Charles and Elijah Having Fun

Happy Birthsday

2012-01-28T18:05:00.000-08:00

We started his birthday by getting a haircut.

While they were cutting his hair, he got to spray the mirror with the water bottle.

He tried to help his dad take pictures of his new haircut.

His birthday cake had Batman.

He also had a Batman candle. You know you're jealous.

It took forever for us to get ready to eat the cake.

Finally, he got to blow out the candle.

Blue icing got on everything.

He had lots of help opening presents. The parents kept telling the other kids he didn't need help, but they wanted to help too much to stop.

He got lots of presents, of course.

After everything was open, they all crowded around to play with one of his new toys.

We didn't get many pictures of the baby, but we got this good one.

Some more random pictures

2012-01-21T20:01:00.000-08:00

We borrowed this seat from the church. He likes to sit there, especially while he is eating.

He fell asleep when he was reading/eating his book.

His brother has a hard time waiting for the carousel to finish.

When it finally gets there, it's fun.

There is an interactive light show board on the floor at the mall. It's fun to kick the colors around.

Big kicks, especially.

Sometimes you can share it with some random kid who shows up.

He also likes to play the arcade games. This one has a mallet to pound the switch.

Birthday next weekend, so we'll have lots more then.

2012-01-09T16:19:00.000-08:00

If there's a purpose for checkers other than stacking them, he hasn't found it yet.

The younger one has discovered his feet, and found that they are good to chew on.

He also likes to play with toys, now.

The library has a table to color pictures on.

They both like to go walking in the stroller, as long as it isn't too cold out.

And some more playing in bed.

Christmas Post

2012-01-01T17:30:00.000-08:00

The Sunday before Christmas, the kids at church got together to sing Happy Birthday to Jesus.

The older one was there, but didn't sing. The younger one was there only for the rehearsal.
Then, we went to see their Granny.

They had fun playing there.
One of their cousins got to meet the baby.

These have nothing to do with the kids, but the chocolate pies were very pretty and very tasty.

Their grandfather is still good to sleep on.

Three out of four cousins agree that uncles are good to climb on.

Early Christmas Eve, the older one was having trouble waiting to open presents, so he got to open one before everybody else got there.

This was the Christmas tree at the great-grandparents' house.

Uncle Chris wore the Santa hat and handed out presents this year.

It's hard to wait for your name to be called sometimes.

Opening up Batman makes it worth the wait.

Sometimes older brothers have to protect their new stuff from little brothers.

He also got to open some more on Christmas morning.

The baby seemed to enjoy his first Christmas.

For his first Christmas, he got to try something new: solid food.

His brother, meanwhile, was busy being Batman.

The little one taught himself to roll over. Now we can't just leave him in the middle of the floor anymore.

We got to see the lights downtown. It was fun to walk around and see them all.

I think they both enjoyed their time seeing family.

Santa Pictures

2011-12-15T15:47:00.000-08:00

Elijah and Charlie got to see Santa last weekend.

Santa gave Elijah a candy cane. Charlie didn't get one.

The older kids got to make ornaments.

The younger kids just hung out.

We'll have Christmas cards printed soon

2011-12-06T18:22:00.001-08:00

Elijah and his mother put up the Christmas tree this week.

He and his brother can almost play together sometimes.

Batman meets Santa Claus.

He likes to see the cats at the store.

When we went shopping, I finally got him to ride something other than the dragon.

Young Charlie got his first bear.

Also, Spider-Man can climb up poles.

Well, he tries to climb, anyway.

Post Thanksgiving Post

2011-11-28T04:32:00.001-08:00

Charlie was very excited about his first Thanksgiving.

He was so happy, he rolled over to his side for the first time.

Charlie got to meet his cousins for the first time.

He also had a chance to meet his uncle, and then sleep on his uncle.

The Thanksgiving meal was very good, and I think we all felt like this after eating:

Charlie was really working overtime last week to meet his family.

His big brother needed to get on Facebook to talk about family.

Elijah also took time to read his cousin a book.

His grandmother also read him that book.
I should have more pictures once I get them off my brother's computer.

Pre-Thanksgiving Post

2011-11-22T14:54:00.001-08:00

Here are some pictures. There's no real story connecting all these.

He likes the guitar. This one is less annoying than most. It's still annoying, though.

Thanksgiving pictures will be posted next.

Sleeping and a New Bed

2011-11-06T18:05:00.000-08:00

First, I want to say that I had no part in teaching him this:

He holds up a sword, or a pool noodle, or anything, and shouts something very close to "By the Power of Greyskull, I have the Power". Again, I did not teach him this or encourage it.
The little one has had a stopped-up nose, so nobody has really gotten much sleep lately.

The big one is now sleeping in a big-boy bed. We'll see how well this goes.

Baby Pictures

2011-11-02T19:01:00.000-07:00

The baby pictures finally showed up. I paid a lot of money for these, so I'm giving them out to family now.

Happy Hallowe'en

2011-10-31T19:01:00.000-07:00

Batman had a chance to decorate a pumpkin today.

Batman also got to eat a pumpkin cookie and he got a pumpkin bear.

Robin got ready to go to his first trick-or-treating early.

Soon, everybody was loaded up and ready to find some free candy.

We found a church that had a trunk-or-treat in their parking lot.

Batman was kind enough to show where Robin was.

Batman got to jump around in the bouncy house. Well, he kind of just watched the other kids while he tried to get his footing.

We went trick-or-treating nearby, and when we met some friends, he decided to watch the game for a few minutes.

It was all very tiring, and Robin went to sleep rather quickly after this picture.

Almost Halloween

2011-10-30T05:42:00.000-07:00

The big one likes to see the costumes at the store. I'm not sure what he's going to do next Tuesday when they all go away.

