Holiday Wrap-Up Part II: The Midwest in Me

Elliott would like me to start the post with a photo of him with his Great Grandpa Manternach, who passed away on Saturday, January 21st.  His obituary can be found here.  Elliott is so happy he got to meet him, but sad that he won't get to know such a great man, and that we can't travel back to Iowa with Chris for his funeral this week.  He will be missed by so many!

Elliott met his great grandpa on his first tour of the Midwest while I was interviewing in Wisconsin, Iowa, Michigan, and Chicago.  Grandma Carren made him a hat and sweater to get him ready for the cold:

Elliott was ready for the snow, but the average temperature while we were in the Midwest was 50 degrees!  It did dip down to 30 one day and he got to show off his snow suit. 

Elliott was a super trooper on his first airport/airplane trip:

It was great to have Chris and Elliott accompany me on some of my interview trips, but I really think they were just there for the food. Once we arrived in the Midwest, they wasted no time in sampling the culinary delights the region has to offer: fried cheese curds in Wisconsin, deep dish pizza in Chicago, and pancakes everywhere!  Elliott also learned of the consequences of the Midwest diet, and had to go on a prune cleanse when we got home. :)

Mmmmm...Cheese.....

Excited for sweet potato pancakes at the Hamburg in Iowa City:

After all that cheesiness, we were able to enjoy Christmas.  The best present Chris and I received this year:

Santa tail. Tee hee:

Elliott was so excited about presents! 

 

Actually, I lied.  He really didn't care about much beyond the shiny paper and eating bows.

I was definitely more excited about presents than Elliott:

On Christmas Day we went to Elliott's great grandparent's house in Cascade, Iowa.  Elliott got to meet about a few dozen aunts, uncles, 2nd cousins, 3rd cousins, and 4th cousins (or whatever they're called).  He loved all the family attention.

Elliott was so excited to spend 3 weeks with his Grandma Kate:

The Manternachs do not appreciate being photographed. I snuck one of these during the gift exchange:

Then I got this response when I asked people to "smile".

Fortunately, Elliott loves being photographed (or he at least loves the I phone). Elliott enjoying the warm Iowa weather:

"Where's the snow???  I was promised snow. Whaaa..."

No snow? Oh well, the view is pretty good from up here anyway:

More photos of Elliott meeting family:
Great Grandma Manternach:

Great Grandma Jones:

And hanging out with Grandpa Jim (Jones):

As you can tell by the following photos, Elliott was also pretty excited to drive to Des Moines, Iowa and meet up with his parents' friend Tony, who is doing his EM Residency in Omaha.

We ended the trip in Chicago, where I was interviewing at Northwestern.  I loved the program, but I think that was influenced by the unseasonably warm weather (60 and sunny), and the free zoo!

Look Dad, meerkat:

He also loved the fish:

But wasn't as excited about the Lion:

He was back to smiling when he met the fake penguin.

 

To round out the post, Elliott having a bath Midwest style:

Holiday wrap-up, Part I

Although the last couple of months have been busy, Elliott and his family did find some time to party.  Elliott has enjoyed his first holiday season, and he managed to only gain 2 pounds!  

Not long after the excitement of Halloween wore off, we were lucky enough to celebrate Fauxgiving.  Nope, I didn't accidentally misspell Thanksgiving.  Fauxgiving is a gathering established by a group of our friends that involves renting a house together near Seattle for the weekend before Thanksgiving.  You know that tradition on Thanksgiving where people go around the table and say what they're thankful for?  Well, at Fauxgiving we just go around the table and say how delicious the food is.  No words of thanks are required.  We just eat, and eat, and eat.  

 

Fortunately, most components of the Thanksgiving feast are the perfect consistency for babies, so Elliott was able to enjoy his first meal.

Elliott scarfing Daddy's rolls:

I'm not actually shoving the roll in his mouth, but rather trying to prevent him from doing so:

Elliott and his friend Lisa.  They were both amazed by how much he can eat:

Elliott and Fiona:  Fiona looks adorable, but Elliott...not so much.
Perhaps he is experiencing his first food coma?

First SNOW!!!

After Fauxgiving, Elliott was bummed that he had to wait 3 more weeks for another party (mostly, he wanted more food). But it was worth it. In early December we traveled to Idaho to have a pre-Christmas celebration with my (Summer's) family.  Fortunately, road trips with Elliott have improved, and he does a lot more of this than he used to:

Here is Elliott dressed for the party:

This photo is here just because the expression makes me laugh:

Elliott was excited to see so many of his cousins there.
Cousin Kole:

 

Cousin Kori:

Cousin Levi:

Cousin Shayde in the cool R2D2 hat Grandma Carren made:

Cousin Dana giving Elliott some attention:

Grandpa Buddy made these awesome Gingerbread houses for all the kids to decorate:

The Decorating Squad:

 

Cousin Paige's Job:

Finished products:

At first, Elliott was disappointed that he couldn't take part in the good times (the eating of the candy and frosting, not the decorating part).  But then he found this gold ball to chew on. Problem solved. 

Before we went to Idaho, I told Elliott the story behind Christmas.  He was both excited and confused, responding, "what, I get presents from a fat guy in a red suit because a baby was born!?!?!?" 

 

Obviously, he doesn't quite understand.  I'll try to explain again next year, but for now I focused on the part of the story where good behavior (read: sleeping at night) = presents.  He responded with this expression:

He continued to be confused when meeting Santa in person:

 

Even when Santa gave him a present (toy monkey!), he was unmoved:

 In fact, highly suspicious, he tried to unmask the old man:

"pvwpwvpvw, there is no way that dude fits down a chimney Mom":

  

Before heading back to Seattle, Grandma Carren, AKA the Crochet Master, gave him his Christmas presents:

 

 

Coming soon, "Holiday wrap up, Part II: the midwest in me"