Elliott's Birthday Pah-tay

Here are some pictures from Elliott's rocking 2nd birthday party! As many of you know, we found out poor Elliott is allergic to antibiotics a couple of days before his birthday party, so he looks quite awful in these pictures, so please ignore that! But enjoy Elliott and his darling friends... we had so much fun!

Elliott lets his girlfriend take his brand-new tractor out for a spin. She brought it back in one piece.

Elliott opening his present. He REALLY liked the pom poms and googly eyes on the wrapping paper!

More present upwrapping!

Friends...

More friends...

And more friends!

Everyone enjoying some cake.

Especially Elliott. Chocolate... his favorite!

Elliott blowing out the birthday candles on his cake (these pictures are a little backwards!)

A close up of Elliott's super-awesome Elmo cake. Beautiful and delicious!

Better late than never: Valentines Day

So, I realize that yesterday was St. Patrick's Day... so here are pictures of Valentine's Day! Makes sense, right? Well, actually, my mom reminded me that I promised to post these and never did... so here they are!

For Valentine's Day, I made one of mine and Bret's favorite dishes - bulgogi (Korean barbeque). To our surprise, Elliott loved it, and insisted on eating it with (special kid's) chopsticks just like Mommy and Daddy! (Thanks to Aunt Mia who had the foresight to give these to Elliott when he was still in utero!)

"I actually got some in my mouth!"

"Slippery little suckers!"

Think he'll eat veggies if I give it to him with chopsticks?

Happy Birthday!

HOLY CRAP! My baby is 2 years old. I'm not exactly sure how or when, but my little guy went from this...

to this...

Bret and I shared a wonderful birthday with Elliott today. We did our normal Tuesday thing... gymnastics, then not listening to story time at Barnes and Noble, and then Mommy/ Elliott (& Daddy) lunch date at Panera. Then we came home and had cake and presents!! In the picture above, you can see Elliott loved his chocolate cake... as well as the cool train engineer hat his Aunt Kelly got him!

The coolest thing about today was that Elliott "got" it. He's been asking for birthday cake for about 2 weeks, and this morning I asked him what day it was and he answered, "Birthday!" He blew out all the candles on his cake all by himself, made a royal mess eating it, and then said, "Presents!" when he was done. He "got" it.

Mr. Frog was, of course, present for the festivities. This party was family only... Elliott has a party with all his best buds on Saturday.

Playing with his new Duplo blocks with Daddy.

Mr. Frog joins in the building action too... this is a picture of Mr. Frog getting the block out of the bucket...

... and then Mr. Frog holding it up so Daddy can see.

Elliott's favorite present was a stethoscope, which he called "doctor." He took it up to bed with him when he went for a nap.

For me, it is a little bittersweet. While I relish every small milestone, I can't believe it all passes so quickly! At this major one, I realize my little guy is a baby no more. I wish I could bottle up those little toddler fingers, that squealing laugh, and his wide-eyed view of the world, so that O can hoard it and save it for a day when I might not be able to remember as clearly as I can today.

Well, I guess tomorrow will be just another day. But I'm sure it won't be boring :)

P.S. I didn't want to wait to do a birthday post, but I have lots of pictures I haven't posted yet from the last couple of weeks, so look for those in the coming days!

Tidbit

This morning, Elliott walks up to the cat, holds his hand out, and says, "High five?"

Snowpocalypse Part 1

Snow, snow and more snow! Here are some pictures from the first snow storm that gave us 9 + inches of snow!

Elliott is not that big of a fan of snow. It's cold, he has to get all bundled up to go out in it, and he really hates that it sticks to his clothes, mittens, etc.

Elliott did enjoy shoveling the snow, however... with his garden trowel and watering can.

Sled is Elliott's preferred method of snow transportation. Sure beats walking.

We wished that lawnmover doubled as a snow blower!

Elliott enjoyed yelling and listening to his echo. Check out the video below! ("Hey you guys" is from the Electric Company on PBS)

Children's Museum #2

Here are the pictures from Elliott's second trip to the Children's Museum. The first time was a little overwhelming, but this time, Elliott was really in his element!

Elliott and his friend working on puzzles together.

Playing the giant xylophones outside was so neat! In fact, the whole outside was awesome, with a giant sandbox and pedal tractor and drums!

Elliott turns the wheel which turns the hands on the clock.

Making a withdrawal... a very large one.

Elliott and his buddy play school.

Kind of reminds me of that part in the Simpsons intro where Bart is writing "I will not..."

Every family needs a good mechanic.

Elliott really enjoyed the water table this time around, opening and shutting the flood gates.

Elliott and Vera

This picture was just too cute not to post. Elliott carries Vera Bradley just like Mommy!