The little one has been sleeping better at night. We still haven't gotten up to all night, but we're at the 4-5 hour range now.

Did you know Batman can drive a tractor? Of course he can. He's the Batman.

About a week ago, I showed the big one how to make a blanket fort. Now, he wants forts all the time.

Batman also likes to see the dogs. He doesn't want them getting too close, but he likes to see them.

We should have trick-or-treating pictures soon.

Halloween Preparations

2011-10-22T18:19:00.000-07:00

The little one's costume arrived this week. It seems to fit just fine.

The older one likes to see the "scary bad guys" at the store. He tried on one mask he liked.

Today, we went to the pumpkin patch. Batman went with us.

He liked seeing all the pumpkins, even the baby pumpkins.

They had a lot of kittens there, too.

Batman would run and climb the hay bales.

This time the scarecrow wasn't very scary. Batman had his picture taken with him.

Batman also got his picture with one of the kittens and some pumpkins.

Pictures of What We've Done Lately

2011-10-16T14:07:00.000-07:00

We haven't done anything exciting lately, so here are a bunch of random pictures.

First Trip to the Zoo

2011-09-25T04:25:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was the little one's first trip to the zoo (in a way). His older brother saw a sign for a dragon, but I think he was disappointed they didn't have any dragons to look at. Silly zoos need more dragons.I think I've mentioned before that the kangaroos get very close at this zoo.This guy was about twenty feet away from us.We got to take the zoo train, but we missed the first one that came through. I had to tell the big one that the next one was coming soon.I'm fairly certain this is the little guy's first train trip.At lunch, he ran around with another girl who was there.After she left, he just ran around.Then, the little runt stole my hat!After I got my hat back, he had a chance to ride the chimpanzee.He tried to feed the deer, but he didn't want to get too close to them.He played in a snake.He played in a termite mound.The little one didn't play anywhere.Somewhere near the gorillas, the big one went to sleep, also.He woke up in time to see the polar bear again and take a ride home with some of the animals.

Grandparents meeting the baby

2011-09-10T13:43:00.000-07:00

The younger one got to meet his grandparents this week.

He still sleeps most of the time, though.

Also, Batman showed up at our home this week.

Batman went on patrol in the back yard.

Batman played in the dirt with a stick.

Batman played with his glasses.

We went to see the dinosaurs again. Here, he's telling you where the dinosaurs are.

He found a book to read.

The little one didn't want books.

Charlie's newborn pictures

2011-09-05T07:25:00.000-07:00

We had a photographer show up at the hospital, and her pictures just arrived in the mail.

We paid a lot of money for the rights to these, so I'm putting them up here.

Home and doing fine

2011-09-02T10:36:00.000-07:00

We are all doing fine here.

We've been taking it easy for a few days.

The older one plays hard.

The younger one sleeps a lot.

He's still not sure what to think about anything.

We've got a fun weekend planned, so we'll have pictures of that soon.

More Charlie

2011-08-28T13:32:00.000-07:00

Everybody is home and doing fine now.

The older one wanted to look at the Batman boy in the waiting room. We had to go out there every five minutes.

The little one stays bundled up most of the time.

Finally, it was time to bring everybody home.

We packed up the car and took his mom to get some real food. (She wanted Mexican, for the record)

Presenting Charles

2011-08-26T18:40:00.000-07:00

Here is my newest son:

He was born after about five minutes of pushing.

His mom was tired, but glad to see her newest son.

His brother was also glad to see him.

I'll have more pictures soon. I left the camera at the hospital.

Still waiting on the baby

2011-08-20T13:01:00.000-07:00

Charlie still hasn't decided it's time to show up yet. In the meantime, here is the older one with Buzz Lightyear and Woody.

We took him to the park.

He's flirting with a little girl in this next one.

He still likes the swings.

His mom took him to the gym, also.

"I see Nemo"

The right way to eat cheese sticks is to stretch them out as far as possible.

"I am Bumblebee"

OK. The next ones should be the new baby. We mean it this time.

No baby yet, keep waiting

2011-08-13T12:16:00.001-07:00

The new baby isn't here yet, so I'm posting some of the older kid for now.
Earlier this week, his mom took him outside to play with the Big Wheel he got a while back.

There is a berry tree. It's fun to pick them and throw the berries at things.

It's very important to keep your heroes in line.

We won a giftcard, and we took the older one to Build a new Bear. Once again, he got to clean the new one off first.

After that, he got on the computer to type in his Woody Bear's information.

He took his new bear for a walk in the stroller.

We got over to the bookstore at story time. He wasn't interested in listening, though. He's way too busy.

Trains are fun to play with, but it's difficult when you won't let go of your new Superman Golden Book.

They also had crafts. You can put the noodles on the string, then take them back off again.

The book store also had snacks for the kids. This is quickly becoming my favorite book store.

Because he was good, he got to eat at his favorite fast food place and play for an hour.

Hopefully, the next post will be baby pictures. That should happen any day now.

Unrelated Pictures

2011-07-28T19:16:00.000-07:00

The library has a space ship that's fun to play in.

You can also make faces at the camera phone.

He got a haircut after that. I'm not sure why, but this is a "Superman haircut".

He tried his hand at some puppetry last weekend.

He also had the chance to color when we were out.

There was an orange cat that would appear on the floor, and he would chase it around.

I'm not sure why he thought he needed to work out, but here he is.

No caption for these.

That's it for now.

A bit of everything

2011-07-16T14:06:00.000-07:00

He went to see Ronald again. We almost can't drive past it without stopping.

He went with his mother to see how the new baby is doing. He wasn't thrilled with the trip.

He got to play outside after that.

