Christmas at Holly's.....

was very festive! There was so much going on and yet it was relaxing and comfortable at the same time. It was so much fun to see Ellis opening his presents (Holly can post those images and talk all about that), thanks Holly for having us come and invade your home! I'm so glad the snow finally melted enough for us to actually leave our houses and see each other for the holidays!.....Mike you were missed very much!!!!!

By the Way

The current snow measurement is 15.5inches in Newberg, Oregon.

Will it ever end? Are we headed for a White Christmas

SNOW

It's been snowing all week on and off, so as soon as it started I got out Ellis' snow gear. He's worn his snow pants to daycare (without the coat because, "I have dese mommy" indicating his pants). Unfortunately for us the base doesn't close for weather. That means that all of our spare time has been spent in the car getting to and from work, instead of playing in the snow. =( FINALLY today we got off early enough to make it home in time to play in the snow in the daylight. It took a little coaxing to get Ellis into the whole outfit, but he finally complied. Once outside I showed him how to make snowballs and snow angels. We ran into some kids playing and a New Foundland (sp?) being walked. I had to kind of trick Ellis into coming inside for dinner. Now he's snuggled up on the couch warming up with rosy cheeks and cold fingers and toes. Maybe the base will close tomorrow? It's only 6 inches of snow... I'm not counting on it.

Look what I found... I laughed. I cried.

Ellis residue

So how long has it been since the little Duder has been gone-3 weeks? I’m still finding tit-bits of Ellis here and there. A toy in the couch, under the couch, some pictures on the closet wall that was left behind, a jacket in the closet, a sippy cup in the drawer, sniff, sniff (it’s kind of sad)……then today there was the real residue….the oatmeal on the wall and the art work. It’s the stuff you don’t see until you have to turn on all the lights in the house-thanks to daylight savings. I mean the oatmeal was way up high! It had to be flung up there. I really don’t think it was a purposeful attempt to add to the décor, I just think It was just “one of those mornings” and it happened when Ellis was “being creative”. I do appreciate the residue, it makes me think of all the good times El Duder-reno and I had.

PS. Photos are from when Ellis was 9 months old, Love the ‘stash Mike….has it grown back yet?

Let's wrestle

Last night at church Ellis asked me to wrestle. As it was hardly the time or place to wrestle I distracted him with some other less physical game. So tonight I invited him to wrestle, to satisfy that little boy side of him. (Plus it's daddy's orders that we wrestle) We got down in the floor in the family room and "wrestled", at least how mommy knows how to wrestle, which is a lot of rolling around in the floor and tickling. Ellis lasted all of 2 min and then he stood up and said, "I need to catch my breath". I guess mommy wore him out.

I'm Spiderman!

Trick or treating last year lasted an entire cul-de-sac for our little Monkey Ellis. This year when I pulled out the Spiderman costume it was ALL OVER. Since I bought it at a garage sale for $3 I had some minor repairs that needed to happen prior to him wearing it. You try hand sewing something with a toddler climbing all over you. It was finally ready to wear and so I put it on Ellis and he started his parade.

"I'm Spiderman!" "I'm Spiderman!" "I'm Spiderman!" He told everyone he passed on the street, "I'm Spiderman!"

He wore the spiderman "helmet" for a total of 5min and then took it off and would not put it back on. He was the most well mannered trick or treater in the neighborhood. Some generous neighbors would offer him more candy and he would reply, "No thanks I got one." As he left a home and would run into other trick or treaters on their way to the door he would generously say, "It's your turn." So Grand-dad, Mommy and Ellis trick or treated down our street and around the block and when we came back around to our house Ellis trick or treated at home with Grammy who was manning the door. He got to hand out some candy while he was there and then he wanted to keep going so Grammy, Mommy and Ellis went around another block. He would have kept going, but we hadn't eaten dinner and he was starting to pull out the candy and eat it, so we closed up shop and went to mexican food. The atmosphere at Puerta Vallarta was jovial. The videos posted were right before we left to go home... The effects of Halloween sugar. We went to Saturday night service at church tonight and on the way home we passed a house with orange lights and Halloween decor. Ellis, "I see trick or treating". Mommy, "No baby... Trick or treating is over." Grammy, "The candy you got last night has to last all year long." Poor kid.

Back to Life.. Back to Reality.

