Parent Teacher Conference

This morning I attended my first parent teacher conference. Elliot has been going to a little pre-school in our neighborhood twice a week since September. Because Mariana usually takes him, I don't have much interaction with the teachers. It was nice to have a chance to site down and discuss Elliot's progress. Especially since his teacher, Mrs. M., had so many nice things to say about him. I plan to save all of Elliot's report cards, and I'll probably post them here - since this is basically our family scrapbook. That is until he gets a bad grade or begs me not to.

I am so proud of my boy! I was also happy to hear that he loves and excels at art. Mariana was shocked that his teacher wrote that he is an "awsome help at clean up". We may have to get some tips from Mrs. M. It has been so fun to watch Elliot grow and change over the last year. He has weathered all of the change in his life (new house, new baby, new school, new au pair) wonderfully and really is a "smart, caring, and confident" guy.

Long Weekend

The Farnums had a busy President's Day weekend. On Saturday we had friends over to meet Anja, Tasha's (Elliot's Godmother) new baby. Anja was born in November is ADORABLE. Elliot wanted to hold her and said "she needs to be on her tummy I can teach her to crawl." Elliot even snuck a little kiss. It was great to see Tasha and meet Anja.

On Sunday we decided to get out of the house and visit the American history museum. The museum is huge and we only saw a tiny part of it. We almost didn't see any of it because Elliot threw up while we were eating lunch. He rebounded almost immediately and we are pretty sure that some sour chocolate milk (purchased at the museum!) was to blame.

We spent most of our time in an area dedicated to American inventions and an exhibit about transportation sponsored by General Motors. There were a lot of interactive displays which was great for Elliot. Beatrice hung out in her Ergo Carrier and took it all in.

Elliot was little worried that the train would start moving.

 



Too busy snacking to see the sights.



The Cutest Valentines

Elliot made his own Valentines this year (with a little help from Mommy and Mariana). Of course I forgot to take a picture of them before sending them out. He used potato stamps to decorate pieces of paper that he stitched together with yarn to make little pockets to hold these pictures:

Tomorrow he'll exhange Valentines with all of his friends at pre-school, which I am sure will involve lots of sugar.

Junior Aviators

Elliot, Beatrice and Mariana met up with Gus, Elsa and Ricky (au pair) at the Air and Space Muesum last Friday. Gus's mom sent me this picture today. Can you tell they had fun?

Is it February Already ?!?

2011 is flying by and I can't believe I haven't  updated the blog since Christmas. Especially considering all of the fun we've had this year. In mid January Elliot, Brian and Beatrice took our first trip together to Colorado. We spent the first half of the trip with Grammy, Papa, Stacey, Joe, Webb, and Adelaide in Erie; and the second half of the trip in Beaver Creek skiing.

We had a very relaxing time in Erie. Elliot and Beatrice had fun exploring Grammy and Papa's house. Beatrice learned to pull up and cruise while we were there! Elliot quickly discovered the stash of Daddy and Stacey's old toys in the basement. His favorite was Daddy's play tool kit (with power drill). Elliot spent a lot of time "fixing" things while we were there. Beatrice spent most of her time terrorizing the twins. Although they are only a couple of months younger than her they are not mobile and she wanted to crawl all over them.

A trip to Erie would not be complete without a trip the fabulous Erie Rec Center and pool. Elliot and Beatrice had fun playing in kids area.

We were a little delayed heading to mountains the mountains due to heavy snow. Not great for driving, but wonderful for skiing. On the way Elliot mastered the phrase, "are we there yet?". There we got to spend time with Mimsey, Lindsay, John and Natalie. Natalie was a much better match for Beatrice and they had fun playing together.

While Mommy and Daddy skied, Elliot went to ski school. He was in the Mini-Mice group. Elliot LOVED his helmet and goggles and got lots of practice wearing them on and off the slopes. Mimsey and Lindsay watched Beatrice, which was quite the task as she had a little bit of separation anxiety. The next day Mommy, Mimsey, and Lindsay skied together. Daddy was on baby patrol and Elliot went to ski school.

On our last day in the mountains Mimsey, Daddy and Elliot went snow tubing. Elliot was a little scared, but when he saw that Mimsey could do it, he became brave. While everyone tubed Mommy, Beatrice, Lindsay, and Natalie did a little exploring and shopping.

We left the mountains in a snow storm and made it home without too much drama in later that same night. I can't believe we have already been home a month! Beatrice is now trying to stand on her own, eating finger foods, and starting to wave clap and point.

Christmas 2010

We stayed home for Christmas this year. It was hard not being with our families, but it was nice to be home for the holiday. We will make up for it when see all of the grandparents in Colorado next month.

Christmas this year was so much fun! Elliot was very excited about Santa and the prospect of new toys. On Christmas Eve Elliot, Beatrice and I (Mommy) when to the children's service at the church where Elliot goes to pre-school. It was a very nice service and both kids were VERY well behaved. Unfortunately, Elliot didn't like the music. He told me it was very sad, perhaps he would have liked more Joy to the World and less Silent Night. He was also disappointed that there was no cake. It was, after all, Jesus' birthday.

After church we had spaghetti for dinner. While Elliot was eating his dessert, I heard a thump in the fire place.

Me: (very serious) What was that? I think I heard something.
Elliot: (also very serious) Where?
Me: (trying not to laugh) In the fireplace.
Daddy: (also trying not to laugh) We should go look.
Elliot: (Screaming and running from the kitchen) SANTA'S HERE! SANTA'S HERE!

We found two packages in the fire place marked, "To: Elliot and Beatrice, From: Santa's Elves." The elves had delivered Christmas PJs. After baths and three Christmas books (Olive the Other Reindeer, Merry Christmas Curious George, & The Night Before Christmas), Elliot and Beatrice went to bed. I thought Elliot might be up all night, but he went right to bed when I told him Santa wouldn't come until he was asleep.

Everyone was up and ready to open presents by 7:30 AM. Elliot told me that he "heard Santa and the penguins." I am not sure when penguins became a part of the Santa mythology. Mariana was a trooper and joined us at 7:45 AM to open presents. Elliot loved passing out the presents and loved opening presents even more. He got more toys than he could possibly need, including a monster truck - per his letter to Santa.

At 2:30 PM Frank and three Brazilian girls visiting Mariana joined us for dinner. Brian made a feast of short ribs, gravy, risotto, french bread, and salad (made by me). By 5:30 PM we were all stuffed!

Of course I didn't take as many pictures as I should have, and it was very hard to get Elliot to stand still for more than a second.

Elliot showed Beatrice how to use her new little kitchen

Mariana helping assemble the Legos

Day after Christmas, Beatrice with two of her new toys

Scooter

She doesn't go great distances, but Beatrice has figured how to scoot. Her technique is sort of a modified commando crawl. She still prefers rolling from point A to B, but she'll use the scoot if she wants something in front of her, especially if that something is the remote control.