Ready or Not Here I Come!

"One, Two, Three, Uno, Dos, Tres, Ten, Nine, Eight. Ready or not here I come." This is how Eli counts when playing Hide and Go Seek. He can count in English and Spanish and we are working on counting backwards. However, true to his personality Eli likes to use all three when counting for Hide and Go Seek.

Eli has just recently grown fond of Hide and Go Seek. If he had his way we would play it all day. It is so fun to see all the "hiding" places he picks. He has that out of sight out of mind mentality right now. If he can't see you, because his eyes are closed REAL tight, he thinks you can't see him. This makes for some not so secret hiding spots. We do play outside some, which probably isn't fair since good hiding spots are hard to find. He usually gives himself away by saying "Here I am" when we act like we can't find him or he will giggle and giggle while hiding. We remind him that he should stay quite so we won't see or hear him. He says, "Oh no I forgot to do that." Even with the innocence of his 2 year old mind he is getting better at the game each time we play. Here are a few of his hiding spots.

This is a pretty good spot, the grass is tall enough that he can hide behind it. He is looking at Daddy who is looking for Eli.




Another hiding spot behind the bush.



Last but not least his most favorite spot, which falls into the out of sight out of mind category. He likes to hide behind this tree. He closes his eyes and puts his head against the tree so we won't be able to see him. It's great!

Hey Mikey She Likes It!

I know that I am biased, but I think we (Daddy Skurd and I) have one cute little girl. I love Tatum's eyes, which is funny since I think she has my big eyes and my eyes are one of the things I'm not crazy about on myself. Her eyes and expressions are so genuine and endearing. If you were to cover up her face from her nose down and just look at her eyes they would tell you everything you need to know. So she probably won't be a good poker player, I think she will be okay dispite this. It's amazing how our kids can teach us so much, maybe she will teach me to love my eyes? Guess that is a blog for another time.



Anyway...we started Tatum on cereal today! She liked it and ate several bites. I was very impressed.. (FYI if you want to see a picture better click on it)




We did the whole "airplane" thing with the spoon, which of course made her laugh.




She even held the spoon and tried to feed herself. Okay, feeding herself is a stretch. It was more like my gums are killing me give me something to chew on! Yes she is teething...fun fun.



Grandma Cindy and PaPa would be proud I am using my left hand. Will I be a southpaw? Probably too soon to tell.

Tater Tot

It's hard to believe it has been 6 months since Tatum joined our family. Where has the time gone? In some ways she has changed so much, in other ways she is still the same. Her gentle spirit and disposition haven't changed at all. She is always happy and content with whatever comes her way. She is still very much in awe of her big brother Eli. It's amazing how he can make her laugh. I hope that never changes.

She is very close to sitting up without support, which helps her with some of her favorite things...



Tatum loves to swing outside and we do it as often as we can.



One of Tatum's favorite things to do is play with her doll house. She is getting good at putting the furniture in and taking it back out.



Swinging and playing with her doll house keep her busy, but the one thing Tatum likes the most is being with Eli.



Watching Baby Einstein together,



or just hanging out and playing, it doesn't matter what they do.



The only time Tatum gets upset with Eli is when he wakes her up. It happens every now and then. It's usually Mommy's fault. I tell Eli that as soon as Tatum wakes up we are going to do something. Eli being excited thinks he has waited long enough. He has a few techniques. He will go into their room and yell, "WAKE UP TATUM." That scares her and she precedes to cry. Of course he has another technique in his arsenal. If he doesn't feel like yelling he starts taking his clothes out of his dresser and throwing them on Tatum. This works most of the time. The last trick is to simply climb into the crib with her and wake her up. Which is never pleasant for her, poor thing. When I ask Eli what he is doing he simply says, "Tatum's awake now we can go...Come on Mama let's go!"

This picture of them together was taken one time after Eli decided to wake up Tatum. If she could say something it would probably be, "Are you kidding me? Mom can you help me out here?"

Spin Art

Eli likes to help with the salad spinner while we cook dinner. We came up with a way to play with the salad spinner and make some art at the same time.

First you pick the colors (food color) you want to use.



A few drops here and there.



Spin the colors in the spinner.



Finally the masterpiece is complete. This masterpiece is on it's way to the art gallery. The gallery is clearing a spot next to Van Gogh's Starry Night.

Now George, Don't Get into Trouble

Curious George didn't get into trouble today, he was playing a game with Eli. Eli and Curious George are playing one of Eli's favorite games. For some reason Eli thought George needed to play. Eli said, "Hey I've got a good idea," he ran to his room got George, "Curious George can play with me." George helped Eli roll the cube.



Once the cube has been rolled you pick a card with the corresponding color and act out what is on the card.



Eli always made sure that George had a card and Eli even told George what his card said. George is pretty much out of the picture, but you can see him holding his card on the right side of the picture. It was so fun watching Eli "play" with George.

Play that funky music white boy!

With the weather being so hot lately, I know it is summer, I am constantly searching for things to do inside. Since Eli LOVES music so much we decided to have our own Blues music concert. We get out all of Eli's instruments turn on some Blues music and make noise. Eli usually plays the drums, in between dancing for Tatum, which always makes her laugh. I usually play the guitar or the harmonica.



Tatum is a member of our band. Sometimes she plays the tambourine. Most of the time, I don't have a picture of it, she is playing with her toy phone. So we decided she could be our manager.

We will keep you posted on our first gig.