This Halloween was monumental in that Elliott actually “got it”. I guess you could say “third time’s a charm!”. Several weeks before the big day I rummaged through his closet and determined that we could probably turn him into a funky clown or Bob the Builder without having to spend a lot of extra money on his costume. There was not a doubt in his mind that he wanted to be “Bob the Builder” when asked to choose between the two. We talked about Halloween for weeks before and he perfected his sweetest ”trick-or-treat” that was to be his ticket to lots and lots of candy goodness! He was so excited. I chose not to do a “trial run” with his costume fearing that the overalls and hat would not go over well the first time, much less a second time.
The day finally arrived! David was assigned the daunting task of trying to get Elliott to wear his costume. A few tears were shed, but in the end, the reminder of candy waiting to be eaten was a force too strong to reckon with. We won the battle and Elliott walked out of the house as the cutest little Bob the Builder I’ve ever seen!
The rest of the trick-or-treaters in our group were adorable! We were accompanied by superman (aka: Will), Kate as the cutest little chick-a-dee you’ve ever seen, Nadia as a dragon, Eli represented Home Depot in his orange builder outfit while Elliott stayed loyal to Lowe’s, Elijah the spider (who refused to wear his batman costume), and John Arthur the cowboy. Keeping with tradition we kicked off our annual Treats for Tots party in our old neighborhood. My mother-in-law still lives there and was kind enough to loan us her house for a few minutes.
Elliott and Kate shared a wagon this year!
All of the kids got the hang of it quickly!
We chatted with some of the best neighbors ever! (We miss them so much)
I just had to include this photo because of the scary guy headed right for Elliott. I didn’t even notice him at the time but when I went to edit the photo to make it lighter I saw him! Yikes!
After we’d done all the trick-or-treating we could handle we headed back to Nonnie’s house where she was hosting a grown-up party of her own. Elliott and David dove right into the veggie tray sitting on the table. Crazy cats! All of that candy loot and they choose broccoli! This picture was not staged…Elliott actually took a break from the bag of Skittles he was eating to munch on some broccoli! I wish I could take credit for his good eating habits, but this is just one more way that he is exactly like his daddy.
And just for fun…here are a few pictures from the Halloweens of the past!
While David was loading the dishwasher recently Elliott suggested that he put his book in too. David, being the great negotiator that he is, explained to Elliott that he might not want to do that because the book would get wet and he wouldn’t be able to read it anymore. Elliott agreed, saying “Yeah. It’s a dishwasher. It’s not a book washer!”
————————————————————————————————————————————-
We have a few favorite bedtime songs that we sing over and over again with Elliott. He almost never sings along with us, giving the impression that he doesn’t know the songs. He can recite books almost word for word after reading them just a few times so it occurred to me ask him to simply “fill in the blanks” to some of our favorite songs one night instead of asking him to “sing”. I began one of our favorite songs, Silent Night, and we were amazed by how well he knew the words…up until the point when he referred to Jesus as the “Holy invert” instead of the Holy infant!
—————————————————————————————————————————————
About a week before Halloween I began preparing Elliott for trick-or-treating by explaining to him that he would wear a costume, that his friends would all be wearing costumes, and that we were going to go up to other peoples’ front doors, knock, and say “TRICK OR TREAT!”. And, then he would get candy! He caught on quickly so we moved on. A few days later when I asked him to practice again, he pretended to knock on a door and let out a very confident “TRICKY TRUCK!”. Not quite right, but I told him he would probably get extra candy for being extra cute!
————————————————————————————————————————————–
While trick-or-treating Elliott saw an older boy dressed in this Elmo costume.
Beside himself with excitement, he exclaimed, “It’s Elmo!!! He’s got a boy inside him!”
————————————————————————————————————————————-
Sweet boy, you keep us laughing and you give us so much joy! We love you and all of the funny things you say!
A few weeks before we left for Florida my mom and I thought it would be fun to ride the train to Dallas to visit the Aquarium. We had been reading Curious George Visits the Aquarium in preparation for the big day and Elliott was so excited to go! Pair the aquarium with a real live train ride and we had one happy two-year-old. Realizing that we only had a few minutes to board the train, we sprinted from the parking lot into the train station, paid for our tickets, rode the elevator up one level, and made it onto the train within seconds of it leaving. Whew!
