Elliot Self Bathing

We had a Bible Study cookout Thursday at our house (despite gale force winds...no exaggeration...we ate inside for the sake of our hair...welcome to Texas). :) Anyway, in preparation for the cookout, I had some extensive cleaning to do in my kitchen (as a result of some extensive cooking...strawberry pie, chocolate cream pie, homemade mint chip ice cream, and homemade vanilla frozen yogurt...yummy). Back on track, when I have extensive cleaning to do, I give Elliot a little more freedom to explore than I usually do so that I can accomplish the tasks I need to in a reasonable amount of time. Well, Wednesday was no exception, while I was cleaning the kitchen, he decided to bathe himself in the kitchen sink. Here's his mischievous grin celebrating my acceptance of his exploration or just the pride of it all together (zoom in on the leg...those are genuine blue dish soap "bubbies"...aka "bubbles" or "lather").

Here he is having his foot soak and deciding which kitchen brush will best exfoliate the dead skin cells off of his feet (his daddy would not be overly impressed with the male foot primping but would be proud that he decided to get the toddler stink off of his feet). :)

Rinsing, blessed, rinsing. Elliot loves to rinse and rinse and rinse and rinse. Water is fun.

Elliot's independence is bitter-sweet. It saves time sometimes and takes more time others. The self bathing episode fell into the latter category. I just couldn't handle the smell of a dish soap laden toddler (especially on his head...which smells like J&J baby soap for about an hour after a real bath and then quickly returns to the "wet puppy" toddler boy smell thereafter...I've heard this is not so with baby girls...sigh), so, anyway, we had to give him a "real" bath after his self bath to return things to a predictable scent at least.

Anyway, the post wouldn't be complete without a picture of sweet baby Will doing what he does best...

Oh, and one day left to vote...don't be afraid to vote for Jeff...he would like to make the point that his birdhouse is more "artistic" because he painted birds on it...your call...let us know what you think...

We need your vote!

If you read the last post, you know that Elliot and his Grandpa Lewis created a few pieces of art (a birdhouse and a butterfly house to be specific) in the workshop while we were in Ohio. After Elliot built the birdhouse, Jeff mentioned that he made a birdhouse for 4-H when he was in school. Though I had never seen his birdhouse, I assured him that the one I made when I was a kid AND Elliot's were better; he disagreed quite decidedly. So, we need your vote. We want to know which birdhouse you like better (and since I think Elliot's is better than mine...you'll just be voting on Elliot's and Jeff's...let us know what you think!).

Elliot's birdhouse:

Jeff's birdhouse:

Fun Times with Friends and Family

We've spent the past few weeks visiting friends and family in Ohio...AND celebrating Elliot's second birthday. We had SO much fun...here are a few pictures highlighting our trip.

Elliot had a few new experiences while we were in Ohio. He took a bath in Grandma and Grandpa Lewis' whirlpool tub, which makes HUGE "bubbies" (bubbles) when you turn the jets on!

He also got to ride an ATV for the first time (I'm not sure who's having more fun here, Elliot or his daddy). VROOM, VROOM, boys!

Elliot also visited a farm for the first time. In this picture, he's pointing to a HUGE cow for Uncle Super Heath.

Last, but certainly not least, Elliot got to use REAL power tools in Grandpa's workshop. They even made a few REAL projects for Grandma's flower garden...a birdhouse and a butterfly house.

We took Will, too; in this picture, he's enamoring Great Grandma Raymond.

Meanwhile, Elliot got tickles from Papaw Raymond.

And, of course, there were TWO birthday parties for our little TWO year old (one with my family and one with Jeff's). Here are the classics...Elliot eating his cake whole and tearing into his presents very meticulously.


That's all for now...stay tuned for the next post describing on our family's most recent great debate...