Friday, December 23, 2011

The Most Popular Baby on the Block

There probably is no need to state the obvious, but I will do so anyway.  We've been busy.  The busiest we've ever been.  
In the past 6 weeks, we were away from home for 3 weekends, Chris prepared and passed his General Exam, I worked 70-80 hours/week, Elliott started daycare, and I completed 3 residency interviews.  I'm happy to report we all survived and are now resting comfortably at Grandma Kate's in Iowa.  It is sooooooo nice to be on vacation.  I wanted to publish a post I made a while back, and then will hopefully get some new pictures on here for the holidays.

As most new parents quickly discover, having a baby is the key to becoming popular.  Are you lonely?  Do you wish people would visit you?  Would you like to get more use out of your air mattress?  If you answered "yes" to any of these questions, then you should have a baby.  They're pretty adorable, and not that much work, really.  In fact, I'll let you borrow mine for a couple of nights. :)

Anyhow, the point I'll eventually get to is that we have had no shortage of visitors since Elliott was born, and we are very grateful for them.  I love to watch my family and friends shower Elliott with praise and kisses.  Oh, and presents are nice too. :)

Here Chris is wearing a hat from my Mom (Grandma Carren), and Elliott is wearing a hat from Chris's Mom (Grandma Kate).  Doesn't he look happy.
Elliott got a little more excited about the train Grandma Kate brought him on her visit (with Great Aunt Nancy) in October.  He seems to love trains these days. Perhaps it's that they are easy to grab on to and push around.  They even inspire him to scoot across the floor at lightning speed!  Well, maybe just tortoise speed.... 
Elliott definitely thrives on more than presents during these visits.  He has gotten extremely social - laughing and chatting at everyone.  He will even stare at people and holler until they give him a smile. So, please keep visiting!  
Here is Elliott soaking up some attention from doting relatives:

Thanks everyone for giving Elliott so much love and affection!  We kind of like him too.   

Here are a couple recent (well, 6 weeks ago) shots to hold you over until the next posts.  If you find yourself thinking, "he looks kind of big for a 7 month old", you would be correct.  He's obviously thriving on all your love and attention.  At 22 pounds and 28 inches, he is 7 months, going on 12.