Riding horses with "my Sara"

Riding horses has always been one of Elijah's favorite things to do. We had so much fun, and I will let the pictures speak for themselves.


They will always be the best of friends.


Trotting for the first time


"Sitting all by myself!"


Walking a horse. All 4 year olds do this, right?


I wish you could hear the laughter. You can probably get an idea by the vein popping out of his neck.

Big boy bike!

My idea of writing little snippets frequently hasn't worked out so well. Instead of beating myself up over it, I'm just going to post a few exciting things that have been happening around the BC household. The BIG news is that Elijah learned how to ride a "big boy bike" this week. He only learned how to ride a tricycle this summer...the muscle control and coordination was very hard for him to get a handle on. But, when he finally got it, he took off. Literally. It has been incredible how good learning to ride a trike has been for his leg muscles. He can do so many things that he didn't have the muscles for before. Well, about 3 weeks ago, we decided to buy him a big boy bike, hoping that he would get into it immediately. He was VERY excited about buying one, but once we did, he wanted nothing to do with it. We tried and tried to get him on it, and he just wanted to ride his "red bike" (aka a tricycle). Last week his physical therapist and I decided to have her try to teach him (he does many things with/for her that he won't do with/for us). I snuck his bike over to the clinic. You should have seen how surprised he was that Robin had a blue big boy bike just like his. :) After about 2 minutes of her trying, he was doing laps around the therapy clinic like you wouldn't believe. Since then (Thursday evening), he has been to my parent's patio daily and to the B-line once. It is officially his new obsession.


Hmmmm...where shall I go next?


Riding up a hill is hard stuff!

Happy times are here again...

Oh how I love the pool. The water is still too cold for me to get in, but Elijah has enjoyed playing on the steps and on the patio. We've had tons of fun already, and it's only been open for 2 weeks!


Trying to push his cousin, Andrew, in the water!


Elijah helping take care of the pool.


Elijah and his cousins


Just a cute shot

A Trike-a-thon

Elijah's school did a trike-a-thon as a fundraiser for St. Jude's Children's Hospital. It was quite possibly the cutest thing that I have ever seen. Elijah learned how to pedal pretty recently, and he's not super coordinated with it. We were so excited that he could participate because learning to pedal his been incredibly hard for him (both because of his muscle tone and his coordination). When I got to school to see it, we realized that the ever-so-small incline on the track was going to create a problem. Riding uphill is not an option right now...so, for half of the track he rode, and for half he was pushed. As you will see, this lasted for some of the time, but then he gave up and decided to have fun with the wagon.

Like father, like son

Elijah is REALLY, REALLY into doing whatever his daddy is doing outside. Enjoy...


You might think that is a snorkel in Elijah's hand, but it's really a leaf blower ("Just like daddy," as Elijah would say).




Again, you might think that is a stroller, but it's really Elijah's lawn mower.

An attempt at making Play dough

Elijah has hated play dough his entire life. He has so many texture issues, so we've always assumed that this is why play dough scares him. I found out that at school he can often be found playing in their play dough. His teacher mentioned that they make their own, so we wondered if the feeling and/or smell of it made the difference. So, I googled a recipe and Elijah and I decided to make our own (this was my first time...I know, bad teacher...should have made play dough before!). Well, the recipe didn't work out, be we sure had fun. I'll let the pictures speak for themselves.

A Tribute to Stella

I have been searching for words that adequately describe the most amazing little girl that I have ever met, but I have come to realize that they just don't exist. One of my best friends, Shannon, lost her 23 month old daughter, Stella, last week. She had a terminal, undiagnosed metabolic disorder. She fought a long, hard fight, but was the most delightful little girl you could ever imagine. Stella lived with us for one month when she was well enough to come home from the hospital, and she became Elijah's best friend. Then, when she was back in the hospital, Elijah was able to visit her several times. I know I am a better person for having known Stella.

Elijah and Stella


Stella and her mommy, Shannon


Elijah visiting Stella in the hospital


Best buds, forever