January

Well, it is the end of Elliott's birthday month. haha Yes, I've been looking at this entire month as his birthday just because January '08 was the most eventful month of our lives. It has included so much reflection on my part and I am sure Kevin's. I think that's why I have had such an urge to touch base with so many people from "the old days." Could also be that I finally feel as though we as a family are thriving and have such a strong bond as McGlones. Strange, I don't know.... have a kid and tell me what you feel a year later haha

As for Elliott there's so much going on I'm not sure I will remember to post everything!

Elliott has been taking steps and officially walking (but only when it's convenient for him). 12 steps has been his most!! wooo hooo. He has also discovered that if you point at something Mommy or Daddy will bring you over to look at it. So he keeps his index finger constantly pointed and just thinks of things to point at as we walk around the house! He gets terribly excited when we bring him to the object because he has found a way to communicate with us (Hey Mom! I want to touch that there).

We are also working on transitioning to a sippy cup. Which he is doing very well with. He still gets 2 bottles usually. One with breakfast and one with dinner. He is now totally off "baby food" and eats big boy stuff. Which also means we have entered new territory which can cause some anxiety on my part (always worried if he's eating enough!) but I think Mommy has transitioned well. We are eating real oatmeal with some fruit (usually some organic frozen kind heated up with it), eggs, toast, raw fruit (can we say we love bananas), and basically anything mom and dad are having for dinner. I use an immersion blender to quickly dice up foods that may be to hard or big for him just yet (which I wish I had discovered this sooner!!! Would have been great to make baby food... oh and also to mix large batches of formula at once!!!!! Takes 2 seconds to make enough for the day!)

And we can't forget his cheese, wonder who he gets that from! For bath time now he sits in the bath tub totally on his own. Which, we used to take baths together because 1. I am a bath person and refuse showers if possible 2. I conserve water 3. It's just 100 times easier to toss him in there with me while I can hold him. But now I sit on the side lines watching him play and attempt to drink bath water. This was a huge milestone for me because I had grown accustomed to him being with me and looked forward to our time together. Now realizing that 2 people in a bath tub for this little explorer is just too cramped, he wants his own space to play with his toys. haha Which also means, Kevin can pitch in with bath time now! YES!

Elliott also had his first official play date yesterday!! We went over to Vivie's to play and give her Mommy some brownies for her birthday. Elliott was so tired he slept for 2 hours when we got home! They live right down the street and Hollis (the Mommy) is also a SAHM! Which, as you all know DHL no longer operates in the US (well, only shipments that are going internationally) and it took a little while but West did offer me Citi Bank. I work the Citi Homeowner Assistance Program line. Which has been really easy so far but breaks my heart hearing about people who can't make their mortgage payments this month. I feel really bad for them and I know firsthand how they are getting tossed around by Citi Bank because I really cant help them either, I just give them ANOTHER phone number to call. It's a shame because Citi really isn't offering any help, which I think is horribly immoral on their part considering they advertised this as HELP for people who can't make their payments. Yet they call the "help" line and I just offer another number to a totally different company to see if they even qualify for help. ugh makes me sick.


Elliott also got to see Ms. Kinley Mae on Monday at the Woodlands!! His Aunt Sara flew in from Chicago just to see him (ok maybe not... but that's what he thinks!) and Jen was there too! College roommate reunion! And not to mention the dish I got at TGIFridays was AMAZING! It was one that won on Ultimate Recipe Showdown (it was a shrimp dish, with cheese grits~!!). Then we went to the mall and hung out with his Aunt Val for a while and got mad at a stupid pretzel place worker for trying to charge me for some ice for Elliott's milk! Crazy people.

There's more to our adventures from this week, but Elliott has awoken and I assume is hungry for lunch! Yummy chicken pot roast from yesterday! It's soooo good