Mini-Vacation

Last night we arrived home from our mini-vacation to Seattle. On Wednesday night we drove up to Centralia, WA and stayed at Great Wolf Lodge. This was in celebration of my 30th b-day, plus we've been talking about wanting to go for a while now. Let me just say, this place is AMAZING! If you are between 7 and 13 I think this place would be total heaven. Somehow we were upgraded to a suite and had a total of 3 queen sized beds and 1 king in our hotel room. We were able to put Elliott in his own room and hang out after her went to sleep - with lights on! The water park is really fun. There are 4 water slides but we were only able to go on 2 of them. The other two you need at least 1 adult and someone else who is more than 42" tall - we didn't have that and we coudln't just leave Elliott with strangers. But, we did everything else. Elliott really liked the water and had a great time in the small pool for little kids. I got him to actually voluntarily put his whole face in the water. Every time we left the pool area he was mad at us.

On Thursday we drove up to Seattle and planned to attend the Seattle Sounders v. Portland Timbers soccer game. Thankfully Dan's sister, Lauren, came to the rescue and volunteered to watch E while we were at the game. It was really fun seeing a game in such a big stadium, Qwest Field (I've never been to a college football game or an NFL game). The Timbers won, 1-0! It rained for at least 1/2 the game, so I was pretty thankful when we were able to leave. It was cold!

We brought our camera, but forgot to use it at all. I did take a few pictures with my phone of E playing in a park in Edmonds while Dan was working on Friday afternoon.




E has a bunch of new words recently. Cookie, outside, truck, whale, shark, tree, airplane, baby, and bird. That's all I can remember off the top of my head. He is trying new words everyday.

Well, it is beautiful outside so I think maybe we'll head out to do something fun.

Copycat

So, I'm 30....ack! I made a promise to myself that at 30 I would do P90X with Dan, but I was going to wait until March 1 to start. Dan did this program a few months ago and lost 15lbs and said that he was feeling much more fit. I've always had a hard time working out. I think it's because I swam for 12 years, I wanted a break. So, I just had a 12 year break. Back to working out.

This morning we were doing our fitness test. Basically we were doing push ups, pull ups, wall sits, etc. Elliott was very interested in what we were up to. After Dan did his pull ups, Elliott walked over to the door and lifted his arms up - meaning he also wanted to hang from the pull up bar. After push ups he did his own little version. After our wall sits he walks over to where I was and sits down next to me with his back to the wall. It was too funny. Here is a short video of his push ups. He's also obsessed with Owls, and I got him to say it on video.




In other news, Elliott and I were both sick right after our last blog post. I thought he had croup, but I'm not convinced of it now. Though, he was coughing a lot and we had more long nights than I liked. We are both finally feeling good. I also turned 30 and Dan was more than generous with a birthday present for me. I got a new fridge. While you might say that's not very personal, it is to me! I love my new stainless french-door fridge. Thanks Dan, you are the best!! My sister in law and soon to be brother in law - Lauren and Justus - got me a cookbook. So far I've made blueberry muffins and peanut butter cookies...both were fabulous. I might have to break the P90X diet and continue to try out recipes. Thanks guys!

Okay, I'm tired after working out for the first time, I think it's time for me to get to bed.

It's been a while

Sorry for the bad blogging. The truth is, our office has been such a mess I haven't wanted to enter it for fear of contracting something... Dan cleaned it though, thank goodness! Thanks D!! We had a busy weekend with family. On Friday my sister, Amy, hosted a Valentines Party for all the cousins. The kids decorated cookies - more sprinkles than I think I've ever seen on a cookie. They colored and played hard. It was great. Dan and I went roller skating on Saturday night for a friends birthday. We were really lucky because Dan's parents took Elliott all night long! Woohoo, sleeping in AND not having to listen to a baby monitor all night long :) Sunday was a lazy day of playing and sleeping and celebrating V-day with Dan's Aunt Bonnie and Uncle Vic who were visiting from Montana.

Elliott has turned into a major climber. We have to watch him closely now because he'll climb up his high chair and it's a little scary to see him up there alone. He has found that my yoga block is very helpful in giving him that extra little height needed to scale the couch or look out the window.




