Mom: "What are you doing in there, Elliot?"
Elliot: "Drawing faces, mommy."

Simon - two months and a half

The boys

apologies

It would seem that the majority of the very adorable pictures I spent half-an-hour downloading, uploading and sideloading onto our humble blog have become invisible. I can only assume that the Blogger has deemed these photos to be too adorable and has launched some extensive investigation into their authenticity.

They were really nice pictures too. Simon, Elliot and Andrea all appeared prominently in the collection.

I'll try again in the near future.

Umm.. no thank you.

Us: "Elliot, time for your pajamas."
He: "Umm... no thank you."

Us: "Elliot, would you like a clean diaper?"
He: "Umm... no thank you."
Us: "Maybe we should explain. You see, we were just being polite. You really need to have a new diaper."
He: "I SAID NO THANKYOU!"

Apparently Elliot Murray believes that by adding an umm... at the beginning and a thankyou at the end of any defiance, it makes him seem thoughtful and considerate.

What he thinks we think:

"well... he has said no, but he put some thought into it first. And he was nice enough to say thankyou to us for offering him the opportunity for a new diaper and so perhaps we should listen to what he has to say."

What we really think:

"this isn't going to go very well."

Then I pick him up and take him to the clean diapers. This scene always reminds me of Return of the Jedi when Darth Vader picks up the Emperor because, as the Emperor continues tossing lightning bolts at his betrayer while air-lifted, Elliot continues to say "No Thankyou" over and over in a louder and more frustrated voice.

Simon is Chewbacca in this particular allusion.

Misty is a Jawa.

...

...

you are a power converter.

...

...

that is all.

Meltdowns

Elliot is two. This is becoming more apparent to me every day. He can become quite hostile at times and will sometimes completely ignore or defy his parents (of which I am one).
Still, he brings joy and amazement to our family each day too.
I'm just looking forward to his turning three (or thereabouts).

Elliot

He has made a song about himself. It goes like this:

"Elliot is a big boy, he is great."

No self-image deficiencies with this little gentleman.

Simon

Baby Simon Arie loves his bouncy chair. When he is sleepy he likes to bounce and vibrate in it. When he is awake he likes to play with the petals which make lights and music appear. He laughs and smiles while he plays.
He also loves to be on his tummy.
He also loves to be with him mommy.
Loves to have cream put on his bummy.

He is growing out of clothes, growing into others.

Last night he was babysat for the second time ever. Mom and Dad went to watch a high school production of The Crucible. Aunty Shelley and Aunty Michelle stayed at home with Elliot and Simon. They did well.

Hooray.

Elliot

We went back to skating today. Cloverdale Arena. 2:45pm. Almost didn't make it. But we did. Elliot was tired, so very tired. But he did great. Stood up on his skates by himself (though he was quite upset with me for letting go). Walked on his skates with me only holding one of his hands. He knocked over a collection of bowling pins which had been set up for him by his instructor.
Every Saturday is "Hockey Day in Canada" for Elliot now.

Elliot Murray: "what day is it today, daddy?"
David Stanley: "today is Saturday, elliot."
Elliot Murray: "Hockey Day in Canada?"
David Stanley: "Yeah, that is right. It is Hockey Day in Canada today."

Only a couple of lessons left now.
Great progress has been made.

from the shadows

silence

silence

and then I spring out at you

with news of our family

you were unexpecting

weren't you?

Our beautiful son, Simon

Randumm thawts:

1.) I followed Brent Ashton's hockey career pretty closely while I was growing up. Now his son, Carter, is turning heads. He'll be playing with the Lethbridge Hurricanes next season and I expect he'll make the NHL like his Dad did.

2.) Elliot was on the skating rink again today. Still in boots. He had fun, but decided he was done with five minutes left in our session. He was half way up the stairs to see Mom in the bleachers when I talked him back down. What convinced him to return to the ice was that he hadn't gotten a sticker from his instructor Treanna yet. Then he didn't want to get off the ice five minutes later until I told him we were going to Starbucks for treats. Then we didn't go to Starbucks but got slurpees instead. Then we went to WhiteSpot where Elliot gleefully ordered a Pirate Pak.

