guaranteed laugh. I do eat solid food now, and boy can I wolf it down! The first couple weeks I wasn't so sure, but heaven help her if mom forgets a meal these days!

I'm almost sleeping through the night. I usually get up around 4 am for a little snack. It's tough b/c as lovely as our house is, it is old and sound is hard to contain. So, when Gavin is awake, I am awake and vice versa. So if I were to make a big stink in the middle of the night that would wake the dreaded middle-of-the-night Gavin who is quite (QUITE) hard to deal with. Anyway, we'll get there...

I am still a remarkably jolly fellow. When I get really giddy (tired) I can screech my head off in a very happy way; that's always sure to get some smiles of appreciation from the big people. I think Gavin knows I'm just showing off.

Speaking of that brute, we are getting along famously. He likes to give me hugs and kisses (still supervised, of course) and I will take what attention I can get from him. Things get pretty boring when he's taking a nap or otherwise engaged. I love to study all his moves. As infants go, I'm pretty gentle with him. I haven't snagged his hair yet or poked his eyes, so he likes to be around me.

Here are some funny stuff that Gavin has been saying lately:
Sunscreen: sunscream
Earth: erf. Especially cute when listed w/ the other planets: Mercury, Venus, Erf, Mars, Jupiter...etc I guess we are erflings :o)
I don't want to: I can't want to
Microwave: microphone
squish: fwoosh
Ferris wheel: fan with boats on it
Chapstick: whips medicine
Booger: burger...wonder what he thinks a cheeseburger is ... eeeeeewww!

And he sings ALL THE TIME! And he likes to listen to the same music over & over & over. We are currently trying to expand his horizons as we are all about to go nuts.

He's been sounding words out; his mistakes can be pretty hilarious. He really is getting the whole phonics thing, but he doesn't know all the rules, so some words really throw him for a loop. Contrary to what one might assume, there is no 'school time' mom just works learning moments in during the day. Probably works better for Gav since he doesn't sit still much.

Well, better stop before everyone just deletes this for being too long...may be past that point already.
Hope all of you are doing well.
Elliot

Public Service Announcement from Gavin

2008-05-22T13:19:00.000-07:00

Public Service Announcement: "Moving is not the same as vacation."
For general broadcast. Please pass on to anyone and everyone you know, so no one gets the rude awakening that I did.

Okay, I'm just going to get it out there: I miss Baton Rouge!!! I didn't even know what missing something meant til mommy explained it, but I sure was feeling it! Don't get me wrong, I've had some rockin' times already here in the big city, but it was rough to leave the only home I've ever known and all the familiar sights, friends & family. The first couple weeks were okay, because I thought it was pretty cool to be in a new place: nothing like having hours of exploring each day. But, after I checked everything out, I was pretty ready to head home. That's when mom dropped the bomb. She began to explain in a very soothing voice that the "other home" I kept asking for wasn't there anymore. Well the structure was, but there were no bed, no food, no toys, no nothing. AND it was REALLY far away and I wouldn't want to do all that driving for an empty ole house. I'm still getting over that one. So anyway, the lesson here is that if you go on vacation you get to go home. If you move you get to redefine home and that's not nearly as fun as vacation.

Now that that's out there, on with the update :o). I announced today that I love Elliot. Okay, I was probably going for the cuteness/sweetness points a little, but he really is pretty cool. The other day when we were riding side-by-side in our double stroller he reached over and touched my arm (just exploring, mommy explained). I thought that was pretty cool, so I held his hand for a while and it seemed to help both of us chill out a bit. When he wanted his hand back I held his foot. He grins whenever he sees me and that means that I'm pretty much a rock star, right? --So he grins at everything, but I like the interaction.

I'm almost back into the groove of reading a zillion books everyday, but mom has gotten so many cool things for me to do that I have lots of choices now: chalk on the board inside, chalk on the driveway, paints, coloring books, bubbles, water (outside!), gardening (tomatoes and peppers) and even some movies (I would watch them all day everyday, but mom puts the skids on that). She also hung my maps up (finally!!) so I like to hang out in my room and quiz mommy on the names of the states & countries.