While the rest of the country is covered in way too much snow we are enjoying great weather here (not so good for the Vancouver Olympics though...). Today we went to the park with Amy, Cameron and Caleb. Since our neighborhood is so old we still have a merry go round at the park. Obviously they are way too dangerous now (sarcasm) so it's hard to find one. The kids love it!

A Rainy Day

It's wet in Portland today....really wet! But, Dan and I decided to brave the rain to take Elliott to the zoo. I think we were half crazy. Not surprisingly, the zoo in Portland was nearly deserted. In way though it was nice. We were the only people viewing the Polar Bears, the Elephants and the Monkeys. Unfortunately, the Lions weren't out for display. That was really the whole reason we went to the zoo :(. Still, it seemed that Elliott had a good time. He is much more aware of the animals and did get excited when they would walk around or swim. One of his favorites was the Owl, he's big into Owls right now. He tries to say "owl" but that's a pretty tough word for him. I'm not sure I can even describe what he says, but he's trying. Elliott also likes turtles. There is a picture of a turtle above his changing table and we talk about it daily. In the NW exhibit they have a bunch of turtles they are trying to save...they are teeny tiny!

This is a terrible picture of Dan and Elliott - I can't ever get good shots with my phone.


Baby Turtles (I like how they are stacked):


Hopefully everyone else had less wet weekends :)

First Hair Cut!!

You heard that right, we gave Elliott his first haircut this past weekend. In reality we probably had about 30 individual hairs trimmed from around his ears and on the left side of the back of his head. Poor kid, his hair is really very fine and not too much has come in yet. But, it was looking a bit scraggly. Our niece, Brooke, asked if he was going to be scared. Nope, didn't even notice what was going on.

In other news, Elliott just went down 1/2 of our stairs completely unassisted! That's big in his book. He is usually very hesitant when trying out something new. Once he's done it a few times then he becomes very brave.

Dan and I went on a semi-date last night. We saw Avatar 3D. The visual effects were pretty amazing! There was a babysitting party here while we were gone. Apparently it was very exciting and E did all of his good tricks for the g-parents and great g-ma Jane. Well, the weather is really nice out today - for Portland in January - so maybe I'll take the crabby boy out for some air.

My first bike!

Here is a video of Elliott riding around our house on his new Radio Flyer scooter that he got for Christmas. Also, he does some of the growling near the end of the video. Enjoy :)

He can't steer very well, so there is a lot of bumping into things. Luckily it's not all that hard.

Where do the days go?

Umm...is it really the 12th of January already? Wow, where has this month gone already!?

Here is Elliott on New Years day. We got together with Dan's family because Lauren and Justus were in town after spending Christmas with Justus' family in Buffalo, NY. Elliott bashed his cheek on his bookshelf that day :( He's naked because a few new teeth have been coming in and the drooling has been out of control.


I babysat for my sister, Amy, last week. We had Cameron and Caleb over for about 4 hours. This was the first time I watched Caleb. He loves his mom, and hardly anyone else, so I was a little nervous about how it would work. But, he did great for the hour I had him before he went down for a nap. Yay for naps!! Cameron and Elliott played together really well. Cam just wants to play with Elliott's Thomas track - even though he has about 15 Thomas tracks at home. Our track is special, apparently. We had a good time but both E and I were tired when the boys left.


For Christmas Elliott got a Little People Farm and a table to put his toys on. E likes to be a daredevil and will climb up and stand on the chairs. A few times we have found him on the table! Is it bad to want him to fall so he understands that he will get hurt? Here he is hanging out with both:


E also likes to hang out in his "fort". A box we got after shopping at Costco that has a can of paint in it because I was clearing the floor to vacuum one day. He loves it. Weirdo!


Elliott has been talking a bit more. We think he says apple (appa) and will now growl all the time. Sometimes - when he feels like it - he will hoot like an owl and moo like a cow. He is walking so much better now and is getting much more brave. He likes to stand on the couch with his hands above his head in victory. We are still working - slowly - on how to climb down stairs. Our stairs are hardwood so I've been slow to teach him. But, now that I heard Caleb knows how, I think Elliott should learn as well.

I'll try to be a better blogger the rest of this month.