dada is so strong too

This is the only hike the entire vacation that I was willing to wear a hat. Even then it was only because there were some big kids hiking near us and they were wearing hats and I wanted to be like them. As soon as they were out of sight the hat came off and mama had to carry it. But mama said I sure looked cute for the few minutes I wore it.

Love, Elijah

rocks

Here I am collecting some of my rocks during our hikes. Right after the picture by the arch I dropped one of these rocks and it went rolling away down the hill and was lost forever. I was very sad and needed lots of cuddles from dada to recover.

Love, Elijah

camping

rocks

Recently we went camping and went on lots of hikes. On every hike I picked some rocks to take with me. By the time we came home I had quite a collection. I found lots of different colored rocks...brown, white, yellow, green, red, and black. The other day we put all my rocks in the sink and washed them off. I had lots of fun swishing them around in the bubbles. Then I grabbed a cup and poured water over them. This was fun until mama discovered me pouring water over the counter and down onto the floor. Thus ended our rock-washing session.

Love, Elijah

so big, so strong

How big is Elijah? So big!!!



















How strong is Elijah? So strong!!!

two and a half

A few weeks ago I turned two and a half. To celebrate I got to ride the train with mama. Not the little train at the zoo but the big commuter train. We were going to go downtown and play in the fountain but it turned out to be way too cold and it even decided to snow. Instead we hung out in the bookstore and then we found a big empty building where I could push my stroller around. When it was time to go back to the train I had to push my stroller in the snow. I did not like this very much because it was very cold and wet and my feet got all soaked in the huge puddles. Later we made cupcakes with grandma and grandpa. I got to use as many sprinkles as I wanted and that was a whole lot.

Love, Elijah

tulips

easter

On Easter I got to go on an easter egg hunt in our backyard. We bought plastic eggs at the store but mama wouldn't let me play with them because she said we were going to hide them with jelly beans inside them and then I would get to find them. I could not remember what jelly beans were but I was very excited. I carried my basket all around the yard and found all the eggs. I would carefully open each egg, express my delight over what was inside and carefully dump the contents into my basket before heading off to find the next one. I was especially excited about the eggs that had chocolate inside because those trump jelly beans any day. I even got a special egg from grandma that had some new cars inside of it.

I'm not sure what Easter is all about but I'm sure it has something to do with church and chocolate.

Love, Elijah

so, so tired

There are some days that I absolutely can not be bothered to take a nap. It does not matter how tired I am, there is no way that I can take time out for a nap. It takes way too long and there are too many important things to do, like play with my toys.

Even if I am so, so tired that I have to hold my head up with my hands while I am playing and I can barely keep my eyes open.

Love, Elijah

the zoo

It has finally been warm enough to go to the zoo again. At the zoo there are many fun things like a train, a playground, a train, a fountain, a train, some animals, and a train. When mama tells me we are going to the zoo I make sure to remind her that we need to take my stroller because the zoo is like one big stroller racetrack. I can push my stroller all over the place and take a break every once in awhile to look at some animals. Then we ride the train, which is the whole reason I even go to the zoo at all. The train goes right next to the playground so if there was any chance I had forgotten about the playground I am sure to remember it after riding on the train.

Here I am waiting in line for the train. My job is to hold the tickets and give them to the nice lady who lets us on the train. I wait very patiently in line and then I sit very carefully once we are on the train so that I do not miss anything. I also take my cars to the zoo because there is a very nice fountain there that is just the right height for me to drive my cars on. Actually, I take my cars absolutely everywhere with me because you never know when you might come across the perfect place to drive them around.

Love, Elijah

moses & me

sticker fun

I love stickers. Yesterday I decided to put some all over my legs and it was lots of fun.

Here is a picture of me wearing this same firetruck shirt over a year ago. I have grown very much since then.

Love, Elijah

st. patrick's day

On St. Patrick's Day we went to a parade downtown. This meant we got to ride the train. Mama and Dada told me the night before that we would be riding the train the next day. I was very excited about this and remembered within seconds of waking up that morning. The day just got better and better because I got to wear my brand new green shirt and because we took my stroller with us. I spent much of the parade on Dada's shoulders. We saw horses and firetrucks and lots and lots of people wearing green. I also spent quite a bit of time pushing my stroller around because it is one of my favorite things to do. I was so tired from this that I fell asleep on the way home.

Love, Elijah

celery and ice cream

Last night we went to the grocery store and we bought many yummy things. The bestest thing we bought was ice cream and mama and dada bribed me into behaving by promising me I could have some when we got home. After we got home I sat the kitchen table and happily ate my ice cream straight out of the container while dada put groceries away. Then I saw mama fixing herself some celery and peanut butter. I am a big fan of celery and I knew I had to have some so I asked for some right away. Then I thought that if celery is good with peanut butter surely it must be good with ice cream too.

So I tried it.

And I was right. It was yummy.

(And you thought this would be about mama and her weird cravings.)

Love, Elijah

bowling

A couple of weeks ago I went bowling for the very first time. Bowling is an especially fun thing to do. First I got to wear special green and red shoes. It just so happened that the very smallest size shoes they had there were exactly the right size for me. Then they gave me my very own bowling ball and it was my very favorite color- blue. It only weighed five pounds so I could even carry it all by myself. Mama and Dada got special shoes to wear too and then Dada got a pink ball and Mama got an orange ball. All of the bowling balls there were very bright colors and it was fun to watch all the other bowlers send their bowling balls down the lane because I could point to them and tell everyone what color they were. When it was my turn to bowl, Dada would push a special slide into the lane. I would carry my ball from the ball return over to the slide and Dada would help me put it at the top. Then I would push it as hard as I could and the ball would roll down the slide and down the lane and knock some of the pins over. It was so much fun that I never wanted my turn to end. I can hardly wait to go bowling again.

(Mama forgot to take the camera so we don't have any pictures of my first time bowling but we are sure to go again one day.)

Love, Elijah