Fall is fun!

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

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