Once our hearts were done racing from the excitement of nearly missing the train we sat back and relaxed for the hour-long ride. Elliott snacked on crackers and Grandma read books to keep him entertained.
We looked out the windows and admired the scenery…or lack of it.
At last we made it!
As a result of a very scary experience with the birds at the zoo Elliott was cautious about feeding the birds from his hand, but he didn’t mind watching Grandma do it.
He loved the sloth that was just hanging out in the trees above the walkway. No cage…no need I suppose.
The crocodiles hiding in their cave were a big hit.
And, the sting rays were fun to look at.
My favorite were the tanks on the lower level with all of the sea life. We saw giant sea turtles, jellyfish, a whale, and even sharks!
I must admit that in the past I have grumbled and complained that the $20 admission fee to the aquarium seemed outrageous, but after visiting I can see the reasons for the pricey tickets. Everything about this place was amazing! The otters were playing, the penguins were swimming, the owls were flying, and the flamingos were sassing each other. They were so much more active than the animals at the zoo and they really seemed to love it there. The sheer beauty of the environment they have created for the animals was unlike anything I’ve ever seen. We felt like we were walking through a rain forest or like we were really under the sea.
After seeing all that we could see we headed back upstairs to the restaurant with a view. It was nearing Elliott’s normal nap time and he was beginning to act out. He was whining, refusing to eat, and he kept lying down on the floor in the middle of the restaurant. Strange. Nothing seemed to make him happy and I was growing frustrated with the situation. He told me that his “bottom hurt”. Thinking he must have a dirty diaper I took him to the restroom for a diaper change. But before I could even shut the door he let out a cry and threw up all over the floor…and me. I quickly apologized to all of the people staring at us in disgust and proceeded to find my way to a stall where I could gather my wits. I tried to explain to him what was happening to him and taught him how to lean over the toilet. I tried not to panic as I processed the fact that Elliott probably had a stomach bug, would probably be throwing up again, and that we were stranded in Dallas with 45 minutes until the next train would leave for Fort Worth. Perfect. I was dreading the hour-long train ride home and wishing that we had been just a few seconds later and been forced to drive to Dallas instead. Ugh!
My mom and I shoveled a few more bites of our lunch into our mouths and I managed to clean my shirt off enough to avoid having to purchase a tacky DWA t-shirt in the gift shop. Elliott fell asleep in his stroller before we even left the aquarium. I started to learn his ”I’m about to throw up again” cues and luckily made it to the side of the train tracks with him a few times before finally boarding the train.
We found some seats near to the restroom and made a few more visits in between naps for him to get sick again. I learned how hard it is to take a sick toddler into a public restroom on a bumpy moving train, hold his arms down at his side in an effort to keep any part of him from touching any part of it while telling him to lean over a toilet that comes to the level of his mouth. I tried to look at the bright side of things…at least I could snuggle him all the way home instead of him being strapped down in a car seat. And, thank goodness my mom was with us. I cannot imagine having to do that alone!
I have never been so glad to be back home.
The virus only kept him down for the rest of the day. That evening he was playing and asking for some Pei Wei noodles. And, of course, within a few days David and I discovered that Elliott had done his part and shared the bug with us!
For a while Elliott talked about being “sick on the train” every time he heard the words “sick” or “train” and he didn’t really have a lot to say about his visit to the aquarium. I think the bad memories are starting to fade now. Hopefully we can make a second trip to the aquarium soon…we’ll see about the train part. I’m not sure I’m ready for that again
I’ve always enjoyed digging through old photos and reliving the memories. I suppose that’s why it was so much fun to stumble upon these old blog posts that were sitting on the back burner, ready to be finished out and published for many months now. I’m not quite sure why I never got around to finishing them, but it was a lot of fun filling in the blanks. And, what a great feeling to be somewhat caught up on my blogging!
