Digger

I wonder where Eliot ever got the idea that digging could be fun.?

Maybe it's even better to manage other diggers.

We'll see.

Happy Day

Today, Eliot made his first poo on the potty. We've had a couple of successful pee pee trips, but this was the first productive #2 on the potty. Such a proud day in a parent's life :) For all of you waiting on more pictures, we thought we'd omit this one. Some things are just not made to be Kodak moments.

Hummingbird Hawk Moth

I must say, I am truly impressed with Dave's investigational skills. He even beat out our resident entomologist, "the golden child" by a few minutes. However, Scott did provide a link to a very nice website with a description of these interesting moths: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sphingidae

First Beaver Blog Competition!









So we had this really cool bug in the backyard, and Andy decided to get all fancy with the camera. The little critter was fast though, so these are the best photos he got. I am offering up some good German chocolate to the first person who can correctly identify the genus and species (and common name for those of us not so scientific). There should be a certain member of the audience with a distinct advantage... no pressure :)

Aquarium Trip

Eliot likes to drive, whether it is cars, his tricycle, or this boat. Let's just say he likes to be in charge. Don't know where he gets that from...

Aquarium petting zoo - Eliot got to touch a starfish, sea anemone, and spiny urchin (OUCH!)

Dad and Eliot wowed by the shark and ray tank.

Fishbowl

Such a boy (or should I say, such BOYS!)

Eliot has been recently fascinated by all of the following things: Trucks, Bulldozers, Excavators, Tractors, and Dirt Diggers. Let's just say that yellow is certainly the favored color, and John Deere is a dirty word in this house. Once a CAT family, always a CAT family.

Sometimes it's hard to get the monkey off your back.

OK, if you want to be academic about it, it's not just any monkey, it's a Lemur. And it's not just any Lemur, it's a Duke Lemur. This Lemur traveled all the way from North Carolina with the help of Aunt Onika first to Maryland, then with mom over the Atlantic, to find it's way on Eliot's back. For even more academic information about Duke Lemurs, click here.

Eliot (Randy Beazdan the first), Andy, and I would like to introduce you to Randy Beazdan, Jr.

Eliot's little sister or brother is due to join us on January 2nd, 2008, and we're going to do our best to keep her/him in for a full 40 weeks this time! OK, if Andy gets his way, we'll have a 2007 baby (for tax purposes, of course!) We are all very excited about our new member of the family :)

Blast from the past (OK, only 2 months ago)

These are from a couple of months ago when my mom was visiting. She had a lovely time with her son and grandson in Bingen (a beautiful wine town on the Rhine River), and Eliot loved spending time with his Babcia.

This is us all tuckered out on the train ride home. I don't know, but I think Eliot's got the best seat in the house.

We had a fun time together for 2 weeks, then she travelled to Poland, and then came back for some more fun with Eliot while Andy and I snuck off to Paris!!! Thanks mom!

I can't hear you.

After a wonderful 3 day vacation with the neighbors, Eliot needed just a bit of alone time. Here he is practicing his budding ignoring skills. Michael just wanted to play more...and ultimately won out.

Looking a little quilty.

I think Kaya is ready for Mom to come home too. She's gotten a little extra attention from Eliot and is ready for a break.

Brushing Teeth

I know I said I wasn't, but I even got Eliot to brush his teeth. Renee will be so proud. I hear a superdad accolade coming.

See, I am feeding him.

Normally I wouldn't include a plate of half eaten food in the picture, but it is important that Mom sees that Eliot is getting some nourishment while she is away. Yes, it is corn two days in a row, but hey it's a vegetable. The spicy Italian sausage was all Eliot's idea.

Happy Mother's Day
(a sad, mad, glad greeting)

So I had to remind Eliot this morning that mommy had taken a plane to the States yesterday. He was sad that he could not wish her a Happy Mother's Day in person.


I said, "Don't worry she'll be home on Friday". We'll evidently Friday was a little too far away and Eliot was a little mad.

But then I told him that since it was just the 2 of us here alone...pizza and no brushing teeth all week! He was happy again.

Almost a month....

Wow, sorry, it's been almost a month since our last post. We'll we're almost done with our extended round of visitors and we have accumulated lots to post. Here's just a few until we have a bit more time.

Julie, Ron, Debbie, and Tony prior to our trip to Munich

Eliot and Michael all decked out for the zoo.

Gramma and Grandpa in Heidelberg

Easter 2007

We had a lovely weekend getaway this Easter to Zeeland (area on the North Sea in the Netherlands), where the Putsch's (Roman's parents) have a beautiful 37 ft sailboat/yacht. The trip was wonderful, except for that Eliot very much missed his Beaver grandparents, who had to postpone their trip due to some health problems. Everyone is now on the mend, and we are hoping for a visit very soon. They were very much missed, so we would like to share these Easter photos especially for their enjoyment! :)
I've got my chocolate egg, now hands off you scary rabbit!!!

More eggs??? CHOCOLATE eggs???

Easter choco-narcosis :)

Dave and Kim's visitDave and Kim just came out to visit us... yes, for all of my old friends, this is my "baby" brother who is all grown up now and has a real job, a new car, and is about to buy a house with his awesome girlfriend, Kim... I digress... in any case, they came out to visit a couple of weeks ago and we had an awesome trip. We did several day trips, including one to Bingen on the Rhine River (see pictures above and below).

Eliot definately thought that the best part was the super fast slide that his Aunt Kim and Uncle Dave took him on. This slide was built along side of the castle overlooking the town. Quite awesome.

Construction

Andy and Eliot building the sandbox, a birthday present for Eliot's friend Michael. Eliot recently received a play construction kit from his friend Ian, which he quickly mastered and moved on to the real deal. The sandbox did end up with a few extra dings from screwdrivers doubling as hammers, but lets just say it added "character" to the woodwork.

Birthday party

Yesterday, Eliot's friend (and next door neighbor), Michael, turned 2. He got to celebrate with a very cool fire truck birthday cake...
which Eliot liked very much. Please see the next post regarding Eliot and food. We now strategically send him out for meals so that the household does not go bankrupt. We are concerned for when he becomes a teenager and the feeding frenzies are even worse.

What a great hiding spot! Who needs a crib when you have a cupboard?