Sunday Sled Ride

Our three day stay-cation in Elma ended with fun time in the snow on Sunday morning.  It was warm enough to play outside (upper 20s, low 30s?) so we bundled the boys up and headed out.

Elliott looks a little skeptical.



Ned has this awesome super hero hat that he often wears over his eyes but wore higher up on Sunday with his hair sticking out the eye holes.

I was the manual labor behind the sledding fun.

The snow was coming down quickly while we were out.  Elliott slumped onto Ned during our ride.

On the move!

Happy boys (switched places)

The sled was much lighter when Ned got out.

After a while, Elliott's cheeks were rosy enough that I sent him inside with Coco while Ned and I stayed outside and shoveled the walkways.

 

A Boy and His Bunny

Elliott has many stuffed animals that he plays with but he sleeps with a very soft bunny. He isn't particularly attached to it but I usually bring it when we stay somewhere other than home. It is like bringing a little piece of home with us. Jesse left for work this week and Elliott developed a cough around the same time. After a couple of rough nights, my parents encouraged us to stay with them so they could help me if he was up a lot again. Well, that was a few days ago. They make dinner. They take Elliott in the morning and let me sleep in. They keep us warm, cozy, and loved. And, he is sleeping like a champ here. So, we haven't gone home in a few days :)

On our way up to bed tonight, I realized I had forgotten Elliott's blanket and bunny from his bag. (I pack up everyday with the best of intentions of going home.) We came back downstairs to get them and Elliott carried his bunny. It was too cute to miss. My camera is at home so Mike captured these on his phone. We were trying for a smile in the second shot.

We love reading!

Over the past week, Elliott has gone from "interested" to "obsessed" with reading.  We used to read the same two books every night at bedtime: The Little Blue Truck and I Love you, Daddy.  Any other book was refused.  Now, we read many more books at bedtime but also throughout the day.  Elliott consistently brings a book over to us, we sit down, he snuggles into our lap, and we read.

Reading The Little Blue Truck before dinner.



In the book, the little blue truck says, "beep, beep, beep."  When we get to the last page, Elliott says, "beep, beep."  It's cute enough to make you melt.  (Note that Jesse and Elliott are sitting on one of Elliott's little chairs.)

Moving on to I am a Bunny, a newer favorite.  On each page, Elliott points to the bunny and smiles with pride and excitement.

When we were getting dinner together, Elliott picked up The ABCs of Buffalo, sat down on his chair, and read by himself.  When did he become such a big boy??

Other favorite books these days include:
Corduroy (an 18th birthday present to me from Anne!)
Otis (a sweet story about a tractor and a calf; a Christmas gift from Jenny and Andrew)
Polar Bear, Polar Bear, What do you Hear? (a pre-loved gift from Greg, Elise, and Lucy)
Little Blue Truck Leads the Way (sequel to the first little blue truck book; a Christmas gift from Daddy and one from Coco and Poppy too)

Model Train Show

Yesterday was a special day.  Jesse was supposed to leave yesterday around 5 pm.  At 6 am, he received an email delaying his departure until Tuesday.  It was like Christmas!  Since we were up (and Elliott was decidedly awake), we went out to breakfast and enjoyed a family day.  We woke up this morning with no plans for the day.  It is cold here again - about 12 degrees today.  Elliott doesn't like to keep his mittens on when outside so we can't spend much time outside at these temps.  We were itching to get out of the house and do something.  During a morning FaceTime call with the Ortmans (Elliott loves to see Ned and Penny), we learned that Mike and Ned were heading to a model train show at the county fairgrounds.  Perfect!  We crashed their party.

Elliott fell asleep on the way there and was very calm when we first arrived.  He sat quietly on Jesse's shoulders as we wandered around, with me in amazement at the prices of some of the model train cars.  Hundreds of dollars.  That's an expensive hobby!  As soon as Elliott spotted Ned, the calmness ended and he wanted to get down.  They held hands as they walked around together.



"Here, Elliott!"

Dads and boys checking out one of the larger exhibits.

Ned and Mike, deeply focused on the trains.

