February Favorites

The month in pictures...

Unfortunately this month my normally healthy family dealt with a bout of sickness that lasted for about 2 weeks. Everyone is now feeling much better. In this picture of Aaron with a rash-y face, it doesn't appear that he was bothered at all. (The rash did go away as soon as the pediatrician told me to stop treating it.)

The Return of the Rice Toy
This homemade toy filled with rice, beans, trucks, and measuring implements has finally come back into circulation. After several cold days, we needed some new activities so I pulled it out with strict orders for Aaron not to eat anything. The boys played for quite awhile before he disobeyed and the Rice Toy had to be put away, but I think it might be able to stay in the cold/rainy day rotation now. Please note Elliott sticking out his tongue while he measures. I wonder where it gets that from?

"Excuse me, Mr. Cheese?"
We finally made our first trip to Chuck E Cheese to celebrate cousin Sophia's birthday. Elliott was quite excited to meet ChuckE and wanted to get a hug from the giant mouse. He was very polite, using only one finger to tap on ChuckE's costume, and did, in fact, get his hug.

Boys and Guns
Elliott wanted to play the shooting game, and of course his daddy was game. In fact, this picture reminds me of a recent outing to the bowling alley and arcade where Matt and our friend Chris could be found in a similar pose.

"Nice to meet you, Bob."
Aaron is not yet walking, so ChuckECheese was a hard place for the little guy. He desperately wanted to be down on the floor, but it was quite crowded and not the time to explore on his hands and knees. I did, however, find that he enjoyed the moving Bob the Builder ride. So I snagged some of Elliott's tokens and kept Bob going until someone else wanted a ride.

My boys

Boys and their bathroom breaks

Elliott got his first Highlights Magazine the mail today. It's a Christmas present from Gigi. The first thing he said was, "Now I have a magazine to read while I'm pooping!"

Milestones

Sharing a bit of my journal from January 7, 2009...

What a fun but bittersweet day. Aaron started standing up on his own today. He tried so hard to get into a standing position without help, and he was so proud of his accomplishment. We also went to storytime at the library today for the first time in probably a year. I was amazed at how well Elliott did, even when I had to take Aaron out (reminiscent of his big brother who was also unable to make it through the whole program). But not today. Today Elliott sat on the rug up in front and participated in all of the songs and did the hand motions to "Where is Thumbkin" and other songs that a year ago he could not do. I was thinking about how much he has changed in the past year. I remembered taking him to storytime and how my sweet little boy with the long blond hair sat on my lap, and I helped him with the hand motions. Now he is doing them on his own. The time sure does go by quickly. So I will continue to enjoy my fast-growing boys and thank God that I can stay at home with them and see all of these fun changes. And I hope that I will pay attention and not miss a minute of it.
I was sure that since I had already written this once, I wouldn't tear up this time. I was wrong. Now I must go find a tissue...

Look, Mom, no hands!

Mean Face

This is Elliott doing his "mean face." It's really more of a toothy smile accompanied by a growl. It is hilarious to see this kind-hearted child try to make a mean face!

Peppermint Stick

Elliott joined his class at school in their Christmas program this year. They sang several songs and did a couple of rhymes. Here is one of his practice sessions at home. The words are:

I took a lick of my peppermint stick
and was it ever yummy.
It used to be on my Christmas tree
but now it's in my tummy!

Fun Pictures from December

Elliott and his buddy Caleb are ready to work. The first thing Caleb does when entering our house is find the toolbelt in E's workshop. This time he brought his to share so they could both be workers.

Elliott drinking his hot chocolate and enjoying the cookies he decorated. This is before he discovered a passion for fudge, which he could be seen eating at every family function during Christmas.

Is Mom really going to let me eat this??? It has icing! And sprinkles!

We don't call him "Rock Star" for nothing!

Aunt Mandy gave Elliott his very own shaving kit complete with plastic razor and shaving cream. This was one of his favorite Christmas gifts, and he asks to "raze" almost daily. And of course after he's done you have to kiss his nice smooth cheek.