More Photos of the Last Few Months!

 The latest Dreamtree Shakers concert in the park.  Elliot was a groupie, once again!  He sat right up front and hardly budged except to dance.  Came home with a cute little tshirt too!

 Um, you'll have to ask Pat about these... I just found 'em on the camera...

 First water fight with the neighbors-- Elliot begged to go down, then got mad because he got wet (which usually he loves!).

 Last trip to NE Ohio- did a fly-by of the Harens (Pat's sister near New Philly).  The kids had a blast playing outside.

 Same trip, Pat's brother's kids.  Again, a blast playing outside together.  I love how they're lounging.

 Acrobats with dad on the deck?

 The only moment of peace at Pat's graduation ceremony.  The rest of the time was spent in the hall, playing defense or wondering if I could get away with spanking him in the bathroom effectively... we left before it was over. 

A few more to enjoy...

Almost 3!!

Photos are more fun, so those first, then the more boring update by text below...

Cousin Klara and Aunt Katie visit- a fun time for sure!  Elliot had trouble sharing and maintaining Klara's personal space, and the photo below kinda encapsulates that...

Storytime with Dad and baby Klara.

Our close friends, Claire, Martin, and Diane left to move back to France a few weeks ago.  We were heartbroken to see them off.  This was the final, heavily coerced hug.  Every once in a while, Elliot will say that he misses Diane- we certainly do too!

I am not sure when or where these were taken, but they were on Pat's phone...

Ok, now I've slipped into that expected, "Oh you're not really going to keep up with his blog once he's not an infant" mode... geesh, nothing since Easter?  And we haven't been clicking the photos nearly as often either...

Let's see what's happened lately--

- We had our first ER trip- Elliot prolapsed his rectum.  Yeah.  Yuck.  He was a complete trooper, barely winced or cried the entire 4 hours there.  Mind you, the brand spanking new Children's Hospital is brilliantly designed and very comfortable.  They x-rayed, said he was very backed up, and did an enema-- Elliot didn't even flinch.  Crazy.  Explicit instructions to change his eating habits and testing for some diseases that show this as a sign, as well as 30 days on softners/laxatives, with follow ups with a few doctors.  He is cognizant enough of things that he lets us point out the new foods on his list and even though there are still battles, he is eating more foods and much more of a variety.  We also were strictly instructed to bail on all potty training efforts, so we're back in diapers to poop.  No problem, we'll get there later.

- Elliot's vocabulary has expanded quite a bit lately.  The other day he said to me, "Actually, mommy, three timeouts," with three fingers held up, when I incorrectly told Pat that he had had two timeouts for not listening.

- We've done lots of trips to the farm to see Grandpa Ulrich over the past several months.  Out of the blue, the other night, after his other grandpa had called, he asked, "Is Grandpa back at the farm to live?"  When I said no, he went on to get a little sad, ask why, how did he hurt his head, and go through all the details again.  He likes to visit Grandpa and does very well with the other residents at the nursing home.  It's super cool when this one lady comes up, who does not talk much at all, and always takes his hand and kisses it.  She's 103 years old.  They have 100 years between them.  It's so neat to see.

- Bike riding is a favorite activity.  We figured he rode 2 1/2 miles the one time-- to the lake and almost all the way back.  We kept thinking he'd hit a wall and sure enough, not that far from home, he just stopped and said, "Mommy, carry me."

- The struggles with stubbornness are ongoing.  He pushes every button and then some.  Finds the line and puts his big toe over.  The other day at Dunkin Donuts, he kept opening and closing this glass door.  I told him not to touch it again with his hands.  He reaches down, puts his shirt around his hand, and uses the shirt-covered hand to open it again, all while looking up at me for my reaction.  Cheeky monkey.

- We caught Dreamtree Shakers again tonight.  When I mentioned to Elliot we were going, he immediately got all giddy and could hardly contain himself.  It was pretty darn cute.  Such a groupie- right up front, starring in awe.

