Cookies

We realized a bit late that we were about to forget to make cookies for Santa. Thank goodness for frozen shortbread dough made a few days earlier.
















Elliot thought the reindeer would enjoy some carrots.

Siblings

Maggie, let the record show that Elliot could not love you more.

Pirate ship

Boxes, toilet paper rolls, oat containers- these are the things crafts are made of in our house. Elliot fashioned this pirate ship out of a diaper box and attached felt and pipe cleaners and a flag.

MWC - 4 months

Height: 27.5 inches or 79.9 cm
Weight: 19lbs 13 oz or 9.0 kg
Head: or 17.7 inches or 45 cm

All off the charts. Per doc, same height as average 9 month old, same weight as average 10 month old baby.

No school Fridays

We headed to the park around the corner from our house today and brought a picnic and hot chocolate despite the cold. Maggie was bundled up in her carseat and Elliot pulled the wagon full of good stuff (including Maggie!) all the way to the park. Yay sun!

Cheer

Yesterday we got our tree, cranked up the holiday tunes (nothing says xmas to me like the Puppini Sisters and Vince Guaraldi) and decorated. The tree is almost twice the size of what we've bought in the past, hence the dark top 1/3rd.

Tarians

Maggie, Elliot and I were at the grocery store when E asked, "Mom, what's an eggatarian?" I told him I didn't know and asked if he knew. He said, "a person who only eats eggs!" Then he asked what an everythingatarian was.

He's been concocting words and working on his rhyming a lot lately. He's also liking sounding words out when the word is spoken or written.

Thanksgiving

Krishna, Sandra and Rohan flew in for a week at Thanksgiving and we had a fantastic time with the little ones. Rohan is wary of strangers and definitely prefers Mama and Dada over everyone else. It reminded me of Elliot's stranger danger phase and also how quickly these things change. At preschool, as I sign Elliot in, he takes off before I even get a kiss or a goodbye in. A good sign at his age, but I miss the snuggly baby phase of his. Maggie is definitely snuggly so it's a win win.

Walk down to Alki:

Reading with Rohan once he warmed up to us a bit (we were told and eventually learned that books are the best encouragement/bribe to get the boy to hang out with us):

Reading under the table:

Building forts:

Backseat commentary

While driving back from pre-school today, Maggie got fussy as we neared our house. Elliot said, "Mom, when she cries so loudly, I think one baby is enough. We shouldn't have any more babies. Two kids is enough."

Delicious

Those fingers are amazing. And tasty.

The list

Since he's been telling me about what he wants, Elliot sat down and made his list for Santa. He sounded out the words and I wrote the letters on my paper one by one which he then wrote on his paper.


















In case it isn't clear, it says, "Santa tub ducks paints flashlight snow maker Elliot." Tub ducks to replace the big rubber duck that held baby ducks for playing with in the water, water paints since his are almost gone, a snow maker to make pretend snow with inside--something about marbles, what?--, and a flashlight.

First snow day 2010

We had our first snow last night- should be an exciting winter. We bundled up and headed to the local park 2 blocks away for some tree climbing and snowperson building!

Mat time

Raking

It was time to tackle the yard. We have very little yard because of the SWEET RV pad, but we do have a couple of good-sized trees that dump leaves. Elliot was game and we got it done! Maggie helped by napping then hanging out.




































I'll try to find the picture of Elliot in this bear suit and post it.

Siblings

For Grandma

These overalls are for you!

Halloween

We couldn't get a good picture of the two of them together since Maggie was already out by the time Elliot put his costume on but they both had a good night. Elliot got to go round up candy not once but three times (Friday and twice tonight). Devrim could not resist the duck and bought it before Maggie was born. She wisely got the 3-6 month size and it barely fit.

M!

A friend sent us this onesie- Mighty M!

Saturday morning at home

Maggie voting with Dad. Her hair is coming back in.

It was a long day- preschool birthday party at an ice cream shop complete with clown and costume parade then a pumpkin carving party at a friend's.