Unfortunately, our run of perfect health hit a bump lately (colds & such), but Elliot seems to be chugging right along. He's just about 4 months old and weighs somewhere around 15 pounds. He can hold toys now (which helps b/c he's teething), but mom still won't let me give him any toys (especially after I tried to pile all my blocks on him while he was swinging). She doesn't let me help much, actually. A couple times I've given him his pacifier when he was fussing and I've even tried to give him some milk or some of my food, but mom won't play along!! Well, she didn't mind the help with the pacifier too much, but she doesn't want me to get in the habit of putting stuff in his mouth. Hhh! She's a worry wart!

Well, I'm sure you good people have lots of better things to be doing, so get to it! :o) Elliot will be checking in soon.

The reluctant Texan,
Gavin

2008-04-23T13:34:00.000-07:00

Howdy, Elliot here. So I was doing some snooping around and it occurred to me that I have some catching up to do. By the time Gavin was this age he had already taken the reins from mom and was updating you himself. I certainly can't let him keep updating on my behalf. So I think we've worked out a deal: we're going to take turns. We may mention a thing or two about the other, but we will be responsible for our own updates. So here goes:

I'm almost 3 months old and we have no idea how much I weigh or my official length because tho we live mere miles from Houston's world class medical center (home to umpteen hospitals, clinics, specialists, experts, etc.), we don't have doctor yet. Hhhh! Someone must have their priorities all goofy...or else we have been blessed with exceptionally good heath and it hasn't been an issue. Hmm. Anyway, aside from good health, I laugh--a lot. (Hey! Maybe they are connected.) No really, I laugh at the drop of a hat or a little tickle to the ribs, or a big grin from daddy or the removal of a sleeve. Okay, that sounds weird, but that's really one of the silliest things out there: getting undressed. And it's not the nude factor either, it's really the action of having my arm pried out of my sleeve; it's a hoot! Anyway, I have a pretty deep voice and chuckling charms mommy instantaneously. I really like bath time too which is progress because I hated the first couple (probably because the water was chilly; winter is a great time to use warm water for baths). Okay, so maybe I do like having my clothes off; what boy doesn't??

So we've been to the zoo here a couple times. Mom bought a membership. I pretty much sleep the whole time except for when the chimpanzees wake me up. Yes, I was talking about the ones in the cages. Mom & Gavin are loud and feel the need to talk about every living, breathing thing in the zoo, but they usually keep it reasonable. The chimps, on the other hand, are very rude. Of course Gav thinks that is super cool, so we have to go see them.

Looks like I'm going to be a thumb sucker eventually in spite of mom's best efforts to prevent it. I will not be deterred from the thumb! I might just be teething and that is the only thing to chew on, but if so, mom is in denial about that. We shall see. I also may keep my brown coiffure. Mom is skeptical since the brown would be from her side and even she was blond as a little girl. Of course she has no problem taking credit for my long dark eyelashes.

Well, I'd better go. I need to give mommy some attention and Gavin will be up from his nap soon. I'm sure he'll shout "Elliot's awake" in my face a few times and then go on and to do whatever it is that he does (he's very into playdough right now even tho it is a 3+ years toy). I think he's waiting for me to talk back before he decides to say something new to me. --It's going to be a long year unless I learn some baby signs!!

Let me (us) hear from you! Mom always enjoys getting updated from all of you!

Peace,
Elliot

PS: Try that sleeve thing and let me know if you thing it's as hilarious as I do.

Look out Big Tex

2008-03-18T16:56:00.000-07:00

Well daddy's gone and done it now! He got a big bad job in Houston, so we are moving to Texas. I understand the whole moving bit about as much as I understood the big brother gig, but I guess I'll just roll with it. As you can imagine, daddy is heartbroken to be moving back to his home state (I think he JUST stopped comparing everything in Louisiana to Texas...oh wait, he still does that...). Mommy's excited, too, but we are all sad about leaving friends & family behind in Baton Rouge. So that just means they will have to give in to the pressure and move to TX, too. :o) The good thing is that we already know several families in Houston and San Antonio (daddy's hometown); we are looking forward to spending more time with them.

