Newsletter: March 2011

Elliot - this month you turned 2 1/2-yrs-old and have become such a little guy.
You say such funny things like, "honey, honey, honey; oh man and silly goose." When we are driving and swerve to avoid a pothole you say, "oh be careful car."

The change in weather to spring has been so welcome. You love jumping in puddles! We have now invested in some rain boots just for this reason. As we walk the dog you like to run ahead and be first to jump in the puddles.

You have been sleeping kinda crappy lately getting up 1-3 times a night. And you are having a hard time falling asleep. If you could figure this out and get back to normal sleeping sometime soon, your daddy and I would really appreciate it.

And we are having another baby! Baby is due in August and you don't have a clue what we are talking about regarding this. We ask if you if you want to be a big brother and you say, "yes." And we ask you if we are having a brother or a sister and you always say, "sister". Since we aren't going to find out what we are having, we are wondering if you know something we don't?

Swim lessons are winding down and this week with the help of some flotation devices you were able to swim on your own. Such a big boy! And you were so proud of yourself once you realized what you were doing.

Some of my favorite times with you lately have been in the morning. Daddy is always up first then you get up and come into our bed to snuggle with me. You get under the covers and say, "I had a good sleep and I want snuggle." Granted this doesn't last longer than five-minutes but I will take what I can get.

Lastly, this month we purchased a minivan to accomadate our growing family. You think the sliding doors are magic and that they open only when you touch them. If I happen to push the magic button on my keys without you "opening" the door yourself, you have a total meltdown... Mr. Independent.

Love,

Mommy

At Lego Castle

Ady and Elliot - Then and Now

Elliot Teaching James How the Magnets Work

Serious Concentration

Caution!

Future Rocker?

Newsletter: February 2011

Elliot, I am writing this as more snow is falling. This has been a doozy of a winter and mostly too cold to even play outside in it. I wonder if you even remember what shorts, sandals and warm sunshine feel like? We all look as pasty as your t-shirt.

You are saying such funny things now like when daddy leaves in the morning you say, "have a good day daddy, have a good Christmas." And when we say we are getting ready to go somewhere you say, "sounds good." "Please, please" is often heard - I think you are trying to say, "pretty please" but getting stuck.

You are also really into negotiating things like when we say it is time to get ready for bed or bath you say, "play five more minutes?" When getting into bed and we say, "pick out two books for us to read", you say,"read three books?"
The word "sorry" is confusing for you right now. You say it instead of "excuse me" when you want to get by somebody. And anytime you trip or stumble or drop something you say, "sorry mommy". We are working on it but for now it is a super common phrase in your vocab.

Successful pottys are still hit or miss. Sometimes you go and sometimes you don't. You still don't seem that interested in it...

Things I find myself saying to you recently, "don't put flashlight in humidifier", "don't eat dogfood", "don't unplug things from an outlet", "no you cannot have pancakes for every meal today".

Things you say to melt our hearts include, "I love you" and "I'm your baby."
How can we argue with that?

Love,

Mommy

Sneaking In to Wake Up Mommy

Super Bowl Excitment

Visiting friends in Green Bay - sitting in their chair. Rob and I have decided we will let him pick which team to cheer for as he gets older. Though Mommy must admit he looks pretty great in Green and Gold =)

Rocking...

Too Much Christmas?

Puzzles with Uncle Josh

The Fam Going for a Sleigh Ride

Newsletter: January 2011

Happy New Year Elliot!
We are suffering from severe cabin fever as it has been colder than heck out for the last several days. Luckily we have swim lessons and music class keeping us busy during the week and our weekends have been filled with spending time with friends playing and lots of kids.
At the kiddie pool you can now touch everywhere and love to bounce around. You also love to jump in on the count of three though, you often can't wait for three and jump on two!

Listening to you sing or talk in the car lately has been really fun. You can sing, "She Sells Seashells by the Sea Shore". Your little voice is so sweet. And you like to look for trains, buses, big trucks, diggers, etc., always observing your surroundings.

We have had two successful potty attempts in the past couple of weeks. Let's hope this is an upward trend! You like to talk about the potty a lot and are very interested in other people going. Pretending to wipe your butt in the bathroom while fully clothed is hilarious.

Putting together puzzles has become your favorite thing to do. We have several that you can put together all by yourself. Even though it seems that you have put them together 100 times, you still love to do it. It is fun to watch your brain figure them out.

Your language and reasoning continues to grow. You like to ask questions like, "how's that, better?", "how good?, what happened?" When we call your name now you say, "what?"

You are becoming so insistent on your independence. Demanding to do everything yourself like, putting the bread in the toaster, turning the microwave on and off, cutting your food, peeling a banana and taking your shoes off. Some days it feels like all we do is argue with you about what you can and cannot do. Feels like a preview to your teenage years when we will most likely argue about what you can and cannot do though under a very different context =)

Your personality is developing and changing and you are becoming such a big, little-guy.
Love you so much!

Mommy

Making Cookies with Grandpa Steve

Piano Lessons with Grandpa Rick

Grandma Bev Fits in the Tent Too!

Grin

Fun