Move Over, John Hancock

We're proud to announce that Mr. Elliot McElroy wrote his name at school last week for the very first time ALL BY HIMSELF. His teacher wrote out his name on the paper, and he copied it underneath. What a superstar. Here's proof of Elliot's very accomplished John Hancock.

And while he's at it, he's giving Harry Potter a run for his money...

And to top it all off, little Miss Idgie enjoying a sunny afternoon on the swings.

Happy leap week!

Like Brother, Like Sister

Posting comparison photos of Elliot and Imogen at 4 months old was so much fun that I decided to post an update each month. But since I didn't post birth through 3 months, we have some catching up to do. So here we go!

First up, Elliot and Imogen at birth...

Now, in profile, at one month old...


Next up, at 2 months...

And now the siblings at 3 months old...

And a review of the two of them at 4 months old, both holding their toes...

And finally, here they are at 5 months old. Stay tuned for more comparison photos each month. We'll see if they can get any cuter!

Happy President's Day! We're about to head out into the unseasonable sunshine to play.

Martha Stewart, Eat Your Heart Out

Ok, my family is odd. The Valentine's Day tradition in our house when I was growing up was that each year my mom kicked us out of the kitchen, made a meatloaf shaped like a heart and surrounded by mashed potatoes, and left chocolates and a present at our places for dinner. We loved it. I found out this year that this somewhat peculiar but very fun and delicious tradition started with my grandmother when my mom was a kid! So here is my homage to the tradition, granted with turkey instead of beef. Martha Stewart, eat your heart out (pun intended)!

Even Elliot liked it, and that's saying quite a lot! Though he didn't like it as much as the heart-shaped cookies we had for dessert! Nona, Mr. Vic Victor, Vic's great nephew Travis, and Papa Pat all joined us for a Valentine's dinner. Here is Papa Pat modeling the hat that I knit for him (what a card!).

Nona came to dinner bearing gifts, including two fun balloons. Here are the kids enjoying much mylar merriment.



And in a post-Valentine's Day stupor, here is Elliot zoning out on Blue's Clues with his best pal Blue. You can see we're still getting plenty of use out of his Halloween chicken costume!

We hope everyone had a wonderful Valentine's Day! And thanks to Nana and Atman and the Klines for the cards you sent to the kids. Elliot is still having a great time playing Blue's Clues mail time with them, taking them in and out of the envelopes over and over. Big fun!

Safety First

Thomas likes to recount how I once commented, "What do people do when they're not you?". This was in regards to either a plumbing, electrical, or some other equally handy man project that he was in the middle of knocking out of the park. He's definitely a DIY guy. This weekend he took on our very scary railing project. To give you some idea of how bad this railing really was, the new railing is about a foot taller and the spindles are 4 inches apart instead of 6. Now Imogen can safely learn to crawl (so go, girl!). Here are before and after shots.


While Papa was spending the weekend on demo and construction, the kids and I enjoyed a rare, gorgeous February day. It was about 60 degrees and sunny here on Saturday - what a tease! February is our rainiest month, so there is definitely more to come before winter is over here. We took advantage of the unseasonal weather to play in the backyard. Imogen got her first taste of the swings, which put her to sleep in about 3 seconds flat.

Dixie, our one remaining chicken, also got in some quality free-range time.

And here we are at the end of a busy weekend. The girl is looking cute and smiley, and the boy is dressed up in Papa's Burning Man zebra ranger jacket, reciting Blues Clues.




Happy Valentine's week to everyone! Stay tuned for Valentine's Day and 5-month sibling comparison photos soon!

Rub-a-dub-dub

Elliot and Imogen have recently started taking baths together, and they just love it. Elliot is a very helpful big brother (when he's not dumping water on Imogen's head). Here they are in action.





Today we visited a Naturopath, Dr. Leigh Ann Chapman, to have Elliot tested for food allergies. It's something we've been wanting to do for quite awhile, as we've suspected dairy is problematic for him; and other foods may be, as well. We loved Leigh Ann, who was recommended by some of the other parents at Elliot's school. Elliot was a complete champ for the blood draw and seemed to like Leigh Ann, too. We'll have the results in a couple of weeks and will update everyone on our first foray into the world of biomedical treatment for autism.

This weekend we'll be replacing the ridiculously dangerous railing on our stairwell, so stay tuned for before and after pictures soon. Until then, here are the darling siblings.

We hope everyone has a great weekend!

Rapunzel Has Left the Building

It was the weekend of haircuts here at the McElroy household. First, Elliot was a champ and let Papa cut his hair in the bathtub Friday night. He was having so much fun that he ended up with his shortest haircut yet. Here are some before and after photos of Mr. Dapper himself.

I had the big chop on Saturday. It was time for a change, as my hair had reached near-Rapunzel proportions, and Imogen was pulling on it every chance she got. I also had enough hair cut off to donate to Locks of Love, so that was pretty cool. Here are my before and after shots.

And while we're on the subject of cuteness, here are my boys in their matching Carharts.

And I can't possibly post an entry without a picture of the girl. So here is Imogen, who has now found her toes.

In a weather update, Groundhog Day yesterday saw a snowy, slushy day here in Portland. I guess we're going to have to wait awhile still before we can jump on the trampoline again. Sigh!