master bullfrog on the phone

Elijah copies two lines of text every day for his school work.  Whenever he finishes a poem, he gets to draw a picture of what the poem was about.  Today he copied the last two lines of the following:

Twenty froggies went to school,
Down beside the rushy pool.
Twenty little coats of green,
Twenty vests all white and clean.

"We must be on time," said they,

"First we study, then we play.
This is how we keep the rule,
When we froggies go to school."

Master bullfrog grave and stern,

Called his classes in their turn.
Taught them how to nobly strive,
Likewise how to leap and dive.

Taught them how to dodge a blow,

From the sticks that bad boys throw.
Twenty froggies grew up fast,
Bullfrogs they became at last.

Polished in a high degree,

As each froggy ought to be.
Now they sit on other logs,
Teaching other little frogs.

Daddy: "You can draw a picture of the froggies today."
Elijah: "Hm, twenty frogs is a lot to draw.  I'll draw the bullfrog, too!  He'll be on the phone."
Daddy: "Why does he need a phone?"
Elijah: "Because it says, 'Master bullfrog grave and stern, called his classes in their turn'."
Daddy: "I don't think that's what it means."
Elijah: "No, I think he called the froggies while they were at home."

Here's the final result:

flying Peter Pan

 

overalls

Elijah: "Mommy, I figured out why overalls are called overalls.  It's because they go OVER your shoulders, and that's ALL!"

 

first missing tooth

 

brothers reading together

 

first steps

Ladies and Gentlemen... we have a walker!

I saw Ephrem take a step from one couch to another this morning, and then again about three steps in the evening on two separate occasions.

off to kindergarten

Here is Elijah, waiting for his first bus ride to school. There were two older kids at the bus stop, a 2nd and 4th grader. The bus was a little late, but not too bad.

Ephrem was patiently waiting, too. He'd go to school with Elijah I bet if only he could walk. :)

When the bus finally arrived, Elijah just walked off. He didn't even look back. There were no hugs and no kisses. :)

He only turned around because Ryan yelled "Good-Bye" or "Have fun" or something of the sort. I didn't hear what it was. I was busy taking a picture of Elijah's back and accidentally caught his face. :)

hi

Before Ephrem starting crawling he was experimenting with saying "ma-ma", "ba-ba" (Russian for "grandma"), "da-da" and "pa-pa" (Russian for "daddy"). However, as soon as he started crawling he put speech development on hold. He does say one word a lot though: "Hi!"

The doctor said that this often indicates a very social personality. That is rather evident. He loves being around people, is very interactive, and is not (unlike his brother) afraid of loud noises. When Ryan was drilling holes in the cabinets to put in child locks, Ephrem came over to check out what was going on. Whenever I make smoothies in a loud blender, he always wants to be there as well.

Ephrem says "Hi" to everybody: the doctor, people sitting (all right, standing :)) around us at church, and even an occasional fly flying by.

Ephrem's year old stats

Weight: 22.93 lbs (52%)
Height: 31.3 in (89%)
Head Circumference: 18.03 in (32%)

one year old

Ephrem is one! The proof is in the cupcake!

ding-ding-ding

At breakfast on August 1st:

Elijah: "Mommy, what date is it today?"
Mommy: "August 1st."
E: "So, tomorrow is August 2nd, then 3rd, then 4th, and then - DING-DING-DING - it's Ephrem's birthday!" (Pause.) "Wait, when is Grandma Shannon coming?"
M: "On August 4th."
E: "Hey, that DINGs, too!"

start them early

One of Ephrem's favorite places to be is the pantry. He goes straight for the empty bottles.

dressed up

Mommy and baby, all dressed up.

Daddy and Mommy, all dressed up.

kidding

Elijah (after I said something funny): "Mommy, you are giving me a kid! I mean... you are kidding me!"

two teeth

Ephrem has two teeth! Here's proof. :)

momentous events

July 5th marked a couple momentous events for us. OK, three. First, Ephrem turned 11 months.

Second, he crawled for the first time! He didn't even realize he was doing it. All he knew was he wanted a toy out of his reach, and he would move his knees a few times until he got close enough to go down on his tummy and reach it. Mind you, he still can't roll over from his back to his tummy, at least not willingly (the other way happens once in a while, although I do wonder if it's mostly accidental, or if he actually intends it). This inability to roll over is actually quite helpful during nap times. He stays put on his back in the crib and falls asleep quickly. :)

Finally, Elijah's and Ryan's new kilts arrived in the mail! Here's a picture of Elijah all dressed up in his new kilt with all the trappings. The boy loves it!



(Hey, if Prince Charles can wear a kilt, why can't Elijah? :))

eleven months old

The boys at 11 months old

ten months old

The boys at 10 months old

Ephrem's first tooth

Ephrem has a new tooth! His first one. It's on the bottom left. We don't have a picture of it yet. :)

Disney 2011

These are from January.

The baby elephant was 5 months old, just like Ephrem at the time.

Luke Skywalker?

Elijah seemed pretty scared of all of the characters. :)