...that would be a description of Elliott's vocabulary and Sprout's size.

Sprout is showing his/her presence through Cheryl's obviously rounded belly and although it's mostly only noticeable to Cheryl, he/she is doing A LOT of moving these days.  Christmas did prove to be the turn-around point for Cheryl's morning sickness.  She's now able to cook meals again, do more housekeeping, get out more for playtimes with Elliott, and sometimes get things done in the evening.  There's still some definite times of sickness but it seems to be more associated with blood sugar issues (waiting too long between snacks) or having the wrong type of food (too much sugar or grease, too spicy).  Weight and size gain seem to be right on track and all indications are that Sprout is healthy and developing just as he/she should be.  Praise God for his blessing of a relatively healthy pregnancy - we know that is a gift from Him.

Elliott has been to a couple of doctor's visits with us and seems curious about the sound of Sprout's heartbeat when they monitor that, but otherwise I don't think he really understands much of what's going on.  He is interested when he sees other babies as we're out and about, so hopefully it's something he can enjoy when there's a new baby in the house.

I'm thankful for Elliott's continued vocabulary development, as I think it could be particularly helpful once Sprout is born to be able to rely more on verbal communication with Elliott.  He's also having fun seeing our reaction to using new words.  We've been using a combination of different resources to teach and reinforce new vocabulary.  After a bit of work, he seems to be starting to really get animal names and some animal sounds.  Farm animals have been a little easier, as I think he's had a bit more exposure to those animals.  He knows signs for some clothing items and things that we do around the house each day.  Elliott's also starting to pick up on trying to mimic spoken word sounds.  One of the earlier ones was "shoe", along with "mama" and "dada".  For a while, he wouldn't even try when we asked him to "say _____", but now that he's figured out how excited it makes us when he tries, he's willing to give just about anything a shot - repeating back vowel sounds, numbers, some letters, animal sounds, and even some words like "home" and "applesauce".  It's fun to have Elliott see a picture of an animal now and often turn to me to say or sign the word, looking for confirmation or praise from me.  The other day I put the "Brown Bear, Brown Bear" book on his lap while we were driving somewhere and noticed that he was turning pages and making signs for the animals he recognized.  That was pretty cool, too!

I'm sure I'm forgetting at the moment about a lot of the words Elliott's now using, so maybe I'll have to add them as comments as I notice him using them.  I'm sure at some point, when he gets really good at verbal communication, that we'll get tired of him talking so much, but for right now it's fun to see the progress and we're proud of what he's learning.

In other news...Chris took the side off of Elliott's crib last weekend and after a week of trying it out I think it's probably going to stay off.  Nap times are a little iffy, with it being a little harder for Elliott to be convinced to lay down and fall asleep, but he's done really well at night with staying in his bed after we go through our bedtime routine and he seems to still fall asleep fairly quickly and mostly sleep through the night.  We put his tiger pillow (a large, flat pillow that folds up into a stuffed animal) next to his bed to help cushion the couple of falls he's had by accidentally rolling off the bed, but the mattress is also set really low so it's nothing too dramatic for him to fall out.  We've found once or twice when we looked in on him that he had rolled off his bed but gone right to sleep on the tiger pillow...or one time I found that he was sleeping with his head and torso on the bed but his legs hanging off the side, making it look like he was kneeling beside the bed to pray!  The next question will be whether Elliott will be ready to move into a twin size bed we have within the next six months so that we could use the crib for Sprout when that's needed.

I think that's all the kid-related news for now.  Chris is working on weekends to finish up a bathroom remodel project he started during his week off around Christmas/New Year's and Elliott is always fascinated to look in on what he's doing.  Elliott was sad to see the Christmas lights get put away, as he had developed that habit of regularly signing "light please" to ask us to turn on the lights.  Then again, he gets just as excited about anything that lights up and/or moves.  We try not to get too many toys that do a lot of noise & lights, but there's some and there's also our technology "toys", which he is always fascinated by and unfortunately already knows way too much about how to operate.  At least "FaceTime" is a nice feature of our Apple devices - it allows us very simply to connect any two of our compatible devices for a video chat.  So Elliott's had chances to "see" Chris while he was away on business trips or for work.  They can talk, Chris can see what Elliott is doing, and they can do "fist bumps" or last time Elliott tried feeding Chris a piece of cheese by putting it up to the spot where Chris' mouth was displayed on the screen. ;-)

Good times...and pictures to come soon (I wanted to get this updated but now I need to take a nap while Elliott's napping, so I'll post pictures later).