We took a house hunting trip this past weekend. That was a lot of fun...about 20 hours of car time for me and my compadres. I think mom and dad were considering tranquilizers or heavy drinking by the time we got back to BR. I really don't know why they kept telling me not to make so much noise--Elliot didn't even wake up until I finally went to sleep (1/2 hour before we got home); I needed a rest after 9 1/2 hours of chattering and no nap. Anyway, we've almost got a place to live, just a few more details to iron out.

As for other stuff going on around here. Elliot is smiling and cooing, but that's about it. Oh wait, he's losing his hair, too. We're pretty sure he'll eventually be blonde and blue just like me. He slept through the night last night, but mom's pretty skeptical about that being a consistent thing yet; we'll keep you posted. He's also fattening up nicely-- hmm, sounds like I plan to eat him. I don't. In fact I'm really getting used to having him around. I make sure to let mommy know when he's awake, and I do my part to make sure he's awake most of the time by playing noisily nearby. I'm two years old now and don't you forget it!

I am enjoying playing with all the stuff mommy finds while she's packing; it's like Christmas every day! It's also nice to be able to spend lots of time outside again. The weather has been delightful, but that reminds me that we are praying hard for a yard with lots of shade in Houston. We have lots here and I'm afraid I'm quite spoiled by that! --Not to mention I'm rather fair skinned, so shade is a necessity!! Other than that I'm talking a lot these days. I've been using sentences for a while, but I'm starting answer questions better and I'm remembering so much from day to day and even week to week. That's fun when mommy wants to talk about how our great trip to the zoo last week, but not so much when I keep bugging her for more candy long after it's gone. I really like to talk things over after the fact, so if we go to visit someone and have lots of fun I'll make sure we discuss that on the way home. It's pretty cool that I can let mom & dad know which things I enjoyed the most. Much of the time it sounds something like this: Nana n' Poppa n' Zane n' Jael n playin' n' toys n' have fun n' ____ (fill in the blank w/ something specific we ate or played with). Pretty much just a string of names and phrases but they know what I mean. :o)

Well, anyway, you'll hear from me soon about how all this Texas business shakes out. Hope all of you are well!

Gavin

Soldiering On

2008-02-22T17:38:00.000-08:00

Hi everyone,
Well, I THOUGHT one of the advantages of being a big bro would be a little relief from the writing assignments! I know, you thought I waxed witty of my own accord, but it's all been due to mommy's insistent prodding. Well, it's out there now... Anyway, no help from the little nipper; all he does is eat, sleep and poop. Oh, and fuss if any of those things are not done in the most expedient fashion. So you're now subscribed to the big brother chronicles (PLEASE let me know if you are tired of me clogging your mailbox!!).

So here is how it went down: Mom and dad woke me up obnoxiously early one winter morning a few weeks ago. Nana & Papa swooped in and took me to their house for the whole weekend. That ROCKED! Our lovely visit was interrupted by a trip to the hospital where mom and dad were (???). They looked okay, tired but happy, but I knew something was up when everyone started oooh-ing and aaah-ing over a little tiny stranger. I couldn't figure out who he belonged to...everybody was talking at once and I heard mommy sweetly say something about a new baby brother, but I got the point: there was a smaller, cuter, higher maintenance sheriff in town. It was time to throw a fit!

A couple days later Nana and Aunt Jael brought me home. I was pretty pumped to see mom and dad; and since we were at home I assumed all was back to normal. Then I saw him. He was snuggled up in a frilly little bed in my living room. And really that would have been okay, but then mommy took him out and I realized it was the same little impostor from the hospital incident! That was too much for me: I hadn't had a nap yet, I really wanted everything to be back to normal...I am ashamed to admit to you that I dissolved into tears and the strongest thing I could think to say was "Put it back!!" I know those sound like fightin' words, but coming from a helpless emotional toddler, it just made my parents sad and it didn't impact that tiny new creature whatsoever.

