One Year Already?

We've come a long way, from this . . .





. . . to this.

Here are some of Elliott's favorite activities as of late:

learning skee ball (and yes, by the way, he did celebrate his first birthday at Chuck E. Cheese's--where a kid can be a kid),

playing with animals,

or just acting like an animal,

eating anything with sugar,

destroying anything valuable,

chewing on his favorite toy (and yes, by the way, those are my actual car keys--not one of the several plastic sets that we have provided him),

posing like a supermodel,

practicing the piano (and yes, by the way, we are playing a Shostakovich duet),

and just plain having fun!

Our sweet, little baby is already one! All of the sleepless nights--many, many sleepless nights--are worth it every time Elliott flashes one of his smiles. Sometimes in the morning when I am exhausted from being up most of the night, I will lay on the floor of Elliott's room while he plays. He never fails to come up and lay his head on me and then come close to my face and smile. At that moment I do not care how tired I am anymore. I did not know it was possible for one little boy to make a person so happy. I am so thankful that I get to be Elliott's mom. I love you, Elliott!

Recap

Sorry it's been so long since we posted last. So much has happened--visits from family, graduation, moving, etc. But here is a good summary of what we've been up to:

Man of Many Talents

Lest any of you think that we have an untalented son, we wanted to share some of Elliott's latest tricks. Although he may look like a normal kid, little did you know that he can function as:

an escape artist . . .

a conga line dancer . . .

a motivational speaker . . .

a concert pianist . . .

a lion tamer . . .

a ham . . .

a best friend . . .

an identical twin . . .

an angel . . .

and, last but not least, a drama king . . .

No comment on where he got that last talent from!

Merry Christmas

Even apart from finals, the month of December was very exciting. It was our first time having a holiday alone as a family. Although we really missed spending time with our family, it was also nice to relax and start our own traditions. Elliott was just glad that he wasn't in the car for another road trip.

We got into the Christmas spirit soon after Thanksgiving. Even Elliott liked the decorations.



We also had a lot of fun. Some kind person was our Secret Santa and left twelve days of goodies on our doorstep. We made gingerbread houses with our friends, the Jesses. We made holiday caramel, fudge, bark, and cookies . . . all to give away, of course. We drove a half hour to see a famous house of Christmas lights . . . only to find out that the lights weren't there. By the time the big day arrived, do you think Elliott was excited? We'll let you judge for yourself:



We didn't think that Elliott would actually enjoy getting presents, but he was pretty into it. He helped unwrap several things (followed by the paper going straight to his mouth) and wanted to touch everything.



Basically, the kid was spoiled. He got pajamas from Grandma and Grandpa Nelson, an outfit and toy piano from Nana Kathy, stacking rings from Aunt Paige, an awesome tie from Aunt Krista, a personalized bib from Aunt Lauren, and too much more. Thank you so much to everyone! Do you think he liked his presents? We'll let you judge that for yourself, too:

We Are a Happy Family

It's amazing what you find the time to do when you should be studying for finals. Blogging is a good example. For those of you who have been waiting for more pictures, you can thank the upcoming exam schedule.

ANYWAY, things have been exciting at the Nelson home. We woke up one night to the sounds of Elliott gasping for breath. After several trips to a steamy bathroom and a visit to a pediatrician, he kept getting worse. We went to the emergency room and found out that he had croup. Why does our child love the hospital, you might ask? We have been wondering the same thing ourselves. Thankfully, Elliott is doing much better now--back to his normal smiling self.

We convinced our friends to take some pictures of us at the Duke Gardens (which, by the way, are absolutely beautiful). Elliott was not in the best mood, but here are the fruits of our labors:

(Don't you just love that picture? I think it is the cutest thing.)

Last, but not least, we just got back from a wonderful Thanksgiving trip to Georgia. It was a whirwind week, and Elliott was definitely sick of the car by the time we got home, but it was tons of fun. Elliott was spoiled all week with his aunts and grandma holding him, and it was great to spend time with family. Now we are back in the real world and preparing for a crazy month to wrap up the semester . . .

Cincinnati

Elliott: "Please, oh please let me go to Cincinnati!"


Parents: "Okay, you got it!" After an eight-hour car ride during which we constantly had our fingers crossed that Elliott would not wake up, we made it to good ol' Cincinnati. We took a trip to the world-famous Cincinnati Zoo, which was a lot of fun.


Obviously, Bridget and I have still not mastered the art of taking pictures of ourselves.


We went to an old friend's wedding, and it was fun to do some reminiscing. Elliott also had his first dose of cold weather; luckily, his mother was prepared.

As you can tell, Elliott had so much fun . . . he fell asleep.

It really was a great trip!

The Good--The Bad--The Ugly

THE UGLY

Elliott's twelve-day stay in the NICU was something of an adventure. This picture is an example of the tortures the nurses and doctors called "therapy." He was in a baby tanning bed for his jaundice, so he got to wear these cool goggles. Let's just say he wasn't too happy about it. Check out the milk mustache on this guy!

Here is the nice IV they decided to put in his head after both IVs in his hands stopped working. Pretty sure he has a good bald spot from the tape.

THE BAD

Kip and I call this face "the medicine face." Since we give him a yucky-tasting medicine four times a day, this is how he responds (in a slightly amusing manner):

Kip's sleeping situation in the hospital was also amusing, considering his bed was about two feet too short. Who designed this thing anyway?

The only comfort Elliott found was in these bean bags with monkeys on them.

THE GOOD

Finally, Elliott came home from the hospital on June 26th. He is still on medicine and a little oxygen. Since Elliott and I can't go out much, we stay home and play dress up. Don't you love this moose hat? Thanks Lillian!

Because Elliott doesn't like being in his bed very much, we have the opportunity to hold him . . . for many hours of the night.

Elliott was able to go to his first fireworks on July 3rd. He was so lucky to have aunts, uncles, nieces and nephews to visit! Thanks for the outfit, Paige!

We decided to do a blessing at home. My mom sent an outfit, and Elliott was lucky to have lots of visitors.