Pictures here

I'm going to choose to blame it on "pregnancy brain" that I had to actually make a chart to list out the month anniversaries of Elliott's birthday in order to calculate that he is now 20 months old.  I kind of knew it but wanted to make sure I had the right number and we're also getting up into the higher numbers...a lot times these days I just say he's about "a year and a half" old. ;-)

I also looked back at our photo album to figure out what "latest" I could describe of Elliott's goings-on.  A while back we took part of a Saturday to go to a couple of resale shops and look for a Halloween costume for Elliott.  At one shop there was a tricycle sitting by the front register that Elliott was dying to try out.  We let him check it out but figured it was by the register because someone was going to buy it.  Then we found out that it had just come in and they were about ready to put it out for sale.  The price was right and we figured it'd be a good item that Elliott could grow into, so we went ahead and bought it to take home.  It has a removable bar in the back that allows an adult to push and steer the handlebars, so nowadays we're mostly either taking Elliott down to the park on his tricycle (Chris added a seat belt for extra safety going down the hill) or having Elliott walk.  Ever since our summer road trip, Elliott has also enjoyed walking between Elliott and myself and holding our hands...mostly because every once in a while we'll swing him between us, which I think is one of almost every kids' favorite games.

We also got a dinosaur costume for Elliott, although he was not happy about trying on costumes at the store in comparison to playing with the tricycle.  We took him to the pumpkin patch on the Saturday before Halloween, although it turned out to be such a warm afternoon that we decided to just take a couple of quick pictures with his costume on and then put him in shorts and a T-shirt.  Elliott had a blast and enjoyed some different activities that he wasn't able to make use of last year.  He wandered through a hay maze, which was a perfect size for him.  I stayed on the outside and it was funny to see Chris and other adults' heads popping up to stand up and look around in the parts that were open, then duck down to go through the tunnel areas.  We also went on a hay ride, though I think the tractor pulling us was the most interesting part for Elliott.  Elliott then spent a very happy 20 minutes or so trying out sledding on a pile of cottonseed they have set up for kids.  Chris got some good exercise walking up the hill then pushing and guiding Elliott down the hill on a disc sled.  We tried out the petting zoo, explored the abandoned vehicles left for kids to play on, and then let Elliott pick out his pumpkin.  It was a fun 2 hours that left us all feeling good but very tired.

In other news, Elliott is getting better at communicating, although there's still a fair amount of grunting and pointing going on.  He's better at expressing his opinion & saying "yes" or "no", particularly when it comes to foods he's interested (or not interested) in eating.  He still loves bananas and is good at holding them on his own...we're still working on teaching him to pull back the peel - so far he can do the peeling if we hold the banana but he gets confused if we try to get him to both hold the banana and pull the peel back.  Elliott is also frequently expressing his food interests by saying "yum!" when he likes a food.

Another new word, one that he's picked up in sign language, is "wash hands".  He loves to be held up at the sink and allowed to let water run over his hands, and an adult adding some soap to the mix doesn't bother him.  He actually signed "thank you" to me once after I let him wash his hands! =)  So words are still very functional, but he's gradually getting a few more and I'm still working on exposing him to abstract ones like colors, numbers and animals, which I'm sure he'll start using when he's ready.  He recognizes many of these enough to be able to try pointing to some of them in books, so I'm sure we'll get there eventually.  The other new word, another spoken one, that Elliott now uses regularly is "out" - as in, "I want to go outside".  This is one, however, where the mispronunciation due to his learning curve is rather unfortunate.  He kind of mixes "out" with "outside" and loses some of the "u" sound, so that if you know what you're listening for, Elliott's repeating "Out? Out?" as he stands at the baby gate definitely sounds like "Ass? Ass?"  Ahh well...this too shall pass.

Among other cute things Elliott's been doing lately - when he wants us to read him a book (he's working and getting very close on learning to do the sign for "book"), he'll go to his room where he knows the books are kept and bring one or a couple out to us.  We'll read them and then tell Elliott to put them back in his room...at which point Elliott runs off with the book(s) and puts them back in the pile where the books normally live!  He sort of does the same thing with the supplies of diapers we keep by his changing table, except he's a lot better and more interested at taking them out of the package and distributing them around the living room (bringing 1 - 4 out at a time, then going back to his room for more and repeating the process until they're almost all out in the living room).  It takes quite a bit more work to get him to take them all back and put them in the box in his room.  Elliott also loves playing with his red playground ball or a balloon Chris brought home recently.  Elliott will sometimes reach up with the ball in his hands to the window/shelf between the dining room and living room to push the ball through to the other side, then run around, pick up the ball and climb up on the loveseat in order to roll the ball along the shelf in the other direction (to the dining room).  It's almost like he's playing a very slow game of "catch" with himself, but he absolutely loves it!  He also enjoys running up and down the hallway and will chase or throw the ball up and down that if someone will play catch with him there.  I think the balloon threw him for a loop recently because it's about the same shape as the ball but behaves so differently and hangs in the air longer.