Fast forward a few days and things are going much better. I've resigned myself to this new standard of living, but I'm voting for Hillary just in case there is a chance I could be the center of the universe again. In the mean time I'm acting up a bit less and taking a few minutes each day to sit next to my baby brother and make sure he still has two eyes, a mouth, cheeks, fingers and toes, etc. I really don't mind him too much, in fact I'm starting to like him; I just don't want to share much mom/dad time with him. Unfortunately, there is no negotiating with a 3-week old.

Aside from all that commotion, I'm still in memorization mode. Songs are a good option for when mom doesn't have a hand free (feeding Elliot). And they are also daddy's speciality, so I practice with mom and perfect with dad :o). Someone suggested teaching me the bones and muscles of the human body (look out med school), and I'm game, but that would mean mommy would have to learn something new, too. Not sure how well that will work out. And after learning the sounds letters make at Nana's house, I think I've almost convinced mom to teach me how to read. She keeps protesting she's on some sort of maternity leave (???). Doesn't she know that doesn't apply to moms? ...Maybe I shouldn't vote for Hillary after all.

The update on Elliot is that he's getting fat & sassy. ...Who wouldn't after eating 10X per day? He weighed over 9 pounds at his 2-week check up and all the possible concerns (pylectasis, beta strep, hyperthyroidism, etc.) checked out fine. He still has his head full of fuzzy dark brown hair, so he might not end up as bald as I was, and it appears his eyes may stay blue, just like mine. He's not even close to sleeping through the night (altho he goes 5 hours every now and then), but that only bothers mom and dad because I sleep right through nighttime feedings.

Okay, well I'd better get back to being a big brother. Hope you all are doing well.

Gav

I'm Two!

2008-01-19T18:04:00.000-08:00

Hi Everyone!
It's been a while, but things have been wild! On Thanksgiving Day daddy hurt his knee & had to have surgery a few weeks later, so mommy and I were pretty busy making him breakfast in bed and bringing him pain medicine. Okay, well that was only for a few days after surgery, but he was on crutches for a while which was a little hard for me to get used to. You try going cold turkey when you are used to a daily rough-housing session!! He's much better now and life is returning to normal which helps me act a lot nicer, sleep better, and eat more.

In spite of the crutches we had a wonderful Christmas and I enjoyed the prolonged present opening season since my birthday is just a couple weeks after. I don't know if you remember being two years old, but there is no such thing as a bad gift; they are all a blast: books, basketballs, cars, golf clubs, puzzles.

Somewhere in the past couple months I learned how to to sing my ABCs, Twinkle Twinkle (sounds more like kwinkle kwinkle) and a couple other songs which is really cute. I'm mastering the numbers between 10 and 20. Mom and dad say it gets a lot easier once you learn those. I also got a super cool map of the USA for my birthday. It's on the wall in my bedroom and is one of my favorite things to study these days. Several times a day I sweetly pull mommy toward my room saying "Map! Map! Map! United States! Hawaii! Arizona! California! Ohio!" Speaking of Ohio...you know I can't resist a shout out for my LSU Tigers! Geaux Tigers!

Since I'm on a roll learning stuff, mom has started teaching me what the logos on cars mean. She's a little tired these days (you should see her HUGE belly!), so she couldn't come up with something more useful to teach me. Anyway, it makes riding in the car a lot more entertaining. As we are cruising along I can stay busy naming all the cars passing by: Ford, Chevy, Mitsubishi ('bishi), Volkswagen, BMW, Ford, Scion...etc. Maybe we should get a world map on my wall...

So, about that huge belly. Mom & dad have been telling me a there is a baby in there. Lately I've been saying "baby soon" whenever we talk about it, so I think they might finally believe that I know a bit about what's going on. We are all pretty excited about meeting our new little addition. I'll be sure to send out pictures of him next time I write.

Well, I'm sure I'm forgetting lots, but you get the idea: I'm doing well and enjoying lots of new stuff. Hope you are doing the same!!

