The Peoria Crew
From Left: Ryan and Beth, Renee, Eliot and Andy, Shelley, Elsa, Nolan, Carey, Jon, Kristin, and Darren. (Ian is hiding behind Shelly) - Note..Eliot is entranced by the ceiling fan. He just loves them.




Ian and Eliot hanging out. (friends only - no brokeback mountain stuff here)



Jon and Andy hanging out. (friends only - no brokeback mountain stuff here)















Ian and Beth...sharing a moment

Pictures from Germany
Roman and I enjoying the great weather in a cafe in Rudesheim on the Rhine River












Magnificent view from atop the watchtower in Burg Lichtenberg, overlooking the town of Kusel

Guess who got a new camera lens?
Eliot was almost as excited as I was.

March Madness

Eliot has
DUKE
taking it all in his NCAA pool!
Such a good mama's boy!

Eliot and Alexander
Alexander (of Amy and Derrick fame) came over to play on Sunday night. He was great with Eli. He held his hand throughout the night.

Swim Lessons

Eliot started his swimming lessons last Saturday.









Flying through the water.

Crib Time
It may be almost time to lower his mattress a level or two.

Bath Time
Guess who got a new bathtub? Still a little embarrasing though.

Game Time
Eliot rooting on his favorite team, the Fighting Illini, to victory over Iowa this weekend.

Just playing around
Eliot's skill set is growing. Here we have a demonstration of his almost flawless sitting up ability.


















Almost flawless. You can just start to make out the gentle lean in his stance. Once the lean starts, it is very hard to recover from it.

















And he's over. I think he got a handful of Kaya on the way down. A true watchdog would have provided a little more support. She just wanted out of the way.

Eliot's 1st Nor'Easter
We got about 10-12" of snow yesterday. Eliot seemed to really enjoy being outside. I think he just liked the hat.















You could say it was almost waist high.














And of course we had to make some snow angels.

Happy 1/2 Birthday Eli !
He wasn't really in a picture taking mood today...but that doesn't stop us. Woo hoo.

p.s. look at all that hair. It's really been starting to come in the last couple of weeks.

Sharing
Eli was learning to share his toys during the Superbowl. He still has a bit of practicing ahead of him.

Going for a ride.

Eli and Babcia stayed in while the rest of us hit the ski slopes this weekend. Looks like they still had a good time. Next year he should be shooshing down with the rest of us.

Eli's new favorite hobby is to watch Kaya play fetch and just giggle uncontrolaby at her!

Almost Sitting Up









Eliot is really into his rice cereal now. We almost need to tie his hands behind his back just to make the whole process work.

Eliots 1st Time Trying Cereal
No Thanks. I'll stick with the thumb.















Hey, that's not too bad.

Eliot's New Wagon
Much to Kaya's dismay, Eliot got a very nice wagon for x-mas. Thanks grandma and grandpa.

We're Back. Sorry for the long pause, but we have now returned from our trek across the Midwest. We even took a couple of photos along the way.


















It's an Eliot size tree.















It's an Elephant size tree.

Mom - Get me out of this thing!!!