With my continuing pregnancy sickness, Elliott has been having some opportunities to interact with Chris more, especially in the mornings.  Chris favors cooking omlettes or scrambled eggs for breakfast, and he gives Elliott the chance to help beat the eggs.  Elliott definitely enjoys "cheesy eggs" and also is getting used to getting extra food from his mom while I lay on the couch trying to settle my stomach and get ready for the day.  Chris now tends to make twice as much oatmeal for me in the morning to accommodate for the amount that Elliott eats as he comes over to me frequently, points to the oatmeal, then to his mouth, and makes his grunting sound (which I liken to the sound a baby bird might make when begging for food from its mom).  Another morning tradition is for Elliott to sign "music" in order to get us to start up his kids' music playing on the computer or the iPod.  He then sometimes starts his humming or dancing along, which is of course also very cute to watch.

Lastly, this past weekend we were blessed with a couple of rainy days and found that (no surprise) Elliott really loves getting out in the rain.  He held his hands out to catch rain falling off the carport roof while we got ready to leave in the car.  The next day was dry and when we went out Elliott stood by the carport edge, held his hands out and looked up questioningly.  He then made the sign for "wash hands" to ask where the water was, to which I replied, "Sorry, Elliott, there's no rain today so it's not going to come off the roof."  The following day it rained again and we had an opportunity for a little bit of a longer walk in the rain...and I learned that Elliott has already developed an eagle eye for spotting puddles to try to step in or put his hands in!

Most are from the pumpkin patch, but here's what pictures we have from the last month.

I was starting to wonder about trying to change the name of this blog, as our news of Elliott isn't really "baby" news anymore.  However, God has blessed with the gift of a new baby on the way, so I guess the blog can keep it's title for a bit longer.  We've had the first ultrasound to conclude that it's one baby, with a strong heartbeat, and due somewhere around May 8, 2012.

Of course going through pregnancy again has it's challenges - namely fatigue, nausea and vomiting.  Those have been hitting me hard and it's been a challenge for Chris to come home from a long day of work and then be called on to take care of all the things I need help with because of not feeling well.  Elliott has generally been cooperating great, since he's such an easy going child.  He's willing to play on his own or interact with me while I lay on the couch and I try to make sure we get out for activities like story time or play dates at least a couple of times a week so he gets some variety of interactions.  Elliott has also really been enjoying listening to children's music I have loaded on the computer.  He's learned the sign for "music" and he can listen or dance or shake his rattle/cymbal toys while I'm resting.

In the last few weeks I've noticed that either the nausea is a little worse this time around or having the extra responsibilities of housekeeping and childcare is making me feel I'm less able to manage with my symptoms, so we've been looking into some new remedies and other solutions.  At our first prenatal appointment the nurse practitioner let me try out a sample acustimulation wrist band they have and it seemed to do a bit to lessen the nausea (I noticed more just feeling hungry b/c the nausea had prevented me for eating much before the appointment).  So we tried ordering one of those and I've had it on for a couple of weeks.  I think it helps some, but was still having a fair amount of nausea and was vomiting as much as 2 - 4 times in a day.  Chris' mom has also offered to be on call and available to help for any days when I feel I could use some help.  Last Tuesday was a day I wasn't feeling well at all and needed to lay down to try to keep food and water down.  We also host a church group on Tuesday evenings, so I was grateful to have her come over and help do the housecleaning that I usually like to do on those days to get ready for having people over.

I've been trying all the normal remedy stuff: "grazing" (small meals throughout the day), taking Vitamin B6, ginger snaps/ginger ale, soda crackers, etc.  I also remembered that "Preggie Pops", hard candies designed to combat morning sickness, sometimes helped when I was pregnant with Elliott, so I picked some of those up recently.  They work for the time I'm sucking on them, but that doesn't help me feel up for eating or drinking more. 

It was still proving difficult to get a decent amount of food and fluids down each day, although I could keep at least something down each day.  However, I noticed I felt like I was going to pass out when I was trying to get things done in the kitchen a few days ago, so I called the doctor's office to talk to them about that and they suggested prescribing an anti-nausea medication.  It sounds like it's a fairly commonly prescribed medication but is an off-label use for pregnancy (it's designed to fight nausea in chemotherapy patients).  I care a lot about trying to avoid medications during pregnancy, since that's always safest, but the nurse made a point that if I can't get the nutrition and fluids I need to stay healthy, that's worse for the baby.  So I went ahead and tried one last night and it helped me eat a decent sized meal, get extra water down, stomach my prenatal vitamin, and this morning even though I'm passed the effective time of the medication, I'm feeling better able to get up and eat and function.  So I probably will still try to only use the medication when I really need a break from the nausea, but it is a nice option to have.

With not feeling well, there aren't a lot of pictures of big outings lately, but there's always cute things Elliott is up to, even around the house, so here's a few pictures.

