Elliot's Second Birthday

We celebrated Elliot's second birthday tonight. It was our first birthday party living in Des Moines, which was a little different. We were joined by the Reagens and the Lewandowskis. Holly tells me that she and Alex, Jill and Will, and my parents had a nice dinner, and at the end wished Elliot a happy birthday.

Leading up to 2 Elliot has really seemed a lot older. He doesn't nap all the time now and he has been sleeping great at night. I am even thinking about moving him out of our bed, which would be the first time in over 5 years that Susan and I have had the bed to ourselves. I don't think that he is there quite yet, but he is getting there.

At the age of 2, Elliot is a lot like Andrew, with some of Mari's spunk. He likes to play games, and play with balls. Like all of our kids he likes to play outside. He still needs to be held a lot, and since we don't have a baby this isn't really a problem. He does great at meals but once Susan or I sits down he wants to come site on our lap, which we also tolerate. He is a fun kid.

For his birthday Susan made him a doll. This was a follow-up to the doll that she made Mari at Christmas. For Christmas she made Mari a 'Little Sister Doll', from Joyce's Waldorf Dolls. It was basically your standard doll. She made Elliot is 'Heavy Baby', which is basically a doll head and arms, with a body that is filled with millet. There are no legs. Because it is a little heavy it feels a little more real than most babies. Because it is filled with millet we have to make sure that mice don't find it.

Photo Updates

I just added some new photos to our 2008 II gallery and also I started our 2009 gallery.

Sleeping Through the Night

It took almost two years, but last night Elliot slept through the night for the first time. Up until two nights ago he stilled nursed several times during the night, but it seemed like he was ready to have some daddy time during the night, so two nights ago whenever he woke up I would comfort him back to sleep. Last night he never even woke up, until this morning! It was quite a treat and I know not to get too excited.

Bike Trails

Des Moines has a nice bike trail system and today I was able to check out the parts closest to our house, well some of them. Gary has mentioned that he could make it all the way to the B-Bop's on 73rd. I wanted to see if there was a way to get from the B-Bop's to close to our house, and there is. I was able to make it to a park that is fairly close to our house. I could have gone a little farther, but there was high water covering the trail and with Andrew and Mari in the trailer I did not feel like going up and around (and I was tired). It was a great ride and I can't wait to try to get all the way from our house to Gary and Kathie's. The system should make for some nice rides this summer.

Growing Up

Elliot will be 2 in 2 weeks. Hard to believe. We still think of him as our baby, but I guess he is not. I think he will seem a lot older when he stops nursing all night.

Andrew slept in his own bed a few nights this week, even going to bed by himself. I think he got bored with it and is now back to going to sleep with us and sharing a bed with Mari.

Mari is still a little challenging, but she is showing signs of pulling up out of her funk. I think that she is beginning to understand a little more about her actions. She has also taken a great interest in the kitchen lately, enjoying helping whenever she can. Every morning she wants to help make the oatmeal by scooping it into the pot, stirring it as it cooks, and then portioning it out into our bowls. She is also in charge of distributing raisins for our oatmeal - a handful in mine and hers, and a few on the table for Elliot.