Circus

We went to the circus today! Elliot LOVED it! Stella stayed home with auntie Hannah so that we could have a date. Elliot says his favorite part was the clowns (although he didn't want to get close to them). He was also impressed by a hi-wire motorcycle act which nearly gave me a panic attack - who decides it's a good idea to spin a motorcycle around a rope 100 feet in the air?!

Spiderman of course.

This elephant could do P90X yoga moves better than I can!

Catchin' Up

I was going through photos and videos from this summer - sorting, editing, deleting - and realized there was a lot of good stuff I didn't get around to posting. So get comfortable, this may take a lot of scrolling!

June

Little Sister's Wedding

Playing outside

Dad's Day

(he does rock)

July

Trip to Ft. Collins

Playing in Perham

August

Here comes Fall

E living it up at the Cabin

(he is not spoiled at all)

Surprise Bday Party for Matt (I really have no good pictures from the party, but it was a successful surprise!)

A Rainy Day with the Zachariases

September

E asked if I could paint his fingernails! I just couldn't say no, but I am hoping it's only a phase :)

We take lots of walks like this

Taking a kiss break on the walk home after preschool. Pucker up!

There. I feel like I've caught up!

New School

Today was Elliot's first day at a new preschool - an official preschool, inside a real school, as opposed to the daycare center he had been going to since he was 12 weeks old (sniffle. where does the time go?). He had a great experience and learned a lot at his "old" school, but the "new" school is closer to home - walking distance even - and is in the elementary school which we plan to have him attend. To help add a little appeal to the idea of a new school Elliot got to pick out some new shoes. Surprise, he picked Iron Man light up shoes - Spiderman light up shoes did not come in his size.

Elliot seemed a little nervous when I dropped him off, but we walked around and checked out the room until he discovered the fish tank. Then he was ok with saying good-bye. I was probably more sad about leaving than he was! After picking Elliot up, he filled me in on the highlights from his afternoon - they read books and sang songs in "group time", had bananas, cheezits and milk for snack, he played with trucks, he played in the sandbox outside, he peed and pooped, and he does not remember the names of his classmates. There you go.

The Tooth Fairy

For those who haven't heard the story about Elliot's missing tooth, here is the short version: While 'racing' with Matt at Costco when he was two, Elliot tripped and chipped one of his front teeth. The dentist said there was an exposed nerve ending that would cause some pain so they sealed it - with more than a little protesting from E - and set up an appointment in a couple of months for a check up.

When we went back for the check up we found out that the tooth had become infected and would have to be removed :( Thankfully, Elliot was 'put under' for that procedure and has no memory of any of it.

None of this phased him in the least bit. He showed no sign of pain when the tooth was infected and was back to eating as usual the day after it was removed. He even put the hole to good use and decided it was just there to hold suckers in place.

Fast forward to a month ago when his preschool class started talking about Tooth Fairies. Then we started getting questions like, "How does the Tooth Fairy get in your room?", "What does the Tooth Fairy give you?", and "Why didn't I get a 'surprise' from the Tooth Fairy for this tooth?"... He had a good point, and we had saved the tooth for this exact reason. So after showing him the very gross tooth (roots and all), we put it into a little felt envelop that he had made at school, wrote a note asking the Tooth Fairy for a surprise, and put it under his pillow.

Here is a video of the morning after...

The Tooth Fairy and her 'partner' had to have a discussion about how much to leave for such a long-overdue tooth exchange. Her partner suggested $10. She wanted to do a quarter. They compromised on $1.

Painting Update

I won't say it's finished because we've already talked about adding to/changing the painting next time we're feeling creative - that's the beauty of it! But for the time being Elliot's art has been paused (not finished) and hung up in the living room.

Added a little more to it yesterday...

And put it on display today. The proud painter...

The photo is a little blurry, but if you click on it and look closely you will see that he insisted on sporting a Cheerio beard for the picture. Artists.

Artist for Hire

I thought it would be fun to do an art project with Elliot on his days at home. So we got a large canvas at a craft store, found a few brushes laying around, shook up some old cans of paint and set up shop in the basement...

His style is definitely Abstract. I attempted to paint a wispy, smooth sort of horizon but found that a) it was not easy to convince E to contain his artistry to certain sections of the painting so it was therefore covered up by chaos and b) I actually like his "chaos" a lot better. It has been really fun to just sit back and let him make whatever he feels like and see the very cool results! I don't think any adult could make a better painting... but I may be biased.

Do you think he needs his own shop on Etsy?

The best part is that since we did this with paint leftovers from what we already have on the walls, I can now hang it anywhere in the house!

