Good Times.

Let's see... we're forcing the playground issue, despite the mud and slush and Elliot seems to be loving it.

It's crazy to think back to my postings about a month ago, about how crazy it was with Elliot not sleeping well and having been sick, etc. He's been an absolute doll lately (eh, do I dare risk saying that, jinxing us?!). For the past 3 or 4 days, he's been in fabulous moods, talking and making noises all day, laughing at himself, doing things to get attention for being cute (like wrapping his blanket around his head like a hood or a cape). He's also been sleeping awesome-- long, over 3-hour naps, and going to bed really well without a peep for 11-12 hours. Funny, whenever a stint like this comes along, I anticipate when the next major upset will be. We haven't had this fun and entertaining of a stretch like this ever, I think.

He's done much less of pushing our buttons like he was last week and more about discovering and being silly. For example, I was on the phone with my brother for about 30 minutes the other night and Elliot kept himself busy with stepping in and out of the shower. He'd balance a little on the small step, let his feet slip off, giggle, scoot behind the shower curtain, and laugh like it was this neat discovery when he reappeared. Over and over and over.

I always thought I was more of an infant-lover, but when the toddlers are cute, they're really cute. It's also the exponential development that you can see, the interaction, and the joy of discovery that takes place on a daily basis. Super neat.

Really, truly, I have NO IDEA what's going on here. Do I dare ask? Or, was this almost one of those days where they played too hard to bother with getting dressed? (A few days ago, Elliot woke up at 3:30pm and Pat sheepishly said, "Eh, he's still in his pjs..." as if I wouldn't have noticed (or commented for that matter!).)

I just love this one-- having to include Teddy in the reading. Elliot has started pretending, too, when prompted, and will make sure Teddy gets some milk, Cheerios, whatever he might be enjoying. He'll also pretend to read to the bear, but usually it's more getting him to sit upright on the chair while Elliot proceeds to climb on top of him.

Bathtime Elevated to a New Level.

I hope he gets into cleaning as he gets older! Insisted on carrying these around for a while. Dad's hat with the bibs made me smile!

Wearing dad's jacket.
This is a little "bonding" thing Elliot and I do- he asks for his Thomas the Train dvd here and there, but we don't typically turn it on. However, about once a week, I will give in and turn it on just before bed as a wind-down. He gets really excited... we get his Cheerios (which he sits there and eats like popcorn), his milk, and his blanket, and nuzzle into the corner of the couch. He stays focused for about 15 minutes, then he's up playing again. It's fun.

We graduated Elliot from the baby tub to the normal bathtub-- mainly because Border's had paddling bath creatures for 25 cents and there just wasn't room to see them go in the little tub. Well, let me tell you, bathtime always was a fun part of the day, but it has now been elevated to new level. (Funny part was the first night I couldn't find the darn bath toy-- I had taken it away from Elliot for throwing it when he was mad and never thought to look in the laundry pile!)

It has gotten so that now, if I even mentioned bathtime, he runs giddily to the bathroom with his arms in the air, hikes his leg up on the edge of the tub, and tries to crawl in with all his clothes on, no water in the tub yet. This, obviously, takes some explaining and results in a disappointed, whining/crying toddler. So, b-a-t-h is not mentioned before 7pm.

The first time I put Elliot in the big tub, he sat in the water and just looked up at the walls of the tub in awe, like they were 10 ft tall. Then, he realized the new parts to explore and that needed naming-- the drain and the faucet, the sea horses on the rubber mat... over and over. "Heh, heh?" = his way of asking what the name of something is. Finally, he realized the vast amount of space he now has to explore and started crawling around. There were a few slips and mouthfuls of water, but he took it in stride. The actual timing of bathtime has doubled for entertainment value (for all parties).

Bathtime is now treated as "we have an indoor pool!" and he goes nuts. He prances around on his knees, literally dives into the water, lays on his belly and kicks his legs like he's swimming. Mind you, there is about 6" of water in there. The only real way of getting him out is strictly enforcing the no-standing rule by whisking him out the minute he stands to reach for something or to experiment more.

The big plus (well, beyond us sitting there cracking up at him) is that he seems to be wearing himself out sufficiently and crashing at bedtime well lately. Excellent!

Oh, and another first today! I looked in the tub after a big session of playing and said to Pat, "What's that dark in the water... OOOOHhhhhh...." Elliot was quickly shifted to the second bathroom's shower for a rewash.

Blizzard, 2011!

We had to get out in the snow once it was navigable, if you could call it that. We bundled Elliot and headed out for a short jaunt. Amazing.

This was around 2am-- it had been blowing for several hours by then, so nothing was staying on the cars, but it was really coming down. I don't think it stopped snowing and blowing for 8 hours or so?
Keep in mind, we have a deck above us!

Windows getting snowed over.

Pedestrians were forced to use the street as their sidewalk. Really surreal, since the city is always so busy, to see so few out and no traffic.

Our car is in the middle, not as bad as those across the street, but still bad.

