Zoo Visit

Family Day at the Zoo sounded like the perfect birthday present to me! So Andrew and Elisha took me to the zoo and we got to see all the different types of animals.  I was slightly disappointed because the zoo closed at 4; which we were not expecting so when we arrived at 2 we were worried  we would not get to see everything but we did it all! Elisha loved seeing the animals- as long as they were big and moving.  He would look for the movement and he would then point them out and talk to them, it was adorable.  He also loved that the monkeys had a ball to play with.  The entire time we stood watching the monkeys he said "ball, ball, ball ..." It was a great birthday! 

My little man is a Gentoo Penguin!

Flamingo Birds!

Rhinos

My lion!

Elephants, they were nice and large so Elisha liked them! 

These were the largest animal and the closest to the gate so Elisha loved them the most!

Alligator!

Monkey Faces!

My Monkeys!

Elisha is eating his fingers like the monkey. 

Turtle fun!

Fun times with Daddy!

Birdy Birds!

We are Orioles nesting!

I do believe that a 27 year old should not be able to crawl into the turtle.
I'm pretty sure that was the last time it will happen.  

Talking

Besides Dada (which gets said all day long) and a very occasional Mama (Which I think still happens by accident- because when I ask him to say it he just smiles and laughs at me.) Elisha is beginning to talk and his first official word that was not a name was sit ... and let me tell you when he started saying it, it did not sound like sit ... it had an H in a not so good place .... Elisha was at my mom's house for the weekend with Andrew while I was in grad class and he was going around my mom's living room saying "s'h'it" over and over again.  That night when I saw the video and heard him say it for the first time I was absolutely mortified.  After a few days and with the help of Mrs. Beth we realized that he was saying "sit" and whenever he was saying the word he was either getting ready to sit down or was walking over to furniture  to tell someone else to sit.  

His first noun that was not a name was "ball" or in Elisha's world "ba" and everything that is round or sphere like is called a ba.  He loves to play with the ba and he says ba all day long.  

Through the summer we have also added the words "down" in conjunction with sit for "sit down".  His latest word is "up" and as soon as you open the door to get him out of the crib he very sternly says "up".  He has also said "Nana" and "Grandma" a few times while we have been on vacation with each of them.  He sure does love them!  I know the vocabulary will just keep expanding but it is so cool to watch him learn.  

On a side note he is also started to use his baby sign (which I have been showing him for months!).  But he has finally picked it up and he will sign more and milk! Next, we are going to work on cup, please, and thank you.  Again, I love to see his brain working!!   

Delaware Visit

We went to visit Great Poppy and Great Mommom early in the summer.  We had a blast!  Elisha loved exploring a new place and Mommom and Poppy could not believe how big he had gotten.  They had not seen him in a few months and they loved getting to play! 

He will find the rocking chair no matter where he is! 

Veggie Straws with Poppy!

Getting into trouble.

Mommom Playtime!

:-)

Playing with the boat!

This makes my heart smile!

Berries Round 1

We have gone berry picking three times this spring/summer.  The first was Memorial Day, and we kicked off summer with 23 pounds of strawberries!  We had lots of help this day, Grandma and Grandpa were in town and Aunt Heather and Uncle Drew both came up to visit.  Elisha was not sure about picking the strawberries or eating the strawberries but he tried.  Then hung out with Grandma and Grandpa.  

Strawberry Picking

Grandpa picked a bunch!

1 box almost full!

Picking with Grandma is way more fun then with Mommy.

Aunt Heather you're not suppose to pick the green ones.  Uncle Drew did it right!

Chilling with Grandpa while mommy and daddy picked more strawberries.

All 23 Pounds

I made a batch of jam with half the strawberries, a bunch were just consumed, and then we froze a ton to use in baking and smoothies.  

O's Game

Elisha has officially attended his first major league baseball game. Andrew enjoys sports but baseball is by far his favorite and he grew up going to O's games with his dad and brothers. He was very excited for Elisha to go to his first game. Andrew was very upset with me last year when I would not let him take a 2 week old to the ball game! Each year Andrew runs a fundraiser for LINC Baltimore through the Orioles, this year he got tickets to a May game and we enjoyed a family day at the Yard! Elisha did not really know what to think of all of it but he enjoyed being outside and sitting in the chair like a big boy! 

Camden Yards

My Big Boy Chair, with peanut butter crackers (instead of peanuts, we had to improvise).

Sunglasses

I'm a cool dude!

Family Day at the O's game!

I'm am positive Andrew would contest this statement.
NYC is the greatest city in the world in his book; but for this day we were a proud Baltimore family! Go O's!

Sheep and Wool ... aka Mommy weekend

This is Andrew's favorite weekend of the year! (cough, cough) Okay, it is one of my favorite weekends of the year.  It is a weekend full of sheep, knitting, spinning, time with my mom, time with my dad, yummy food, and fun crafty things.  Sheep and Wool festival is a national festival which is known around the states in the fiber arts/sheep community.  My dad shows sheep this weekend and my mom goes to the festival to see all of the spinning and knitting arts.  One of our favorite events to see is Sheep to Shawl where they shear the sheep at 8:00a.m., spin the fleece, and weave a shawl with a team of 6 people before 1:00 p.m.  

This year I especially enjoyed sharing it with Elisha.  Although he did not understand a lot of what was happening he really enjoyed seeing all of the sheep.  He would run right up to the pens to pet the animals.  There were many kids there who were much older that were very skittish and he would just jump right in!  

Mom, look in here!

Poppy, here is a sheep!

More Sheep!

Poppy's big sheep is getting sheared!

Fun with Nana!

Watching Nana spin!

Playing outside

Farm Visit

We went to visit Poppy in the spring to see the baby Pygmy goats.  I love getting to see the goats because they are like puppies and they jump all over you and come running over to play.  Elisha really enjoyed seeing the goats.  At first he was not sure what to do but he quickly figured it out and he loved playing with them!  

Oh there are lots of them!

Petting them!

Chicken Too!!

The lambs tongue feels funny!

The goat gets to play with a ball!!

Who will win?

Thanks for all the fun Poppy!