Spider-man helped him draw at the library.

The carousel is always fun.

Either carousel is fun.

You can't see, but he's smiling at the little girl next to him. He rode a dragon, she rode a horse.

Fourth of July and Birthdays

2011-07-06T18:02:00.000-07:00

We went to visit family last weekend. He got to run around his Mimi's house.

We also got to see his cousins.

This next one is having a birthday.

He was excited to see and play with them.

His mom got to play with the baby.

The two oldest cousins got to take a bath. Here they are making mustaches out of soap.

The older one got to open his birthday presents, and that was a lot of fun.

Somebody got jealous watching the gifts being opened.

Birthday boy gets to wear the special hat.

His grandparents took him to Cracker Barrel before we left.

After that, it was the Fourth of July, and I found a flag for him to wave. He really enjoyed seeing the fireworks that night.

Park and Fun House

2011-06-25T16:39:00.000-07:00

He likes to go out and play.

He usually won't let go of his Batman and Superman.

Even when he's looking at the rabbits, he still has his Batman.

He carries them on the swings.

Even just running around at the park.

Anyway, earlier today we went to a place with lots of bouncy house type things. We took about fifty pictures, but there were only a couple that were worth keeping.

If you think this is blurry, you should see what i deleted.

Anyway, he loved the place and we will most likely go back soon.

More random pictures

2011-06-22T19:24:00.000-07:00

He got to ride the carousel again. He likes the dragons now.

He also likes this clown guy.

Nose.

He wanted to see Nemo. I told him they were goldfish, but he said, "No, Nemo."

Stacking the checkers is also fun.

Then, they fall over.

When we went to a shopping center near us, he told us he wanted to see the water. I guess he remembered the fountain from the last time we went there.

Doing thing and going to places

2011-06-11T19:08:00.000-07:00

Last weekend, his mother wasn't feeling quite good, so I took him outside to play with his Batmobile.

The sun was out, and it was very hot.

Later, his mom took him to the gym.

The pool is opened now, so we plan to do that a lot.

We'll keep trying to get him into the water and out of that star thing.

He likes going to the library. They have lots to do there. They also have some books.

That's it for now.

Memorial Day Vacation

2011-05-30T19:18:00.000-07:00

We went traveling to Arkansas again this weekend.

We went to the park near where his Granny lives again.

There's lots to do there.

Then, we went and saw his grandparents. He got to ride their big motorcycle.

He also had a chance to ride his granddad's big mower.

Sharp-eyed viewers will notice the menu is upside-down.

We also had a chance to see his cousins. Here's his dad holding the newest cousin.

Here's a good shot of the little guy smiling.

I promise to post the next picture of his uncle wherever I possibly can.

More pictures of the littlest cousin.

He's working on rolling over.

I've been told to show more pictures of him and fewer of his cousins.
His great-grandmother has the best snacks.

That's all we have for now.

2011-05-23T17:54:00.000-07:00

We had another potluck at church.

After he ate, he wanted to go see the waterfall.

We've had nice weather, so his mom took him outside.

I finally got a picture of him hanging. All the others were too blurry to keep.

He still likes the park, of course.

There's lots to do.

We'll have more later.

Random pictures

2011-05-15T19:01:00.000-07:00

It's late and my new glasses are giving me a headache. Just pictures this time.

Bowling for Fun

2011-05-03T18:44:00.000-07:00

His dad went bowling tonight with some coworkers, and he got to go along.

He even got to bowl some.

It was fun to see the pins fall down.

After knocking down some pins, he got to get his ball back.

Then, he got to throw it again.

He even got a strike once!

Then, once we got home, we set things up so he could bowl at home.

He's still looking for eggs

2011-05-01T19:41:00.001-07:00

His mom took him to the library again. He seems to prefer Superman.

From April 2011

After that, she took him outside so he could look for Easter eggs.

From April 2011

Sure, it's after Easter, but whatever keeps him happy.

From April 2011

I think Mr. Potato-head's nose got in there somehow.
He still likes bubbles.

From April 2011

We took him to the pet store yesterday. He liked watching the ferrets.

He really liked watching them fight/play.

Big Rabbits and Eggs

2011-04-26T18:23:00.001-07:00

He got to see the Easter Bunny last weekend. He wasn't very excited about that.

After enduring that, he went outside and found some eggs.

Then, he put them in his bucket.

He didn't set down his Batmen (Batmans?) the whole time.

After we found all the eggs, he ate some cookies.

After Easter service on Sunday, he wanted to go outside and play, so we took our lunch to the park.

There weren't many people there, so he got to run wild.

After we got home, he played with his basket. Soon after that, he was asleep.

Park and Library

2011-04-17T19:25:00.000-07:00

There is a playground nearby he likes to go to.

He goes there with his mom while his dad is working.

He also likes to go to the library and read comic books.

He also likes to put rocks and grass in his truck.

He got so tired while playing he had to sit down.

We found a restaurant that was new for us. They had some fountains out front.

He thought this one was a fire when he first saw it.

Also, we finally got him to ride something beside the same blue dolphin. In this case, he rode a dragon.

He's a busy boy with lots to do

2011-04-09T14:11:00.000-07:00

You wish you were having as much fun as he does.

The library near us has a Clifford that all the kids like.

His dad got a new game system. He watched a video while his mom was talking to somebody inside.

Later, we went on the Carousel again.

We went back to the zoo today. Problem is, everybody else went, also.

It was really hot outside, so a lot of the animals were relaxing.

Kookaburra sits in the old gum tree.

Wait, did I use that joke last time?
Anyway, this guy posed like this for about five minutes.

We all got to walk around a lot.

He likes the elephants.

He also likes the water.

For obvious reasons, we can't get in that water, though.

