Can you tell me how to get to Strawberry Street?

Today Elliot and I met up with Allie and her mom Audrey at the Strawberry Street Festival. It's a small street festival that raises funds for Fox Elementary School. The school, located on Strawberry St. and Hanover Ave., is very close to the apartment that Brian and I rented when we first moved to Richmond.

The four of us had a lovely time at the festival. Elliot and Allie enjoyed gazing at each other and touching/holding hands. They also got their grove on when the band started playing. Allie was a little scared of the drums, at first... but she got over it when she saw how much fun Elliot was having.

The party didn't stop after we left the festival. This evening after naps, of course, we headed across the ally for a BBQ at the Gables' House (Martin's family). We all met lots of new people and had lots of fun.

Flying Solo

This weekend I left Elliot and Brian at home and headed to Charlottesville, VA for a weekend with the girls, and to celebrate the upcoming marriage of my friend, and Elliot's Godmother, Tasha Henderson. I missed the boys terribly but did enjoy spending quality time with good friends. Elliot and Brian had a nice time together running errands, watching golf, and listening to music. Apparently, Elliot really digs Zeppelin.

I returned home on Sunday at around lunch time. After much needed naps (for all of us). We went on a long walk and spent some time playing in the park. There, Elliot enjoyed grabbing fist fulls of grass and getting up close and personal with Zsi-Zsi. After we got home Elliot went down for a late afternoon nap while Brian and I installed his big boy car seats. Hopefully we'll be making many more trips to the park this spring and summer.

Buddies

Our neighbor, Martin, came over this morning with his mom, Rachel, for a little play date. Martin and Elliot are both chill babies so its fun to see them play together. As you can see in the photos, a fun time was had by all.

Milestones

On Friday Elliot had his 6 month check up (he has been on a delayed check up scheduled since an ear infection postponed his 4 month). His check up was a bit traumatic, Elliot was tired and hungry so he was pretty fussy. When he got his shots he cried his little head off - not fun for me or Elliot. The doctor said that Elliot is doing great. Our little man has SIX teeth, is in the 90th percentile for height (28.5 inches), and is in the 50th percentile for weight (18 lbs 10 oz).

Additionally, Elliot is right where he should be developmentally. He is scooting (almost crawling), babbling, responding to his name, and grabbing/reaching for everything. In "firsts" news, we introduced the sippy cup for the first time this weekend, and Elliot managed to go from laying to sitting all by himself.

Elliot showed off some of his skills for his friend Clare when she came over for a play date yesterday. Clare is 2 months older than Elliot. She can crawl, say ma-ma, wave bye-bye, and pull up! So cool. They really do grow up so fast.

I'll post again this afternoon, we have a few adventures planned for this rainy Sunday, including a play date with our friend Martin.

Big E

Brian is in Las Vegas for a bachelor party this weekend so Elliot and I are getting to spend lots of quality time together. This morning we met up with Elliot's friends Clare, Jenny Leigh and Zant (and all of their mommies) for playgroup at Jenny Leigh's house. As always, Elliot had lots of fun. Jenny Leigh had some really fun toys to play with and her mom, Rachel, provided a lovely assortment of snacks (cheese, crusty breads, grapes, & chocolate covered strawberries) for the Mommies.

Our friend Andrea (see the Run, Billy! Run post) came by this afternoon so I could go get a haircut. The haircut didn't happen (that's another story) but I did get to run some errands. Elliot had lots of fun playing with Andrea and was ready for bed by 7:30 PM sharp. Tomorrow we plan to meet up and catch up with Ada (Mommy) and Clare (baby) over lunch. Clare is two months older than Elliot and Ada affectionately calls my little man, "Little Elliot." Well Elliot is no longer little, in fact is as big as his friend Clare, thus the new nickname and title of this blog, Big E.

New Experiences

The Farnum family had another relaxing weekend. Brian played golf and I managed to get lots of yard work done. Elliot did his "Elliot thing" and spent a lot of time trying to crawl, rolling, chewing (on everything), coveting the remote control, and being silly. On Saturday he took a really late nap so we decided to take him out for Sushi. No, Elliot didn't get to eat any sushi. However, we will consider it his first sushi dining experience, as you can see in the photo he was not very thrilled with the concept.

Today Elliot accompanied me in the yard. While tackled the weeds that have taken over the flower beds, Elliot hung out in his pack-n-play (the latest in play pen technology). He seemed content for a little while, but after about 45 min. he'd had enough. I do think he enjoyed the sounds, smells, and sites of the outdoors. Maybe it will take a few tries before he get used to the play pen experience.



Mimsey and Granddad Cliff are coming over for dinner tonight. I know Elliot will be happy to see them. I think a family dinner will be a very nice way to end our weekend.

Run, Billy! Run!

Today Elliot, Brian and I went to watch our friend Billy compete in the Monument 10K Dash for the Cash. Billy was randomly selected to start the race at the half-way point. To win he had to beat the field (including the elite runners). We cheered Billy on as he made his way past mile marker 5. Billy did us proud and kept up a great pace... beating the "elites" by two minutes, and wining the Dash prize, $2,500! You can read all about the race and Billy here.

Elliot enjoyed watching the race and hanging out with Andrea and Brad, the other members Billy's fan club. We saw several other familiar faces in the race and enjoyed spending time outside. We headed home just as rain showers moved in. Hopefully things will clear up this afternoon, our friend Allie and her mom Audrey are coming over for a play date :)