I........LOVE..........YOU?!

We sing Elliot this song that just goes "I......love.....you" over and over. Tonight, I was singing it, and she filled in something new...
Mommy: "I...........love........."
Elliot: ".....ELMO!!!"
We laughed hysterically and now can't sing it right, because she always fills it in with Elmo because of the reaction.

Also, she was sorting out a new bag of bath toys from a student of mine, and was repeating the names of the animals. Here are a few examples:
Mommy: "Shell"
Elliot: "Sell"
Mommy: "Dolphin"
Elliot: "Salsa"
Mommy: "Octopus"
Elliot: "Offices"

Oh No P!

Last night when Dave and I were rocking Elliot to sleep, as we try to do whenever we can, we were singing to her.  This kid loves singing.  While we were singing the alphabet song, we heard this:

D & S: abcdef

Elle: G!

D & S: hijklm

Elle: OH NO! P

D & S: qrstuvwxyandz...

It was so very cute that she put OH NO in instead of N O.  We had just been singing Little Fish, which has a few OH NO's! scattered throughout and Elliot loves to sing.  What a silly monkey!

X is for Xylophone

Yay!  My xylophone came today!  It is set up already, of course.  Thanks, Neil Grover!  What a deal!

I played it already, no surprise, then Dave and Elliot played it.  We have pictures.  I'll post them as soon as I can!

A Wonderfully Productive Weekend

Friday night I taught a lesson and we relaxed around the house as a family.  I seem to recall crashing fairly early, after such a long week and knowing I had to be up with the baby in the morning.  Saturday morning, Elliot and I went to the library to do a movement class with the toy parachute, and were the only ones to show up.  No class.  But we did come home, work on Christmas cards (check your mailboxes!), and wrap some presents.  David and I taught all day, but still got good Elliot time in.  She napped 3 hours and 15 minutes, and we finally ended up waking her up.  We called Nana on the video phone to show her that Elliot now says "Nana" and "Santa" (which comes out as "Sassa").  

Today we planned to do nothing but stay home and prep for Christmas.  So of course there were really good sales and we had to run out to get those.  Off to Target and Toys-R-Us.  Lots of playtime with our silly girl, whose favorite game is currently taking every marker out of our drawer one-by-one and handing it to us.  We got TONS of gifts wrapped, a couple dozen more cards done, etc.  We baked a tart (note to self: no clementines in tarts in the future...) and baked ziti.  Elliot went to bed like a dream both nights.  Tonight she whined "Love you..." sadly as I put her to bed.  Nice to know that even when she's disappointed with me she still loves me!

The Busy Family

Wow!  I cannot believe how busy our family is!  Last week was Dave's concert, this week I have four.  We're desperately trying to get Christmas decorations up, pictures taken, cards together, lights up, house cleaned, baby cleaned and fed (she requires so much!).  Sometimes we even dress her!  Yikes!  Blog more later!

C is for Cookie

The best part of having Aunt Vik watch Elliot during the day is...oh, who are we kidding?! There are SO MANY good things about Aunt Vik watching Elliot for the day!

1. Elliot can sleep in if she wants. (She doesn't usually want, but still...)
2. Elliot doesn't have to get dressed.
3. If Elliot poops out the front AND back of her diaper and needs a morning bath that Mommy doesn't really have the time for today, Aunt Vik can watch her in the tub while Mommy puts clothes on.
4. After school, Aunt Vik stays and we hang out! Tonight we made COOKIES!

Three kinds of cookies in fact! Buckeyes - to celebrate the big win this weekend! MUCK FICHIGAN! 42-7 Buckeyes over Wolverines! And jam fingerprint cookies and gingerbread (dough). We'll be making the gingerbread men, women, and children on Wednesday afternoon before our flight. Yay, cookies! Yay, Vikki!


And Elliot? Absolutely delightful, fun, and silly today. A few crabby minutes here and there, but then again, don't we all have those? This kid is in good mood heaven these days. What a happy girl!

"I'm not saying you're fat, you just LOOK fat!"