This zoo is fun. You can get up close to the animals.

Very, very close.

We all had a good time.

New baby and a Birthday

2011-04-02T17:35:00.000-07:00

This week, we found out that he will have a little brother soon.

I'm not sure how excited he is about being a brother.

We went out to celebrate his dad's birthday today.

They have a lot of big fish tanks.

They also have dinosaurs everywhere. There was one right next to our table.

There was a bigger one behind where we sat.

We even got our picture taken with Dexter.

Enjoying the Nice Weather

2011-03-20T16:29:00.001-07:00

It was finally nice enough to go outside this week.

Bubbles are cheap and fun.

Rocks and sticks are even cheaper.

If you look closely, you can see the long line of rocks he put on the curb.

Chalk is also fun to play with.

Parks are also cheap entertainment.

Saturday in the Park

2011-03-15T17:12:00.001-07:00

We found a playground near us.

That one didn't have any swings, so we had to find another park.

I think he was in the swing for about half an hour or more.

Finally he got out and ran around a bit.

More snow

2011-02-27T06:10:00.000-08:00

We had more white stuff again.

This should be the last of it, we hope.

Trains, Carousel, and the Zoo

2011-02-19T17:40:00.000-08:00

Last night, we ate at a nice restaurant that delivers food by train.

He had lots of fun there. After that, we went and rode the Carousel again.

He got on the same dolphin as last time.

Today, we went to the zoo. First thing you see is their new polar bear habitat.

The tank they set up lets you get very close to the bear.

How close?

Very close, actually.

This one was closer and much safer.

We also got to see some llamas. Elijah wasn't too certain about those.

Ring tailed lemurs.

I don't care, it's funny to me.
They had a whole meerkat habitat set up.

There was a window up close to watch them run around.

Lovely plumage, isn't it?

The tigers were eating when we came through. I think he wanted to get us, too.

We also got up close to the kangaroos. There's no fence around them, and I have no idea if they stay where they are supposed to stay.

These are tree kangaroos. I've never heard of them.

They sure made him laugh, though.

Kookaburra sits in the old gum tree.

That's it for now. We plan to go back once they open up the Africa section.

Snowbound

2011-02-13T16:55:00.000-08:00

We were stuck inside for several days due to snow, so we didn't get much done.
Once the roads were clear, we went and found a carousel nearby.

We had more snow after that. Once that snow also started to melt, we were able to get out again.

We got to go to a Valentine's banquet at church, and he got to make some crafts.

Without prompting, he decided to play "Hide and Seek". He turns his head to the wall, says what I think are numbers, then says something very close to "Ready or not, here I come".

Celebration of his birth

2011-02-03T14:57:00.000-08:00

We wanted to have fun for his birthday, so we went to a cabin for the weekend.

There was a large bear to play with.

He also got a chance to play with his cousin.

There's that bear again.

It might become a running gag.

We also had a chance to see his other cousin, who's still too little to play.

We went to get another bear, because he obviously doesn't have enough of them. The one we got was a more manageable size.

He and his cousin ran around for a long time, until they both couldn't handle any more.

Another Portrait Session

2011-01-22T16:20:00.000-08:00

We went and had more pictures. We'll pick them up in a week and distribute them then.

Big City and Snow

2011-01-10T15:43:00.001-08:00

Unrelated picture first:

We drove into town last week. There's a Crayola store there.

It's a whole store of nothing but coloring.

Then, today, we had some snow. Lots of the horrid white stuff.

After his dad got home, we all went out to take a look.

We were all bundled up and trying to stay warm.

He helped his dad try to make a snowman.

Then his mom worked on the snowman.

It wasn't a very good snowman, but we didn't care.

Snow is also fun to throw around.

Snow mustache.

We decided it was time to go inside, so he decided to play some more.

Merry Christmas, part 3

2010-12-30T06:32:00.001-08:00

We finally found the camera, so here are the pictures of Christmas Eve.
First, we went to see his Granny. She was the first down here to give him things to unwrap.

Her tree was fun to look at and play with.

He got to listen to her CD player, even though it was turned off.

After that, we went to see his grandpa. They had some really nice things for him.

They got him another train set!

This one goes by itself.

Last night, we went to see them again.

He really likes to play with his new trains.

Merry Christmas, part 2

2010-12-29T06:43:00.000-08:00

We weren't done with opening gifts, yet. We had another day of fun.

He got to wear his grandpa's hat. That was cool.

For some reason, everybody gathered around and sat in chairs. He found a chair his size.

He and his cousin got to open more presents.

Then he and his grandmother played Batman.

Last night, he got to eat chips and rice again.
We'll have more pictures after we find our camera.

Merry Christmas

2010-12-25T14:20:00.000-08:00

Elijah had a good Christmas so far.

He wasn't quite awake enough to see what he'd been given.

He quickly figured it out and started playing.

He's been playing almost nonstop since then.

He's gotten very good at opening packages.

His cousin came over and they both played with his toys.

We also got to meet his other cousin.

His grandpa played the guitar, and that was fun.
We'll have more pictures soon.

Shopping Trips

2010-12-18T19:53:00.000-08:00

We've been on lots of shopping trips lately. He got to wear his new sweater.

He's been to all kinds of different stores lately, all while looking for gifts for his family.

Somebody said they wanted pictures of him eating noodles. Here's one, but no chopsticks. I'll try harder next time.

Ooh, this was fun. He got to ride on a big, old-fashioned carousel at the big mall near us. He did a good job riding the horse.

He got tired of the horse, so we got on the swing for the last part of the ride.

Here's a wider shot of the whole thing.

Then he sat in the train and some of the other rides.

OK. It is incredibly difficult to take a picture of both a toddler and puppies, but this one is the least blurry.