A few vignettes of memorable moments from our trip:

"Thank You"
I taught Elliott to sign "please" when he wants something as a way of keeping him from whining or crying.  Chris decided he wanted to encourage Elliott to now also sign "thank you" after being given something.  I noticed that Elliott picked up this new sign very quickly - within a few days on the road he had started using his own version of the sign - just a tapping of his chin with his hand, where the actual sign is starting your hand against your chin and moving it down and away from you.  It's similar to how he signs for water, but definitely has a gentler and distinct style of movement. 
The really great part is that after coming home, I've noticed Elliott starting to sign "thank you" occasionally after getting something WITHOUT BEING PROMPTED TO!  Once again a way that Elliott's behavior at this stage (I'm pragmatic enough to realize it may not last) is very gratifying and makes me happy as a mom.

LeapTop
Each long distance trip we go on, I get a new toy for Elliott to distract him on the road or airplane.  I had been looking for a board book with musical buttons along the side, but these turn out to be getting scarce these days.  However, I found a Leap Frog product for ages 2+ that was on clearance for $10.  It's in the style of a laptop and is programmable with Elliott's name (spoken and written/spelled), messages ("email from Mom, Dad and Jesus"), and selected song list.  I was able to pick "head, shoulders, knees and toes" as the song, which is currently one of Elliott's favorites.  The LeapTop also plays a song that spells Elliott's name along with rhythmic clapping and that was another favorite of his.  We also found at the campsite that our friends had a similar style of item for their two boys, so it was funny at one point to have 3 kids sitting in a row playing with the toy laptops (note - this was one instance out of the whole weekend, the rest of the time the LeapTop stayed in the car and Elliott enjoyed the great outdoors when possible.

Banana Peel
To keep our pace up for driving days, we did our best to eat meals and snacks in the car along the road.  I had brought some bananas, but of course Elliott dropping a piece of banana in the car would not be ideal, so Chris tried giving Elliott a whole banana in the peel, with the top peeled back.  It turns out Elliott was able to manage this way of eating and it is now his preferred way of eating banana.  He would eat down to the split in the peel, even sometimes trying to eat the peel, then be willing with coaxing to hand back the banana for the next section to be peeled back.  Considering that Elliott has been known in the past to stuff so much banana in his mouth that he looks like a chipmunk with cheeks full, I'm proud that Elliott seems to have learned to feed himself and manage to take appropriate-sized bites.

Snow
We noticed as we approached Crater Lake National Park that there were still patches of snow along the road in some areas, so we resolved to find a spot where we could stop and let Elliott feel snow for the first time.  At the end of the day, on our way out, we found a perfect spot, next to a turn-out, with a large section of snow with a flat section at the top and a slant down the hill a little ways.  We took Elliott out on the snow, and he seemed dubious at first, signing that he wanted "help" because the snow was slippery and made it difficult to walk.  We started showing him you can pick it up and throw it, engaging in a bit of friendly family snowball fight (with loose handfuls of snow).  It's funny that at this age Elliott actually enjoys having things thrown at him - he giggles wildly as it hits him gently.  Chris then wondered what we had in the car that could be used as a toboggan and we figured out we had a blue plastic tarp.  So we folded this up and set Elliott in it, with Chris directing him down the slope and keeping him upright while I took video.  Elliott was fully laughing at this point and seems to be convinced that snow can be lots of fun!

Classic Mini
On our trip back home, we spent two evenings and a day in San Jose, staying with my aunt & uncle.  On the second night Chris got talking with my uncle about their shared interest in sports cars, particularly those of British origin.  In the course of the conversation it came up that one of my uncle's good friends is also a fan of these cars and owns a classic mini that he has been thinking of selling for a while.  This type of car is one of Chris' favorite and it would be a dream come true for him to own one.  Next thing you know, my uncle is calling his friend to ask about the status of that car and they're close enough friends that it turns out it works for us to go over that night to take a look at the car.  There's a lot of reasons for it not being practical to buy the car, but it's in the back of our heads and we know that this guy is thinking of selling it but isn't in a rush at the moment.  We'll see what happens down the road!  However, for the evening it was definitely exciting for Chris and his face was lit up like a kid in a candy shop to have the opportunity to look at this car!

There's No Place Like Home
Elliott did very well, all things considered, for this trip with long days of driving and various places to stay each night.  However, it certainly did disrupt his routine, especially as he didn't seem to be able to sleep very well in the car.  Normally we've been able to get Elliott to sleep without having a parent stay by him or rock him or anything like that, but this trip called for nights when I either rocked him in my arms or laid down next to him and held his hand.  Of course it's cute to be able to cuddle, but it also of course demands more time and energy from parents/mom.  So it's nice to be home and get Elliott back into his routines and familiar environment.  After a few days, Elliott did seem to get more comfortable and get over the excitement of rediscovering his toys that were left behind.  In fact, I've noticed lately that Elliott is even taking initiative in some parts of his routine.  I give Elliott a cup of milk in the kitchen, then say "let's go to your room" and he'll walk in that direction.  He helps close the door when we get in his room.  Sometimes he doesn't want to sit in my lap while I read books to him, so he'll wander around touching some of his toys or looking at the book from a distance while sipping his milk...or sometimes he sits himself down beside me by leaning up against the wall and sliding his feet down until his bottom falls to the ground.  When he's done with milk, he wants his pacifier and blanket while I finish reading books.  Then I say "let's go brush your teeth" and he sometimes throws his blanket and/or pacifier into his crib, knowing that they'll be there for him when he gets done with brushing his teeth.  He'll then walk to the door and help me open it, walk to the bathroom and wait for me to pick him up and set him on the counter to brush his teeth.  When we're done I'll say "nap time" and he often makes the sign for "nap" to show that he understands.  I then lay him in his crib, give him his pacifier and blanket if he doesn't have it already.  I say goodnight/bye, turn out the light, and close the door and Elliott goes to sleep!  Yeah! =)

