I feel kind of bad about this one. I caught a big ol' grasshopper in the back yard and put it on Elliot's leg to see how he would react. The grasshopper must have been already injured or old or something, because Elliot managed to pick it up and proceeded to throw repeatedly on the ground.
Checking out his bug
His standard "look at this mom" pose
He was in his serious mode that he goes into when checking out something new
Let's just say that the grasshopper wasn't in great shape when I eventually took it away from Elliot. I don't think he realized it was alive.
When not playing in the gravel, Elliot likes to push around his lion thing that mysteriously stops and starts making sounds. We thought the battery was long dead, but it somehow started working again for one day, then died again. Weird.
Elliot with his lion walker
Cracking up because it was playing music when he pushed the nose
This one has been our favorite lately. We frequently watch it before going to bed at night.
He just says it so cute! I love how his lips purse out.
This is very typical of Elliot lately. His favorite thing has shifted from 'cords, especially ones plugged into outlets' to 'buttons of all varieties, but especially the power strip off button that makes mom reset the clock on her nightstand.' He frequents this room to turn the monitor off and on.
Here's some typical playing and chatting in his bedroom:
I found this curtain rod box when cleaning out a closet. It has become one of Elliot's favorite toys. It is usually propped up on the bookshelf so that he can drop cars and other small objects down the slide.
Our Stake Activity this weekend had a petting zoo! Honestly, Aaron and I were more excited about seeing Elliot interact with the animals than Elliot turned out to be. We were surprised because he really likes petting our friends' dogs.
He did not appreciate being shoved towards a goat
Hand curled to avoid contact
Checking out a nice sheep
Being intimidated by another goat
Elliot quickly decided that the hay was way more interesting and fun to play with than the animals
He made an exception for the tortoise that all but crawled into him. He gave the tortoise a few pats.
Facing down a pig
He got a bath after because his whole body smelled like hay
We went on a little hike with our buddies the Hays today. Per usual, we let Lakin take all the great pictures and mooched afterwards. Lakin's other tasks included carrying around Alice and being 9 months pregnant.
It was a nice day- not too hot yet. We tore it up at a break-neck 1 mph speed with several stops for water and recovering dropped fruit snacks (always tragic).
We borrowed the Hay's awesome baby backpack. He was pretty content up there and kept singing to himself.
Checking the directions
Keeping our little desert explorer hydrated
I look get to look hardcore because we didn't take any pictures of the half where Aaron was carrying Elliot
Elliot has been developing all sorts of new skills and abilities lately.
Flying (He looks terrified in the picture, but he was laughing gregariously after) (This might be more of an Aaron skill than an Elliot skill)
Clapping ("Hey girl, nice clapping")
Drinking water from a sippy cup all by himself (Finally!)
Knowing where his ears are (also tongue and maybe toes. We're working on the rest.)
Eating Spaghetti
Crawling through tunnels at the park (Love that staticy hair!)
Climbing all over the place (into cabinets and drawers, up stairs, etc)
Playing with cars and other kids
~~~~~And now for the video section!~~~~~
Playing with a whoopie cushion
Sprint crawling to all his favorite places. Seriously, this kid is FAST.
He always reacts immediately to all openings of the door, fridge, or dish washer.
Slides! He has come a long way in the week since this video was taken. He now goes down feet first by himself fairly reliably, and goes down bigger slides at the park.
Every Monday and every other Friday (I usually hang out with Aaron on his off Fridays), I go and play volleyball at the church. It is great fun.
There is usually a pack or two of too-young-for-school kids roaming around on the stage. Elliot is not yet trusted to not crawl off the stage, so he gets to hang out in Baby Castle. I make a semi circle of chairs next to the wall, steal some toys from the nursery, and stick him in it. He loves it. Bigger kids will sometimes break in to play with him.