Dave, Ella and I went to the Olive Garden tonight for dinner. Going out to dinner lately has been not so pleasant. Elliot has to eat what we're eating, she's often quite cranky, crayons are food for her body not food for her soul, etc. One of us usually ends up walking around with her while the other eats, then we switch shifts. Tonight, though, we had a SUCH a nice time! It was really lovely. Elli was a dream! She was SO well behaved, ate all her mac and cheese and drank almost all of her milk, and was funny and charming and not at all annoying. Yay! There IS hope for the future!
While we were eating, Elle was trying to talk to the folks at the next table. I looked over and smiled an apology, and as I turned, this seven or so year old boy said, "You look fat!" Oh my. Hilarity ensued:

Boy: You look fat!
Pregnant Sister: Um, thanks?
Boy: I mean, I know you're pregnant, but you look really fat.
Prego Sis: Well, that's still not nice.
Boy: I'm not saying you ARE fat, I'm just saying you LOOK fat!
Prego Sis: Wow.
Boy: Seriously! I don't know what I'm saying that is mean!

By this time, Dave and were laughing out loud!


And now some pics of Elliot from recent weeks that I finally pulled off my camera:

Bathtub Mohawk:


Front view - look at those eyes! What a beauty!:


Elliot using a fork on her own:


Elliot awkwardly eating off the fork:


Elliot's new favorite toy - the laundry basket:

Mommy? Who is this guy?!

Elliot, Daddy and I went to the mall tonight to get Elle's pic with Santa. She wasn't too sure about it at first, and by the end her lip was literally twitching and her eyes were filling with tears! Here's the photo we ended up with:



Our Santa is SO GOOD and his background is so beautiful!

Funny Girl

Elliot has become quite the entertainment for Dave and I. She is just SO MUCH FUN these days! Yesterday (Saturday) she had SUCH a great day. This morning, she has been so cute and playful. Its almost like having a new puppy! She climbs on you if you lay on the floor, she kisses all over you, she rolls around on the floor. If you chase her, she screams and runs away, but then turns around and runs into your arms. That's my favorite. :)

She started buzzing her lips into the kazoo, so Davey got a baritone mouthpiece and she had a great buzz. Then, he got out a trumpet, and she made a good sound on that, too. We caught some on video, check out the video bar and our youtube page.

Congrats to our good friends Alison and Anthony on the arrival of their new baby girl, their first child, Alexis Ann. She was born at 2:13 AM, November 14 and was 7 lbs, 1 oz. Congrats to the new Mommy and Daddy! They come home from the hospital today.

Sing! Sing a song!

Elliot is quite the singer now. Sometimes when I rock her to sleep and sing the ABC's, she "sings" along. She also fills in the following phrase, "The Mommies on the bus say..." and she says, "Sh, sh, sh!" But best of all is this:

Mommy: Ring around the rosy!
A pocket full of posy!
Elliot: Ashes! Ashes! (though often it sounds more vulgar than that)
Ah da da DOWN!!!!

Elliot gets on her Fisher-Price pony:


Pretty girl!:


Playing with Monty:

She said "Drink"

This morning, Elliot pointed to her cup and said, "Drink!" I was so proud of her! Just to be sure, I had her say it again about six different times. Of course, when I had her say it for Dave, she refused. Ah, my love. Also, when she says it, it sounds more like, "Krinksch" Close enough.

Elliot's latest tricks

Elliot throws tantrums now. :) I think I'll consider her new talent. Last night, we had a full-blown, 25-minute tantrum. It changed rooms three times. It was because I put tights on her, because her feet were freezing, and she couldn't pull them off. She kept stopping, peeking around the corner to see what my reaction was, then starting up again. In that time, I made dinner and folded a load of laundry. I've been bad about scooping her up during tantrums, so I just let her have it out. She was overly tired, as her first nap was at 9:30 AM at Grandma's, then no more naps all day!

She gives great kissy-sounding kisses now.

She tries to put her own socks on.

She steps into some of my shoes and just stands in them.

She empties her shirt drawer almost daily.

She can use her shape sorter! She can put all four shapes in, manipulating them until they fit. They are a circle, square, triangle, and star. I have to say I'm quite impressed by this new found skill. (She started really doing it on Monday.)

She still LOVES to read books! I got her the book Gossie yesterday, not knowing what a hit it would be! She LOVES that every page has a "Dut-dut" (duck) on it!

Haha! Her most entertaining game is emptying the drawer in our studio, handing the parent of whichever student is there every single item out of the drawer one-by-one, then putting it back one-by-one.