We left Santee at about 8am on a cool and foggy Wednesday and headed along I-5 to San Jose, stopping for a couple of stretch & bathroom breaks along the way.  It was definitely a long day and stops took a lot longer than they’ve done when just Chris and I have been on road trips before, but all things considered things went well and we were in San Jose in time to let Elliott play for a bit and get him down for his normal 7pm bedtime.

 

We knew the next day was going to be a long one, with 13 hours of driving to get from San Jose to Astoria, so we did our best to push through longer between stops and make the stops quicker, opting a couple of times for rest stops or gas stations right by the freeway.  Still, we ended up needing to drive later into the evening, which made things difficult as Elliott didn’t seem able to fall or stay asleep in his car seat while we were driving.  We had hoped to stay at a motel in Astoria that night but found that most reasonably-priced hotels were sold out by the time we called around, so we found a place in Klatskanie, 40 minutes from the Ft. Stevens campground, and settled there for the night.  Understandably, with the disruption in Elliott’s schedule, he wasn’t able to settle down to sleep as easily as normal, so it was a bit of a shorter night for Cheryl, working to keep Elliott quiet and encourage him to go to sleep.  However, we were able to take advantage of being in the hotel room for keeping a quiet and dark area to take a morning nap for Elliott’s and my benefit before heading to the campground.

 

On Friday after our morning nap time, we drove to Astoria and stopped in that town for lunch and a little walk along a pier.  We then drove to the campground and set up for our weekend with the Temple Baptist Church group.  We had an opportunity to visit with my parents, who had come from Portland for a couple of the days.  For the afternoon we went to the beach, although we found that it was very windy, which made it too cold to spend time in the ocean.  Chris got a chance to play bocce ball and Elliott played in the sand, as well as being allowed to stick his feet in the ocean just before we left. 

 

During our time camping we did find, as we expected to, that Elliott went through clothes getting wet and dirty very quickly and he also had trouble getting to sleep for naps & nighttime when it was light out and noises around.  However, tag teaming between Chris and myself, we were able to get Elliott down for a reasonable amount of sleep.  When he was awake, Elliott was playing in the sand, walking around our campsite and the surrounding area, investigating the water spigot, and watching/playing with all the kids and adults in the area.  On Saturday morning, Elliott spent some time with his grandma and grandpa, including a walk around the park down to the lake, while his parents went for a kayak tour of the lake.  It was a beautiful day, perfect weather, and Chris and Cheryl were the only ones who signed up for the tour so it was basically a personal tour.

 

On Sunday we went to the church service they organize at the camp site, where kids normally play with sand toys while the service goes on…which of course Elliott loved!  We continued to enjoy time with these friends and church family, including a tradition of a potluck on Sunday night where everyone brings their leftover camp food to share before most leave the following morning.  That evening was the first time we got traditional mist/wet weather, but it was still fairly gentle.  Otherwise we had cool/cloudy early mornings and sunny days while camping. 

 

We packed up the next morning, trying to keep Elliott away from the dirt as much as possible since we had rinse/washed a bunch of clothes the afternoon before.  Elliott decided where he really wanted to play was in the driver’s seat of the car – particularly pushing the hazard lights button on and off, so that worked fairly well.  We took the day to drive to Chemult, OR – our home base for a day and two nights in the Crater Lake area.  Again we were able to make reasonably good time – arriving in time to have dinner and put Elliott to bed at his normal bedtime.  We also found a neat rest stop/park called Greenwaters Park in Oakridge.  It had a rushing river with bridge over it, lots of trees and grassy area, and play equipment for Elliott.

 

Not the best night of sleep in Chemult, as it runs right along the highway and trucks ran somewhat during the night, but with the research we were able to do ahead of time it was the best option we had found.  Chemult did also keep us close to Crater Lake, enabling us to spend a full day there, enjoying a drive around the entire rim, lots of stops at viewpoints, have lunch at a café, and do a couple of short hikes to see views that weren’t available from the road.  It was again a picture perfect day, and we thoroughly enjoyed all the views and natural surroundings.  I wanted to give Elliott a chance to get wet in a lake, since he loves water so much, but I had caught a cold during our time camping and the 2.5 mile hike with 700 feet elevation change on a warm afternoon didn’t seem quite right to attempt.  So instead we drove 5 miles away from the park and stopped at Diamond Lake for a quick dip.  Elliott sure enjoyed it and then we headed back to the hotel for the night.