Soon to be big brother,
Gavin

A boy ahoy!

2007-10-11T18:07:00.000-07:00

Hey Y'all,
Exciting times around here. We found out right after the last email I sent that I'm getting a brother! I don't have much of an idea about what that means, but mom's pretty sure I'll enjoy it. I've started saying 'hi baby' to mommy's growing tummy, but that's just b/c she tells me to. She and daddy are excited about having another boy because I've been such a blast so far--and there is the added bonus that they can reuse all the stuff I didn't wear out.

Other than breathless anticipation of my baby bro's arrival, I like making letters by eating bits off pretzels. I love to count, but I still need a little help to get the order right most of the time. I enjoy practicing my letters and I've learned a couple of their lower case friends. The weather has finally cooled down a tiny bit, so I'm outside a lot. Mommy & I go for walks almost every day and that is a good time for me to kick back and chill in my stroller.

Oh, and I should mention that I was snoozing when the LSU Tigers finally beat the Florida Gators and became NUMBER ONE IN THE NATION, but you better believe I got a some good "Geaux Tigers" in before I was sent to bed. I need to get some tiger garb for the rest of the season...can't be their loudest little fan w/o some respectable Tiger-wear.

Well, y'all take it easy! Enjoy some crisp fall weather for me :o).
Go Tigers!
Gavin

2007-08-21T18:09:00.000-07:00

Wow! I guess I took the summer off without meaning to. Well, I'm still here and enjoying my 19th month. The early part of the summer was very pleasant: warm, but not oppressive. These last few weeks have been wretchedly hot, so much so that I actually come indoors on my own sometimes! From what the weatherman says we're not the only ones roasting, though. I guess it will cool down in a couple months.

So, I've made it my business to learn lots of words as well as letters, colors, numbers & shapes. It's really cool because they are everywhere: in books, on cereal boxes, on signs outside...so I can practice wherever I am. We just took a trip to the Smoky Mountains and you might say it was a bit if a working vacation for me because I added to my repertoire of knowledge: I only have a handful of letters yet to learn, I know 5 different shapes, a few colors, and the numbers 1-9! I know lots of new words too, the only trouble is that mommy can't remember what they all mean: try-tul means triangle, not turtle! We'll work on annunciation next ;o).

But enough about business, I've been having a really great summer. I mostly like to be outside still. I hit golf balls with some of daddy's old clubs. I also love to ride my tricycle (altho I still don't use the pedals). I also like to find weird things in the yard and bring them to mommy: leaves, bugs, dirt etc. We had a bumper crop of figs last month and I really enjoyed helping with the harvest. Our yard is covered with muskadines this week and somehow I've resisted eating them even tho they look exactly like purple grapes. Mom & I also take walks a lot; I love to point out all the flags, trash cans, dogs and squirrels, but the best part is when we play at the park after the walks. I've also been saying hi to everyone in the store lately, and not just once, I say it over and over because most people think it's funny, even cute ;o).

I've also been experimenting a little with using the potty. Mommy thinks it's a little early so we're taking it slow, but who knows maybe I can get that out of the way before I have big brother duties. Oh! Did I forget to mention that before? Well, I guess it's out there now: I'm going to have a little brother or sister soon! His/her ETA is late January, but I'm hoping for early February so I don't have to share my birthday month :o). Either way, we are all excited about another little one on the way.

Well, this is far from a complete update, but it will have to do for now. I hope all of you are doing well; we think of you often. I'm attaching some pictures, but it's hard to top the ones from last time ;o). Let me hear from you!
Gav

SWEET Sixteen

2007-05-08T18:28:00.000-07:00

Hey all y'all!

How's every little thing?? I'm great! Some really (REALLY) cool friends just gave me a car...I know, we couldn't believe it either. Well, okay, it's more for mommy, but the bottom line is that we aren't confined to home all day, every day, every week, every month, every year...I'm getting a little carried away, but you get the idea. We have had one car as long as I can remember, and really, I was fine with that (hey, it was all I knew), but now that we can get around I don't think I could go back. We go to the park, we hang out with friends more during the day, we are even scheduled to go visit some baby goats soon; it's very exciting!

