2 Years Old!

Elliott turned 2 one week ago. We had a birthday party for him at our house on the 30th of October. We decided on a Halloween theme and all the kids wore costumes to the party. Dan created "Spooky Caves" in our basement with old refrigerator boxes and christmas lights. The kids loved the caves! They would all hang out back in the area Dan created to play in (our bedroom) and somehow the kids were able to access our closet through the boxes. My sister took pictures for us, which is the reason for the late post. Elliott got a ton of great presents and had a really good time. We are so glad we had all of our family and a few friends join us to celebrate with us.



Cousin Pic:


The next few are what it looks like to open presents with all these kids around. Elliott would open one present and forget about the rest. Thankfully he had many helpful cousins around to help open all the others.








Riding his favorite toy accessorized by his new favorite hat:


Can you believe he's already two? Remember when he came home from the hospital?

What we've been doing...

What to know what Elliott has been up to recently? Well, I decided that I'd try potty training him. I've read online that the "ideal" age for potty training is 22-24 months. So, we bought a potty, some candy as a prize and some stickers. Elliott could have either 2 Reese's Pieces or 1 sticker for going pee. It's amazing how that is a big incentive to a nearly 2 year old. He gets both if he goes poo -which has only happened 1 time so far. But, we are pretty good with going pee. He's comfortable with the sitting on the big potty (adult size) and he does pretty well. We are still working on warning me before he needs to go. Seeing him walking around in little undies is so cute!



Elliott got rain boots that he finally decided to like:


He has some boxer briefs for kids - it's hysterical! I have some pictures of that, but they were taken with my cell phone and the camera isn't very good.

Overall, I'm happy we are making forward progress :) But, what happened to my little baby? :(

Halloween Sneak Peak

I especially like the tummy hanging out :)

A Month Already?

First off, I'd like to apologize to those who do check on this blog, even if it's just semi-regularly. This month totally got away from me and I didn't even think about posting much.

That being said, let's see what Elliott has been up to:

Elliott is talking a lot now. Usually he likes to tell me who he likes. Amy and Papa are the most popular. Every now and again other names get thrown into the mix. He really likes Lauren's chickens. He asks Dan to take him on hikes. This means going to a local nature park, standing by the water and throwing rocks. That's heaven for him, he could do it for hours

He is now obsessed with Fire Trucks and driving Fire Trucks. We visited our friend Brad, who is a Fireman/Paramedic, at his station at the beginning of September. Now all Elliott talks about is Brad and Fire Trucks and how he wants to drive them....every day! I have a video of him talking about it. Check back later (unless it's already posted) to see it.


At the end of August Dan's Grandpa, Dale, passed away. We had a really nice week celebrating Dale's life with all of his family here in Portland. All of Dan's cousins were able to make it, except one who was about to have a baby. I think it's really great that everyone was able to be here to remember him and his life.

Dale and Elliott, Father's Day 2009:


Powell Family dinner at the Porter's:




Elliott wanting to play with the twins:


That's some serious coloring:

The last night everyone was in Portland we met at a local hotel for Pizza and cookies. One of Dan's cousins has twins, Hayden and Hunter. Elliott loved Hunter. For his part, Hunter was very patient with Elliott which was pretty good for a 7 year old. In order to keep the kids busy we let them draw on the white board in the conference room:

Hayden, Hunter & Elliott


Elliott liked to be traced:


Bryan gave Elliott his first tattoo (now E wants to draw on himself, thanks...)


Wait...there's more

Elliott also likes to be a helper in the kitchen. Sometimes it works out well. He helped me make cookies in August and this past week he helped turn the crank to make applesauce:







Okay, I think that's all. Long posts happen when I only update once a month!

Wow

Is it okay to brag for a minute? Just now Elliott and Dan were walking out the front door. Elliott looks down at our welcome mat and says, "E". I looked at Dan and said, "did he just say E??" Then he says, "Two E". We asked him to point the E's out for us and he did! I don't even know where he learned that!!

I have lots of pictures to post on here. It's been a busy last week and we haven't had a ton of extra time to try to blog. Check back in a bit and hopefully there will be more pics to look at.

Beach Fun

On Thursday Elliott and I went to the beach with Amy and her boys for the day. We lucked out and had perfect weather there - though it was a bit windy. The kids loved playing in the water and in the sand.




Here is a short video of Caleb and Elliott. It was too funny to watch these two together.

Camping in the Wallowas

Two weekends ago we went camping at Wallowa Lake with my two sisters and their families. My main concern was that Elliott would be all over the fire. Thankfully, he knows what is "hot" and he stayed away. Elliott and Caleb finally figured out how to play together. They spent a long time playing together next to Amy and Jake's bike trailer. I think they were even playing hide and seek together. It was so cute.

Here is the cousin pic: You pretty much can't get a good picture of all 6 of them.


Porters after taking the tram up the mountain:


Dan driving our boat:


The other boat - way fancier:


Elliott driving the pontoon boat:


Cameron jumped in!!


Then Dan and Ryan joined Jake:


Dan and Jake in the little boat:


Elliott and I riding on the boat: