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

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!!

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!!

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--

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!

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

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!

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

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

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

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

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!

Deadbeat Blogger...

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