She loves to sit in her kid-sized chair (though its not very sturdy), and she loves to sit on little things like: her potty step-stool, her tricycle seat, and Dave's trombone case.

Oh, and she nods her head. Its very cute! She looks you right in the eye, purses her lips, and does an 'I Dream of Jeannie' sort of definitive nod.

And she loves to talk to her Nana and PopPop on the video phone!

Vote!

I voted today, did you?!

Trick or Treat!

For Elliot's second Halloween, we went Trick-or-Treating after school. Elliot was a monkey, because she's our little monkey! We gave her a banana (it helps the costume) and she had eaten the entire thing by the second house. We went to most of the houses we went to last year. Mostly just friends in the neighborhood.

Here are some pics:


What a monkey! At Stew and Jennie's house:


Sleeping in the carseat:


Ella and PopPop: (On the video phone last night, she said "PopPop!" when she saw him! How sweet!)


Aunt Vik and Elle:


Elliot hugging my leg: (Davey loves this shot!)


Out trick-or-treating as a whole family - at Darren and Laura's house:


SuperDaddy!:


Elli getting ready to head to Target to get Halloween candy:


Aunt Amy and Ella:


Elli and SuperDaddy:

We're just so busy!

Saturday after teaching a day full of lessons, we went to a costume party at Stewie and Jenny's house.

Sunday we left for Aunt Vik's house at 8:30 AM to meet she and Melissa, Andrew, and Tanner for a day at the zoo!
We left the zoo at 3:00, raced home, got home at 4, changed Elliot's clothes and headed to Alexa's 2nd Birthday Party.
We left the birthday party (at McD's) to head home because Grandma and Grandpa were on their way there. They left at 8:30.

Monday night, Mommy took the night off and went out to dinner with Vikki and Melissa at CPK. Yum!
(Daddy had his boys' night on Friday!!!)

Lil' Leos

For those of you who have heard tons of stories about the Mommies on my "Mommy Website," here is a spectacular pic of our kiddies! Thanks to Mommy Laura in Boston for putting it together for us!



Back row: Ava in TX, our Ella in NY, Griffin in MA, Matthew in...space!, Andrew in MN, Keira in MS
Front row: Devan in Canada, Liz in ME, Phoebe in Canada, Jake in ME (Liz's twin!), and Katie-Kate in TN

WE BOTH FORGOT!!!

Dave and I both forgot! I can't even believe it!

I was walking down the hallway at Clinton Elementary, and I saw the book fair sign. It said, "Teachers Preview Day October 20!"

I thought, 'October 20?! That sounds familiar!......OMG! OUR ANNIVERSARY!' I immediately ran to my room and called Dave. We were both shocked that neither of us remembered. We both agreed that we must not have written the date on Monday, or one of us would surely have remembered it!

We've been together for 8 years and 3 days...

We agreed to go out to dinner tonight somewhere nice and with Elliot. Elliot decided that was not in the plans for tonight. Instead, we're ordering in from Applebees. At least its something.

I guess after awhile the anniversaries don't count much unless its the wedding anniversary, right?

Yay for Elliot!

She slept through the night last night for the first time in four nights! Thanks, Ella!

The Busy Bunch

That's our family! The busy bunch!

We had a nice visit to Ohio over Columbus Day weekend. Elliot has now flown on 16 different airplanes. She did great on 3 of our 4 flights this trip.

Elliot has added "Please" and "Hot" to her list of sign language.

She has also been exhibiting some disturbing behaviors. According to "What to Expect: the Toddler Years," it's because of stress. I assume her stress is Dave and I being back at work. She now bangs her head on the floor. I know Uncle Jamey used to do this, and Daddy Dave did this - from what I understand, both have the scars to prove it. Hopefully, with more face time with Dave and I, she'll grow out of this soon.
Sleep is also disrupted again. We've been having trouble getting her to bed and getting her to stay in bed during the night. *Sigh*

Work is going well, tons of private lessons between Dave and I, and little time left for our house. So we have some dirty dishes, toys not put away, and a bit of laundry to be folded - but that will all keep, right? (That reminds me of a poem, which my Mom gave me, and I absolutely love...)

Cleaning and scrubbing can wait 'til tomorrow,
For babies grow up, we've learned, to our sorrow.
So quiet down cobwebs, Dust, go to sleep:
I'm rocking my baby, and babies don't keep.

Let's just say...

