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I’m exhausted by 8pm every night… but with cuties like this, its worth it:

Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes

Speaking of toes... check out the taps these toes make

Tower Time

Wanna be in the audience too??

Elliott is 18 months old!  I didn’t do an 18-mo update on Nat, but here’s a post from around that time: http://linvilleusa.com/2012/07/ma-and-pa/

Hey there...

Weight: 27 lbs.  (We know b/c we’ve been at the doc/hospital 6x in the past week for croup – boo.  Luckily, he’s over the worst of it – knock on wood.)

But I thought you loved me!!!!!!!!!

I need a cuddle....

Words that he says that nearly everyone can understand: Dada, Mama

Words that he says that pretty much, only a Mama can understand: Na (Natalie), cah (car), ha (hat), cra (crash), ch-ch (cheese), uuhp (up), cray (craisins)

Recent Discoveries: Belly Buttons (aka Beebos from that Sandra Boynton book).  A few times, Elliott and I have been reading a story that has a belly button in it.  He is eager to find his own, find mine (I had totally forgotten that Nat did that too, until he started trying to lift up my shift), find Natalie’s (who is often playing nearby).  And then he sprints down the hall of of house to find his Dad’s.  I always give him a warning on what he’s looking for because, similar to some of the vocab, it’s something only a mama has a high likelihood of understanding his intentions at first.

Activities that Most Capture his Attention: Magna Tiles (just in the past month – he will honestly spend 20 minutes on this, which is a lifetime in his world), Kitchen (the microwave is his lovey’s fav hiding spot – and where Dad/Mom/Natalie go to find missing loveys), Dancing

Activity that most makes me think “Boy, I’m definitely a mom of a Boy”: Elliott is an avid climber.  From stepping on stool benches to hurling his body over furniture, there’s not an item that doesn’t beg to be climbed, in Elliott’s world.  On more than a few occasions, I have found myself all out sprinting down the long hallway of our condo to try to avoid a fall.  (His face is beat up enough – as of right now, there’s evidence of a trip on a toy at the park on his eyebrows, a hand bang on cement on his forehead, and a trip on the sidewalk on his lip). 

Activity that makes it clear he has an older sister:  Elliott seems to like flare – necklaces, hats – as much as his sis.  His fav necklace is Natalie’s sparkly light blue one…. and she is okay sharing 75% of the time.  I suggested to her that she consider a duplicate for a Christmas present to Elliott.  He also LOVES to share hats with Jordan and me.  Sometimes, 1 is not enough – the other night, I had on 3.

Fav Activity with his Sister: “Naked Chase” which means running around the house naked after a bath.  I caught a video the other night.  I never knew a bum could be quite that dimply, but still move with a decent amount of speed.

I cannot get enough of: his bye-bye wave, his “stinky” face, kisses/hugs (which is pretty  much him leaning into me for me to give him a hug/kiss

Fav Books: I love you through and through by Bernadette Rossetti-Shustak (Nat picked that out for him, after a bookstore trip with Nana – and he loves it), How Do Dinosaurs Say Goodnight by Jane Yolen (also a Nana purchase – Elliott can do a mean roar), From Head to Toe by Eric Carle (especially the gorilla who thumps his chest – Elliott does a very cheery chest thump)

Food: Ugh.  The pickier face has started setting in.  Favs include PB&J, craisins, raisins, O’s, bread, eggs, string cheese.  He’ll often say yes to an apple, blueberries, strawberries, noodles and protein too.

You're my best bud...

Email from Nana last Wed:

All of the greats [Natalie, Elliott, Clayton] showed up at the garden [Nana volunteers at the garden at the Farm Zoo] today.  They hung with Mammaw and Pappaw at Mr Singer [concert for kids].  Then we went to the farmers market and had a nice picnic together.   Nat decided they should walk us back to our car.  As we were walking, she said to me, “I think you should hold your Daddo’s hand.”  Of course, I had to take my Dads hand for the rest of the walk.  Sometimes we just need to be reminded.

Since I have been such an absent blogger (courtesy a sweet reminder from my Aunt Lisa Gille), I’m going double time today.  That buys me at least 3 weeks now, right??? (Hopefully sooner  – but we’re moving soon, so that’s a pretty good excuse.)

Our kids are the most awesome.  They are very sweet to each other.  And super fun.  There’s never a dull moment in our house… in fact, I wish there were a few more dull moments.