3.) We bought a twenty four piece puzzle for Elliot today which he has already mastered on his own. No help from any adults, he just figured it out by matching pictures and piece shapes together.

4.) Simon is turning out to be quite a bit different than Elliot was at his age. For instance, Simon does well with a soother, whereas Elliot never did. Also, Simon enjoys laying on his tummy whereas Elliot did not. Another difference is that Simon enjoys Latin music while Elliot appreciated Gangster Rap when he was five weeks old.

5.) Oh yeah, Simon turned five weeks old this past Friday.

6.) Grandma and Grandpa went home on Monday. Andrea has pretty much agreed to baby sit Tate three days a week starting at the end of February. I keep worrying about Andrea's sanity staying intact but I really shouldn't. She is the strongest person I have ever known and she has always done a great job with her kids, her juvenile husband and her diabetes.

7.) The other day I was trying to convince Elliot that my hand was his Popup because he wondered where his Popup was. I used my hand like a puppet and said in a low gruffy voice "I'm Popup!"
However, seeing as Elliot is awfully smart, he picked up on the fact that a)Neither of his grandfathers have hands for heads and b)Neither of his grandfathers have low gruffy voices. And so, accordingly, he figured me out.
"That's not Popup, daddy. That's your hand." I confessed that it was, in fact, my hand. Then I started tickling him with my hand and Elliot laughed (as is often the reaction to tickling) and said "No popup, no tickling!" to my hand... as if my hand were in fact Popup.

8.) Did you know we bought a van? Now we are all grown up.

9.) Whilst my dad was here visiting he did a lot of important tasks around the house, I made a long wish list of things I had been meaning to do and he did just about all of them. It was amazing. Meanwhile, my mom worked tirelessly to keep us fed and the house tidy as well as entertaining Elliot. It was a huge blessing. Also, my Uncle Brian came over quite a few times to help my Dad out with his list. What a great family I come from.

10.) Elliot's favourite:

DVD/Videos: Charlie Brown's Valentine, Toopy and Binoo, Baby Bach.
Books: Brady Brady's Most Important Hockey Game, The Sweater, Sweet Dreams Mimi.
TV Shows: Curious George, Zaboomafo, Hockey Night in Canada.
Songs to sing: Baa Baa Blacksheep, Joshua Giraffe, Ladybug's Picnic.
Uncles: Andrew, Clayton in China, Brian, Dave.

Six days after the fact

We had Simon's baptism last Sunday which was great because our good friends Paul and Hester were back from Holland and our good parents, Mom and Dad, were still here from Saskatoon.

Hester brought a delicious coffee cake for our post-baptismal bash. I don't know why I mention that other than the fact that it was really nice of her and it was really really good.

It was such a blessing to have so many friends and family there to celebrate with us and our church family was kind enough to agree to help us raise Simon to know and love God.

elliot's first time on a skating rink went really well. he fell down a few times, which is important so that he gets over any fear of the ice. he played some hockey, some bowling and hung out in what he named "the hockey house" which you can see in one of these pictures.

"Please sir... may I have some food sir?

"I don't see anything yet."

Elliot showing off his puzzle-solving skills on his new 12-piece Curious George puzzles from Grandma and Grandpa. He can solve all four with no help from any one else (not that I would be of any help anyways).

Grandpa and Simon

Elliot enjoying his most recent gifts from Uncle Andrew and Aunt Cara (who are currently buried under ten feet of snow in Saskatoon). Unfortunately his picture with Grandpa is blurred. Not sure what happened there. Sorry.

Two more of Elliot's Mr. Potato Heads. He seems to think Construction workers are angry people although he is well versed in Bob the Builder so I'm not sure where that stereotype came from.

Elliot received two sets of Mr. Potato Head for Christmas and it is a good thing too because both are in constant use in our household. Here are some of Elliot's creations so far.

These are Elliot's creations, he came up with these all on his own. He thought them up and put them together with no help.