...that the "Poop Floats" entry is no longer the most disgusting day I've had!

A Learning Explosion!

A week ago we took Elliot to the Doctor and she knew 18 words. I am SHOCKED by the amount of stuff that she's learned since then!

New words:
On
Off
Light
Apple
I'll add more as I think of them, but I know there are more than that!

New talents:
If you say, "One!" she says, "Two!" and sometimes, "Three!"
She can take the top off her bottle and put it back on. (Hence her new words, "Off" and "On!")
She can stack pegs by turning them the correct direction and making a tower.

Monkeys, Firetrucks, and Pumpkins

Sunday, we decided to dress Elliot up as a Monkey and head down to our local firehouse to buy some pumpkins. We did this last year when she was too little to even sit up on her own. She was a cow last year. As soon as we got out of the car, the fireman began saying, "Look at this cute little guy!" We had to repeatedly say, "SHE..." When we had trouble getting her to stand still and look at the camera, we added a banana to the mix, and she tried eating it from the peel inward. We finally peeled it, and she ate it like a big kid!!!

Elliot and Zoe:


Elliot eats the banana's end:


Look, Mommy, a banana!:


Daddy! You're so funny!:


An artistic shot...of Elliot walking away:

Stay-At-Home Playdate

We had a playdate today with our stay-at-home Mom friends. These are the kids and Mommies that we used to play with when we were a stay-at-home Mom kind of family. We had Kim and Sienna, Cindy and Chris, Laura and Alexa, and Karen and Julianna over. We had a very nice time with everyone here. It is so much fun to see all the kids together!

After the playdate, we went outside to get our Lil' Leo pictures. Not much success there! We're supposed to have Elliot in a white shirt and jeans, outside (its overcast today, though). We went outside and I couldn't resist some pics in her new hat! We may have to try again to get the pictures for the Lil' Leos, though. After all the Leo pics are in, our friend Laura is going to composite all the kids together into an America's Next Top Model-esque picture together. Yay!

Elliot passing by:


Elliot rolling on the floor (one of her fave activities these days!):


Juliana:


Miss Sienna who lives around the corner and we always stop by her house on walks:


Elliot playing with her table:


Alexa and Chris (behind the pole):


This was supposed to be a pic of Chris, but Elliot walked into it!:


Elliot doing the Chicken Dance?:


Elliot as a gangster?:


Elliot in her CUTE new hat!:


My Punkin with the Pumpkins and her Mum:


Where's Elli?


Peek!:


Dancin' Machine!:


Honorary Lil' Leo (she's really a Lil' Cancer, but it doesn't have the same ring to it...):

A Really Fun Family Day

First of all, I know Veronica is reading this and thinking, "I thought WEDNESDAYS were Family Days!" Well, all our private students cancelled, so today is family day, too! Since its Rosh Hashanah, we didn't have school today. Elliot had her pedi appointment this morning, but we made this afternoon our priority.

We found a nice sounding corn maze out East (at Stakey's Farm), and headed out that way. On the way there, we passed many more corn mazes, but we kept truckin'! I'm so glad we did. We had a really good time going through the maze (pictures to follow). Afterward we bought 3 LARGE mums for only $10! They are beautiful! One is orange, another pink with yellow centers and another dark red with yellow centers. I can't wait to set them up outside with my new pumpkins! On the way home, we stopped by Briarmere Farms to get PIE! Yum! We've never been to Briarmere, but we've had pie from there before. I was shocked to see two lines out the door to buy pies! I got peach/cherry and Davey got strawberry/rhubarb. Elliot enjoyed bites from each. :)

Then we went over to Grandma and Grandpa J's to check out their new porch and skylights. They've had a lot of beautiful work done on their house. It really looks fantastic! Congrats Grandma and Grandpa!

Now we're all settled in for the night, relaxing (Elle's sleeping!) A long wonderful day as a happy family...

Elliot and Mommy with the Baby Bjorn preparing to enter the corn maze:
(P.S. Next time, take Daddy's advice and DON'T wear flip-flops!)


Elli our flower!:


Wait! What are you guys doing to me?


Daisy Mommy:


Crazy Daddy:


Uh-oh! Wrong way!:


Dead end! The right way is not behind this door!:


Daddy took a wrong turn!:


Mommy and her buddy:


Elliot's new Mum.....s: