Harry turned 2 1/2 last week...now he is closer to being a 3 year old than a 2 year old.  Yikes!  The rate at which he is changing is simply staggering!  He is speaking in full sentences a lot of the time, can sing his ABC's (almost totally correctly), and can count to twenty.  He is still a little freak over numbers, letters, and Little People but is now starting to branch out a little into big trucks, airplane, and helicopters (heppacoppers).  The kid can hear and pick out a flying object in the sky like nobody's business!  While we, of course, have some behaviour issues with things like sharing, taking turns, not listening, disobeying and the like, he continues to be such a loving and sweet child.  And hilarious to boot!

We went to visit a preschool this morning for Harry.  He is getting to the point where I think he needs a little more structure and stimulation during the day.  And also, since he favors activities that are more educational we are thinking this would be a good time to make a transition.  While we love our current daycare provider, she obviously can't teach Harry things while taking care of a group of kids who are all different ages.  We love this particular preschool...but it is pretty pricey.  And with me cutting down to part-time here in a few months it will definitely put a strain on our already tight budget.  But I know if it's meant to be we can make it work!  He spent a little time in the classroom that he would be in while we took a tour.  When we were done, we got to peek in on him through the window without him knowing we were there and he was having the time of this life!  Kind of got us hook, line and sinker. 

Elliot is still his loving, super easy going self.  He is still worming along wherever he needs to go.  He is the best little eater, and I have yet to find something that he doesn't like to eat!  He can eat Puffs like a champ with no problem...never gagged on a single one!  He has started to babble a little with some dah dah dahs.  I think this latest round of teething has bothered him at night because he has been waking up a few times a week.  He has 5 teeth already...his top teeth are breaking through like gangbusters, poor little fella!!

Harry and I are currently fighting off a case of the crud...he has the nastiest sounding cough, but doesn't seem to be particularly bothered by it.  Hopefully we can avoid passing it on to Travis and Elliot!  Although, on this chilly, dreary, yucky day, I did get a small victory.  Both boys sleeping in their respective bed and crib at the same time.  Heck yeah!  As much as I dearly love those boys, it is nice to have a little time to myself!  And with that...Prince Harry has arisen.  Break time over!

Elliot starts the second half of his first year today...I really can't believe it!  He has obviously changed so much in his first six months, and it hit me yesterday when I was looking at Harry's pictures of him at 12 months that there is so much more to come in the next few months!  Soon he will be standing and perhaps taking a few steps.  It is so crazy to comprehend.  He already has 4 teeth (2 on top, 2 on bottom), and the thousand times a day he flashes his signature huge grin shows that he's working on getting quite a few more.  He continues to be just the happiest, easiest to get along with baby ever. 

Harry has evolved into quite the fashionista, in that he likes to be involved in the choice of shirt he wears everyday.  And man, he is picky!  We usually go through about nine different shirts before we get a smile and a "That one!".  I am trying to figure out a pattern.  He seems to prefer polo-style shirts, and if he does choose a t-shirt it almost always has stripes on it.  He cracks me up. 

Lately he has really been into playing in more of a make-believe style with his toys which is so cute to watch.  I hate to let him know that I'm watching because it usually makes him embarrassed.  He has also started to sing songs to himself which is also very charming.  His vocab continues to evolve so quickly and is becoming very adept at expressing his needs and wants....and demands.  Since Elliot is becoming more mobile and wants to check out what big brother is up to (and usually try to grab the toys that he's playing with), Harry has learned the unfortunate lesson of having to share your things and really doesn't care for it a lot of the time.  "No touch, Baby!  No, no touch!" is a favorite saying around here.  The funniest Harry story lately involves bedtime prayer Tuesday night.  I asked him if he was ready to pray and he said " I no pray!"  I told him sorry, but we had to pray, and while I was praying for us he kept talking, telling me no, and trying to cover my mouth.  When I was done, I told him that wasn't very nice, and that he needed to tell Jesus he was sorry.  "I sorry, Jeebus. "  What a priceless memory!   

Here are a few of the fantastic pictures we had taken on Saturday.  A family that lives in our neighborhood takes them as a hobby and they did such a great job.  They are moving to New Jersey this month and I am so sad...I would have bugged them all the time for pictures I'm sure! 

One happy, grateful family...even if the stock market is going down the tubes!!

Today we had finished up lunch and I was feeding Elliot to try to get him down for a nap.  Harry came over carrying a pair of his favorite shoes and said "My shoes!" and promply dropped them on Elliot's head.  He didn't even flinch so I don't think it hurt him, but it earned Harry an express ticket to time out.  While I was talking to him about how that was naughty, mean, and inappropriate, I asked him why he threw the shoes at his brother.  He said, "Because."  Oh lord.  I didn't even know that he knew that word much less how to use it.  In his defense, I really don't think that he hit the baby with his shoes on purpose, but I wanted to try to teach him to be more careful.  I had to hold back the laughter over his reasoning though!!

We spent half of last week and the weekend (just in time for the stock market to crash!) in Tennessee visiting Nana and Poppy and had a great, relaxing time.  The highlight of the trip was taking the boys to the Tennessee Aquarium.  Harry had a blast, and is still talking about the "--shbowl (the biggest fishbowls ever!), charks, seahorse, jewyfish, and goldsish" that he saw.  We gotta work on those f's and l's!  We had great weather and no traffic problems, all in all a great getaway.  Elliot didn't even cry once on the way down!  The ride home was a different story, but you can't expect perfection all of the time!

Poor Elliot is missing out on the fun of petting mini sharks and sting rays!

Elliot is doing great with eating baby food!  He absolutely loves it!  His menu includes: squash, sweet potatoes, peas, bananas, applesauce, and pears.  Tonight I think we'll add in another green veggie, so it looks like Elliot will be trying green beans tonight!  Yum yum!  We did have a strange scenario with him last week.  He had a busted blood vessel in both of his eyes in one week (on different days).  We think the first one was from a crying spell he had at Katrina's, so we didn't think much of it.  We couldn't explain the second one though, and that's when I got really worried.  I called the pediatrician, who said if it happened again bring him in, then I called my eye doctor who also basically said not to worry about it.  His eyes have been nice and white since then so hopefully it will just be one of those fluke things.

I Loooooove Food!

This weekend's activities include working for me (boo!) and having family pictures taken (yay!).  Keep your fingers crossed for us!