We still have some snow, and he got to look at and poke at it.

When we went shopping, there was a fountain, so he threw some of his dad's money into the water. It took him a few tries. Possibly because he gets yelled at for throwing things usually.

He did like throwing the pennies in, though.

It is still cold outside here, so he wore his dad's gloves for a while.

You really can't blame him for sleeping. He had a busy day.

Office Party

2010-12-04T19:01:00.000-08:00

His dad's employer was nice enough to have a Christmas party for the little kids. He started by coloring a puzzle.

After he colored and ate snacks, Santa showed up, and he got to be first to get his picture made.

He went back to making crafts, like the gingerbread house he built with his dad.

Then he played a game of "Run Around Making Noise".

This really is his favorite game.

His mom found some bubbles, so he did that for a while.

In all, it was a fun day for him.
The higher quality Santa pics will be uploaded as soon as I get them, and I will post them here.

Finally Moved In; Thanksgiving, Also

2010-11-29T18:48:00.000-08:00

OK, this will be a long post, because it's been a while since I could upload pictures.
He had fun hiding in the cabinets after we emptied them out.

He also had fun playing in the big truck.

It took a long time to get to our new apartment, and he got tired of sitting in his car seat, so he stole his grandmother's spot.

We stayed at my uncle's house, and he found some really nice toys to play with while we stayed there.

He also played with their piano. That was a lot of non-melodious fun.

We ate some barbecue immediately after getting here, of course.

We also ate at a few other places.

Once we got to his great-grandparents' house, his uncle read him a story.

His uncle also was a horse.

He likes to watch the fire. He wanted me to tell you that fire is "hot".

I'm sure you all need more pictures of him playing in the park, so here are a few more.

He also likes to play video games. He's not sure what to do with them, but they're lots of fun to play.

Moved In

2010-11-20T13:53:00.000-08:00

Everything I use to connect either camera or phone to the computer is currently on a moving truck somewhere between here and there, so there are no pictures to go with this post. We're moved in and doing fine, but we still have no furniture. As soon as everything gets here, I'll have some pictures to post.

Avoiding Packing

2010-11-13T15:21:00.001-08:00

His mother was packing yesterday, so his dad got him out of the way for a while by taking him to the park.

He really likes the swings.

See? No ice cream pictures.
We went to Cracker Barrel this morning for breakfast, and he played with the checkers while we waited for our table.

He had a good stack going, until they fell over.

Then he played with the peg thing while we waited for our food.

This next picture makes no sense.

After that, he played with the trains for about an hour.

He really likes the trains. Especially the Wooden Railway type.

Something about boxes

2010-11-11T17:47:00.001-08:00

Random, unconnected pictures today.

Cadillacs are fun.

Boxes are also fun.

Also, because you haven't seen enough pictures of him eating ice cream, here's another.

Eating something different: an orange.

Hallowe'en means candy, right?

2010-10-31T16:10:00.000-07:00

Woohoo! He got to wear his costume and carry his bucket around tonight!

I have no explanation for the next one.

Masks are hard to deal with sometimes.

In the car and ready to find some houses. He wasn't certain yet exactly what he was supposed to do.

He quickly got the hang of things, however.

He liked knocking on the doors, too.

He had to stop and try some along the way.

He had quite a nice haul by the time we got home.

Birthday Party and Church Dinner

2010-10-31T15:47:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was a birthday party, so he wore his costume early.

Spider-Man swings into action!

He liked dancing to the music while waiting for the party to start.

The meatballs were good, too.
After the birthday party, we had a church dinner for the church's anniversary. He spent some time with some of his favorite people.

Pumpkins! They bash together so well!

Trick-or-Treating pictures will be up next!

Punkins

2010-10-24T14:05:00.000-07:00

He got a chance to ride the train yesterday.

He also picked out a pumpkin. We left it there, but he still picked one out.

We tried to take his picture through the panel, but it's very difficult to convince him to pose for long enough to get the shot.

He also climbed all the way up the ladder by himself.

He had lots of fun, and when he slept, he slept hard.

To the park again

2010-10-16T16:14:00.000-07:00

After lunch last week, he sat and watched the fountain outside the restaurant. That was good for a couple of minutes.

Then we went shopping for some new clothes for him, because the old ones do not fit anymore.

For some reason, he wanted in his bouncer again this week.

He also likes to play the racing game at the mall.

Red Robin helped him look at the cheater games.

Earlier today, we went to a nice toy store. He likes just about everything they have.

He also likes to eat cheesy popcorn. He ate all the samples we got.

He still enjoys being on the swing.

Slides are also fun.

This playground has a lot to run around on and do.

We'll have more next week.

Punkin Rides

2010-10-09T15:37:00.000-07:00

He still plays with his trains. He also plays with his puzzle.

He also likes to ride in the cars at the toy store. I'm not sure what we would do with something like this; it's certain that we have no place to keep it.

When we went for breakfast this morning, he tried to help his mom make her coffee.

He got both creamer and sugar for her.

We went walking around the mall after that. He likes this store for some reason. I think it's the big mouse they have up front.

He also likes Buzz. That's one of his favorites.

He got out of his stroller, grabbed Pooh, and started to buckle him in to the stroller.

He played a bit at the mall playground, then it was time for a nap.

After his nap, we went to a farm so he could pick out a pumpkin.

He ran and played a lot while there.

Once the tractor arrived, we went for a ride. He wasn't very certain about the tractor ride.

Once he got settled, he seemed to have fun.

More for y'all later!

Yard Sale, Festival, and Amish Market

2010-10-03T17:42:00.000-07:00

On our drive out yesterday, we spotted a large yard sale. His mom insisted we stop, so he got out and looked around.