I appreciated Ellis's blog so much while I was in San Antonio that I asked if I could keep it going now that I'm home, for Mike's sake. He loves it. I'm not usually very good at keeping these kinda things going, but I'm going to try. I got back to Washington last Saturday to a very warm reception from Ellis, but you read about that in Karen's last entry. This week has been busy getting settled back into home life, but this is how well things worked out with Uncle Kevi and Aunt Kiki... Ellis ran right back into daycare with Teachers Willis, Becky and Laquonda (who used to be called capata, but has graduated to Quonda) without a single separation issue. They were all very surprised and pleased. When he started with them in August he had lots of separation issues, but he didn't shed a tear at daycare all week. He also shocked them with his ability to use the potty. Grammy rode the train up on Wednesday and Grand-dad later joined us on Friday for Halloween, but while Ellis stayed home with Grammy she let him run around the house without pants on and he used the potty all day without having any accidents. He also went poop on the potty (for the first time) and had to save it to show me when I got home from work. Big round of high fives all around, some punching dancing and some m&ms. PLUS we ran right out to walmart and bought him some big boy briefs and BOY does he think those are cool. He was so excited he ran across the room and did a huge face plant, quickly looking over his right shoulder to say, "Did you see that?"

Mommy's Home!

So Saturday Holly came home!  I kept talking to Ellis about Mommy coming home, but he kept insisting that Mommy’s in Texas learning to fly airplanes and MY DADDY’s in AFGHANISTAN!  It took me a couple of days to talk to Ellis about Mommy coming home.  I kept explaining that she was actually coming to take him to his house and he would get to sleep in his own bed and stay together with mommy.

Again-Mommy’s in Texas and MY DADDY’S in AFGHANISTAN!

It wasn’t until Saturday morning when I was giving him a bath after a special uncle Kevy blueberry pancake breakfast, that again I said to Ellis, that mommy was coming home RIGHT NOW!

Ellis again said mommy’s in Texas….I looked at him and said NOOO!  Mommy’s in an airplane right now and she is coming here now!

Ellis stopped “swimming” in the bathtub and looked at me for a minute, then slowly got up on his knees and said “mommy’s coming home?”

Me-“YES!!!! Mommy’s coming home RIGHT NOW to get you!!! Aren’t you excited!!!?”

Ellis-Mommy’s coming! Mommy’s coming! Mommy’s coming!!!!!!!

I was finally able to get him to understand that he was actually going to be going home and that his mommy was coming to stay.  He was SOOOO excited!

We rushed around to finish packing up all his toys and clothes.  I combed his cute, tiny bit longer hair (ah -hem…. (Mike) It really is cute! ) Put on his new shirt that mommy bought in Texas, and packed the cars 3, maybe 4 different times, and headed off to the airport.

It was so neat to see him waiting for Holly to come up the escalator.  When we saw her, we were all so excited for him….we said “Look Ellis!!! It’s MOMMY!  And let him go and he RAN with arms open wide.  It chokes me up just typing about it.  It really was so special to see a two year old being so glad to see his mom.  It was a sense of relief and overwhelming joy, for both Holly and Ellis.  I just wish that Mike was there too.  I know that it’s going to be so awesome for Ellis and Mike when Mike comes home; Ellis misses his Daddy so much.

Mike- I wanted to tell you, that there were so many times when Ellis would go down for a nap, actually most times when I think about it, he would lay on his bed for 5 or 10 more minutes with his Daddy dinosaur and play your voice over and over and over and over again.  It really was sweet, I would watch him on the monitor sometimes and wish that you could see him…He would just lay there looking at his Daddy dinosaur having his time with you.

Turning Right, Turning Left!

So the whole time that we had Ellis and we had to make an excursion, to make things interesting I would tell him what direction we would turn.  It would go a little something like this:

Me- We are turning left.

 Ellis- Turing left?

Me- Yup here we go, turning left.

Ellis- Oh, turning left.

Then the exact same thing would ensue for turning right.  I know….Sounds very exciting right?  The thing is – is that Ellis has a remarkable sense of where he is, and the boy is only 2!  When he was first with Uncle Kevy and me, we were driving to the store and he suddenly said, “Aunt CC’s house!”  And sure enough it was!  How did he know that?  I didn’t tell him that and he had just been with us for a day….that’s weird.  Then when we were riding bikes at the park we took the “long way home thru the woods” and came to a spot where the path goes a different direction.  Ellis stopped and looked down the trail and shouted….”IT’S PAPA’S HOUSE! (Again with the shouting)” So you see, I thought I should hone his pigeon like skills and start teaching him right from left. 