Elliott is obsessed with hats.  It was probably about the 6th word he’s said (behind Da, Na, Ma, hi, car… and right in front of ‘crash’).  He runs into our closet many times of day (which has no door on it b/c the doors were terrible) to fetch us a blue cubs hat, black techstars hat, or 80’s racecar hat.  Last Thurs, here we were being ghetto:

Ghetto Fab

x2

A local church has a huge rummage sale…. we didn’t find baby gates or a backpack, but Nat did get some awesome dress up clothes and jewelry.

What? Take that chronically anemic hair growth!

Bath time continues to be one of our fav times of the day too…

Are you ready to watch me do another face dunk?

One of my awesome college roomies – Daniele – and her husband Nick stopped by for the afternoon, on their way between South Bend (for the ND game – a shut out, against Michigan) and Connecticut.  Yay!  We saw them about the same time a year ago… crazy how a year can go by, but we pick right up.  Yet, this is a girl I saw literally everyday freshman, sophomore and half of junior year!

Natalie thought the zoo would be a good place to go… namely, for the train and carousel rides, I think.

Whoa - Daniele, did you see how high it is up here?

This is how you do it!

Don’t forget the train…. (they only made it around 2x – and this is a very small circle – before Elliott started crying, oddly enough.  He loved this 2 weeks ago, but honestly, has been super clingy with me lately… I’m hoping/guessing its some big molars coming in b/c my back/biceps/shoulders cannot take much more of the frequent requests for being held).

3 Linvilles aboard.... Natalie, Elliott and Baby Ellie (who is 3 mo older than Elliott)

After a super yummy dinner at Nana’s house with Jira, Al, Clayton, Mammaw and Pappaw, super duper Daddy offered Nat a ride home in style…

This is the most fun ride yet!

This pic was taken, as Natalie and Jordan danced to some music playing from Halligan’s across the street.  I can totally imagine Natalie coming back to Lincoln Park in 20 years saying… hey, this place looks familiar…. and dancing some more.  (Unf, probably with some other dude WAY less trustworthy than her Dad….)

I have a lot of pics from when Jordan was out of town, per his request.  Here are some highlights:

And, for my next great idea.... edible pencils!

Everyone needs a good place to relax...

Before bed time, both nights, Natalie wanted some girl time….

Mom, I need it brighter!

And just another cute photo from this weekend.  Nat loves getting her hair cut since it means watching a show during the cut and a sucker afterwards!

Jordan’s been gone in NY for work for 2 days and our kids are definitely missing him.  The first day, Elliott was aimlessly walking around the house saying “Dada” and I played a song that he sings on my phone 5 times because he kept on asking for more.

This morning, Natalie made a pic of Daddy b/c “the rest of my family is here but my Dad isn’t”.  (Do you see the resemblance?)  Hopefully his flight is on time and he’ll be home for dinner tonight!!

My little boy…. isn’t so little.  I feel it in my body – My right shoulder/upper back is telling me so as I type this.   You may be able to see it more obviously in these pics….

Oh come on... a high chair is so last month

And I can use utensils...

Oh mom, did you forget to bring your water bottle? Here, use mine... er, yours but its really mine, right?

In addition to eating (reference the 3 pics above), one of Elliott’s other fav activities is accessorizing with all Nat’s things.

Where's your flare today?

Does that bright yellow floral necklace go great with those slightly-too-big cherry red Tom’s??

WordPress isn’t allowing me to upload photos from my phone, which means I’m on the blog way less.  A couple things I just want to remember for myself….

Elliott’s favorite books are Good Night Dinosaur and From Head to Toe (he loves to thump on his chest like a gorilla).

Elliott is so eager to have Natalie wake up.  The other morning (circa 6am), he went over to knock on the door.  How dare she still be sleeping!  When we do let him in, he frequently greets her with full body cuddles.  This can be as calm as burying his head in her lap, but can be as much as laying completely on top of her.  With Elliott at 27 lbs and Nat around 35 lbs, that would be like a 100-lb kid squishing me.  Um, not comfortable.

I’m outta juice so gotta run…..

…. with extraordinary style!!!

What do you think our guests would like at the Coronation, Olaf?

I have to escape to North Mountain!

Woo hoo! Thanks for sharing your ride, Elsa! Love, Olaf

(Btw, Natalie’s pout is because she is pretending to be Elsa, of course, and she is sad that she might hurt her fav peeps – me as Anna, Elliott as Olaf and Jordan as Kristoff.)

Let's celebrate a great day with a trip to DQ! (Thanks Kate for the awesome suggestion!)