In an effort to maintain some sort of order to the blog I decided to publish them in chronological order. You can click on the links below to read them.
Here are a few pictures of our trip to the pumpkin patch this year. Elliott had a blast exploring every square inch of the grounds!
He was sooooo excited to see Woody and Buzz and take a picture with them. Now, if only I can get him to smile and look at the camera when they aren’t around!
He put himself in jail a few times.
He drove a truck…
…and a tractor.
Of course there were lots of attempts at a good picture with the pumpkins.
We saw our friend Nadia and attempted to get a good picture with her, but both kiddos were not in the mood to cooperate.
We rode the hay ride…again, the kids did not want to smile. They really did have fun though!
Elliott ran around like a crazy man amongst the pumpkins!
And, he bounced inside of a giant pumpkin bounce house. This picture was taken just before another bouncer accidentally landed on his head and a very sad Elliott was redirected to the pumpkin’s exit door.
Although Daddy couldn’t make it this year,
and our dear friend Clarity lives far away now,
we still had a great time, and we are still loving the pumpkin patch tradition!
My mom travels a lot for her job so when she landed a few weeks in the Miami area Elliott and I decided to take advantage of her perks and fly out to meet her for a long weekend at the beach!
I was very nervous about how Elliott would do on a plane for the first time and even more nervous about taking him by myself. I gathered all the advice I could from veteran fliers beforehand and left super-prepared for our trip. With a backpack stuffed full of dollar store finds, crayons, snacks, chewy candy and juice for the take-off and landing, books, and way more movies than we could watch on a 3-hour flight we boarded the plane.
Elliott did much better than I could have hoped for. The thrill of being on an airplane didn’t last long, but boy was he excited about reading his new books and watching Dumbo! I offered him gummy bears and juice while we were taking off but the cabin pressure didn’t seem to bother him at all. We didn’t even need to get up and cruise the aisle on the way there! He made friends with a nice lady behind us who commented on what a good boy he was.
We got into town late in the evening and couldn’t see the view from our hotel window. We were so excited to wake up and find this waiting for us in the morning!!
Mom had a few hours of work to do, but Elliott and I grabbed a quick breakfast at the hotel and headed straight for the beach!
We dug our feet into the cool sand and marveled at how beautiful the ocean was. It was so much fun to see Elliott taking it all in for the first time.
We spent a good part of the morning playing in the pool. A real live iguana stopped by to see us!
That afternoon we met my mom for lunch at a local seafood restaurant.
After a nice long nap for everyone we headed back out to the beach to make use of all of that sand! We made lots and lots of sand castles!
Thankfully Elliott had a healthy fear of the ocean and didn’t want to get too close without us. At first he was too scared to even let the waves wash over his toes, but by the end of the weekend he was enjoying getting in deeper waters with us.
We played in the pool for a while before dinner. Elliott saw all of the big kids jumping into the pool and wanted to try it himself. Here is a cute video of Elliott jumping in to my mom.
The next day we drove to a local nature center. This place operates solely on donations and didn’t have the highest quality exhibits, but we had so much fun anyway. I can remember going to places like this when I was a kid and I absolutely loved them!
Soon after we got there an employee got a snake out of its cage and asked if we wanted to touch it. Elliott was positive that he didn’t want to touch it but I gave the snake a little pet. It was only afterward that the man decided to tell me that snakes carry salmonella and that I should wash my hands! Ick!
We hiked around the swamps a bit and saw lots and lots of these guys hanging above our heads!
Then we came to this really tall fort. Elliott climbed up all by himself with my mom and I trailing behind. My calves were sore for a week afterward! I really do need to work out more often!
Then we hiked over to the butterfly gardens. They were disappointing, but what do you expect for $3?? I didn’t get a good picture of one of the few fluttery friends that we did manage to see, but I did get this super sweet picture of Elliott sitting on a bench just his size!
Add in one Grandma, and you’ve got a really happy boy!
We were so anxious and excited to go and see the baby sea turtles…we had no idea that this is what that would look like! Apparently they have to keep them separated in their own baskets or they will kill each other! They were all clamoring to get out…I thought it was a little sad, but I guess it’s what needs to be done to keep the little guys safe and off of the endangered species list.