Hand holding again

Finally!  Something we can touch!

The exhibit hall was full of tables of stuff the boys could not touch (see above about model train cars for hundreds of dollars).  We were all relieved to find bins of toys under a few tables where the boys were free to pick around.

Ned and his road grader 

After quite a while, we found the kid zone.  Elliott with Sesame Street trains.

Concerned eyebrows

Mike and Ned taught us about Thomas and his friends at this table.

Big smiles when the trains when down the hill.

Mama, I'm hungry.  Me too, bud.  Let's go get lunch!

 

Jenny came to visit!

Our dear friend Jenny came to visit last weekend.  It was supposed to be a larger gathering with Alice and her daughter Lila joining us but Winter Storm Nemo scared United into cancelling Alice's flight from DC to Buffalo.  We received a completely manageable amount of snow so the cancellation was unnecessary.  For those who don't know, we worked with Jenny and Alice in the Antarctic Program.  Jenny lives in Santa Cruz, CA and we visited her in May of last year, after Ted and Jen's wedding.  We roped Jenny into visiting us more often by asking her to be Elliott's godmother.  I'm happy to report that our plan is working!  Every time her works brings her to the east coast, Jenny tacks on a trip to Buffalo.

Ned and Elliott love her.  They snuggled right in for some book reading (by far the calmest point in what turned into a hectic evening).



Happy

Penny's cute flower bum

We can't wait to see you again soon, Jenny!  Thanks for coming to visit!

Alice - we hope to see you soon!!!

Bath Time with Ned

After a nice brunch in Elma last Sunday, Coco offered to bathe both boys.  We graciously accepted and enjoyed some couch time.  They played for quite a while in the tub and then the fun continued.  Here are pictures of the post-bath fun.

Straight to the warming room, in the nude.



Checking up on baby Penny, who fortunately slept through the petting.

A rare quiet moment

Elliott gravitated to the most dangerous place in the bathroom, the medicine cabinet.  Poppy scooped right in to divert Elliott's attention.

Look at that belly!

On the move, with a sock in hand.

Taking a seat

Spider-Man underwear AND new Spider-Man slippers???  Woah!

The two bath buds

 

Funny Antics on Video

Elliott is full of all sorts of funny antics these days. Whenever I try to take a video, he usually notices the camera, stops what he's doing, and beelines for the camera.  A few nights ago, I heard huge belly laughs coming from the other room and captured Elliott's fun games with Daddy on video.  Here are a couple of the good ones.

Elliott loves phones, probably like all toddlers.  He has his own cell phone (Jesse's old Blackberry which we charge) but prefers our phones, not surprisingly.  When we're actually on the phone with someone, he doesn't say "hi" but he routinely picks up a phone, holds it to his head, and says "hi."  It gets us every time.

Waldorf Winter Faire

In mid-January, Elliott and I went to the Waldorf School Winter Faire and met Colton, Leigh, and many other friends there.  Leigh was a good picture taker that day and posted pictures to her blog of the boys playing.  You can check them out here.  Thanks for posting, Leigh!

Sunday at Strong

We took a road trip on Sunday to the Strong National Museum of Play in Rochester.  Our great friend Rob Tocker is helping a friend in Rochester for a few weeks so it was also an excuse to see him for dinner.

Holly, Penny, and Elliott searching for an adventure



There is an amazing mini-Wegmans store at the museum.  For those who don't know, Wegmans is a Rochester-based company.  

Elliott really enjoyed the cheese department.  That's the fancy cheese department.

Mama!  I'm stuck!

Scoping out the big kids in produce.

Back to the cheese department . . . and emptying the contents into his cart.

Making a friend

And he gave her some cheese, just what every girl wants!

Back to the cheese.  I'll have some blue cheese.

And more blue (note that some of the Swiss is gone)

Swiss and some cheddar

I have to get it all, Mama!  Elliott's cart was completely full of cheese.

Why do I need it all?  So I can get in the display case!

My hunk of cheese

Cheesy centerfold pose (pun intended)

Checking out the view from his perch

We had such a good time.  We'll certainly be back again!!