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.

Thank you, Britax!

Moms know that when daycare calls and tells you to come get your child because he is crying and cannot be consoled, your heart drops and "Get me to my baby!" mode kicks in. Luckily, Dave is near me at work and he comes to grab me on Beacon Hill. I make a 4:15 appointment at the doctor because we think it might be an ear infection.

Traffic is terrible and Dave will definitely never make it back to work. We get Eli at close to 4:00 and get on 128. We make it to Burlington and the traffic gets worse. The car in front of us comes to a stop. We come to a stop. The gentleman behind us looks down at his cell phone and doesn't even hit the brakes. The front of his car ends up under the back of our car and we are pushed into the car in front of us...

...and the worst is over. So, thank you, Britax.



P.S. Thank you Nissan Pathfinder. For all your faults, you did well today and here's hoping you pull through (don't listen to the rumors that I hope you are totaled so I can get a minivan). ***Update*** Check you out, NP! The damage came in at just over $8000 and you still pulled through - you are worth more than Momma thought! And we should add a thank you to Anchor Auto Body for getting you all fixed up in record time.

Thank you Shipyard Pumpkinhead for allowing Mommy to relax a little bit when we got home.

A future thank you to Advil may be forthcoming, but we will see how Mommy and Daddy feel tomorrow.

Oh, and Mom, you will be happy to know that I had nothing nice to say to the man who hit us because his cell phone call was more important than our safety, so I said absolutely nothing to him at all (the State Police presence may have also helped).

Burlington Truck Day

We thought with Eli's obsession with trucks, he would be ecstatic about Truck Day...not so much...

We started out on a bus. When we first put him in the seat (that he tried to climb into!), he cried. Then I sat with him and he was okay.



Next came the diggers, but he would walk around them and not really be too interested.



He never seemed very into whatever we were in...I think this was a crane. I don't remember him even touching a lever!



Well, at least we figured he would be tired. Look how tired he looks on the car ride home!



He gobbled up lunch, even telling me his milk was delicious! However, I am currently listening to him NOT napping. It started about an hour ago, when we could hear him babbling and jumping up and down in the crib. It has turned to whining now and I am wondering when I will have to go just give up on the nap!

Cape 2010

We headed down to the Cape house for a week and less than 24 hours after we arrived, our clumsy toddler already had his first injury. He fell on the pool deck, tripping over his own feet and landing right on his forehead. Daddy heard his head hit the ground from inside the house!



Luckily, no serious damage done, just a few scrapes on his forehead and nose. He injures himself easily, but heals quickly.

The Binettes came down with us for most of the week. They had caterpillars with them that were in their chrysalis stage. Of course, one hatched overnight, then another hatched while we were on the deck for 10 minutes. When we came home from the beach, the rest had emerged...we missed them all! Eli was obsessed with them, pointing at them every morning. I think we will be hatching some butterflies here at home soon!

Corinne and Andy came down for the night and we headed to South Beach in the morning to see if we could spot some sharks! No sharks, but Coe got a great picture of us:



However, there was a rare sighting on the Cape...Mommy in the pool! Not only was I in the water, I was in the deep end! Mommy and Eli splashed around as we worked on not letting my fear of the water rub off on Eli!



Next stop was Red River Beach. Eli had a blast in the sand and water. Mommy's water excursions did not extend to the ocean - calf deep is my limit and even that is pushing it!





Eli loved his red wagon (not as much as the digger). He loved to be raced around the beach in it. There were horseshoe crabs at the house when we got there and they were all over the beach. He was obsessed with them ("crabbie") but, when Jeff caught a real crab, Eli couldn't have been less interested.

Eli also had his first popsicle and LOVED it! I had to give him two!



We were sad to see Jeff, Joanna, Emily, Joel, Gracie, and the butterflies leave, but Grampy came down on Thursday and we got to spend some time with him. Eli and Daddy went swimming with Eli's new floaties, which he seems to love.



He saw me give Reggie a piece of ice from the cooler and he wanted one. It kept him busy for a while...I will have to remember this trick!



Of course, the highlight of Eli's week was when Heather, Jacob, and Jillian arrived. Our hesitant little waterbug couldn't get enough of swimming with his cousins and auntie!





We had a great time at the cape this year! Eli's biggest obsessions there this year were his digger and dump truck, the butterflies, and Emily and Gracie. I can't wait until next year!