He spotted a tricycle he liked.

He also saw this go-cart thing.

Then we went to the Honey Festival again. We didn't get many pictures, so just look at last year's October album, and all the pictures are pretty much the same.

Finally, we went to the Amish Market, and he tried out all the toys there.

Naptime hit pretty hard after that, of course.

Company picnic

2010-09-25T12:37:00.000-07:00

I know you think we do nothing but feed him ice cream, but it isn't true. However, last night we went and got some ice cream.

After he stole my cone, he ran around for a while and had fun.

This afternoon was my company picnic. He got to play on the playground and do lots of new things.

OK, so swings and slides aren't exactly new for him.

They're still fun.

The company hired a clown, and she made him a dog with a leash.

Neither one made it home. Both popped.

They also had an inflatable bouncy thing. Whatever they're called, he bounced in it.

We thought he might like getting his face painted. He didn't.

A bit more sliding.

There was a ring toss game set up. He didn't quite toss the rings, so much as stack them on the pegs, but it was close enough.

He got to try some cotton candy. That was good stuff.

We were barely in the car before his nap hit him hard.

Library and the Park

2010-09-19T16:52:00.000-07:00

His mom and dad took him to the library last Friday. He ran himself ragged for about an hour, then crashed hard. It's a good library.
Lots of stuff to climb on.

He also planted some plastic vegetables.

Up and down the stairs a few times.

Then we went to the park again. He was on the swings for about half an hour.

He also likes the slide.

There are lots of things to run around and on.

After running around a while, it was time for more swings.

On Saturday, he got to visit somebody else's house. They have a dog, and he had the chance to feed the dog.

That's it for now; more next weekend, I think.

Better than Last Week

2010-09-11T17:58:00.000-07:00

I don't like any of the pictures from last week, so I'll just put in a few and then move on to the better stuff. If you don't know what this is about, call, email, or text and I'll explain.

That's done, so here's the good stuff: His mom took him to the park, and naturally he had to swing for about 45 minutes.

Once he was done with that, he went exploring around the playground.

Hmm. Sandbox. Wonder what that's about.

Ooh, these are fun.

I'm told he wouldn't leave that blonde girl alone.

Time for some more swinging.

This morning we had breakfast at Cracker Barrel, and he sat in the rocking chair out front for about 15 minutes.

He told me he wasn't ready to leave, so we both sat for a while.

After we got done with that, he got to visit a petting zoo. They had all kinds of smelly animals.

He really likes the ducks.

Later he went off-roading in Toys R Us.

More pictures to come later!

Cracker Barrel and the Park

2010-09-03T17:47:00.000-07:00

We went to Cracker Barrel last week, and he played with the little golf tee game thing. Whatever it's called. He never quite got down to one peg left, though.

Later his mom took him to a Burger King, where he ate chicken nuggets and fries.

When he went to play, he went all the way to the top. His mom had to go up and get him back down.

She took him back to the park later. He was on the swing for about half an hour.

After he got off the swing, he got on a different swing. I suppose it's good to know what you like.

He liked the swings so much, she took him back a few days later.

Oh, and don't worry about that bandage on his knee. He just decided he needed one.
Last night, we went to the new barbecue place, and he drove their car a bit.

That's all for now, we should have more pictures up soon.

2010-08-21T06:57:00.001-07:00

His grandmother came to visit him last weekend. She took him shopping, and he got to ride a horse.

Then they looked at pictures on her computer.

His dad got new shoes, and he wore them around the house.

He also used the computer a bit. We try to discourage that.

Bubbles. Not much else to say about them.

The stuff doesn't work when you spill it on the ground.

Then later we went swimming, and he even got out and kicked his feet a bit.

We don't have any pictures of him swimming because the camera would get wet. We still got plenty of pictures of him in the water, though.

Later he went shopping for books, and that was fun.

Vacation Fun

2010-08-12T15:28:00.000-07:00

We got to visit family last weekend.

We all had fun. We got to see family we haven't seen for a while.

He got to see his aunt.

He got to see his grandpa.

He also played around a lot.

He and his cousin played with bubbles.

He played with some more cousins, too.

Then he put Woody on the slide. That is almost as much fun as getting on the slide himself.

Then some riding around on Spider Man.

He also got to sleep in a big-boy bed one night.

He played on a motorcycle arcade game.

Then, after a haircut,

He got to ride a real motorcycle.

Some day, I will have to explain that this thing is a pay phone, and why they are in public places:

In all, we had lots of fun seeing family and look forward to seeing them all again soon!

Birthday Party

2010-08-02T16:54:00.000-07:00

He went to a birthday party this week. Not his, obviously, but it was still fun. There was a castle to play in and color:

There were gift bags to open:

There were balloons to look at (balloons not pictured):

It was a lot of fun!

Thomas, tacos, and watermelon

2010-07-27T17:14:00.001-07:00

He got a Thomas train set this weekend. I think his parents play with it more than he does, but it's still a lot of fun.

We plan to get some more to add on to his track, just not quite yet.

Then yesterday was taco night. He likes the tacos a lot.

Lettuce, however, is not meant to be eaten.

Watermelon is good food, though.

It's easier to eat when it's cut up a bit.

VBS Week

2010-07-24T06:30:00.000-07:00

Elijah had lots of fun at his first Vacation Bible School this week. He got to ride in a wagon with the other kids.

Then, upstairs they played with bubbles.

Lots of fun was had.

2010-07-14T17:48:00.000-07:00

He did some riding last weekend.

The truck's not ours, we just borrowed it.

Then he played a bit before we watched the fireworks.

Found himself a nice place to sit. Again, the chair isn't ours, either.

Then later he played with this whatever it is thing at the Amish market.

