happy halloween...

from all of us here in Illinois to all of you...wherever you may be.





(don't worry, I'll post pictures of Elliott in his Halloween costume tomorrow)

finally earning an income...

Last week Elliott did his first Infant Study here in Illinois. He did a bunch while we were in Connecticut and got some stuff for doing them. But here in Illinois, they give you cold hard cash. He earned $5 for the half hour we spent there - that's double minimum wage! He spent it right away on some foam letters for bath time. He adores them and Dan & I get a kick out of finding words to make out of what is available.

Here's a link to the research at the U of I Infant Cognition Lab if you are interested.

and people wonder why our house is always a mess...

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in honor of the packers win today...

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dove rocks...

I came across these commercials by Dove (the soap company) for the first time today. Forgive me if they've been playing on television for months now and you are sick of seeing them - I don't watch much TV anymore. But even if you have seen them already, I think they warrant at least one more viewing. Watching these makes me think of Elliott's little sister who is due at the end of January and the world that she will grow up in as a woman. Somehow I don't worry about Elliott having self-esteem issues, but because of the nature of our society, I already know that She-Who-Has-Yet-To-Be-Named will have some (despite the fact that she will grow up to be the most beautiful woman in the world on so many levels). However, there are two things that give me hope: campaigns like this one and the mothers that I know that are currently raising some of the most beautiful little girls I have ever met. These mothers nurture their daughters hearts and their spirits in ways that give me confidence that, against all odds, these little girls will all grow up to be the women that change our society for the better.

The first commercial, while it gives mad props to Adobe Photoshop (a software program that I cannot live without), gives a very clear cut picture of how advertisers are manipulating the images we see everyday.

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The second, well...it makes me cry. Its probably my hormones.

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chillin' at aroma

can you hear me now?

Here's a video clip of Elliott talking on the phone with his Grandma Wu and Great Grandma Wang. He thought he had a bad connection and tried everything - pressing buttons, yelling to them, telling them to call back and then hanging up on them. Turns out, he just wasn't holding the phone the right way.

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i've confiscated his arsenal

Today I cleaned out our car in an attempt to make it less appealing for the local wildlife (more on that in a later blog entry). What you see here is Elliott's collection of sticks that he has gathered and deposited in our automobile throughout his various travels. I fear there would have been many more if he did not discover and take a liking to spatula.

it's good!

For months now, we've been trying to teach Elliott "So Big!" and he just isn't interested. We continually do it over and over, usually during meal times and he just looks at us and smiles as though he's thinking to himself, "Yeah, I'm not going to do that, but its cute that you guys do!" However, the past couple of days, we've switched it up, not because we've been trying to get him to perform for us, but because we've been trying to get him on a semi-healthy/balanced diet. We've been so delighted lately when he picks up a piece of chicken, egg or veggie and pops it in his mouth that we throw our arms up in the air and yell, "It's good!" He's really seemed to enjoy this game much more than "So Big!" and just yesterday began following along during a meal of tofu and peas. This morning we caught him on video while we were at Bob Evans for breakfast. Elliott ate some scrambled eggs and we were all throwing up our arms & shouting like we were watching replays of the final seconds of Saturday's Illinois Vs. Michigan State game.

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