Love You, Daddy

Aaron and Elliot have a great relationship that is very well captured in this picture:

Both boys laughing and having a grand ol' time

Lately, their favorite game is "Hide and Go Seek." Elliot hasn't mastered the skill of hiding yet, so their version of it has Aaron sprinting from hiding place to hiding place. As soon as Elliot finds him, Aaron tickles him a little bit before sprinting to the next hiding spot (there are only 4 or so on the main floor). Elliot sprints after him laughing his head off. 

A few days ago after an evening full of Hide and Go Seek, Aaron put Elliot to sleep. As he was lowering him into his crib and telling him goodnight, Elliot looked up at him with his big blue eyes and said, "Love you, daddy." I have been trying unsuccessfully to get him to say that for a while now, and it was so sweet to have him tell it to his daddy so sincerely and spontaneously. Aaron wanted to write a little bit about it so he doesn't forget the experience, so here he is:

I wanted to write down how I felt when it happened, since it is the first time as a new father to have a child say, "I love you." First of all, the bigness and blueness of his eyes in that moment cannot be understated. He simply had the sweetest look on his face ever. His voice was an adorable little whisper too. I was also surprised because it was unprompted, and he hadn't successfully said anything like that before. When he said it, my heart simply melted. It made me think about how growing up, I had always looked forward to being a father. I had always thought it would be very rewarding and a lot of fun. I certainly had not anticipated it being this wonderful though. I absolutely love being a dad. I love pulling the car into the garage when getting home from work and seeing Elliot open the door and yell, "DADDY!" I love working out in the yard with Elliot following me around trying to find ways to help. I love chasing him around the house threatening to tickle him. I love seeing how excited he gets when I come and get him after his nap. I love reading him books, even though he would sit through 100 books, if I let him. I have come to find out that being a father increases your capacity to love. Before becoming a father, I could have never imagined loving this little boy as much as I do. It really is a wonderful thing.  

Legitimately Helpful

Elliot has reached a stage where he can be legitimately helpful. Child labor, commence!

We are both big fans of his new silverware duties

Putting those fine motor skills to good use!

Elliot also helps us out by putting things in the trash, cleaning up his toys (sometimes), and picking out all the socks while we fold laundry. 

Thanks, buster bubbs!

Blood Family Pictures

After much coordination and planning by the marvelous Megan Blood, we took some awesome family pictures at Wine Cellar Park in Dunbar, WV a few days after Christmas.

The Blood Family! Everyone except for Mary's kids and Jacob, who was on a mission. 

Now for awesomeness: Megan photo shopped in Mary's kids! How awesome is that!

Elliot as the focal point! He was quite the wiggler for the entire process. 

What Elliot wanted to be doing: dropping things down these tubes

And through this great grate

Blood Siblings with Mom & Dad (minus Jacob)

Grandkids with Grandma & Grandpa Blood (Everyone but Mary's kids)

This is the best picture ever of Mom & Dad Blood! I predict it will be the classic forevermore.

Gems, Minerals, Haircuts, etc

Last weekend we went to the Tucson Gem and Mineral Show. They had events all over town, but I picked the one that threw "and Fossils" onto the end of their tagline. I grew up fossil hunting with my dad and wanted to check it out. 

These trilobites are waaaay bigger then any that I have ever found!

There was tons of other stuff, like this taxidermy critter with a pile of skulls in the background

Bobbing turtle heads. These were captivating for a good long while. 

 

A few days later, I decided Elliot's hair was a bit out of control.

Bed Head

A good "before" picture

 I cut it much shorter than I meant too. I was heartbroken at first, but have come to like his little mohawk. 

Yes, the mohawk was not perfectly centered. Yes, it is always that way. No, it is not on purpose.
Any girls I have are doomed to have horrible hairstyles because the mohawk is already pushing my talent limits. 

 Now for the assorted random other cute pictures:

Elliot on the Big Boy Swing

Elliot after sampling my brownie batter

Elliot really nailing it at story time

Videos- Cruise & Elliot counting to 10 (mostly)

We are quite obsessed with this video lately. Our favorite part is when Elliot starts to say "five," but catches himself and turns it into a "fi-ooooour, yeah!"

And this is the video that Breezy made of our cruise from November. Tons of fun! The ending is my favorite.