Introducing… Elliot and Winston!

Elliot went to his first football game last week. It was Logan’s high school homecoming. Elliot enjoyed all of the pageantry. He also like the Mellow Mushroom Pizza!

Saturday, Elliot got to go to his first someone else’s birthday party. The theme was Pirates and Princesses, so Logan and I dressed him accordingly. It was rather difficult to get him to keep the hat on his head.

Gingy and Grandpa came up that night in preparation for our trip to Washington D.C. Logan, Elliot, and I dressed up for dinner, thinking that we would be going to the Boo at the Zoo afterwards. Unfortunately, we missed the Boo (boohoo?) but we still enjoyed dinner at Calhoun’s.

The next morning, Gingy, Grandpa, Elliot, and I began our drive to D.C. Elliot handled the drive well, needing only a couple of comfort stops.

I had to go to a class all week, but Elliot enjoyed the sites of D.C. and the surrounding area with his grandparents.

On Monday, they went to Mt. Vernon, home of George Washington.

On Tuesday, they went to Alexandria. Elliot really liked the planes!

On Wednesday, they went to Fort Frederick, where Elliot saw a choo choo and a canon!

They also found a playground!

On Thursday, the government reopened, but Elliot and grandparents decided to stay in the Silver Spring area with mommy! They found a playground in the morning and I got to go eat lunch with them at a little deli! Then Elliot took a huge nap to make up for all the naps he missed this week.

On Friday, Elliot, Gingy, and Grandpa finally got to go see the monuments of D.C. Elliot begins with a sit in at the front of the White House.

His favorite part? The ducks!

And what trip to Washington would be complete without a stop at Ben and Jerry’s in the Old Post Office Building?

The day was made complete with a brief tour of the Natural History Museum.

Saturday morning, Gingy and Grandpa bravely took Elliot on his first flight back to Knoxville. I was glad that they could come with me to D.C. It was nice to be able to spend some quality time with the boy in the evenings and I know they enjoyed taking him to see all the sights during the day!

It has been on my to do list, but this month has been kind of a blur. I just finished two weeks of night float and then another week of evening shift in the ER. Time has been rather a precious commodity. We did manage to go to the zoo during the morning of my night off. Elliot liked the Lego room! They had a neat exhibit where you go into a netted room with over 300 budgies. They also had an Elliot sized nest!

Anyways, Logan and Elliot have been working on some things while I have been away. Yesterday, to my surprise, Elliot could actually put the pieces of his board puzzle back in the right spots with only a little help with positioning. He even said “Kitty!” when he was holding the cat piece. Also, although he still doesn’t like to nap or go to bed, I can’t really remember the last time he has woken up in the middle of the night. So that’s pretty awesome!

Yesterday, Logan got out Rockband and gave Elliot a mircophone, which he help in his mouth for the most part but occasionally he would sing along! It was adorable! Elliot also gave Logan a black eye, which isn’t really funny but it seems like a memory worth recording. On the other hand, Logan got Elliot some fun T-shirts!

Last weekend we went to my parent’s house for Marm’s birthday and to give me an opportunity to adjust my circadian rhythm.

Elliot helped Marm blow out her candles!

He also really enjoyed her birthday card from Betty Lynn which had a Hawaiian girl who actually spun in a grass shirt! Seriously, after swimming at Craig and Suzanne’s Saturday evening, Elliot and I came back and watched this girl in the card spin for like 15 minutes while he settled down for bed. It was pretty mesmerizing. And speaking of the pool, Elliot went off the diving board… well, more like was handed to me swimming with a floaty by Logan or Tom from the diving board. He thought it was pretty neat, shooting “Two go!” as he was handed off! He was also pretty impressed by Tom and Logan’s diving skills.

We stopped by to visit Nell and Mosley. Elliot and I played with the yard sticks. Daddy is so tall, it took two yard sticks to measure him!

We also played with a neat bell.

Then we made a stop at the Tullahoma caboose. Elliot was enthralled! We are going to have to book that boy a train ride someday soon!

Elliot got his seventh tooth today, which goes a long way to explain some fussiness over the past few days! He will let you say it if you smile really big at him and say “Cheese!”

Elliot has gotten to spend a lot of time with his Aunt Lisa and Cousins Hunter and Kyra recently.

(We are having a debate about whether or not his outfit is, in fact, pajamas.)

He got to go to field day last week,

Hunter’s award’s day Monday,

and to Kyra’s class party yesterday!

http://youtu.be/Tg86MowL0uA

Recently, Elliot likes Thomas the Tank Engine and Cars, the Pixar movie. He has switched from saying “Good” to “Go Go!” He will also say “Choo Choo!”

Here he is watching TV in his new nap mat!

Last Friday we surprised Gingy! Tom was going to meet her in Crossville, so Logan, Elliot, and I tagged along too! She was so excited! We all went to Cracker Barrel to eat and play around the gift shop.

On Saturday, Elliot, Logan, and I went out for Hibachi. Elliot tried sushi and, with his mommy holding his shoulder, he didn’t even cry when the chef made a big fire!

On Sunday we went to a cook-out at Logan’s parent’s house. Elliot’s Gam Gam and Slappy got him a new slide! So exciting! We are looking forward to staying at their new Camp Ground soon!

On Mother’s Day, we went to the Apple Barn restaurant with Logan’s family. Lisa took this picture of us eating some delicious apple pie ice cream! Yummy!

I got a bead on my bracelet for Elliot’s birthday (a dump truck, his favorite present) and Logan and I ordered a few more beads for holidays that we had missed (a tooth, for Christmas, and a stethoscope, for Valentine’s Day). I also had these made for me, Gam Gam, and Gingy.

My mother had silhouettes made of me and my brothers when we were babies. I contacted the same artist and she made his likeness from the above picture. Outstanding!