'Twas the day after Christmas...

...and what should appear,
but a blizzard, of course,
the last and most snow of the year!

The Blizzard of 2010 dropped about 18 inches of snow on us! Eli and Mommy decided to brave the elements with Reggie for some fun outside.

It took about 30 minutes to get Eli up and dressed...



...and about 10 minutes outside for him to declare it too windy. The snow was very light and was not good snowman-making snow either...Eli really wanted a Frosty.



After all the hard work of getting dressed and being run around the back yard in Mama's arms while yelling at Reggie to chase a non-existent squirrel (he's not the brightest dog and I was trying to trick him into running around because Eli thought it was hysterical), the boys were exhausted and lay on the floor to watch Finding Nemo, Eli's newest obsession.



Poor Reggie did have a tough day. He is so scared of snowblowers, he broke through the baby gate twice and drooled all over the place - I needed three towels to dry the floors. Eli, in a moment of caring, went over and hugged our shivering pooch, telling him it was okay. He then ran away from him laughing. Poor Reggie...

Merry Christmas, 2010!

It was a very Merry Christmas this year, particularly because it did not end at Mass General Hospital's Emergency Room!

Eli was spoiled by Santa (and Mama and Dada).






He gpot everything his little heart desired and his favorite toy is the $7 Thomas the Train I got him as a stocking stuffer...at least it is not a box!

He helped Daddy open his presents.



After presents, we went to Auntie Heather and Uncle Joe's house for Christmas morning with the rest of the family. After a nap, we got dressed and headed back for dinner. It was a great day.

Let the holidays begin!

It was a busy holiday weekend! On Saturday, we put up our tree. Eli "helped" Daddy.



He was obsessed with the star.



Eli even put up the first ornament, with the help of Mamma and Mamma Meow.



Now, if the tree is not lit, Eli runs over to it and says, "Light it, Mamma!"



Thankfully, Reggie seems to have lost his taste for wooden ornaments. Or he already ate all the tasty ones...

On Sunday, it was off to Baba and Zayda's house for Chanukkah. Eli was so spoiled. He got Follow Me Thomas, which he is currently afraid of if it is turned on. He was so cute. He kept pushing the button, then jumping into my arms when Thomas moved!

He was very impatient for Zayda to open Thomas. Zayda had a lot of trouble - toys are so hard to open now!



He loved his trucks from Uncle Josh, too.




The holidays have begun! Now, only three more weeks of parties, presents, and eating way too much!

Zoolights 2010!

We got to go to Zoolights with the Ferrara family again this year. We caught a glimpse of the otter and got to see the barn owl up close, but no other animals were around outside...it was quite chilly!



The night did not start with much promise. We walked into Zoolights and the lights went out! We went to go check out some of the animals and by the time we walked around, they were back.

Eli got to go on the carousel twice - once with Momma and once with Daddy. He did not enjoy it the second time around, but I think he was exhausted at that point.





We love this tradition and can't wait to do it again with Mike, Sandy, and Sophia!



Today was also Eli's two year check-up. Our baby once again got a bill of perfect health and we couldn't be more grateful! He weighs 31 pounds (83 percentile) and is 34.5 inches tall (52 percentile).

Happy Birthday, Eli!!!!

Our baby is two! How is this possible? Despite all evidence to the contrary, I will continue to call him a baby, refusing to utter the word "toddler" in reference to my child.

We celebrated on three days! First, a little kids' party at The Little Gym. So many of our close family friends were there: the Ferraras, Bernsteins, Binettes, Rossis, MacLeods, John, and Darcy. And of course, family came, too: Auntie Heather brought Jacob and Jillian and Baba, Zada, and Uncle Josh all joined in the fun!

Sophia was on the hunt, tracking Eli and expertly taking him down.



Hula hooping!



A glimpse of the happy hullabaloo...



We love our little BABY!



Thank you everyone for sharing in the celebration and all Eli's presents. This boy is spoiled!

The next celebration was on Thanksgiving! We had Grampy, Grandma, Uncle Joe, Auntie Heather, Jacob, and Jillian over for turkey dinner and all the fixings...mmmmm... Eli did not eat a single bite of the meal, instead having raisins and a cheesestick. Oh well, Eli, more of Grampy's sweet potatoes for Mama (who is now referred to as Mom...how did that happen???????).

Baba, Zada, Uncle Josh, and Stephanie joined us for dessert and presents.

Oddly on Turkey Day, there were several hams in attendance...



"Look at that mess." That is a direct quote from the birthday boy upon looking at what he had done to his piece of cake with ice cream.



On his actual birthday today, Mama and Daddy spent a quiet day with our boy. He is so happy, so smart, and so perfect! He is already counting and saying the alphabet, although it is just memorized, not actual comprehension...still! We can't believe how fast he is growing and changing. We love you so much!

Our little BABY is nowfast asleep with his favorite person in the world...Handy Manny. I wonder who it will be next year...

Halloween 2010

It was another busy Halloween for the Scotts! We started the afternoon at a party at Mike, Sandy, and Sophia's house.

MMMM....cookie!



Then, we visited Grampy! Here comes the dragon!



He was so obsessed by playing with the toy bus at Grampy's house that trying to get another cute picture of the Scott men (like I did last year) would have probably been easier with a real dragon.