By the end of the six weeks I would say:

Me –Turning right.

Ellis – This way?! (Pointing right)

Me- YES!  That’s right!!!

Ellis – This way is left? (Pointing left)

Me – YES!  That is correct! (Obviously you cannot say that is “right for fear of confusing the child)

Some days were better than other days.  I was able to ask him which hand was his right hand and which hand was his left hand and he could totally answer me correctly.

So- Mike and Holly (and all relatives that are involved, we have to keep practicing, any time you are with Ellis, always tell him which direction you are going and ask him too.  And Papa and Aunty Dave please don’t undo all my hard work by confusing him and telling him left is right and up is down!  That’s just wrong! ;) )

Tonka Tonka

So Nana and Papa brought over some old, old Tonka Trucks (I think I mentioned them earlier) and I got Ellis outside to play with them today.  At first he wanted to bring them in the house and didn’t get why we couldn’t bring muddy, rusty trucks into the house.  This starts the whole “why?” routine – which you can’t blame the kid, I think the problem with the “why?” routine  is that it leaves the adult with a perpetual feeling of never being able to solve a problem – you know, kind of like that tricky Algebra problem (yes, I’m taking Algebra right now and YES I have mid terms coming up and should not be writing in a blog), or like a song that is stuck in your head that never ends, or an argument that you can’t win – but you are the only one in the argument because the other person totally doesn’t even know that there even IS an argument going on……

Anyways- once I showed him that it was totally cool….Trucks (I mean dozer and dump truck, sorry Kev) + Bucket + Shovel + Dirt + Mud + Boy Dog (girl dog wasn’t interested)  = Great, FANTASTIC Fun!  He loved it! 

Eventually he went back to his old habit of locking himself and Mazzy in the kennel and played in there with the dirty ball (yes the one that he licked, it’s still around.), but this time he included the dozer.

Wanna play dress-up Ellis?!

Ellis had a great nap today and afterwards we were going to play outside with some Tonka Trucks that Nana and Papa dropped off- you know the now ancient relics of our past - metal trucks that are indestructible.  But it was thundering and raining when he got up from his nap, so I asked him if I could play with his hair.  He said sure!  He wanted a mohawk- for realzies!  So I had to show him some attitude that went with a mohawk, but I don’t think it stuck with him.  Anyways, I think the look works for him.

Wink Wink

Ellis winked for Holly when she was here last weekend….then he couldn’t wink any more.  This morning he did it again!  So I grabbed a photo for you guys to show that he’s practicing his winks while eating oatmeal and raisins. 

Yes he still has the band-aid on his forehead.  I’ve tried several times to take it off, but it’s ended in screaming.  I even tried last night while he was sleeping but he just kept moving his head and then he eventually put his face straight down on the bed and pulled the blanket over his head-all while sleeping.  Today, I have told him that we are taking the band-aid off when we get dressed.  I’m Keeping my fingers crossed….I am probably going to have to do fast----RIP-Yikes!

Duh Duh Duh!!!!!!!!!

I think these images speak for themselves….the usual rough housing Ellis needs that only a dude can provide.  He is always smackin’ his fists in what I can only call a sumo wrestling stance and says “lets wrestle Kiki, lets wrestle…” all the time.  I can only provide so much wrestling; it’s never enough for him.

SO- Mike and Holly I have an announcement to make, or maybe a warning….take a deep breath…. (Oh, it doesn’t have anything to do with wrestling, or an injury relating to wrestling or general rough-housing. Sorry if I scared you)…..I believe that it is official.  Ellis has officially entered into a special boyhood stage.  I’m sorry you are not here to witness, and enjoy this special time.  I feel that maybe I should send you a hallmark card or something.  Maybe he will hang on to this special time long enough for both of you to enjoy and make special memories with him.  In fact, I’ll have a talk with him and make sure he does.

What is it?!

I believe that Ellis has officially entered the WHY? Stage! (DUH DUH DUH!!!!!!  (I know that’s hard to read, but that is sound of doom music) ).

Everything has changed from “What’s this? What’s this?” to “WHY? WHY? WHY?”

For example:

Me:  Ellis don’t touch me right now.

Ellis: Why?

Me: Because you have snot all over yourself.