I'm talking quite a bit these days, still no sentences (unless "Thank you!" counts), but I like to practice all my words. When I'm reading books I love to name off all the things that I know -- even if no one is listening. I also copy mommy/daddy's silly inflections, so I don't just say 'gourd,' but rather ...."GOOOOUUURRRD!!!!" in a full-throated growl voice. (If you've never seen Veggie Tale books that might sound a little strange: a wee little boy like me learning the word gourd, but it's nothing weird. I promise!) Speaking of veggies, they are some of my favorite things to eat AND drink! I love all sorts of veggies (especially tomatoes and broccoli) and V8 is one of the best ways to get me to take my vitamins. Mommy hopes that continues into adulthood; she wishes she loved V8 as much as I do. Na na na boo boo! ;o)

So swimming season is back and better than ever!! I have a little slide (affectionately called "wee!") that plunks me right into the water: what a blast!! I pretty much just jump around, splash, screech and holler until it's time to go inside, and then, needless to say, I'm exhausted.

For those of you who don't know, Baton Rouge has ever-present road construction and lately that has been in my FRONT YARD! Whoopee!! There are backhoes, dump trucks, bulldozers, piles of sand...it's little boy heaven!! On the weekends and evenings daddy takes me to slide on the sand pile, but during the day they are working like crazy, so I can't go past "the tree." I have to just watch: I wave my arms around and yell as much as I want and lots of times those tractors & trucks will honk for me. It's sooo cool!

Well, that's it for now. I'm attaching a picture of me in my Sunday-go-to-meetin' clothes altho, it wasn't Sunday and there wasn't a meeting when I wore them. And I know, I've heard it all: I look like a politician, a frat boy, a little boy off to boarding school in the 1950s...whatever...the bottom line is that I look CUTE! ;o) HA! Just for fun...if I was running for office I'd promise: swimming year-round; playing only in construction sites; and V8 for all!!

I always love to hear from all of you!

-Gavin for President

Checking in at almost 15 months

2007-03-27T18:36:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone!

You haven't heard from me in a little while, but I'd better not catch you thinking that's because not much is going on with me!! Life is getting VERY exciting! I've started running from place to place. That's especially fun outside, altho my increased velocity still doesn't help me catch the birdies; and it looks very much like I'm about to tip over at every step. I love helping mommy wash the car; puddles are sooooo much fun to stomp.

Mom and dad's latest project is training me not to fling my cup on the floor and to resist sweeping all my food off my highchair tray. I sometimes pretend not to know what they are talking about, but I probably could have been trained not to do that a few months ago. It really only took one day of concentrated training & now I almost never throw anything from my highchair :o). They are also teaching me to tell them when I'm all done instead of fussing. Sometimes I'm just so tired tho; I don't feel like talking!

My vocab has exploded! Car is one of my favorite words, I make sure mommy asks a few times and then out it pops with much gusto: Car! I also say tractor, shoes, see, birdie, flower (sounds like wowah...very cute ;o), yuck (for ant hills and garbage cans outside), broom, down, night night, cheese, book, and I say my name (altho it sounds a whole lot like dada). I love learning about letters and numbers; my favorites are 3, c, t, g, ...really anything with that "ee" sound at the end :o). I can also say 'arf' like a dog and 'ooh ooh ah ah' like a monkey :o). I get very excited when anyone mentions a bath or outside. And I like to pick flowers with daddy (to give to mommy, of course).

I've started giving very good hugs and with a little more practice I'll be giving kisses. I also like to give little love squeezes when I can't give a full hug. For example, if mommy is reading to me and I don't want to turn all the way around to throw my arms around her neck, I'll just hold her forearm and give it a little squeeze to let her know I like how she's reading to me. Creative right?

I also like to put things in & out and on & off, like putting a golf ball in a measuring cup or trying to put lid back on the peanut butter (whoops! don't tell mommy!!). I have a little trouble sometimes, which often leads to loud protests on my part; it's just so frustrating when things don't cooperate with my cute little fingers. Does that ever happen to y'all?

