indoor fun

Lots of rainy weather at the beginning of this month lead to extra indoor playtime for the boys.

the clothes basket is always a popular place for this little guy

it's a good thing he's so cute so I don't mind so much when he messes up the folded clothes

and I'm learning not to fold clothes ahead of time

big brother thinks it looks fun so he joins Elliott in the basket

dirty dishes that Penny has licked are always fun!

and this is my mini-daddy! Oliver is wearing his baby doll in a kid-sized moby wrap inside his jacket.

the oven drawer makes a nice place to sit

you don't mind, do you ?

the window is still his favorite hang out spot

turkey day

We hope everyone had a nice Thanksgiving! We sure did! I'm so thankful that we were able to celebrate with my grandparents who are in their 80's and visiting for the first time in six years! I'll have more pictures of our time with all our visiting family later, but here are a few of my sweet boys waiting for their Thanksgiving dinner. I made their matching turkey shirts using cutouts of their hand prints.

Penny cleans up!

The boys were playing with the beanbags this morning, throwing them at each other and all over the house. Elliott could only throw backwards, so that was pretty funny to watch. When I asked Oliver to pick them up when they were done playing, Penny walked over with one in her mouth and dropped it in the bucket. We decided to have her pick ALL of them up and turned it into a game. Oliver definitely approved of this cleanup method! Now if we can only get her to fold and put away the laundry. . .

video: Elliott - month 11

a few mobile pics

My phone takes terrible pictures, but sometimes it's the only camera I have with me, especially since Nick took our point and shoot to Philadelphia with him. Here are a few pictures of our activities from the first half of November:

Oliver tries one of Penny's bully sticks

it's hat season again!

rainbow on my rainy walk

ready to build with daddy at the Seattle Children's Museum

Elliott found the perfect reading spot at the library and Oliver thought it looked fun so he had to try it out.

I spotted this huge pile of leaves as we were walking through the park one day and told Oliver to hop out of the stroller and jump in.

He happily obliged.

Now I have two helpers in the kitchen! Elliott is thrilled to be in the tower.

watching diggers

Elliott and Penny share a common interest - the chuck-it

excited that he can fit into his brother's jacket

maple tree

So I'm about a month late in taking Oliver's maple tree comparison picture, it completely spaced my mind until this week. Upon making the collage I wish he hadn't been wearing a jacket because he was wearing the exact same shirt as last year! His hair is also much darker but it's hard to see with his hood on.

the art of potty scooting

Here is a fun little video from last month:

handsome boys

When we got home from the zoo today I plopped the boys in the backyard in hopes of getting a nice picture of Elliott to use for his first birthday party invitations. Oliver was a big help and stood behind me with his camera and would jump on cue to entertain Elliott. I'm pretty happy with how they came out!

11 months!

I can't believe that it's already time to start planning someone's first birthday party! Yep, this little cutie is going to be one in a month!
Here are a few of the things he's doing now:

• He's finally given up the army crawling and now crawls on his knees everywhere. His favorite place to try to sneak away to is Penny's water bowl, just like his big brother used to do. Miss P will now have limited access to her water bowl for probably the next year.
• He is very good at using his push walker (which you'll see when I get up a video from this past month) and gets frustrated if he runs into something and can't turn it around.
• He can stand for several seconds by himself and I've seen him take one step on a few occasions
• He loves, loves books, and not just for reading! He loves to eat and tear pages as well.
• I joined the infant class in the preschool coop I attend with Oliver. I wasn't going to at first, but I missed having one on one time to spend just with Elliott. So now every Tuesday, Oliver plays in the sibling care room while I have a 90 minute class with Elliott.
• He claps, waves and gives high 5s!
• He also loves to dance to Nick's guitar playing
• He says "dada"and "mama"
• He loves to imitate the funny sounds his big brother makes

window watching, still a favorite activity

I took some pictures during a game of peek-a-boo!

sleeping soundly one afternoon