Zoo with Z's

It was quite a day at the zoo! Posing farm animals, roaring lion, climbing (and pooping!) orangutans, clinging baby gorilla, busy turtles (and lemurs?), munching pandas.

Cousin time and sleep time

Elliott and I met up with the Zirnheld clan and her friend D and D's daughters today on & around the Mall. I had to post that Elliott actually fell asleep at a restaurant. John met us there for dinner after our excursion and Elliott just tanked after eating. He transferred into the car and then into bed (even with a pants change). Never thought I'd see the day!

Turning Three!

Elliott had another great day. He and another student in his new little Spanish class both had birthdays, and it seemed like they had a great time. We opened presents from grandparents in the morning and afternoon -- it was puzzle mania! There will be lots of happy hours on the floor, I'm sure. We had a quiet lunch at home, then Elliott did some, ahem, painting, and K & J (and baby T) came over to play in the yard, in the house and then at the playground. Shortly after we got back, John arrived home and wanted to take advantage of the nice weather to go for a jog. So when a neighbor called to say her boys were at the playground and both asking for Elliott, back we went! That was nice. (She lent me the dress I wore to the inaugural ball and is pregnant with her third.) The pictures from later in the day should show that the magnolia in the front (north-facing yard) is still not quite blooming, but the pear trees are.

Earlier in the day I had confirmed that the violin player at the Afghan restaurant we've gone to once or twice (and had take-out from a few times) was, in fact, going to be there that night, so we went. That's where Elliott said he wanted to go for his birthday. The staff was delighted with him, and the musician just seemed so touched that Elliott was watching him so intently. He came over and gave us a copy of his CD. He played "Happy Birthday" on his violin, and out came a piece of baklava with a candle. John stealthily took a good part of the dough, but we let Elliott eat some, trying mostly to get him excited by the walnut and pistachio, but he was enjoying the crunchy part. Since he didn't ask, "can I eat this?" and just approached it happily, it felt like the right thing to just have him enjoy it. He liked it and said something to the effect of, "What is this kind of pie?"

We came home and while John was getting him out of the car, I ran in and I placed a rainbow silk (purchased a long time ago but never revealed) underneath the three little presents we had for him. They were wrapped in plain packing paper on which I'd painted with watercolor. It was cool to see his eyes get wide and hear him say, "Oooh, look at that!" about the simple things that came from us. I'm sure he would not have noticed if he didn't get any gifts from us; he seemed to enjoy the last two days quite a bit with all the friends and food and a few special things like balloons and hats (we were going to make them but I never made the time that it would have required to paint newspaper as I'd intended).

We then lit three candles in his birthday ring after he had a little snack. John got him into jammies and brushed his teeth, and then instead of books we looked at the pregnancy and early baby days album I put together. We talked about how much he'd grown up and how we'd been saying he'd be done nursing on his birthday, and I reminded him that he hadn't nursed all day yesterday or the day before. I cried a lot and told him in all sorts of ways how much I loved him and how happy I was to have him in my life. We hugged and smiled and had what I think will be our last nursing.

Almost three!

I don't feel like trying to get these photos in the exact right order, but here are a few of general life and a few of our little bday playdate today.

John and I had fun making the cake together. The decorating was done on the fly immediately before we sang "Happy Birthday." In case you can't tell, it's a train!

We've had some days of warm weather and some chill. Today was too cold to kick all the guests out into the yard, but it was sunny and warm enough at 1:00 for some chalk and play with the friend that stayed after the masses had left.

A glimpse of spring

Things are a little behind here in terms of blooming schedule, but we do have crocuses. Daffodils are almost blooming, and there are buds on the magnolia. We planted a few seeds but hope to make some strides on serious gardening this coming weekend if weather cooperates. Last weekend we had temps in the 70s but it's been chilly again the past two days.

Saturday included a trip to REI to get a helmet. We're sticking with just the tricycle for now. This little walk was Sunday morning before 9 am. It was so warm!

The snow before the sun and other adventures

Less than a week before the mercury hit 71, we got a lot of snow and made good use of the hill in our back yard.

Elliott was intrigued by the quail eggs last time we were at Whole Foods, so we bought four. He ate three of them, two in a row, asking for another. I like how they match his shirt and eyes.

After a very long time of sleeping on the floor, we finally got a bed frame for our king. When it was first delivered, one box was damaged. Elliott was very disappointed that we weren't able to put it together right away. A week later, the replacement arrived -- delivered by the same delivery person, whose name Elliott had wanted to know the first time around (he always wants to know everyone's name). He had a great time putting the bed together with John.