He got to meet the mascot at Chick-Fil-A, and the Orioles mascot. He enjoyed both.

That's it for now. We'll try to do something interesting this weekend.

2010-07-03T16:56:00.000-07:00

He had a chance to play at the Toys R Us near home. He enjoyed moving the letters around, and his mom put his name on the board.

He also played with the huge, expensive train set they have up.

Later, he played at the Amish market on some of the wooden, um, toy things. You drop marbles, and they make noise.

Today we had one of the best sundaes I've ever tried. It has dark chocolate hot fudge. It's only found at Hershey.

The cow stayed behind.
He does enjoy his ice cream.

We also had our picture taken on the chocolate tour ride.

Much fun was had, and chocolate was eaten.

Swimming again

2010-06-20T15:12:00.001-07:00

We found another park near us. They have some more swings for him to try out.

Then he went exploring, searching for something.

I'm not sure what he was looking for.

For Father's Day, we went swimming.

He's still not too sure about the whole water thing.

The float helps his confidence, though.

It's nice to just relax sometimes.

That's it for now, more to come!

2010-06-15T16:54:00.000-07:00

His mom took him to look at the ducks last weekend.

Ducks are fun to look at.

They are also fun to follow.

His grandmother came to visit, and she bought him a new bear. He got to brush the bear's fur, too.

Then he went to the park and got to swing for a while.

There's other stuff to do at the park, but swings are better.

More ice cream, also.

Then some more swinging at the church picnic.

We got rained on, but he didn't care.

We really do give him healthful food, not just pretzels and ice cream.

Then he got his dad into a really huge swing.

A bit more swinging, then a nap on the way home.

2010-05-29T18:16:00.000-07:00

Wii!

Reading is also fun.

Hmm. Maybe this guy is OK after all.

Ice cream is definitely one of the best things.

We went to Gettysburg today. He saw some folks he knew.

They had a really huge bear. We did not take this one home.

We went to a pool party at some friends' house. He really liked the water.

He also liked driving in the water.

The boy loves some chips and salsa.

Vacation

2010-05-13T15:46:00.000-07:00

We took Elijah on his second plane trip last week. He liked watching the planes fly.

Later, his great-grandmother made banana pudding, and gave him the beaters.

She has the best toys.

He went lots of places and did lots of things, like riding a horse,

riding a swing,

and eating cheese.

All this stuff is very tiring, of course.

He even found an old camera to play with.

And a grandmother to sleep on.

He and his cousin had a chance to watch Elmo.

Then we found out that he'll have another cousin soon, so that was fun. His cousin even got some practice pushing him around in the stroller. This will help once the new baby arrives.

Playing basketball is fun.

His aunt and uncle will be moving here, which hardly seems fair.

Lots of exploring this trip.

Grandpas are also fun to sleep on.

After that, the little guy stole my ice cream.

Swings are so much fun.

Slides are also fun.

See you all soon!

2010-04-24T16:36:00.000-07:00

Elijah's had fun since the last update, it just took a while to get the pictures together.
He played outside a bit.

He also played at the library's Storyville.

Then he played at Chik-Fil-A

We took him to a petting zoo.

We saw goats, llamas, ducks, rabbits, and a big ox.

We're trying to teach him to use a spoon. The results are very messy at best.

More playtime:

Now the required picture of him sleeping.

Easter Sunday

2010-04-04T12:07:00.001-07:00

Time for Easter service, so we dressed up.

After that, we went to have lunch. He played Checkers after eating.

Easter Egg Hunting

2010-04-03T13:34:00.000-07:00

Time for the hunting of plastic eggs. Elijah has his own bucket and everything.

There were lots to find, of course.

He was very ready to go.

As an aside, is it too early for piano lessons? He keeps wanting to go up there.

Before he hunted eggs, he (his mom, actually) made a little cross with jelly beans on it.

Then it was time to play some games.

Then we played a game with this huge parachute thing.

He had more fun running around under it, though.

Upstairs for a quick drink,

Then outside to look for eggs.

Find the egg.

Get the egg in the bucket.

Ooh, lots of eggs!

Then lunch after that.

Lunch time is always a good time.

OK, all this is enough to really tire a kid out.

2010-03-29T16:47:00.000-07:00

I'd like to start this post by saying it's getting harder and harder to take pictures of this kid.

Unless he's sleeping, of course.

Sometimes he'll hold still enough for a picture, like these at church.

Whee! Having fun driving around the grocery store.

Eating some spring roll.

There's a library near here that has a really great place to play, and his mother takes him there whenever she can.

Zoo Visit

2010-03-21T18:00:00.000-07:00

Saturday was his first visit to a zoo. This one was the National Zoo. It was the first weekend with nice weather we've had, so we decided to go. Unfortunately, so did about half of everybody who lives anywhere near.

We saw some animals we hadn't seen before, like this maned wolf from South America:

Not sure why, but there was a fire engine in the zoo, also.

We saw the famous pandas.

An Indian elephant:

I'm not sure how, but his mom gets the animals to look right at the camera.

They even had a dinosaur. It's a movie called The Enormous Egg from 1967. Elijah liked it.

Then he got to ride a bear.

We saw an alligator. We kept our distance.

Then we saw a dragon.

The whole trip was predictably exhausting for the little guy.

First Haircut

2010-03-19T18:18:00.000-07:00

His hair finally got long enough to need cutting.

He got to sit on a big cushion.

Then he got this big sheet that covered his hands.

He really didn't like getting his hair wet.

Actually, he didn't like any part of it after that point.

Just a quick aside, but this guy had the most useful tattoo I've seen, especially for somebody who cuts hair:

Finally, it finished, and his mom took that sheet thing off.

