Shane and I have taken today off to help Elliot celebrate his birthday...right now, they are all celebrating by taking a nap. Yup, the real go-getters!
We started the day off with presents. Elliot scored some great prizes and has had a great time playing with all of them - with a little help from his big brother!
Let's see, what can I tell you about Elliot? He is charismatic, affectionate and slightly obnoxious! We had been worried that Elliot would be the child that played with fire (literally) and had been concerned that he would get too close to the woodstove; however, thankfully, that has not really come to pass. Instead, he has shown great interest in the toilet. Yeah, you read that right. He likes to splash around in it and he likes to throw his toys in it. So, we have had to put a baby gate up to cover the bathroom door.
Elliot tends to be a little more socially outgoing than Hayden and he is much more willing to show PDAs. He is quite the giver of hugs and love bites. He definitely has less patience than Hayden and is not able to sit still...he prefers to eat on the go, thinks books require too much concentration and doesn't understand why one would want to push a train around on a track when demolishing the track is a lot more fun. He does not have a snuggly like Hayden has his blanket; but, he does have 7 pacifiers in his bed at any given time - which he systematically throws out from his bed when he is ready to get up. He gets upset when he wants to go to sleep and has no problems putting himself to sleep. He groans in his sleep while simultaneously rolling all over in his bed. He loves cheese and thinks bananas are tolerable. He chews on his left thumb when he is ready to go to sleep. He loves to pull things off of the shelves and out of draws. He has an amazing visual-spatial awareness. He smiles easily, giggles heartily and hugs willingly. He can sign 'baby' and occasionally 'more'...preferring, instead, a system of grunts and groans to communicate rather than using sign language. He watches his brother carefully and tries to interact with him the best way he knows how - taking his toys and pulling his hair. He is, quite simply, perfect.
Here he is pulling the beautiful ribbons and strings off of his presents:
Trying to find the edge of the paper so he can pull:
Testing the taste quality of the wrapping paper:
And deciding it is not up to par:
New chairs for the summertime from Aunty Brenda and Grandma Alene from the Farm Supply - thanks Ladies, they were a big, big hit!:
The Birthday Boy on his Birthday Throne:
Playing with the mail box:
Elliot feeding the frog with ping pong balls:
Playing 'Whack-A-Shark':
Trying to find the edge of the paper so he can pull:
Testing the taste quality of the wrapping paper:
And deciding it is not up to par:
New chairs for the summertime from Aunty Brenda and Grandma Alene from the Farm Supply - thanks Ladies, they were a big, big hit!:
The Birthday Boy on his Birthday Throne:
Playing with the mail box:
Elliot's crib from the doorway:
Hayden's bed from the door:
The bookcase next to Hayden's bed:
The corner towards Elliot's bed:
Elliot's bed - we need to get the fancy letters for Elliot so we can hang them on the wall above his bed:
The back garden - under the snow is our BBQ grill:
The shed / office / Nana's House:
Our table and chairs (yes, I promise they are under there somewhere!):
The back garden:
Hayden feeding Boone his daily dose of ball:
Elliot eating his daily dose of sand:
After going through all the 10-month pictures of Hayden, I noticed that Hayden did not have his top two teeth, like Elliot does already. Speaking of which, Elliot is already getting more top teeth! It was fun looking at all the ways they are different!
When everyone woke up and had eaten their lunches, we headed off to the park to burn off any excess energy. It is the first time that Elliot has been let down to crawl and play where he likes. He had a great time. Hayden actually went down the slide by himself and was very proud of himself. It was a nice hour that we got to spend as a family...something we rarely get to do these days. 
Elliot can now pull himself up (sometimes by use of his teeth - literally) and he loves being able to play with the toys that Hayden has been hiding from Elliot on his bed. Poor Hayden, no where is safe now.
Here are those teeth that help Elliot get up on his feet (!)...and the snot and drool that he wipes on Hayden's sheets on his way up:
