A Weekend Full of Fun

This weekend we have been running around like crazy going to various events and visiting with people. Some of you know our friend Charlie, his wedding was on Saturday and we had the pleasure of watching it. For those of you who were too far to make it, I thought you guys might enjoy experiencing some of the photos. It was a beautiful outdoor wedding with a nice sit-down reception. Some of the pictures may look a little hazy and that is because we are in the middle of the Northern California fires. The smoke had mostly cleared by the time the wedding began, but there are still some remnants. They were brave...Melissa and Charlie sang a duet and then Charlie surprised her with a love song. They didn't even cry (at least not during the music)! Mr. and Mrs. Charles Frederick Cazin IIThe First Dance Elijah has become fascinated with Grandpa's motorcycle. For the first weeks he was satisfied just watching Grandpa come and go, but soon he wanted to join in the fun. He finally got enough courage to go down the driveway on the bike with Grandpa and looks forward to Grandpa's return so they can sit on the bike together every evening.

Moon and Crack

There is something so innocent and adorable about little naked kids. Elijah loves to be naked, but rarely do we allow him to go outside and play in his birthday suit. Yesterday was a rare occassion. He wanted to get in the pool and rather than go through the entire episode of changing him I just stripped him down and let him play. He soon decided to get out and do some real naked play time in the dirt pile and on his bike. Before going back inside he got blasted by the hose to get dirt out of most every crevice.

It's just been too hot to make him wear clothes all day.

New Toys

This week has been filled with the adventure of making new friends. Elijah has had the opportunity of having two special little ones over to the house for playtime. The first was a 5-year old boy who brought him some 'new toys'. Elijah has enjoyed the variety and is learning how to play with other children (again). Today, we had a special little girl come over who is 1 1/2. He thoroughly enjoyed hugging her which usually ended up in a not-so-gentle tackle of her. They played in the pool, dumped water on each other, played with more toys and ate snack. It was an eventful day!
Like most children (of all ages) Elijah enjoys 'talking' on the phone, pushing the buttons and listening to the beeps, but it must be a real phone. The other day we were at Staples getting a few little things when we discovered the phone recycling bin on our way out. I felt a little silly asking, but I approached the manager and briefly explained my child and his fascination followed my the question. He kindly obliged to giving us a play phone. We searched the pile and found a phone that would charge on Grandma and Grandpa's charger and made our selection. Elijah enjoys his new phone daily and has discovered it plays music as well. It is quite humorous to watch him dance to the random tunes saved to the phone.
So, parents...keep a look out for ways to get free toys because they truly are easy to find, and often the children want the real thing anyway, not the toy version.

What Happened?

We often have to ask Elijah this question and sometimes get an answer that makes sense. Over the weekend Elijah was on a bike ride with Grandma and Grandpa in his trailer when he started crying intensely. They stopped to check on him only find he had a burn on the palm of his hand. After some proding and lots of questions we discovered that he had somehow reached outside the coverd trailer and touched the wheel. It left a burn on his palm and he popped it a couple of days later when he fell and put his hand down to catch himself. During the day he will often take a good look at his hand and say "touched it...the bike wheel...hurt". He is very aware of how it happened and that it hurt pretty bad. When you ask him if he supposed to touch the wheel he still says yes. That is a work in progress. This picture is for Daddy. Here's your growing family! We love you and miss you! Mommy is at 24 weeks and still expanding. Don't forget to check out the new videos of Elijah on the video bar to the right.

The Long-awaited Pictures

For those of you who have been requesting pregnancy pictures...here they are. I saw the OB this week and he gave me his scoop on twin pregnancy, said I was doing great, and would see me in two weeks. I will be seen every two weeks from here on out and will have an ultrasound every 4 weeks to check their progress. I just reached 23 weeks and have at least 13 more weeks to go. I'm already getting uncomfortable even though I may not look very big. They have reached my stomach and can only grow out now. I'll keep y'all updated.

Elijah is adjusting to life (as only a 2-year old can) with tantrums and defiance, but is enjoying life at Grandma and Grandpa's house. This week he had much-needed swim lessons. We took him in the pool for the first time since last summer at a hotel during our travels across the world and he cried for 20 minutes straight until we left. We were afraid how swim lessons would be, but he dove right in with all the other kids and loved it. At first we had to force him to get in the pool, and by the end we had to fight with him to get out. He learned some basic skills (blowing bubbles in the water, putting his head under, scooping (the child's version of a stroke), kicking and jumping in the pool). He's a champ. His favorite part of swim lessons was playing in the shallow end and going down the slide into the water. He did the 2-year old tantrum every time he had to leave. For all you parents who have this to look forward to my only warning is that tantrums in the water are not a lot of fun, but they soon learn that they will go under the water if they throw themselves down! Elijah loves his little pool at home too, especially sliding into the water. Grandma's Big Helper!