Playing, it's what he does.

The letter M, brought to you by Elliot.

Oh, and on another note, I saw on a friend's blog that she has trouble here and there with the videos not appearing as well... so it's a blogger issue. I've found that they sometimes reappear if you check back later. Sorry.

Weekend Plans.

Our weekend plans were to drive to Ohio to spend a girls' night with Jessica (and ladies), one of my close friends from Kent. Pat was in Denver to snowboard, so I thought making the drive (with Candace from here, and Elliot in tow) would be a good way to kill two days and I figured these types of trips will be virtually non-existent once I start work, so I needed to get my girlfriend time in while I can!

Good Old Man Winter put his foot down, however. I don't know how bad the snow ended up being, but a winter weather advisory was on for Friday night for Wooster and more snow on Saturday and Sunday. Well, with the trip being so short anyway (we were arriving Sat evening, only to leave Sunday midday), we figured any delay would make it undoable (plus with an infant...), and we just could not afford to get stranded. So we bailed, much to our chagrin.

Candace and I did brunch and Dave and Jen invited me over for lunch, which filled my weekend. Elliot and Avery are more interactive, and Avery would prove to her father that she was definitely entertained by him in order to combat any attention he was giving to Elliot. Her laugh was contagious!

Pat took the camera to Denver, so I have no recent shots to share from the solo weekend. We did a-ok on our own, but we won't tell daddy.

Houdini?

This is what happens when I leave little Elliot to his own devices as I try to scrape together dinner. Not sure how he did this; note that the W is in exactly the correct place, as if he didn't touch it.

He then continued to destroy the playmat...

It's starting...

So this may not be very entertaining for anyone else (maybe a few parents), but we are super impressed. It just seemed to happen. He moves pretty slowly, in stages, so most of the videos that capture more movement are too big to load here. And yesterday, he conquered scooting on his bottom while seated! We're in trouble, eh?

Quickie Update...

- Elliot now eats carrots and well! Eh, as long as there's a dash of banana in there.
- He now cries through baths. Not sure what's up with that.
- He's starting motoring: just yesterday, he figured out how to scoot on his tummy by using his arms. He'll do a complete turn like a clock, and scoot backward. Much less grumbling when on his tummy, as he's now not frustrated with just laying there, kicking! It's impressive, at least we think.

Storytime.

And the Travel Gods No Longer Favor Us.

We headed to Atlanta Wednesday through Saturday to stay with my sister's family for my niece's violin recital (which was fabulous, by the way....). The visit was really great; my mom and dad came down, too. Kathy, my sister, was very considerate and dug out all kinds of baby stuff for Elliot. My sister has 3 girls-- Abby, 6, and Lindsey and Rachel, 3 1/2. Man, oh man, did Elliot have new fans. And he was enthralled with the girls. The way the kids fed off each other was so interesting and entertaining. The girls would dance or do some moves and Elliot would laugh out loud at them. It was hilarious and went on for a very long time. It seemed to be the missing link he's been looking for his whole life!

The weather was great and we got some wonderful time in at the park. Very nice reprieve from the Chicago cold!

I thought this was so funny-- we were clearing my sister's great room for the recital that they had at the house, and the mini-people here make the room look that much more grand!

We also got to briefly see Ann and Jenna, who were just over a stomach bug this week but made the 1 1/2 hour drive to see us anyway at the recital since they were just over the hump of the illness. Jenna had plenty of hugs and kisses to share with Elliot (she's now 2+ years old).

We booked late flights both ways, thinking Elliot would fall asleep for the night and stay out. Not the case, not like when we flew when he was 4 months old. There's just too much to take in on a plane when he's this aware now. The armrest was a new thing to investigate, along with our drinks and pretzel snacks... you name it, Elliot was reaching for it. I found myself taking baby wipes to every surface in our vicinity. This wasn't so bad, as the flight is a short one. The hitch came when he only "napped" for the 30 minute drive from (and to, on the way home) the airport. He was then awake for too long at 11pm/midnight and became overtired and strung out.

Dad passing on his love of a window seat.

Even armrests are too interesting to overlook.

This seem to set the tone for the night sleeping at my sister's and we did not have one night where he slept through. However, he did nap pretty well. We also have encountered a new issue with him wetting through his diapers, which probably was the real cause of him getting up at 2am or whenever at my sister's.

Mental note to self: no more late flights with the baby. I was feeling so bad for him and really regretting it when he was so weary as we deboarded the plane at 11:30pm last night. (Pat says I was more weary than him...) He did fall asleep then in the stroller, but we missed our bus by about 30 seconds, then had to wait in line for another 20 minutes or so for a cab who was less than friendly.

As I type this, Pat is telling me, "C'mon, it wasn't that bad..." and he's right. But it wasn't nearly as good as we used to have it!! For all my whining, it was such a wonderful trip and all these issues should be expected... we were just spoiled when he was younger and would sleep through anything!

All three of us brought home a mini cold it seems this morning, so I hope that fades fast. This, too, I should expect with so many little ones around. Pat thinks it's good for his immune system, and he's probably right.

We also have some "mommy" issues appearing-- Pat gave him a bath this morning, only to have him scream through the whole thing (I was showering and wondered what the heck was going on!). I appeared, he settled... we are going to make a conscious effort to have Pat do some bathing and feeding him bottles regularly so that the transition with Renee will be smoother when I go back to work (did I mention we have a nanny/babysitter for him?! We are very excited, as Renee seems wonderful...). All this could be exacerbated by the wimpiness caused by the cold as well.