Ellis: Why?

Me:  Because you have a terrible, terrible cold.

Ellis: Why?

Me: I don’t know why, because you caught it from somewhere.

Ellis: Why?

Me: I don’t know, because you are two years old.

Ellis: Why?

Me:  Because that is how old you are.

Ellis: Why?

Me:  Well you see your mommy and daddy love each other very much and because of that they made a baby…..

Just kidding….I didn’t tell him that.  Just wanted to see if you would keep reading.  But the conversation literally goes on forever and it’s always while you are trying to do something either important or in a hurry.

So don’t say I didn’t warn you! ;)

Fort Jussel

Today we had to take some MAJOR advantage of some nice weather before the rain rolled in.  So we played in the backyard and Ellis did the usual playing with the dogs….mostly trapping them in the kennel and pushing the disgustingly dirty tennis ball (the one that Papa saw Ellis lick after the dogs felt it was too dirty to play with) thru the fence and going back and forth like that.  After awhile he was wondering around acting like he was bored of being outside (Don’t ask me why, I cannot say) so I did some quick Aunt-like thinking and built an AMAZING fort.  Well not that amazing but to Ellis it was amazing and that’s all that matters!  He thought it was the coolest thing ever and it entertained him for several more hours. 

Eventually Uncle Kevy came home from work early and Ellis just had to show him….so like the best Uncle in the world he got in the fort with him, and soon all 4 of my kids were inside the fort.  It was great!

Snail Trail

So Ellis has a cold. 

 

I've heard Mike say this before, but I have a healthy respect for what he meant by the fact that it's amazing how much "stuff" can come out of a little boy's body.  In this case it's his nose.  I don't think I'm even capable of producing this much snot.  

Anyways, Kevin had him for the night while I was away at school, but when I came home he told me a funny thing.  Ellis is just the right height for his nose and the edge of the counter.  Yup- you guessed it.  He proceeded to run his nose along the edge of the counter, leaving a trail behind him!

 

I'm thinking he's brilliant, the counter is granite, and it probably was cold and felt great on his little raw nose!  I still laugh thinking about it and wish I could have seen it in person.

To Infinity and Beyond!

I couldn't resist!  Ellis is in LOVE!  He is in love with a space man.....I know, I know, he's in love with a dude, but the dude's a cartoon, Buzz Lightyear!  Aunt CC brought Toy Story 1 and 2 over and Ellis literally asks to watch it every day (Holly can vouch for that.  He kept asking her when she was here this last weekend).  

So I was out of hair stuff and had to go to Target and I quickly went down the toy isle with Ellis in tow.  I know, I know- What was I thinking right?  Go down a toy isle with a little boy?!  Well I found a little inexpensive Buzz Lightyear doll (I'll leave the expensive one for to his mom and dad to get him ;) )  Ellis saw Buzz, and immediately said "I have Buzz Lightyear, I have Buzz Lightyear....." about a trillion times.  How can an Aunt resist?  I mean he does yell "To Infinity and Beyond!!!"  all the time, jumping off of things like he is flying.  He even says it to his dad and mom on the phone, at breakfast, in bath time, going potty, eating lunch, playing with the dogs, you name it he's yelling it.

He HAD to have it....

So Ellis loves to head-butt the dogs and today there was a minor mishap...and Ellis turned around and slightly bonked Tucker in the head.....this was a bonk that was less than the usual head-butting that goes on.  This time it ended with a complete meltdown and Ellis INSISTED he needed a band-aid.  I don't think it's going to be coming off for a few days.  It's kind of funny and cute at the same time! ;)

pumpkin patch 2

Pumpkin Patch

We had a great time with Holly being here this weekend.  Ellis loved his mommy being home, they talked and played and we had a couple of great outings, one of them being the pumpkin patch.  It was so cute seeing Ellis, Madeline, Caitlin and everyone picking pumpkins in the cold.  

Afterwards we went to Spaghetti Factory and waited forever for dinner...we waited so long that Papa got upset and said something to the manager and poof!  Our food arrived!  Way to go dad! Ellis was so tired and so hungry, but as usual he was such a trooper.

Ellis even took mommy back to the airport to say goodbye, he was sad to see her go, but very brave and wished her goodbye.....only 2 more weeks until mommy comes home.  Today we talked about how mommy is learning how to fly planes and how proud we are of her....Ellis is very proud!