Then, we saw where baby sea turtles come from…these guys were less than discreet about what they were doing.
We also got to visit this big guy (I forgot his name). It’s hard to tell in the picture, but he is over 60 years old and weighs over 100 lbs! The tank attendant told us that we would be lucky if he moved an inch. Well, maybe we need to take a trip to Vegas because we were so lucky that he left his normal resting spot on the tank floor and came up for a breath of air….twice! Oh yeah…the tank guy was pretty impressed by all of the action and we were happy to have been there to see it! He said the giant sea turtle probably wouldn’t need to move again for another hour or so after that.
I just had to include this last photo of our trip to Gumbo Limbo to show the effect the Florida humidity had on Elliott’s sweet head! He was soooo sweaty!
The next day the weather was much cooler so we decided to visit a local park and museum. This place was awesome! For my Fort Worth friends, you guys, it was like Tillery Park on steroids! Check this place out! There were nooks and crannies, secret passageways, rocket ship controls high up in the towers, tons of ladders and stairs to climb, and lots of twisty slides to explore! Elliott had a blast running around here. In fact, my mom was out of breath just trying to keep up with him!
I thought this guy was amazing!
Elliott and I climbed inside of his mouth to say “cheese” for the camera!
There was a sweet little carousel at the park as well.
That afternoon we spent some time on the beach admiring the big waves the cool front created. It was absolutely beautiful!
And, where there are big waves, there are surfers! It was a lot of fun watching them try to catch the waves and wipe out.
Elliott spent a lot of time digging in the sand and finding hidden treasures. This coconut was a huge hit!
We stayed for a while, then said our “goodbyes” to the beach. It was the last time we would see the ocean…probably for a very long time.
That evening we had dinner at a Luau. My mom got reservations at the perfect time and at the perfect table. I was totally prepared for Elliott to watch the dancing for about 10 or 15 minutes, but never in a million years would have thought that he would sit, mesmerized, for an entire hour! This was such a fun time!
The next morning we caught a glimpse of a beautiful sunrise and were off to the airport.
Elliott did really well on the way home despite it being nap time and skipping lunch (his choice, not mine). I didn’t even panic when I went to turn the DVD player on only to realize that the battery was dead. My heart was racing, but I tried to be calm about it. I knew we would be in for a very long and grumpy flight without it. I took Elliott to the bathroom to kill some time and perform the famous stand-up diaper change in the teeny-tiny lavatory. On our way out I asked the flight attendant if there was any place on the plane to charge our DVD player. She said, “no”, but that there were some outlets on a few rows of the plane that would work if we had a car charger, but we had to be sitting in the middle seat of one of those rows. We made our way back to our seats and then I saw it! I cannot explain how happy I was to find out that we were in the right row! Hallelujah! I immediately plugged the DVD player in and had a movie playing in no time for one happy little boy…and an even happier Mom!
Elliott was happy to see Daddy at the airport and before we got onto the freeway he was fast asleep!
We had such a great time in Florida, Grandma! Thank you so much for giving us the opportunity to go! We love you!
You have always been my favorite time of year, but I am fairly certain that Fall has stolen your lead…at least for now. I have always loved the constant warm sunshine you provide and hanging out by the pool has always been one of my favorite past-times. I love being tan. I am all about my birthday in July, fireworks to celebrate Independence Day, and I love a good backyard BBQ. But, I must admit that your excessive temperatures make for a very cranky and sweaty red-faced baby stuck in the back seat of the car with not much airflow. Plus, who wants to play outside when the heat index is 110?? Don’t even get me started on the electric bills we received for the months of June, July, and August. They were a punch to the gut to say the least.
Fall has arrived, and I must say that even with the rain that never seems to end, I quite enjoy it. The leaves fluttering to the ground; the crisp, cool air that inspires me to slow down and savor the moment; the way the sunlight illuminates the backyard in the late afternoon creating the most beautiful environment for some gorgeous photographs of a certain blonde-haired, blue-eyed toddler that I know. I have also developed a new love for pumpkin patches and Halloween…a holiday that I really could have lived without before becoming a mother.