- We dug out my *25 year old* trumpet a few days ago after Elliot loved all the instruments in the 4th of July parade.  He can buzz his lips and manages to get a pretty good sound out-- impressive!

- Oh the parade-- Elliot thought it was awesome!  He kept speaking of the festival as if it were only a bouncy thing, and low-and-behold, there was a big bouncy thing.  He was too hungry and too tired, and the minute he started losing his balance and other kids bumped him, he'd scream at them and start kicking.  We promptly left with the screaming, kicking toddler in hand.






- He's very into counting on his fingers and figuring out how much 5 fingers on one hand is with 2 fingers on the other hand- he seems fascinated that this is seven and not two.

2ELLIOT

The latest with Elliot...

-He likes to "sign my name, mommy" which really means plinking it out on the keyboard on a blank word document with a size 35 font.  He started with 2ELLIOT- when I told him there was no 2, he argued and insisted that "I'm TWO!"  Now that he's fluent there, he wants to move onto the Ulrich Papczun part.  He also started finding his name in things like my t-shirt from Athletico- he will pick out E-L-L-I-O-T successfully from those letters.  Pretty neat.

- He's very into birthdays lately and requests that we sing Happy Birthday to him often, even after we explain it's not his birthday for a long time.  We make birthday cakes with Play-Doh too.

- After the WORST day ever with Renee a week or so ago, he has been quite good lately.  Seems almost like he's reached a more grown-up point in his development (for now!) and is a bit settled.

- The #2 of potty training is a major struggle still... sigh.  Everyone reassures me that he won't be circling like a small animal, saying "My bottom hurts!" when he's 16, but for now, this stage/phase seems to be going on forEVER.  Poor Renee-- the last issue she had with this was public, complete with vomiting from having to push so hard.  Lovely.  There have been more vegetables eaten, and there seems to be a *small* improvement in this department.  As a parent of a toddler, it's just nuts how many times we talk about poop.

- Elliot is pretending a lot more.  His imagination seems to have blossomed lately and it's really fun.  He goes to the store and gets chocolate ice cream, bringing each of us a cone, collecting money, then we put all kinds of toppings on it.  Or, we're all birds-- he's a toucan, dad's a pelican, and I'm an owl.  He's also gotten much better at playing hide-and-seek.  Although he still yells out, "No, I'm in here!", he hides better and will take his turn counting and looking (which he didn't do before).

- He wheels and deals a ton, over everything.  I'll tell him I'll stay one more minute, "No, two more!  Three more!  1-2-3-4-5-6 more minutes!"  I guess that's what we get for negotiating everything, down to how many bites of veggies get eaten.  Everything is a deal.

 Caught him perched on the windowsill in his underwear.

 Easter was quite the excitement.  After 7am sunrise service at the lake, brunch at a friend's, a no-nap day made for a very tired toddler.

 Nancy and Micah had perfect treats for Elliot- giant bunny cookie was a hit, as well as the birdie whistle (which then had to be taken to bed).

 Coloring eggs with Diane and Martin.

 Boiling the eggs first.  "Mommy, the eggs are getting warm!"  Then, of course, he insisted that Kathy (the babysitter) didn't do that to the eggs first...

 Ah, the fun of nesting Tupperware bowls!

 Trying on Grandpa's funny drumsticks.

 7 of the 9 cousins who were in for spring break at the farm.

 Uncle John suggested mushroom hunting, and everyone tromped along.  It was pretty darn cute.  Elliot kept picking up handfuls of dirt and yelling, "I found a mushroom!"  We really only found two.

 Making his way through the brush- he was really a trooper, pulling the branches out of the way, clamoring over the logs.

 He'd have to stop and rest.  He had to have a walking stick like everyone else, too. 

 Grandma stealing a moment to read to him.

 When we were packing to go to the farm, he put himself in the overnight back and hollered to me that he was ready to go.