Some of my favorite things to eat are peanut butter sandwiches, apples, bananas, peas, broccoli, green beans, cheese cubes, and crackers. My absolute favorite is pizza...I can put a hurtin' on some pizza!! I love to say "mmm mmm mmm!" when I'm eating. Mommy & daddy will usually join in for even more fun!

Okay, better go. I guess I shouldn't let so much time go by between updates... this is really long!

Gavin

Lucky 13

2007-02-09T18:39:00.000-08:00

It's been a busy month! I'm 13 months old! hope all of you are enjoying 2007 as much as I am! I was thinking about decreasing the frequency of my updates to every quarter or something like that, but way too much went on this month not to give you the latest.

My vocabulary has exploded which leads to greater communication with the big people, but also great frustration/annoyance when they just can't get it. Apparently they don't always understand my sophisticated pronunciation of words. I mean, ball, bear, bye bye, bath, blanket, balloon and bite all start with the 'b' sound, so just b/c I say 'ba' doesn't mean that I want a ball EVERY time! One handy tool is my index finger: if I point and say "diss!" they get it! :o) I also say thank you, juice, milk, down, more and a few other things. They have been trying to teach me how to say pea, because I'm always happy to devour as many as they give me, but, really, they look just like balls, so why confuse the issue with extraneous words!? I've even said something resembling I love you once, but my preferred method of communicating affection is still the full-contact tackle.

Well the big news this month is that I no longer have the soothing company of my precious nunu (pacifier). I guess it got tired of me because it started to sprout holes...and then one day the entire end fell off! (I think mommy had something to do with those developments.) Anyway, a nunu with a hole just doesn't do the trick, so I decided to send it off to nunu paradise (with an indignant sound & a shove). I admit, my attitude wasn't always the best, but hey, it was a big sacrifice! Sleeping was tough for about a week, which made pretty much the whole day rough b/c I was tired & cranky. Anyway, glad that's over. I'm completely back to my normal self now except that I take only one nap each day instead of two.

So my latest feats of superhuman abilities include climbing up everything. I get down safe and sound most of the time, but believe me, it isn't as easy as it looks to climb the furniture. I'm thinking about getting some ropes and special foot wear to give me an edge out there. Do they make climbing harnesses for 25-30 pounders?

And now for the injury report: I had a lot of head bumps this month, many due to climbing adventures. The most dramatic wound came in a battle with my play house. I was attempting an especially gutsy move when I lost my grip and busted my lip open. I handled it with class (normal amount of crying), but mommy freaked out and rather than comforting me (hellOO? that's what mommies do!) she starting making frantic phone calls: first daddy then the doctor then daddy again. All the while there was this weird taste in my mouth. Anyway, very mysterious behavior, but when she ascertained that the bleeding had stopped she calmed down considerably. I had a fat lip for a day; that was pretty cool; one can always be proud of battle wounds :o}.

So I play on my own a lot, b/c mommy has stuff to do during the day. Most of the time she can hear me playing, so even if I'm in the other room she knows that I'm okay. My favorite noisy toys play music. :o) However, I think most moms know that when it gets quiet it's time to get worried. Most kids would be prying open the peanut butter or testing the electric sockets with a paper clip, right? Not me! It never fails: I get quiet, mommy jumps up to check on me ... only to find me snuggled in my room reading my books. Okay, okay, before you peg me as a nerd...remember the battle wounds! I've got brawn AND brains!!

Well, I have a couple more teeth...molars. It's tough to show them off b/c they are so far into my mouth. The work great for eating!

I guess that's about it. Talk to all y'all soon!

Happy New Year! Happy Birthday!