So, look at the top/across the street-- those white mounds are cars.

Pat's handy work! He surely sweated... said he hadn't shoveled in over a decade, and I replied that he did a decade worth of shoveling!

Got Elliot out in the backpack once it wasn't blowing anymore-- had to stop to admire Pat's work!

We are lucky that we are on a somewhat major road that got plowed. The side streets-- they were full of 2+ft of snow, no plowing.


Someone was nice enough to do the sidewalks.


Spontaneous snowball fight in the middle of a street intersection.


These are those side streets. Really. At one spot, it was apparent that someone had tried to leave, got stuck with their car caddy-corner, and left it there. Some people were shoveling themselves out, but I'm not sure where they thought they'd be able to go.


More side streets.

I have no idea when these people expect to be able to get their cars out... spring?

Look-- they're as tall as the street sign!


Amazingly deep. Pretty cool to experience this, but super grateful for those people who were out first and trailblazed!

Fix-it-man.

Helping dad fix the bike. I love this series of photos. It was so cute and endearing to watch.

Shapes and Smashed Fingers.

Pat was closing the door on Sunday and Elliot's little fingers got in the way-- the first time of many, I'm sure. It was a little scary, as the last two had lovely purple indentations and immediately swelled. We were headed out for a walk and were all bundled, so we decided to still go, thinking the cold would be the best thing anyway, as well as the distraction. He was fine in a short time and was bending them right away, so we knew he was really ok.

A few new developmental notes:

Elliot is still insisting on us naming everything, over and over. He is starting to try sounds, but at his own pace (not good at performing on demand!). For example, if you say, "Let's take of your coat," he'll follow with a "keh" sound for coat. I think I hear a little lisp in his "s," but who knows at this point.

He has a shape puzzle from Grandpa Papczun at Christmas. And, just like everything, he'll point and want to know the shapes. He has them down pretty well now, but it's not anything like "Oh, he knows his shapes!" but just assigning a name to something just like other items. What is fun (and, bias-us, we think is impressive!), on his own, he started matching those shapes in his puzzle to other items of that shape in his books. Ie- there is a diamond on his puzzle. He'll get up, and go turn to the page in one of his books that has a kite on it, a diamond shape, and point to it. I think it's pretty cool that he's making these connections-- he seems to apply the label to more things than just that specific, one object where we name it.

I've been trying to get this on video, but of course, when the camera comes out, he immediately wants to sit on my lap and look at the images instead of letting me capture what's happening.

Also, a bit ago, it started snowing outside and I pointed that out to him. He got all excited, then went and got his book, "The Snowy Day."

One other funny story-- Claire, Martin, and Diane came over the other night. Elliot was on the other side of the dining room, and we were talking at the table about Diane moonwalking and that the pediatrician, at his 15-month check up, had asked if Elliot was walking backwards. We weren't talking to him directly, but as if on cue, he turns around, and starts to show off how he can walk backwards. What a ham.

The Cheerios Episode.

We had a major showdown yesterday with Elliot. Yes, he was tired and probably hungry, but this to me means even more consistency is needed, as this is when the real brattiness comes out. Elliot was grumping and purposefully threw a bowl of dry Cheerios all over the floor. Thus, he had to pick them up... 25 minutes later, he had not complied. Really. Squirming, twisting, resisting "forced" attempts, ignoring the "I'll help-- I'll do one, you do one" bargaining, crawling up on each parent with snuggly hugs, faceplanting with screams in my lap, starting to eat those that were already in the bowl, you name it. It was entertaining, amazing, and impressive. And, we both knew he had not forgotten what we were all about, as part way through the showdown, after getting about half of them in the bowl, he proceeded to get really mad again, and spilled them again on purpose. Of course, we tried to point out that the job could have been done in 1 minute and we all could move on to playing, but alas, he stuck with his guns for a good half hour until, huh, he decided to use both hands, and fill the bowl with handfuls. Thank goodness we didn't need to be anywhere and we could just outlast him.

Ten minutes later, I catch him out of the corner of my eye picking up a single Cheerio from the floor, putting it in the bowl, and clapping for himself, unaware I was watching.

The sad part-- I vividly remember similar episodes as a child and teen, being just as stubborn and bratty. (Mom, dad, remember the afternoon I was supposed to move into college? 5 hours late, after a meltdown, we got on the road...)

I dread the battles with this child as a teen. Do these episodes fade with constant reinforcement, or do you just manage them with constant reinforcement?

Check Up!

18 month check up and Elliot's off the chart for weight... the wrong way. We're still chasing that elusive 20# benchmark-- he's at 19lb, 9oz. 31.5" tall, so good in the height dept.

He's super healthy, doc says, though, after she watched him scramble up on the chair with his stringbean arms and grasshopper legs. Certainly active enough!

And, last night we had a lovely night of sleep with no interuptions. Guess I just had to complain on here publicly for Elliot to get the message! I investigated his mouth (it's been months since there's been any development there) and voila, a little tooth on the bottom has sprouted. Just what I thought, wink wink.