Church History Museum

I took the boys to the Church History Museum on Thursday. Elliott got to see a covered wagon, climb in a bunk of a ship, and pretend to give a talk at the Kirtland Temple exhibit. They have a wonderful hands-on "I Am a Child of God" exhibit. Elliott had a great time with that. Derek liked chillin' in the rocking chair that was just his size.

Say Goodbye!

Yesterday we got to officially say goodbye to Derek's helmet. Hooray! Unofficially we took it off on Sunday in anticipation of our meeting with the doctor on Wednesday. We were tired of it since it seemed to be at the point of doing more harm than good. Fortunately, the doctor was true to his prediction of when he'd be done, so we are very happy. We are pleased with the result and thankful that the side of Derek's head is no longer noticeably flat. I'm happy we get to see Derek's hair all the time now (and that the helmet didn't make him lose it). He's so much cuter without that darn thing. And Derek is happy to no longer have that annoying piece of plastic on his head.

Happy Birthday, Elliott!

Wow, Elliott turned 5 years old on Thursday! Elliott is amazing! He is a great big brother. He loves to play with Derek and make him laugh. He is incredibly smart. He loves reading and numbers. His favorite books right now are the Magic Tree House series. He reads them all by himself. He is a good helper and he loves to build. He has lots of fun with his Geo Trax and Legos. I'm so blessed to have such an awesome kid!

Happy Birthday, Elliott! I love you!

We celebrated by going to Village Inn for pancakes and Chuck E. Cheese's for games. This year we decided against the oh-so-delicious pizza from Chuck E. Cheese's, as has been the tradition in years past. Elliott had a great time. We asked him if it would be okay to have birthday cake the following day, since we would be out late with celebrations. He agreed. Later on, he even suggested waiting to open his presents. That was fine with us. So, we had 2 days of birthday celebrations.

I just had to include this picture of Derek sitting in a restaurant high chair for the first time. I think he really enjoyed the plastic bib.

I really like this sitting up stage. It makes lots of things easier. I put him in a shopping cart for the first time last week as well and it was great. I actually had room to fill the shopping cart without being bothered by a car seat.

The picture says it all...

Pure chaos.

Oh so big!

First bath sitting up - it's so much more fun this way. Usually it's hard to get Derek to sit down. Once I got him in the bath, he didn't want to stand up. I was attempting to wash his lower half by having him stand up, but he kept his legs in the sitting position and even grabbed onto the sides of the bath so I couldn't get him up. It was pretty funny.

Just look at that face! So cute!

This is the best shot I could get of Derek's 2 bottom teeth.

Sitting Up

Derek finally decided he could sit up on Monday! Hooray. Another milestone. Now he is quite content to sit on the floor surrounded by toys. He is getting so big! He got shots today and did quite well. He also appears to be cutting one or two bottom teeth - his first. Such a fun day.