 

After this day of rest to break up our driving times home, we did the next day of driving to San Jose.  By this time we were in a pretty standard routine for our driving days – on the road by about 8am, a couple of stretch/bathroom/diaper breaks related to gas & food stops, as well as managing to serendipitously find a great park with playground equipment, shade and grass for Elliott to play in (this one was in Weed) – and get to our destination around 5:30pm (I had done my best to keep each day’s driving time to around 6 hours).  

 

The next day, Thursday, was another break from our driving schedule.  We relaxed during the morning, got Elliott down for his usual morning nap, then headed out to visit with Cheryl’s grandmother who has recently moved to a senior living center in San Jose.  After this visit we stopped at a park to again give Elliott a chance for playing with some water features – it turned out the most exciting feature was Chris randomly squirting water in a water bottle into Elliott’s face – he giggled like crazy every time that happened!  After another night visiting with Cheryl’s aunt & uncle who graciously put us up in their home whenever we pass through, we made our way on Friday for the home stretch to San Diego.  It was exciting to get home after being gone for such a long time, but there were also a log of great memories and experiences from this trip.  Chris and I agreed that if we had to do it all over again, we would definitely still have gone on this trip! =)

Not a lot of new developments to report for this month.  Elliott is just doing a lot of his same old tricks.  He has started learning the moves to the song "Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes" - although he only knows "head" , "ears" and "toes" so far.  When you ask him to point to his shoulders he'll point to his head and if you ask him to point to his mouth he'll point to his ears. ;-)

Elliott also started saying "uh-oh" the other day...which was kind of a surprise since neither Chris or I say that regularly.  He also blends the vowels together so that it sounds kind of like a drawn-out "ow".

We kept up with swim lessons for two sessions (7 lessons each) and it was a fun experience and a nice treat during the warm weather.  Elliott is now at the point where he is comfortable with being dipped under water repeatedly with space for breaths in between.  He also loves jumping into the pool with help from an adult and he has learned to grab on to the side of the pool and hold on without help.  He can kind of float on his back with help, but that was one skill he struggled a bit more with.  The teacher said that some babies don't float as naturally but when Elliott gets older we can give him more verbal instructions and he should be able to figure it out then.

In the last couple of weeks we had the IT company picnic, during which Elliott got his first chance to go in a bouncy house (with Chris helping keep him safe).  Elliott also had the first chance to stay overnight with Grandma Clayton and Grandpa Neill, allowing Chris and me to go out for an evening event and sleep in a bit the next morning before going to pick Elliott up.

We've enjoyed some pleasant days with Elliott lately, and even had a few family meals where Elliott sat at the table with us, which was fun to see.  However, in the last week or so we've gone back to some new teeth (the bottom canines) coming in, so of course he's struggling a bit with that.  He's got almost a full smile now and mostly gets comments from strangers about (1) his big blue eyes, (2) his cute waving "hi", or (3) his mouth full of teeth.

That's all I can think of to update with now, but I expect to do another update in a few weeks with more stories and pictures of our summer fun!

We just got back from Elliott's 16 month well-baby check-up, and now I'm noticing on our "countdown" clock that it's been almost 500 days since Elliott was born.  I've been noticing lately how Elliott has left pretty much all semblance of baby-hood behind him.  He acts and interacts very much as a toddler now.  It's a little sad and very exciting at the same time.  I'm glad for his increasing ability to communicate and it's fun to watch him explore his world with enthusiasm, while still wanting to come back to the safety of a hug with Mom from time to time.

So Elliott's stats today were: 31.5 inches long, 25 lb 14 ounces, and 51.5cm head circumference.  Normal height, slightly above normal weight, and a very big head...so the doctor says.  Everything else checks out well and we were encouraged by a little chat with the doctor about the things we're trying to do for Elliott's diet - pushing veggies and fruits as much as possible, trying to do homemade instead of processed foods, watching to provide balance of food groups and nutrients, and staying away from added sugar and juice.  It's a lot to try to balance but the doctor said it sounds like we're on the right track & need to keep it up.  And Elliott does really well with eating these foods, except that we're always on the lookout for easy & clean snack alternatives to crackers, since Elliott will easily eat crackers all day if we let him.

Speaking of crackers, that's the latest word Elliott has picked up speaking.  Sometimes he says it with almost a stutter approach ("ca-ca-ca-crackers") or sometimes it sounds like he's saying "cookie", but this may also be a contraction of "crackers please".  He's very good about signing "please" when we prompt him.  He gets a big smile on his face and starts vigorously rubbing his belly (his version of the "please" sign), although I think it's another one of those conditioned responses where it's more about training and repetition than about understanding.  He knows when we prompt him to say "please" that if he does what we ask he'll get what he wants.  But it's still gratifying as a parent to have your little toddler appear to have good manners.