2007-01-12T18:44:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year!! I hope all of you had a great Christmas and that this new year is the best ever! Speaking for myself: Christmas is ...wondrous and crazy and busy and FUN!! I have a whole new set of toys, I got to eat cool stuff and play with grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, friends (old and new) and even doggies (more on that later). It was all a little overwhelming & honestly, I'm having a little trouble adjusting back to normal life! So where do I start? Well, we'll go with the abridged version or else I will have to pay you all overtime to read this. I got to open one gift on Christmas Eve and of course that was a bit traumatic b/c under normal circumstances it is a big no-no to rip paper...with minimal encouragement I got used to the idea ;o). Next we listened to Amahl and the Night Visitors. Yes, that is an opera and no my parents aren't nuts. ;o) Mommy's family had a tradition of listening to a recording of Amahl every year and so we decided to follow suit. Mommy made a couple small changes: she used a CD (rather than the cassette from the dinosaur ages) and she got a picture book so we can read along as we listened to the singing...and good thing, b/c it's really tough to understand what the words are with all that vibrato & drama!! Mommy was learning right along with me even tho she's heard the opera countless times :o). Anyway, even if you don't understand every single word, Amahl is a nice way to remember what Christmas is all about. I'm not sure how much I understand now, but I'm sure mommy & daddy will keep teaching me about Jesus and Christmas...I think they may still be learning themselves. :o)

Ok, so then came Christmas morning, which was sheer madness: I would have been completely happy to play with the new toys I got the night before, but there were several more gifts to tear into that morning...and even more later in the day when family came over. I barely had time to taste everything!! (Uh huh, everything STILL goes straight to my mouth for chewability testing.) Then mommy went crazy cooking and setting out the nice china and for a little bit everyone was scurrying around getting ready for a big meal. And then...I went to bed. Yup, I was snoozing it up while everyone ate. Well, really what would you do? I got upstaged by some toasted bird and squished up cranberries!! Pshhaw! Where's the fun in that??

The day after Christmas we left on a huge world tour...well really we just went to Texas, but we drove forEVER to get there! I was really good, and had so much fun with the friends & family we saw over there. Oh, yeah, and I got even MORE presents on our trip.

So I'm not quite running yet, I mostly do the cowboy stomp. That is small, quick steps with feet raised and legs wide: produces loud noises inside (esp on hardwood floor) and is a very effective mode of transportation in tallish grass. Additional perk: looks very cute & endears me to the public (wink). I just started climbing everything: very scary time for mommy. I also have a few more new words: I say bye bye and nana can mean night-night or Nana (grandma Wheeler); as you can imagine those meanings are both very popular. I also say baba for bottle (sometimes) and I love to try to copy lots of different words, but I don't really know what they mean. And I even try to sing my ABCs (I still need to learn the names of the letters, tho ;o).

Speaking of Nana, she got a new puppy and brought him to visit me for Christmas! I like petting and chasing him. It's much better than visiting the puppies at the pet store...and mommy isn't so tempted to get me a puppy since I can play with Nana's now. I also got to play with a little doggie (Emma) in Texas; she was a LOT of fun!

Well the big day was Tuesday: I'm 1 year old!!! We had a costume party with pizza (yum!) and cake and ice cream (yum yum!!). I dressed up as a dinosaur (rrrrrrrrrrraaaaaaarrrr!) and my cousin Leighton dressed up as a giraffe; the adults were party poopers and didn't dress up at all. We had to take the costumes off eventually because we aren't supposed to get food all over them. I got a whole new batch of presents even though I've barely gotten the ones from Christmas out of their boxes! I was a bit dazed because I missed my afternoon nap, but that didn't prevent me from flinging bits of pizza and cake all over; making sure much of the frosting ended up in my hair; and wrestling with Leighton over my new toys. I think we should have birthday parties everyday!

Well I'll sign off with the statistical bit: I have 12 teeth (molars are on their way), I'm 33 inches tall (100th percentile) and I weigh just over 25 lb.s (80th percentile). I went to the doctor today, and she said she can't remember seeing a kid my age with so many teeth! :o) The good news is that after this set of molars come through I have only one more set...I guess then my teeth will start falling out, but maybe, just maybe I will get a break from teething!

Much love and best wishes for the new year!!
Gav