Merry Christmas, Everyone!

Here's the photo log of our Christmas which...

was white,

featured many, many presents,

and a lot of smiles as well as a few tears of exhaustion,

required some assembly,
was worth the wait,

had a lot of wonder from a very helpful toddler,

involved reams of paper,
and easels and RR engineer overalls,

and happy times with the family,
and a little bit of work - or is that fun? - depends on who you ask.

Chief Dishwasher

Now if I only had a sous chef, I'd be all set.....

Welcome to the World!

Welcome to the World baby Macon! I'm so pleased to have you be my birthday buddy!

Chapter Two of the adventure begins... Our very hearty congratulations go out to Sarah, Eric, and big brother Jed.
Love,
Sherry, Chris, and Eli

Thanksgiving - Fun!

Despite a cold at the first of last week, Eli managed to have an incredibly exciting holiday. We kicked off the festivities with a dinner at a friend's home Wednesday. Eli summed up the entire weekend with his commentary on the event. It was nearly 9:00pm and way, way past bedtime when we arrived home, but the first words out of his mouth when we got in the house were "Party - Fun!" With each coming event on Thursday and Sunday, we'd tell him we were having a party, and he'd immediately get very excited. Chris and I aren't sure how we got this little party animal in our midst; you all know how laid back we both are. Chris contends there is a lot of my mother in him - ie. his love to socialize is only surpassed by his burning desire to "clean-clean." (I'll let you know what kind of shape Chris is in after Mama reads that!)

Eli's vocabulary is absolutely exploding right now. He repeats virtually everything he hears us say. His new words, phrases, and funnies in the past few days were "big room" - as in his new big boy room, since we moved him out of the nursery into his bedroom on Friday; "new car" - we're shopping for one; "ponytail" - his babysitter was wearing one; "yuck" - thank you, cousin Jada; and "eeww" when smelling someone's foot - a trick taught to him by several members of the family on Sunday - again - thanks a lot.

Photos were hard to come by amid all the constant motion of the last several days, but here are a couple that give you the general idea.

Party - Fun!

Party - Tiring!

A Little Update

We've (and I mean mostly Chris here) have been busy preparing Eli's big boy room. He'll be ready to move out of the nursery in a week or two. I've been pretty busy too, I guess, if you count growing a big baby belly. Here are a few new photos to get you up to date with Eli.

He's really beginning to fill up his little car. He "motors" all over the place, gases up, and puts his cellphone in the handy cup holder. We recommend staying out of his way, however, because he is still a really bad driver. It was the pot calling the kettle black this afternoon when Eli told Chris to "slow down."

A moment of stillness. Don't blink or you will miss it.

Eli has a very strong sense about what is "real" and what is "play." Real stuff is always better. Let's fill up this hole.

The dirt goes right here!

Happy Halloween

Here's a look at the Halloween festivities:
First the pumpkin carving on Friday....

Eeeww!

Then off for a little trick-or treating Sunday night.....

Being Elmo is almost as much fun as watching Elmo. (Notice the vintage jack-o-lantern bucket, I'm not saying just exactly how vintage)

Eli loves all things lawnmower related. This is his new "leaf blower." He can't live without it.

Home with the treats.

Sated at last.

Talking and Reading

Jefferson said "I cannot live without books" and Eli agrees wholeheartedly. Books are read throughout the day, but immediately after bath he tends to read all by himself. He feels no cold when enthralled by a good story. Both of the books in the photo were mine as a little girl, I think Eli will be lucky if his hard-used library makes it through the new baby.
If Jefferson had had access to a cell phone he might have said he couldn't live without that either. His voluminous letters would seem to suggest he was the chatty sort. Eli is very fond of his new Elmo phone (thank you Max and Judy!). He goes through the house pushing the buttons saying "2 - 3" and " 'lo? Yes." Ah, Elmo overalls, Elmo phone, books on the shelf, what more can you ask of life?

Punkin' Pickin'

It was a very busy day at our house today. First we had a good visit from Grandma and Grandpa (both of whom go by the moniker "Pa" if you ask Eli). After they departed, we decided to make our visit to the local pumpkin patch to enjoy the gorgeous weather.

Now, this is no ordinary pumpkin patch, it is more like the state fair -- produced on a large working farm. It was perhaps the most kid-friendly thing I've ever seen.

First there was the petting zoo complete with pigs, rabbits, sheep, cow, Belgian work horse and lots of other animals. That horse had a very big head thought Eli.

The farm has a corn maze, but we stuck to the Toddler Maze.

Hey, did you know that is a sheep?
Then there was the hay ride behind a tractor(!!) to the pumpkin field itself, with LOTS of pumpkins.

I'll take a load off right here.

Oops.

And finally, home (exhausted) with our prize.