We also talked to the doctor about a strange issue we had on Monday night.  Elliott had had a pretty normal day, then we went to a dinner provided for VBS workers and their families, where he had lasagna, a bite of garlic bread, and his cheerios.  Chris met us there and took Elliott home while I stayed to work at VBS.  He gave Elliott a little bit of left overs, which he didn't want, tried applesauce, which Elliott took only a spoonful, and then tried a tiny bit of peanut butter, which Elliott spit out.  Then Elliott started a bout of projectile vomiting.  After Chris got him cleaned up, he put Elliott to bed but later heard him crying, went to check on him, and found he had vomited in bed.  I got home just as Chris finished cleaning up for the 2nd time, with mattress cover in the washing machine.  I kept Elliott entertained while we figured out what we would do for putting Elliott to bed and waited for his blanket to come out of the dryer.  As we waited I noticed Elliott was starting to get a bit of a rash, and over the next half hour or so the rash spread quickly over most of Elliott's torso and started getting to his limbs.  We called the on-call pediatrician & she suggested that our description sounded like hives, possibly related to some kind of food allergy.  Chris went to the store & got children's benadryl.  After giving him that, Elliott settled down and was able to go to sleep in a blanket/playpen makeshift crib.  Checking on him half an hour after the benadryl, it appeared his rash was fading as quickly as it had come.  He slept through the night until 4am (6 hours after his benadryl dose), then slept till 7am after I gave him some milk and another dose of benadryl.  The rash never came back and Elliott has been doing well ever since, except for what we think is some discomfort due to his 4th molar getting ready to break through, and maybe a couple of his cuspids.  The doctor didn't have an explanation for this incident so we'll just have to keep an eye out, keep benadryl on hand, and see how it goes.

The hives incident aside, we've been having a nice summer, including parent-tot swim class (both Chris and I have had opportunities to interact with Elliott for lessons), a camp-out night at a nearby campground, and various other play-dates and outings.  Here's a few pictures to sum it up.

I always had a feeling that I would have a difficult time telling what Elliott's first words were, since it's sometimes very difficult to distinguish between baby babbles and attempts at words.  I'm finding this to be true, as Chris was the one to point out to me a word that Elliott has started using relatively frequently.  I'm realizing that parents understanding words easier than others probably has more to do with the frequency of hearing it and the opportunity to regularly observe the body language that goes with it, more than any special connection that gives them an edge.  So we started noticing that Elliott likes pointing at our fish tank, gets a special higher pitch sound in his voice, and then says something like, "tith!"  So after "Yeah" and maybe "Da-da", fish seems to be Elliott's next word.

Chris also noticed that as we started trying to teach Elliott the signs for a few of his favorite foods, and saying the word alongside it, Elliott seems to be trying to say "cheese" sometimes, although it comes out more like "cheh?"  And finally, as Elliott is becoming more insistent with his point-and-grunt form of communication, I've been working on suggesting that he use the word "please" as he points.  I can hear a definite "p" sound, but most often it's coming out  as "peas?" or "pwease?"  I think he's figured out that "please" should be paired with any pointing and not just with asking for his blanket, which is nice.  For a while now he's been getting really attached to a particular blanket and sometimes wants to carry it around with him.  We allow it but don't encourage it, and I noticed that sometimes it was definitely a case of "out of sight, out of mind", so I started putting the blanket on the top shelf of his bookcase when I picked him up out of his crib...but he started noticing where it was going so now if he wants his blanket and can't find it, he stands at his bookcase, pointing upwards and saying "please?"  He also now does that at the corner of the kitchen counter where we keep some snacks and bottles for giving him milk at nap/bedtime.

Elliott is continuing to develop his interest in animals and nature/outdoors.  In fact, it seems like sometimes he might be using his word "fish" as he point to any bird he hears or sees outside, and again using it as he points to a cat whenever he sees one (we have a couple neighbor cats that stalk our yards trying to pounce on rabbits or gophers or whatever else we have living in our yard).  However, we're not sure if he may also be working on using the word "this" - as in "what is this?"  Either way, he seems to really enjoy being outside, and we're starting to make more use of our yard for opportunities to let him run around outside without having to keep as close to him as I feel I need to when we're at a public park.  He enjoys picking up the gravel in the driveway and putting it in our watering can, in a spare bucket, or in his beach sand bucket.  This activity is probably doing good for helping him develop upper body strength, as I can imagine that carrying around a small bucket full of rocks would be a challenge for his little arms! 