Weekends

2010-03-14T12:51:00.001-07:00

These weekends are sure tiring. It takes all a kid can do to keep from falling asleep when he's playing.

But, then sometimes his dad will make some cake and strawberries and that makes the weekend better.

2010-03-06T07:10:00.000-08:00

We went to another birthday party, this one for a 2-year old. Elijah got to eat his very own pizza.

He then played while the birthday girl opened her presents.

This picture has nothing to do with anything.

Then, this morning, he got his very own blueberry pancakes.

Another Birthday Party

2010-02-21T17:06:00.000-08:00

Not Elijah's party. We've had enough of those. He slept through while his parents ate lunch, so he got his kid's meal after we got to church.

He got to wear an Elmo hat.

You can take the hat off, or put it back on.

You can even smash the hat.

Then, you can pull it apart.

Hats are such fun.

He got a rubber duckie and an Elmo.

Much fun was had by all (also cake and ice cream).

More Snow. Also pizza.

2010-02-16T17:34:00.000-08:00

We had more snow in the middle of last week.
I think the car on the left here is mine.

After that, we had some serious cabin fever. Fortunately, somebody had a birthday party at a pizza place.

He had fun there.

He ate almost two whole pieces of pizza.

Then this huge guy came by, and Elijah got to grab his nose.

Lots of fun.

Snow Day

2010-02-07T18:54:00.000-08:00

So, Elijah got a chance to see some more snow.

He was a bit too active to watch it fall.

We got a lot of it.

Then, before it all could go away, we got some more.

We'll try to dig our way out later. It might be hard, the snow behind the car is up to my waist.

Happy Birthday!

2010-01-28T15:12:00.000-08:00

One year ago, Elijah was born.
That was then:

This is now:

We had more pictures taken. We can pick them up in a week.

So, how old are you, son?

We got him a cake from the store. This was the big one:

This one was for him to eat:

Hmm, let's see.

Ooh, feels nice.

OK, right hand now.

Tastes nice, too.

Cake is good stuff!

Birthday Celebration!

2010-01-24T16:29:00.000-08:00

Whee! His grandma is still in town, so we had his birthday party a little early.
First, we went back to Boyd's Bear Country.

He didn't take long to find a new friend.

We didn't get the other one, though.

Then, today, he opened his present from his parents.

Still a little bit rusty on how to open packages.

Ooh, a barnyard set!

Then, his grandma made a cake!

Before cake:

Getting cake:

With cake:

About halfway through cake:

After cake:

2010-01-16T15:07:00.000-08:00

Elijah's grandmother is in town, so we took her up to Amish country.

Elijah thought the horses were fun.
His dad thought the fudge was fun.

He got to watch fudge being made.

After that, he ate most of his grandmother's hotdog.

Then we came home and made Elijah his very own pizza. He really liked that part.

Phones

2010-01-10T11:16:00.000-08:00

Phones are the best toys. Sometimes you can grab your mother's phone.

Other times you can play with a phone that was old when your dad was young.

Sometimes your cousin will share a phone.

And sometimes, your cousin will even let you borrow his cell phone!

Such moments are rare.

Baby's First Christmas!

2010-01-03T16:53:00.000-08:00

After a long drive, we got to a friend's house.

We stayed the night there, then went to see his grandparents.

And some more grandparents.

It gets hard to choose which toy to play with at times.

Whee! New toys!

And some more sleeping on grandpa. Different one this time.

Grandpa can help open gifts. They're not just for sleeping on.

It's nice to have a cousin to show you how to play.

More pictures soon!

Snow!

2009-12-05T12:09:00.000-08:00

It snowed this morning.

Elijah wasn't impressed. This next one's old, but I just got it copied over:

He also met this guy:

About two seconds later, he started screaming.

Happy Thanksgiving

2009-11-26T11:44:00.001-08:00

First off, I'd like to thank all of you that have been on my blog for the past ten months. This little guy wants to thank you, too.

He spent most of this morning playing while his dad made dinner.

And here's the food:

Turkey, of course:

Fixin's:

Apple and pumpkin pies:

And the messy little boy who ate some of each:

Update:
Falling asleep after eating turkey is not a myth:

2009-11-22T10:44:00.000-08:00

We've gone Christmas shopping the last two weeks. Last week, we got somebody's present here:

We got another somebody's present here:

But I know you're here for pictures of this guy:

Mmm, oyster crackers.
We also got him some new clothes while we were up there.

2009-11-21T05:30:00.000-08:00

We went to Sears for some pictures.
We're getting prints of these first two:

He was very good during the photo session, except that he didn't want to stay still. He kept crawling toward one of us.

2009-11-19T17:51:00.000-08:00

Getting ready for baby's first Christmas!

2009-11-13T10:14:00.000-08:00

Turtles!
His mom took him to Petco, and he had fun looking at the turtles swimming around.

More pictures soon.

2009-11-01T05:33:00.000-08:00

Whee! Trick or Treat last night!

He was Tigger for his first Hallow e'en.

We headed over to a church near us that was having Trunk or Treat in their parking lot.

This is a little before he decided he didn't like the Tigger head on top of his. He let us know loudly and for a long time that he wasn't happy.

We saw lots of costumes, but he wasn't really impressed by anything he saw. Maybe because we interrupted nap time.

Horses!

He finally started to have fun.

2009-10-24T07:35:00.000-07:00

So, he finally figured out how to stand.

It's a good thing we lowered the crib two weeks ago.

2009-10-18T09:56:00.000-07:00

Last night was the church's anniversary dinner. Elijah got passed around a bit before things got started.

Eventually, he decided to go back to his dad, though.

After dinner, we listened to a gospel quartet. Elijah slept through almost all of that.