Recent Fun

I have really gotten behind on posting pictures and recently we have had some very fun times. So, I'm playing catch-up from the last month. Here are a conglomerate of different pictures from different activities.

Elijah made this crown at church one evening and continues to wear it on occasion just to play around. That's my little prince!
Jerod continues to play the violin and now Elijah will take different objects and pretend to also play the violin. Here he has two of his toothbrushes as a violin and bow.
We've been playing so hard that one day he just fell asleep on the couch while playing (he was playing with daddy with whom he plays extra hard ;-)

Can't believe he was actually able to fall asleep in this position!

Elijah has recently gotten into Legos an building things. Here was the first thing he built on his own without any guidance or suggestions. It's a flower garden.
Here he is playing with his tent and tunnel. One day out of the blue he came to me and said he had a dinner he made for me and that I should come eat it with him in his tent - so cute!

He looks like he's coming out of one of those smoke stacks on a ship

Mad Science Experiments! - Elijah has really gotten involved in my job with Mad Science and loves to do experiments with mommy. Today we talked about polymers and how acetone can break down Styrofoam. Of course for him is was mostly "look at those cool spider web-type things."
This experiment had to be done in the bathroom where it was dark because we mixed two chemicals together that turned a bright blue color.
Happy Hollow! - This year we decided to get a season pass because it pays for itself after the 3rd visit and it is so close I figured it would be a good activity to do year long. So far he LOVES it.

Enjoying the carousel at Happy Hollow with friends Fia and Evelyn

Feeding the goats

Petting the bunny

Riding the car with Evelyn - she is so sweet to let Elijah do the driving ;-)

The swings were a big hit

Having so much fun with his friend Evelyn

Climbing a huge rock by himself

King of the mountain!

I think we went on the carousel ride 4 or 5 times this day

Each time we tried out a new animal ;-)

Hugging Evelyn (I love Elijah's sweet nature and how he loves to hug people)

First time on a ride that goes up high - he was excited at first but not so sure after the ride got started.
At the top, enjoying the view before the ride went down and things started to feel funny (I don't think he's used to the drop in his stomach when you go down things quickly)

What a cute pair

Intel Museum and Shaving Cream

At preschool Elijah has had the opportunity to experience some fun art with shaving cream. I decided to give it a try at home and it was a huge success. Of course we covered everything with plastic and kept him in only a diaper.

We also went to the Intel Museum today (March 8th) for the first time. It's really designed for older children, but we made the most of it and had a great time looking at all the displays.

Elijah and the Intel robot

Elijah and a huge piece of silicon

Elijah checking out the display of a "clean suit"

Crafts, Drawing, and Computer Time

Elijah has recently started to enjoy making crafts and since I too enjoy them, I have encouraged as many Christmas creations as possible this season. Here he is making a Christmas tree out of several hand prints we cut out.

In addition to crafts, he enjoys writing and drawing whenever he can. Grandma Lupe has a special white board in her bedroom that he loves to scribble on. When my arms get tired of holding him, I just let him up on the step stool.
After several minutes of doing really good on his own, I figured I could walk out of the room to get something and when I come back, I discovered pen mark all over his face. Thank goodness it wasn't a permanent marker.
Elijah also loves to get on the computer whenever he can. Here Grandma Lupe is teaching him how to work the mouse on the touch-pad.

Library Days

Every Tuesday for the past couple months we have been meeting up with another mom and son from our church and having a play date at the library. It has become one of the highlights of my week and Elijah loves interacting with his friend Caleb. We have our own little routine where the kids spend about 30 minutes playing educational games on the computer, then they pick out books they want to read, we check them out (they love scanning in things on the digital machines...so high tech) and then we go outside for a snack and reading time. They love running around outside the library playing catch and hide 'n seek. A couple times we have also walked over to Caleb's house and played with him. One time in particular the boys did some fun painting. It's so great to have friends like this.

Playing on the computer

Caleb and Elijah side by side on the computers

Working the mouse and keyboard

Picking out books to read

See what I got, mom

The boys are very affectionate with each other and love to give hugs and kisses

Aren't they just so cute

Elijah checking out Caleb's book

Trying to reach the scanner with the library card so he can check out his books

Searching for books with Mary (Caleb's mom)

Reading and snack time

Painting at Caleb's house

Oh what fun painting is!

Preschool and Crocs

About a month ago, Elijah started attending preschool 2 days a week (Monday and Wednesday mornings). I am also working as an aide in his class which has been lots of fun. He is learning so much from how to better interact with friends, to reinforcing his knowledge on shapes, numbers, colors, and learning new skills like how to cut with scissors and use glue. He has come home with some fun projects too. Two of my favorites are a hat that depicted the Mayflower on the waves of the ocean, and an autumn wreath which we have hung in our entry hall.

Elijah has also recently started wearing a new pair of shoes. They are a tad too big for him, but he loves them so much I couldn't hide them away again until he properly grew into them. So now we take frequent stops to put the shoes back on again and he insists on wearing them constantly. I convinced him he doesn't need them for bath time, but wasn't so lucky when it came to bedtime, so now he wears them while he sleeps. his crocs are the last thing on his mind before he goes to sleep and the first words on his lips as he awakes. We surmise he loves his crocs so much because they are the first pair of shoes he's been able to pu on by himself. Awww, independence.