 Finally got a quick shot of him wearing the owl hat Aunt Heidi made him!

 Ponyrides at a cousin's birthday party.  What a treat!  He was in awe.

 I think the older cousins have figured out how to put this situation to their advantage.

 Super gentle English Mastifs (sp?)- they had just given him a big kiss!

Seeing if we can get some seeds started during our really warm early spring!

Google...

Elliot saw this on the screen, immediately starts pointing and naming the letters... "G-- O-- O-- O-- eight-- I-- E!"  We were laughing under our breath, and thought the moments of contemplation before the mistaken g/8 was interesting!

He's starting spelling his name, too, sometimes correctly and sometimes incorrectly.  I think Kathy, the sitter, has a letter toy that reads it back to you and she has each of the kids work on their names.  He seems to be in one of those "language explosions" that people talk of.  He's pointing out letters everywhere.  It's super neat.

 He thoroughly enjoyed the stickers Grandma sent for Valentine's Day! 

 First picnic of the season!  He was all gung-ho to get out the cooler and pack it with his food.  Had to carry it himself, down the stairs, and held it the whole way to the lake.

 Ran into some friends- Sara and Lucas (who is 5 months younger) who joined us. 

 Throwing rocks in the lake, sans pants.

 Got all the way naked at one point.

Elliot trying on Lucas' backpack, skivies only.  Hilarious.  And, the famous middle-finger point as well.

The Latest from Elliot...

Everyone says write these things down...

- While trying to dress him, "Mom, keep your hands to yourself."
- Calling us "babe" after starting at a new babysitter who apparently uses that term with him.
- Running naked through the apt, declaring "I dressed all by myself!"
- Watching Dumbo for the first time, bursting into sympathetic tears when the mommy elephant is being restrained for spanking/reacting to the circus visitors when little Dumbo is made fun of... "What they doing to her!?"
- Pretending to sleep in the carseat, with flittery, tightly closed eyes and exaggerated breathing.
- When he is in trouble or doesn't know the answer, he sharply responds with "I can't say it."
- "I'm just saying funny stuff" when he gets goofy.
- He bargains and bargains... one animal cracker for peeing becomes, "TWO animal crackers, no THREE!" while holding up his fingers for that number.  Hilarious when the timeouts come, and it goes from me saying, "Do you want a timeout?!" to him responding, "TWO timeouts.  No, THREE!"  Sure, you gottit.  And the minutes left in the tub have gone from "One more minute!" to "Six more minutes, fifteen more minutes!"  Nice try.

And, we are completely immersed in the WHY phase... Why is it raining?  Why is it not raining?  Why is it foggy?  Why is it breakable?  Why is it glass?  Why is daddy sleeping?

I am sure I have forgotten some good ones.

Full Blown 2 1/2...

Temper tantrums, crazy outburts, followed by beautiful days... all seem to correspond with Elliot's constipation issues!  Ah, the life of a parent+toddler.

An impromptu system of a black mark with a marker for whines, nos, yelling, contrasted with red dots for "Ok, Mommy," niceness, helpfulness, has brilliantly worked as he insists on making his own marks and reminds me if he needs one.  Definitely helps that the babysitter immediately adopted the same system!  Some of these meltdowns make me wonder how soon we'll be in anger management therapy.

He's so entertaining lately.  Riding his bike with no hands.  Singing songs from his music class, correcting us when we get it wrong.  "I'm just saying funny stuff," when he gets goofy.  I caught him whispering to himself the other day, "Bust my buffers."  I about died.  He loves the games he plays with the new group of kids at the 3-day-a-week sitter and often tells us about who is doing what there.

His latest is pretending to make musical instruments with these little pipe-link thingies-- a flute, sax, and trumpet. Especially after we went to see his favorite band, Dreamtree Shakers, play.  He was such a groupie and you can see it in his face in the one photo where my friend, Jeremy, is playing "Big Rock Candy Mountain" with the guitar and harmonica (which was uber impressive!).