Mr. Cleaner

Get ready for some cuteness!  Elliott has found the broom closet and it is quite entertaining for all of us.  As I look at these pictures, I'm astounded by how grown up Elliott is now.  He looks more and more like a boy and less and less like a baby.

Surprise!  It's me!



Is this my better side?

On the move with his cleaning gear

Here, Mama.  This is my dust pan.

Daddy, is this how I do it?

Getting a little help on his cleaning technique

Woah!  Down we go!

Or is this my better side?

I hope you love these as much as we do.  Jesse and I laughed out loud while looking through these last night, especially the first two.

Our Climber

Elliott is an agile little boy.  He is constantly climbing on anything and everything.  He can climb on to regular chairs, couches, and of course his helper stool.  For a weeks, he has been climbing on to the arm chair in the corner of the dining room so he can turn the lights on and off.  Starting this week, he has figured out how to make it on to the counter-height chairs in the kitchen (we're scared now).  When he was resisting his nap yesterday, Jesse went in to find Elliott with one foot up on the crib rail.  Let's hope we have some time before he makes it out of the crib.

New target: my fancy new desk chair (Christmas present from my wonderful husband)

Step 1: grab on and hang on for dear life



Step 2: attempt to heave body on to chair

Step 3: fall down and try again

Step 4: heave left leg on to chair

Step 5: kneel and get excited

Step 5: take in the new view

Step 6: stand up, smile in delight, and give Mama a heart attack

Since the walls are going up quickly, more drywall was needed.  As part of the laborious effort of moving it upstairs, the stack first sits inside the front door.  Jesse propped Elliott up there to look outside. Now we can tell him he sat on top of the walls.

No chance he'd sit still

Spotted: light switches!!

Oohhhh!

 

We have walls!!

As many of you (hello, unknown people in cyberspace) know, Jesse has been rebuilding the upstairs of our house for the past year and a half.  It hasn't been an easy project.  At every turn, a new, always unpleasant, issue would pop up.  At least it's predictable!  Well, all issues seem to have been uncovered and resolved and the progress is visible!  All the walls are framed in, electrical has been run, new insulation is in, and drywall is going up quickly.  I'm kicking myself for not taking more progress pictures but at least here are some.  These might not make sense if you haven't seen our house . . . sorry if they're confusing.

Elliott's future room, from the top of the stairs



The inside of Elliott's room, looking towards the front of the house

From the same corner as above, looking back to the top of the stairs

From the top of the stairs looking through the linen closet and beyond to Elliott's closet

The other bedroom with the closet on the left and bathroom off to the right

Bathroom to the right and door to the other bedroom on the left

I'm hoping to take more progress pictures since things are changing quickly now!

Elliott's New Year's Resolution

I was really hoping that Elliott's resolution for 2013 would be to sleep in.  Those hopes were dashed before 6 am on January 1st.  Apparently he did not get the memo that his parents stayed up far too late.  Ironically, he did sleep later on the 2nd and 3rd, when I had to get up early to go to work.

It seems Elliott's resolution is to help us do the dishes every night.  He likes standing in his helper tower next to the sink.  He's very "helpful," and by helpful I mean playing with the clean dishes so we get to wash them again.  It's a small price to pay for seeing the joy on his face.


He loves putting the tops on bottles.  He always picks the correct top for each bottle.  Very clever!

Happy boy!

Daddy's helper

Busy, busy

My goal for 2013 is this:


I saw this posted on a friend's facebook page and it hit home.  Our society seems to place value on being busy.  Busy people are successful.  If you aren't busy, you're lazy.  I choose to disagree.  My joy comes from spending time with those I love, cultivating my skills and interests, keeping my body healthy, cooking as a way of providing for those I hold dear, among other things.  So, this year, I am making a concerted effort to spend more time doing these things that fulfill me and less time being busy for the sake of being busy.  At the top of the list is more time with Elliott, Jesse, my family, and friends.  Looking forward to a great 2013!!

Last Shots from 2012

Since we rang in 2013 with today, I wanted to post the last few pictures from 2012.  These were taken on my phone over the last week.  Sorry about the poor photo quality.

Elliott got up close with Penny - with heavy supervision



He really likes her.  He rocks her carrier, whether she is in it or not.  He wants to pet her but this is as close as we let him get - foot petting.

Jesse is keeping tabs on Elliott using the fabulous built-in handle that is overalls

After threatening to get a larger, all wheel drive vehicle for a while now, my mom showed up at home one night with a minivan she was test driving.  Ned and Elliott thought it was the best toy ever.  I enjoyed testing the recliner in the back seat.  It went back to the dealer the next day . . . 

Jesse and I got cross country skis for Christmas from my parents (and poles from Ted and Jen).  I've been out three of the four days since we've had our gear.  On this day, Jesse was working on the house so I went out with Leah and her kids.  Elliott fell asleep two minutes into our trip.  I got to listening to his sweet sleep breathing - and cute snores - for more than half of our trip out.  We love our skis.  Thank you!!