Touch-A-Truck Day!

Today was Touch-A-Truck Day at Cummings Park in Woburn. Funny, we've lived here just about five years and we've never been to (or heard of) Touch-A-Truck Day before. Of course, Eliot was in his own little Heaven. He kept talking about the "digger parade" and how he wanted to go back after we left. We got there about 10 minutes after it started and it was already crowded! He sat in a payloader and a firetruck and walked around seeing all the rest. It was time to go and he didn't want to go before he got to sit in a backhoe (yes, he (as well as Ted and myself) now know the difference between a payloader, backhoe, bulldozer, excavator, mini excavator, bobcat digger, and etc. etc.). The backhoes are his favorite so Ted took him over to stand in the VERY long line to sit in the backhoe. What a good Daddy :)

Friends From New York

I was stunned when Linda dropped off Eliot last Thursday and she told me that he had told her we had friends coming to visit us from New York. I had told him that we had friends coming, but I never mentioned (to him anyway) where they were from. Funny the things he picks up on. I wonder if he knows where New York is on a map (just kidding).

So, yes, we had friends come from New York. They stayed at a nearby hotel (because we don't have the space to host them quite yet). They arrived Thursday afternoon and came here for some pizza. They have two little boys; one is 4 and one is Eliot's age (2.5ish). The boys (who had been couped up in a car for four hours previous to this little pizza party) were so excited to get their hands on some new-never-seen-before toys that they dumped Eliot's toy bins all out and ruffled through to see what treasures they could find. Eliot did NOT like this. In fact, it was the first time I visibly saw him get overwhelmed and anxious. He started to cry and locked himself in the bathroom. I went in there to calm him down and he asked me not to go back out and to stay with him. It BROKE my heart. It is no secret that I suffer from terrible anxiety and this was the first display of intense anxiety I had seen in Eliot and that is the LAST thing I ever want him to deal with.

I sat in the bathroom with him for a few minutes until he was ready to come out. He came out and things were instantly so much better. He started to play with the boys and I felt my shoulders drop (down from my ears). Whew.

After that everything was fine. We all got along well and we had a wonderful time. During their visit, we went to two zoos, had a photo session, Ted & I went on a double date with our couple friends while the kids all had sitters, and we cooked, had dinner, and played at my in-laws while they were at a wedding. We packed as much in in 4 days as possible and it was a ton of fun!

This photo lies: Eliot is exactly 3' tall!

Easter & A Poop Party!

This year for Easter we went to Ted's Auntie Jane's house. Originally, we had planned on doing that every Easter and for one reason or another we always changed plans. I am glad we didn't this year. The menu was amazing! Everything and everyONE was taken into consideration. It was a great day with wonderful company. Eliot had such a great time playing with all of Russell's toys (Ted's cousin's son who is almost a year old) and with his cousins, Lilla & Beatrice and later, with some 2nd cousins who are older and who he'd never even met before; it didn't bother him! He played with them like he's known them forever. He had so much fun. We wanted to keep him awake on the ride home so we told him not to close his eyes. When we were about 15 minutes from home he asked "Mama, I go to sleep in the car?" (How can you say no to that!). I think he ended up resting his eyes some, but he never fell asleep, but he did sleep good that night!

After his Easter morning bath:

In his Easter outfit that Nana got him:

Onto other (more embarrassing) topics. We have been laying the foundation for potty training with Eliot. He will often pee in the potty, but pooping was a whole other issue. He's scared of putting on underwear and rather attached to his "diapy" so I don't want to FORCE the issue; just encourage it. Finally, I told him if he pooped in the potty we'd have a party. That very day (of course), he pooped in the potty for the first time. He said "Mama, we go to the store and buy a cake now?" I was done for. We went to iparty and got a Dora balloon and a new digger to put on the cake we later made together. He was very excited to bring his friend (who lives downstairs from us) a piece of his cake! It was a BIG deal!

Reading the recipe:

After that time, Eliot wasn't so enthusiastic about pooping on the potty so I took some advice I got from a friend and just yesterday started letting him watch digger and dump truck movies on my phone while he's on the potty; that did it! NOW, he's interested :)

Spring Happenings!

Now that Spring is finally here, I am finding that I am breaking out my camera a lot more. First up was our niece, Lilla's, birthday party! Happy 3, Lilla! It couldn't have been any nicer outside and the kids (and adults) lived it up and soaked in the sunshine!

Ted asked Audrey to show him her tooth (that she lost) and Eliot thought he would show his teeth too! (In his defense, he has been super excited about the fact that he has four new molars coming through-- and boy, do we know it! What a crank-ster!)

I want to take a minute and "toot my own horn" as they say about this photo below. I had been wanting to try the ever-challenging back lighting and really never got around to doing it; either the circumstances weren't just right, or the lighting wasn't just right, etc. Well, I finally got my chance and I NAILED it! I'm tempted to make it into a canvas :)

Next up, is a trip to the zoo! We met a friend of mine there for a quick stroll through the Stone Zoo.

Jaguar was angry that day! He was roaring all over the place!

Wouldn't be a trip to the zoo without Eliot sitting on the stone polar bear!

When I was young, my parents would tell me that I was the filthiest kid in the neighborhood. I am starting to see that my child inherited my tendency to get filthy and love it :)



Lastly for the week, we have a playdate with James! I went to middle school and high school with James' mom, Jill and we've become really good friends with credit due to Facebook!
I toted along my camera because I wanted to try out my brand-new, fresh out of the box, Canon 24-70L lens! This will be my primary wedding lens and I am pretty excited to have added it to my collection!

This is Eliot literally trying to get James to look at the camera with him, haha!

This is his cheesy smile when I say "Say Cheese!"

Finally, the most important news is.....

WE PUT OUR CONDO UP ON THE MARKET!! Woohooo!!!! With any luck (and some prayer) we'll be outta here and into our own house in no time!