Stella Cam

Stella's been learning all kinds of new 'skills' lately: sitting, feeding herself, singing/screaming, sleeping through the night (yaaaaay!), clapping, blowing raspberries and clicking her tongue. She's also got a great giggle which shows off all those top teeth. I caught some of this on the Stella Cam at dinner the other night...

Car Dancing

Elliot has been into car dancing lately... here's a sample of his sweet moves...

Flugtag

Today we had a very entertaining "Family Date" as Elliot put it (as opposed to a "Play Date" or "Mom and Dad Are Going On A Date"). We went to Harriet Island in St. Paul to watch the RedBull Flugtag!

Elliot did not quite understand what we were talking about - it's kind of difficult to explain to a 3 year old - but loved it once the competition started.

There was no way we could get there early so we didn't get great seats, hence the photos of a jumbo screen. You get the idea.

But it was a hit!

While the kids did get tired about half way through, we decided against giving them a Red Bull, and opted to head out to a late lunch instead. :)

Young Entrepreneur

Matt was named one of Business Journal's Young Entrepreneurs this year! We are all very proud of him and are happy to see his passion for and dedication to Reside rewarded.

Here are a couple of pictures from the July 22nd issue...

This one is a little more true to form, don't you think?

And here is a link to an excerpt from the article: click

Storm Damage

We had some nasty storms in Minnesota again yesterday! Below are some pics from the carnage left in our yard. Thankfully it was nothing devastating and no one was hurt!

Front yard...

That is a pine tree laying on the garage...

And another in the backyard...

Fence...

It is only 10:00 and we have been visited by 4 tree cleanup services - we're going to need 'em. Does anyone need some firewood?

6 month Stats

Stella's 6 month check up was a couple of weeks ago and I thought I'd share her 'stats' for those who are interested...

Weight: 16 lbs; 55%

Length: 27 inches; 95% (!)

This always makes me laugh a little - I never would have thought that I (at 5' 4") would produce children who are taller than average. (Thank you, Matt!)

She also received several shots which, as usual, were not fun for any of us. And to my amazement there are FOUR more teeth showing up! I'll be sure to post a picture of that as soon as they are a little more visible. It's a bit sad to see the "baby" toothless smile starting to disappear and the "little girl" smile forming already. Could they grow up any faster?!

Elliot being Elliot

We were in Perham last week for my sister's wedding and Elliot got to have some quality time playing with his cousin Tate. In this picture, they found some ribbon - Tate made a very practical, and fashionable, belt... Elliot decided to channel his inner rock star.

This is what grandma and grandpa's house looked like after our previous visit. I think a real tornado might have done less damage.

Below is evidence that it is officially summer: an impromptu pool party (hence the undies).

And finally, Ironman. Because our world revolves around him.

Stella Babbling

Stella has discovered her voice and lately she's been using it to babble and sing. I managed to capture a little bit of it on video...

I'm sure there's a very clear "Mama" in there :)

We're Back!

And there have been a couple of big changes in our house since the last post. For one, as of the beginning of April, I am now staying home full time - and loving it! It was very, very difficult to be away from Stella after maternity leave so thanks to a supportive husband and understanding employer, we are making it work! I am very grateful to be able to be the one who cuddles, feeds and rocks her every day. And I plan to spend a couple of hours a week working from home so that I can stay up speed until it's time to go back.

Elliot is enjoying the nice weather and being able to play out in the backyard. His imagination runs wild out there! Sometimes he is joined by Spiderman or Ironman in his battle against the birds and squirrels. He has found a branch that sticks out between the fence posts which he uses to open a 'magic door'. And once in a while he will find a worm, who will apparently ask Elliot to bring it inside to warm up. We've also been going on several walks so that Elliot can practice riding his Big Boy bike (with training wheels). He get's all geared up with a helmet, elbow pads, and knee pads - I have yet to catch it on camera, but he looks like he's ready for a full contact sport!

And in the last four weeks, Stella June has managed to sprout TWO teeth! This seems early to me since Elliot's came in around 8 months of age, but according to what I've read, 5 months is in the normal range. So... it seemed like a great time to start solid (mushy) foods:

Stella's also starting to learn the rules of Canasta. She has the Meents poker face.

There will be more to come as the weather gets nicer and the kids keep growing like weeds!

Daycare

Well, Stella's first week at daycare has had its ups and downs: she loves all the activity going on and is lucky to have such caring women watching her and tending to her every need. Unfortunately, she has also caught her first virus. She has a little touch of "bronchiolitis caused by RSV" which has given her some nasty congestion and a fever. Thankfully it is not at all as severe as it could be and the fever just broke last night. We are glad she is finally starting to feel better!

Elliot has been working on his letters and writing his name in preschool. E is now his favorite letter and he points it out enthusiastically whenever he sees it!

Here's a sample of his work...

Favorite New Pastime

She's getting pretty good at it!