Perhaps my change of heart is due to my not-so fabulous physique these days. I’ll be honest. Donning a bathing suit on this flabby physique is not exactly a self-esteem booster these days. Or, perhaps it is because I just don’t have the time to bask in the sunlight of Summer that I enjoy so much. I’m lucky if I get to take an shower and dry my hair in one sitting, so having the time to spend hours and hours by the pool in quest of the perfect tan is more of a dream than a reality. But, I think more than anything, that my favorite time of year may be evolving because of my love for my little boy and all of the things that make him happy. Much to my chigrin, he is not a lover of all-things summer like his mama. He would much rather play beside the pool than go for a swim and he has a healthy fear of the ocean and all of its spendor. He much prefers the beach. He has inherited his Daddy’s sweat gene and within minutes of being outside in the heat his sweet little head looks like he’s just gotten out of the bath. Don’t get me wrong. He would spend an eternity outside in triple-digit temperatures looking for bugs, digging in the dirt, and playing with the water hose, all the while drenching his neckline with sweat. I, however, find these activities to be much more enjoyable when the average temperature is not above 100 degrees.
Summer, I am sorry to say, that at least for now you will have to assume second place. I am falling in love with Fall…
It seems like every day Elliott says something that sends David and I into hysterics. He is becoming such a funny boy and I am afraid that I am going to forget all of the cute things that he comes up with if I don’t write them down. The list could go on and on, but here are a few Elliottisms that I can remember at the moment.
(Elliott wearing his blue rain boots and carrying a pillow slung over his shoulder)
Me: “You look like Santa Claus !”
Elliott: “Ho, ho, ho…merry go ’round!”
————————————————————————————————————————————–
Elliott woke up from a nap and was happily talking to himself. When I went into his room a few minutes later he exclaimed,
I been hangin’ Raffie in my bed!!
Translation: I’ve been hanging out with Raffie (his stuffed giraffe) in my bed.
————————————————————————————————————————————–
One day I took Elliott to play at the mall and we shared a 2 entree plate from Panda Express for lunch afterward. On our way home from the mall we discussed our outing and Elliott piped in
We’re always hungry for Panda!
Yes, Baby. We are always hungry for Panda. It is yummy for sure.
————————————————————————————————————————————–
Elliott and I spent last weekend in the Miami area with my mom (more about that to come!) While we were there we attended a luau. The show started after dinner and I was prepared for E to be interested for 5, maybe 10 minutes. He sat, transfixed, with his eyes glued to the dancers for the entire hour! After the show was over he asked for “another song”. And, when asked if he liked the “boy dancers” or the “girl dancers” he replied,
Or the girl dancers.
Oh, my. Isn’t it a little early for this kind of talk?
Stacey and I met up the other day for a much needed play date for the boys (and girl!), and a little craftiness during nap time! It’s been nearly a year now that we have owned the same camera with only the lens cap strap, or lack of one, to differentiate between them. Add a few more friends with the same camera into the mix and it makes for a really confusing dilemma at a social gathering!
We’ve been saying for months that we need to get together to “learn our cameras”, but let’s be real, a girl can’t learn anything without donning the proper accessories, first, right?
I spotted this tutorial around the same time Stacey spotted another one and we knew it was the perfect solution to our camera confusion.
We chatted on the couch for a while and let the boys act like….well, boys.
It was so much fun to hear their giggles coming from across the house. That Bennett sure is a funny boy!
Then, after lunch while the boys were down for their naps it was time to get crafty! This simple project took us way longer than it should have because we are both novices when it comes to sewing (I am blaming my sewing machine for most of my delays), but it really was simple. I think with a little more practice I could whip one of these out in about 15 minutes. Since then, I have come across this one…so cute! And this one with pockets! Love it!
The finished products!
I made two straps…one with polka-dots and some pink, and one that I think is a little more masculine…just in case David ever picks the camera up!
Now on to step 2: getting to know my camera! Whoo hoo!