2 month checkup

Height: 25.75 inches or 65.4 cm
Weight: 16 lbs 12 oz or 7.6 kilos
Head: 17.1 inches or 43.4 cm

off the charts

Playdate

Elliot's been asking to hang out with his buddy George a lot lately- they will run around for hours on end (yesterday 8 hours non-stop) having fun together. Maggie was between them on the drive home in traffic and giggled at them while they shouted in the backseat together.

Mighty Maggie

How she lifts those cheeks or moves those thighs is a mystery to me.

Edited: Devrim posted this pic of me in the comments;

the Vrim

She's cultivating Elliot's sense of humor and snuggles him for hours on end and Maggie's getting the same love. We love you, Vrim!

Elliotisms

mazazine - magazine
Seatty-ill - Seattle
canckamills - chemicals
lellow - yellow
brudder - brother
inja - ninja
wif - with (he's working on most th's)
chark - charcoal
gassploded- exploded

Table

I finally convinced Chad that a craft table was a good idea. Doubles as the kiddie table at dinner time when Elliot has friends over.

Smiles

Maggie's been smiling regularly for a few days now- especially when she first wakes up.

Games

Elliot broke out the chess board last night and they spent an hour and a half playing the game. He learned the name for all of the pieces and remembers how a handful of them move. Chad would show him options for each move and Elliot would chose- apparently he made some good choices...

Tummy time

Tummy time happens mostly on the playmat with Elliot helping out, keeping Maggie entertained while she flexes her muscles. Also, she's losing her hair on top- yay baby pattern baldness!

The beach

We headed to the beach for one of what is sure to be our last sunny days (at least it feels that way) to throw rocks without jackets and fleece.














We stopped for juice and to relax with the paper for a while.

MWC

11 lbs, 13 oz or 5.4 kilos
23" or 58 cm
15.23 or 39 cm head circumference

2.5 hour labor TOTAL! Born 08:17

Welcome baby pamplemousse!

Organized

In the morning when he gets up, Elliot comes into our room to snuggle. He stayed for a few minutes today then said, "Mom! Can I pack?" He went into his room with some boxes and started putting stuff into boxes. When he got up to 7 or 8 boxes and he said, "I have so much work to do!" I told him he should write his name on the boxes so we know which boxes go into his room at the new place and he's in there with a pencil now.

Well, now he's actually folding himself into a box and asking me to close it.

Big brother

In the morning and throughout the day, Elliot will approach The Belly to hug and kiss his sister and tell her things. She often times will let him know she's listening with a punch or kick. He really likes the morning kisses- when he gets up, he comes to our room and lifts my shirt to expose my belly so he can give direct kisses.





















Thanks for taking this pic, Vrim!

Sleepy funnies

Elliot woke up from his nap, came into the living room and said, "Mom? When I woke up, I thought I peed on my pillow because it was so wet from my sweaty head." Then he slapped his knee at his cleverness.

Farm

There's a local farm we've been to a couple of times. They have a few of each animal and it's on almost 150 acres with trails, wetlands and playgrounds. Elliot really likes the farm and the bits of animal trivia they have posted.

Diggers

This week we had sewer line work done and Elliot happily sat outside on the deck watching the guys with the backhoe and various other machines for hours. He and I also got to rent and drive a dump truck to the other side of the city! It was a fun week despite the expense.


Because we're trying to sell the house, we've been spending a lot of time away from it in an attempt to keep it looking ridiculously organized and clean. We've learned that despite 85% of his toys being in storage, he is never without something to do. Time to clean things out, I think.


Other friends who just moved into a new house have offered to watch Elliot while we house hunt or sign papers and he has had a blast with his buddy George getting dirty and playing. They're so loud together and so FUN!

Turkey 2010

This year we took Mim and Pepere with us to Turkey to see the sights and, of course, eat lots of food. Elliot got to revel in attention from 3 grandparents at once and loved it.

Elliot with Elliot the bird in Cesme:














Craziest wall we've ever seen:














Pepere spent a good portion of the trip carrying him around when he got tired:














Fresh pomegranate juice:














Istanbul:






































































Blowing glass: