Aunt Leah, we have more snow here than in Alaska. You should move here!!!
Auntie Leah was kind enough to fly from Alaska to Seattle (I think) to Green Bay and then drive down to Chicago with my mom to spend 2 days with us. We feel incredibly blessed for the time. I wrote on FaceBook…. “Auntie Leah brings Alaskan salmon se caught herself, beer brewed by Lee Ellis, plays with my kids, and doesn’t mind sleeping on an air mattress. Best house guest ever” She also read at Nat’s preschool!
Happy 11 Months, Elliott! As you can see, getting a “chair picture” of this increasingly wiggly one is quite challenging. It was definitely a two grown-up job, with Jordan throwing him down and tickling him to get that second pic.
Favorite Activities: This boy loves pretty much everything. At home, his favorite toy continues to be his sister’s guitar. He loves to go over to the toy bin and dig through there. He recently loves standing at his sister’s kitchen and rummaging through all the treasures there – everything from rosaries to baby bottles to waffles to music boxes. He loves to dance – just like his big sis did and does. He often jiggles his head and body from side-to-side so fast that he almost topples over. He also loves joining in anything his sister does. Below, he’s at Natalie’s ballet class recital.
Can anyone around here teach me to plié?
Milestones: Elliott is a textbook crawler. He can easily pivot from crawling to pulling himself to standing to holding on with one arm. No solo walking yet. A little solo standing (says Dad). He loves to clap. He has given a few kisses. He knows some sign language, like milk and all done. He loves to talk. He doesn’t wave good-bye or hello yet. And, he weaned himself off his paci, which is awesome! No need to worry (knock on wood) about another 3-yr-old in this fam lusting after his/her paci, even months after giving it up.
Favorite Foods: What doesn’t Elliott eat? From lasagna to salmon, broccoli to avocado, Elliott can put it down. He’s often the first at the table and the last to leave. Foods like lasagna (he loved Grandma’s lasagna) often require a post-dinner bath. The only thing he doesn’t seem particularly fond of is his baby cereal.
Hey, it takes a lot of food to maintain this physique!
Personality: Curious, Busy and incredible Good-Natured. And helpful. Below, he is helping Auntie Leah write her cover letter.
Auntie Leah, I actually think you could use a stronger example to highlight your skills as a fishery biologist. How about this instead?
Being scientists / botanists at the nature museum…
This butterfly is nice… But I hear you have a sandbox in FL. Can we go to your place next time???
When I got home from work today, elliott clapped! Loving this little man! I am so lucky.
Natalie is loving ballet! Have you seen a cuter ballerina???
Do all kids love to hide??? While Natalie’s favorite hiding spots are under the blankets or behind someone’s leg, Elliott is much more open to what is a good hiding spot. Can you spot the little hider in these pics?
Question: Can you figure out in which pic, he really isn’t hiding?
Answer: The 2nd to last pic – in the grocery cart! That was just a blink.
Elliott is an absolute joy. 10 months old is crazy fun. I wonder where I’ll find him tomorrow!
Natalie wrote Grandma a story last weekend:
Translation:
Natalie loves going to the dentist too. After a false start yesterday (where I locked the 3 of us out of the house, with no keys or a wallet – but thankfully, our 2nd fl neighbors let us in)….
… Natalie and I rescheduled for today. Given the zero degree temp, we left Elliott with Mollie.
More Bob Marley please!
She loved watching Curious George and learning about all the dental instruments. Even though Hermie the Elf (from Rudolph) wasn’t our dentist, Natalie was glad to see Dr Kristin and she even got a magic spelling wand since she gave up her Paci!! (To replace the flower wand from Mikes and Erin’s wedding – it had started to crumble)
Natalie and I joined our friends Edmund and Gabbie for a trip to the Shedd Aquarium – as we did last MLK day too! (http://linvilleusa.com/2013/01/shedd/) Thankfully, this MLK day was a lot warmer than last year’s! Natalie was THRILLED at the thought of spending the morning with her best bud Edmund and Bella. If only every Monday was this awesome! She was singing, dancing, talking and swimming (literally, on the kitchen floor, like Bella with her stuffed animal Bella), leading up to the trip. On the way down the stairs, she pronounced: “Mom, I’m really good at talking. And I’m sorry that my voice sounds funny since I caught a cold from Elliott. I’m sorry that your voice sounds funny since you caught a cold from me.”
Hey Edmund, this way!
First stop was to see Bella the Whale, of course! Natalie and Edmund loved hearing the whales talk to each other. Natalie started singing “Bella, Beluga….” (once again, she had practiced all morning…. Elliott Beluga, Daddy Beluga, even Pinto Beluga – remember, our nickname for Little E, in utero?)
The whales were enjoying family time…..
Come here, my best bud….
Funny enough, when we went below to see the whales swimming, Natalie was “a little bit scared” because they were so big. Contrast this with 2-year-old Natalie who spent 30 minutes, pressed up against the tank staring at and talking to her friend Bella.
By the sharks, Edmund and Natalie laid down…. perhaps pretending to be sharks themselves????
Happy 10 Months, Elliott! We simply adore you and are so happy you are in our lives!
Loving life!
Elliott continues to be the most joyful, sweet natured baby. As always, it was fun to read Natalie’s 10-mo update to remind myself how different they are!
Nicknames: E-Man, Chunk Heavy, Little Boo-dy (from Nat)
I found you, Big Sis!
Teeth: At least 4 (top two, bottom two), though I saw a glimpse of a 5th coming in tonight
Words: Elliott says “Dada,” although I’m not sure it always refers to Jordan. Other than that, his “talking” is screeching/yelling and sticking out his tongue to make a spitty, loud noise. By contrast, at this age, Natalie had a few words in her repertoire. In Elliott’s defense, its hard to get a word in edge-wise around here, with Natalie talking a mile a minute.
Gross Motor: Elliott is a superb crawler (standard form, super fast – in comparison to Natalie’s odd bum scootch). He loves to pull himself up on everything (Nat’s bed, crayon table, couch, walls, people, etc), can move alongside furniture and recently learned to sit back down. He can pivot in every direction and is fully mobile. He doesn’t like to walk with assistance nearly as much as Natalie did – accordingly, we don’t give him as much practice at that.
Hmm... is this for eating or coloring?
Favorite Activities: What doesn’t this boy like to do??? He is so independent and super curious. He happily crawls and pulls up over everything. He loves to get into his sister’s things – esp. her Minnie Mouse guitar. He likes to crawl over to our toy storage area and rummage through every little bin of toys. He is fast, so you have to be on top of where he is going…. he tries to pull the internet cord, Jordan’s computer cord, Natalie’s potty, humidifiers, etc. Its hard to keep this place appropriately childproof. He loves to “hide,” which consists of putting a lovey over his face or just burying his head face down in my shoulder, the bed, the floor, etc. (He must get his sneaky hiding skills from his sister.) Oh, and he still loves putting everything in his mouth. The most random so far has been stickers. He’s enjoyed literally every place we’ve taken him to – a friend’s house, music class, the nature museum, the children’s museum. He’ll probably even like taking Natalie to the dentist this week!
Want to know another cool thing about having an older sis? You get invited to 3-yr-old birthday parties at Gymboree!!!!
Hey, have you met my buddy Luke (the big one)? (Son of a good friend from grad school)
Have you met my other friend (little) Luke (1 mo old!)? (Son of friends from ND - and you've seen his sister Mollie in a lot of previous posts!)
Foods: Elliott eats everything we do, with the exception of eggs which I believe you’re supposed to wait until later due to allergies. For instance, last night, he had pork loin and brussel sprouts. The night before, chicken, squash and broccoli. He eats a ton – as a guy in church remarked, “he certainly hasn’t missed a meal”. And, our traditional dinner plan of “cook as much as you can so that we have 3 days of leftovers” isn’t working as well with a family of 4, esp. with Elliott eating more than most preschoolers.
Schedule: Once again, I’m keeping a better record of Elliott’s schedule because Jira and Alex refer to it for Clayton, who is only a few months younger than Elliott.
6:45 – wake-up, nurse, get hugs & cuddles from Natalie, eat breakfast
8:45 – Nap 1, ranges from 1-2 hours. Gets 4 oz milk afterwards
10:30ish – Snack
12 – Lunch
12:45/1 – Nap 2, ranges from 1-2 hours. Life is always better when this nap is the longer one of the two b/c since Nat still naps, its more time for Mom!. Gets 4 oz. milk afterards
3:30/4 – Snack
Between 5 & 6 – Milk/nurses
Between 5:30 & 6 – Dinner
6:30 – Nurses, Bed time (Soo, soo, easy. You give him his lovey and a paci and he goes right to sleep.)
Cousins!!!
Speaking of Clayton, isn’t he a cutie? He is 6 mo old and measuring in the 50th percentile for weight as a 6-mo old (on the non-adjusted scale, despite being 2 months early!) Isn’t that amazing???