We also have taken the opportunity in various stages over the last few weekends to get the weeds and grass in our yard under control, so now Elliott is able to play in the other parts of the yard (to a certain extent...there are still ditches for the start of our drainage project but there are also a few flat places).  We decided to get a lawn sprinkler and try to keep a small patch of grass watered during the summer for a bit of green space.  We also introduced Elliott to playing in the sprinkler, as he has such a strong desire to play in water, and he seemed to enjoy it, although for the longest time he just stood at the edge and let the water come back and forth over him.  Toward the end of his sprinkler play time he figured out about going toward the source of the water and reaching his hand into the spray.  I think sprinkler time will be a fun way to enjoy the water on a few warm afternoons this summer!
    A funny Elliott-story related to the weeding project: Chris' mom was going to watch Elliott for a bit while I did some weeding, but Elliott didn't want to be separated from me so she brought him outside.  We found out that we could each work on pulling weeds in the gravel driveway and give Elliott one weed at a time, which he would dutifully carry over to our collection bucket, drop it in, and then come back to get the next weed.  He kept this up for almost half an hour before getting tired of it!

Pictures available here

Elliott is definitely becoming a full-fledged toddler!  He continues to become more accomplished at walking around, climbing up and down stairs with help and other motor skills.  He loves climbing up on the couch any chance he gets.

However, the development that has been most exciting to me is Elliott's catching on to using some basic sign language.  He started with figuring out how to sign "more", especially when he wanted more Cheerios as treats.  After a few weeks of positive reinforcement and modeling, he figured out how to reliably use the "more" sign to ask for food when he was hungry.  Then, although I was never as consistent at modeling the sign, Elliott picked up pretty quickly on signing "milk", especially when we suggested to him that it was time to give him some.  This coincided with our period of weaning, so I think milk was a little more prominent on his mind. 

So now, when it's time for nap or bed and we're preparing a bottle of milk to give him while reading books (and before brushing his teeth), we'll ask him if he wants "milk" and he will say, "Yeah!" and start signing milk like crazy, with a big smile on his face.  Elliott also definitely is getting an understanding of the world around him and our routines because once we have the bottle of milk ready, he will follow or lead the way into his room, wait for me to sit down, and partially climb into my lap for his bottle and book time.  We then brush his teeth and lay him in his crib with a blanket, cuddle toy, and Soothie.  As we've gone through weaning we've noticed an increased attachment to these objects, but we're hoping as he gets more comfortable with the lack of nursing we'll be able to slowly decrease their importance.

Other signs Elliott has recently picked up on are "food/eat", which we're training him to use in conjunction with "more" so that we know he wants more food and not more of something else.  He also seems to understand what the sign for "diaper" means, although he's not reliable about initiating the sign when he needs a diaper change.  There have been times, however, when I could tell Elliott needed a diaper change, so I asked him if he needed a diaper change and used the sign for diaper, to which Elliott responded "Yeah!" and started signing diaper, then led the way to his room to wait for me to lift him up to the changing table and change his diaper! =)

Adding to the excitement of the last month or so has been a recent road trip to San Francisco and back.  Chris found out he was going to be needed for a work project in the bay area, lasting at least a week-and-a-half, maybe longer.  So we decided that I would try driving up and back for a long weekend, figuring that driving would allow for more flexibility, depending on how Elliott did in the hotel and how Chris' project progressed.  I stocked up on snacks that would be easy for Elliott and I to eat in the car, sought to find a fine balance between making sure I had everything I needed for Elliott's care while not over-stuffing the car (Chris would say I erred on the later side), and bought Elliott a new cell phone toy which provided a much-needed distraction for times when Elliott started getting fussy in the car.  It definitely took us longer to do the drive than I could have done on my own or with Chris along, since each stop required time to care for Elliott and for myself, but we made it to San Luis Obispo in one day, enjoyed a short visit with my grandmother and stayed overnight with her, and then continued on to San Jose the next day, where we left our car with relatives and used Chris' rental car to get to the downtown San Francisco hotel he was staying at.

It turned out that Chris wasn't able to do any work over the weekend, so we were able to take that time to do some sightseeing, do some relaxing together, and visit with some family and friends in the area.  Chris' work ended up wrapping up on time, but he still had lots to do back at his office, so he kept his flight back to San Diego while Elliott and I drove back, giving us the option to stop overnight somewhere along the way, if needed.  It turned out that by taking I-5 and pushing to finish through the evening (being more confident with driving at night on the way home, as I knew the way better), we were able to get home by 10:30 pm.

After a few days of getting settled and back into our routine, Mother's day weekend came up, and we were able to celebrate as a whole family (there had been a possibility that Chris would still be out of town for work).  Chris took Elliott to the store in the morning so that he could "pick out" a bouquet of flowers (he chose pink tulips) for me.  We then went to church, came home for lunch, and then headed to meet Chris' mom and her husband for an outing to the Scripps Aquarium.  We decided this would be a good time to get a membership, as Elliott seems to be at an age where he could enjoy watching the varieties of fish moving around in the aquarium displays.  So we'll probably have many future opportunities to visit there in the future.

Pictures are available here.