Luckily, a ninja and Dorothy (a.k.a. Jacob and Jillian) showed up and we got ready for Eli's first official trick-or-treat. How adorable is Jillian as Dorothy?!?!!?!



First stop was the Burgio's house. He called Mrs. Burgio Grandma (luckily, she was an older woman and seemed to think it was cute, not offensive). He also later called another older man Grampy (who also thought it was cute) and an Italian man Gino (who thankfully didn't hear him)...a mildly disturbing trend.



A quick stop by Grandma's and we were off to trick-or-treat with Jacob and Jillian. Our little dragon was great. He said "trick-or-treat" and "thank you" and put all the candy in his bag.

He started to breathe fire after a few houses, so we packed up our tired dragon and got him home for a late dinner and bath! But, not before a cute picture with his cousins. He posed perfectly for Bridget, and then became obsessed with the candy in his pumpkin and could not be bothered to look up!



We can't wait to see what next year will bring. He is only almost two, so there is no way he could understand we don't do this every night. I am thinking a warning is in order for Gino that Eli might wander over with a bag expecting gifts for a smile and "trick-or-treat!"

Only one month to go...

...until we have a 2 year old! Eli is 23 months old today - and I bet this is the last time I count his age in months! I can't believe how fast it flies.



As I write this, Daddy is trying to put Eli to bed in an effort to break his "all Momma, only Momma, all the time" regime. I asked Daddy to try to keep to the routine of books we read and he did not feel this was important. I am going to be really upset if I am posting an update at 3AM!

Eli had me up at 2:30 this morning and he is completely unwilling to let Daddy calm him down, which makes for a very tired Momma. It has to stop! I don't know what has changed, but I do know I am not very good on only a little sleep. And the only time I can handle the "cry it out" attempt is when I am exhausted and at the end of my rope...so far, the score is Eli-1, Momma-0. That kid has stamina!

Bears, Birthdays, and Buses

Eli and Mommy had a busy weekend last week. First, on a cold and windy Friday, we decided to brave the weather and head to the zoo. It was actually great! We were the only ones there. The yak and the crane spoke (or snorted and chirped) and we FINALLY saw the coyotes (we had only thought there was one), but I was sad the snow leopard was temporarily off exhibit - we ran into one of the curators on one of our trips and he explained that she is 16 and their life expectancies are only 15-20 years. We hope she is okay!

We did get to see the bear and cougar up close.





On Sunday, we went to Nicholas's birthday party at the Kids Klubhouse. It was fun, but Eli is still small for some of the things there. He loved the bus in the toddler room, especially when Sophia came in to play



There were these cars you could ride around a track. He loved it. Mike got pure enjoyment out of the fact that my little boy only wanted the pink car! It was actually a blast to ride around on this with him - I was the power and he was the steering. He did pretty well, too! We didn't hit anyone or anything!



He also loved climbing around in the pirate ship.



He was tired on the way home...it is tough to run around and play, eat cake, and have fun! He wasn't too tired to play with his balloon in the backseat. He liked to look through it and razz it.



We ended the day with a trip to the playground after the Pats game (of which I saw very little - I was scrubbing the kitchen floor while Daddy and Eli bonded during football time...I think I got the better deal!).

He loves to play on the bouncy bus, especially when there are older kids there to bounce him around even harder.



Coming down the slide, Momma!



He tries the monkey bars, but isn't quite there yet...unless he has a little help.





Our little boy is just the cutest! He is so sweet (even though he hasn't been sleeping much lately). I can't believe how fast he is growing. Every day I feel he can say and do more. He can name all his favorite books when I hold them up and he uses sentences. Tonight he kept telling me that the police were at the door with Daddy (not sure why he makes that association!) and he kept telling me he saw a ghost. Uh oh! He sees dead people!

Off to the zoo!

The Franklin Park Zoo, that is. Ok, Mommy might have the Stone Zoo down, but the Franklin Park Zoo is HUGE compared to Stone! I don't think we saw 1/4 of it, but we only had about 2 hours...

Eli's cousins were with us for the weekend, so off we went to the Franklin Park Zoo! First, we saw the zebras and some wildebeests. The zebra on the left is a baby...awww!



Next, it was lions and tigers (no bears, oh my!).





So, the lion didn't have us shaking in our boots, but the tiger was pacing back and forth and looking us up and down. It was like he was trying to figure out who would make the best meal...

Next, we figured out that Dave and Jillian together are about the height of a bongo, Jacob is about the height of a gorilla, and Eli plus his stroller are roughly the size of a pygmy hippo. Momma decided she did not want to be compared to any animals, fearing the inevitable "Those jeans makes you look like a (insert animal here)" comments from Daddy.



Next were the gorillas. We found one that seemed to be comfortable with having its picture taken. There were some less than appetizing remnants on some of the windows, if you catch my drift...



Eli couldn't believe how much bigger the zoo was and how many different animals we saw!



That boy does love his cousins...I think they had a good time.



We ended the day with a group shot.



The sweetest story of the day came when we saw our last animal, the leopard. It was a beautiful animal, but like the tiger, it looked hungry. It was pacing and I swear, it was sizing up Eli as the weak one in the herd. When I said that out loud, Jillian instantly stepped in front of Eli. She said something quietly about not letting it get Eli, but she didn't make a big deal of it. It was the sweetest thing! Jacob, ever the practical one, couldn't understand why she would do that because the leopard would bite her instead.