Big Changes

Eli grows and changes every day. His vocabulary is really coming along and he continues to enjoy "helping." In fact "clean-clean" is one of his favorite things to do....no matter that he dumps the dirt out of the dust pan just to achieve the joy of putting it back in again. We're really happy about his helpful tendencies because we are definitely going to need all the help we can get very soon. Chris and I are really happy to announce that there will be a new kid joining the New Kid News family at the end of February.

In some quirky way, I'm reminded of our high school Spanish teacher and his favorite phrase "repita por favor" -- repeat please! Yet, I think this won't be a repeat of our experiences with Eli at all, but some new adventure that will almost certainly rival the adventures we've had with Eli so far.

To complete our big news, the ultrasound yesterday showed that Eli will be getting a little brother! That's just great with us, I mean, we already have a good supply of trucks and trains and things so we're all set.

So here are "new baby's" first blog photos. They won't win any prizes for quality, but I thought you'd enjoy them anyway. The profile in particular is nearly identical to Eli's ultrasound at about this point. Chris says that is inevitable and that you can't tell anything from these poor images anyway. Ah, and I was savoring the fun of such a striking resemblance. Sometimes, living with an imaging expert can really take the punch out of things. I guess we'll just have to wait and see who this new little person is really going to be.

The Park

Eli adores going to the park to play on the slide so we purchased a new swing set for him for his birthday. It took forever to put together, but it was worth it. He calls it the "park" and we gather he is enjoying it immensely from the number of times he has said "swing, fun." Now if he would only just pick one of the swings to swing on instead of switching between the two every two minutes....

The Case of the Missing Choo-Choo

So here is a funny little tale that should teach us all how to think like a two-year old. Eli received a Thomas the Tank Engine dvd for his birthday. He watched it on Sunday, then on Monday morning he wanted to see it again - "choo-choo, choo-choo" he told me. I looked high and low, but no dvd. I called Chris, I alerted the babysitter that afternoon and all three of us looked the house from top to bottom at various times over the next two days. No choo-choo.

Finally, yesterday morning I was putting another dvd in the player and it dawned on me that maybe I left the Thomas video laying on the player early Monday morning. Now if I were two and I saw the dvd laying there, what would I do? Well, what Eli had done was turn on the tv and come tell me "choo-choo." But was that all he'd done? He knows the machine plays the dvds, but he can't get the drawer to open in the player. Yet, conveniently located just under the dvd player is the VCR with a handy, easy-open door flap. I took a peep. Yes! There was not only the Thomas dvd, but also a music cd still in its cardboard package!

Understand the mind of the culprit and you'll understand the crime......

Eli is 2 !!

Eli turned 2 on Friday. It is truly amazing how quickly he has grown and changed. His new word for the week was "self" and he really can do a lot of things by himself, or at least give it a good try.

Here's a quick look back in time....

And here he is today (I think I won't be able to hold him by next year)....

And, finally, here are the highlights from Eli's party. He had a fabulous time (party is one of the words we now have to spell in his presence to keep him from going ballistic). He had a great time helping Daddy and Grandpa put together his table and chairs. He absolutely LOVED to be serenaded with "Happy Birthday" by everyone. We have to work on blowing out candles for next year, but he has the present-opening thing pretty well down pat. Oh, and let's not forget the cake. Eli's reaction to that is pretty self explanatory.
We'd like to say a big "thank you" for everyone who came, they helped make his day really terrific.

Busy Being Eli

It seems so hard to find a minute to post some photos and let you know what is new with Eli. I think that is because there has been a lot new lately. Eli's vocabulary is growing really well. A few of the favorite new words are "yeah" (not yes...our little hick, we're so proud); "Bo-bo" (Elmo); "pool"; "party" (he tried to join a random party at the park today); "work" (used most often in the sentence "Daddy car work" or Daddy drove the car to work); and "eat food mouth" (as in feed me I'm hungry).

So here are a few shots from the past week or so. Eli has had lots of activity, which is generally a good thing since boredom is our worst enemy. We have seen a huge up tick in the crying, "no's," and mini-tantrums as we approach his second birthday next week. Oh, good. Does anybody know if the terrible two's last all year long? On the positive side, however, Eli is becoming increasingly independent and loves to "help" wash dishes, sweep the floor, vacuum, get the mail, and anything else we can manage simple directions for. He even helped me make and can marinara sauce. He's great at putting the tomatoes in the food processor and pushing the on button.

We went for what was advertised as a lovely walk in the woods recently. Our happiness was curtailed by a very muddy and rough trail and a little boy with an improper nap. Can you tell that Chris just carried him half a mile back down the trail before I took this? I don't think anyone looks at all disgruntled.
Busy Playing - the phone is awesome, but we have to be more careful. He accidentally called 911 on our land line the other day.
Eli is taking a swimming class at the new town aquatic center. Here are he and Chris playing in the kid's pool afterwards.
Today we risked another family outdoor outing, but played it safe by going to a nearby park with playground. The park is on the river (one of the best things about where we live) and Eli just had to do some wading even though the water was really cold.

Stay tuned for birthday updates next week!