Packer

The kitchen remodel is upon us. In preparation, we had the asbestos scrapped off of the downstairs ceiling, requiring all of the downstairs furniture to be removed. After watching me pack many boxes of books, Elijah told me, "Helper. Books." He then got out of his highchair and packed half a box for me.

Watching the World Go By

Life's pretty good when you get to sit outside in a chair with a muffin

This is...

...the face I get to put to bed every night. He smiles at me and waves good-night as I leave the room.

Elijah thinks it is hilarious to give kisses through the crib railing.

Stacking

Our gracious housemate lets Elijah play with his spices, which Elijah loves.

The 4th in Fresno

We are sadly lacking in pictures from our fourth of July weekend in Fresno with Dustin's family. We had a good time visiting with extended family and setting off fireworks in the street.

A Week with Uncle John

Uncle John came to stay four nights with us while my parents went away for their anniversary. The boys had one night apart and then Elijah spent two nights with my parents while Dustin and I went away for our anniversary.

Uncle John built castles for Elijah to knock down.

We went to Disneyland one day. John was happy to do the more activity oriented attractions (Pirates Cove, Tarzan's Treehouse, Sleeping Beauty's Castle) and Elijah was as well.

"Babies!"

Elijah absolutely adores "babies"--blueberries, strawberries, cherries. He'll gladly gobble them all up and ask for more!

Helper

Elijah takes delight in being a helper in the kitchen, carefully dumping each measurement into the bowl. He also likes to help put away laundry, but he generally only puts it into one drawer and then calls for help when the drawer gets too full to put more clothes in.

These Days...

We are finding toddlerhood to be a delightful stage.

Elijah's vocabulary continues to blossom, containing lots of nouns and prepositions. He's been working on --er words: pepper, paper, diaper, under, helper as well as possessives (mommy's, daddy's) and plurals (babies). Now we just need some verbs and adjectives! His mamas and dadas are rapidly turning into mostly mommys and daddys. Today, I heard from another room, "Wa-wa (water). Hep peas (help please)." He had spilled a whole cup of water down his front.

He is too aware for Disneyland. His commentary on the rides is full of "no," "off," and "all done."

He loves to play outside--the slide is a favorite. He likes to imitate the big kids; he'll try to climb up a pole like his friend N. by holding a pole, lifting up alternating feet. He's also just figuring out how to spin.

Enjoying the clock at "It's a Small World"

We've been enjoying picture books this month. Allan Ahlberg's "Each Peach Pear Plum" and "Mockingbird" have been hits. I think Elijah relates to the books because they are full of things he knows--birds, dogs, babies, swings.

So tired! It is hard to decide whether to eat or sleep.

Elijah has lots of opinions now about music, frequently requesting it to be turned on or off. We've been particularly enjoying Saint-Saens's "Carnival of the Animals." He likes the lion best and calls it "roar."

He likes to play the piano and insists on having sheet music out to "play"