Potty Time, Party Time

Here's Elijah on his very first day of learning how to go potty!

It was two weeks before his third birthday when we first started to teach him. Within two and half weeks, he was fully trained! Even now, it's hard for us to believe. He even stays dry overnight. We think the key for him was his age, getting lots of praise, and staying away from pull-ups. Here he is today taking a game break, safety goggles and all:

The other big milestone for Elijah that coincided with no more diapers was no more crib. It took him a while to learn to stay put in his new bed. We'd catch him fallen asleep at the top of the stairs pretty often, not to mention roaming around upstairs two hours past his bedtime. Fortunately, he's over it now.

My computer got a much needed makeover today, which is why I haven't been able to post on the blog since Halloween! In the meantime, Elijah turned three years old on November 30, 2008.

We took Elijah to Lawry's for a Christmas dinner. Although all he would eat was chocolate cake, we might turn this into an annual tradition. We had a great time there, especially when the carolers sang "Frosty, the Snowman" for him.

Dinner was followed by a trip to Macy's to check out the Christmas storefront windows and FAO Schwartz:

Here's a great picture (except for the glare) of the four Neumeyer cousins at an annual family Christmas gathering:

The morning of Christmas Eve gave us the perfect opportunity to build Elijah's very first snowman:

But first thing's first...a snowball fight! Check out the glint in his eye in the next picture as he sets his sights on me:

Of course, Elijah named him, "Frosty."

Later that evening, we partied it up at Great Grandma's...

What a joy Christmas was this year. Personally, it was my all-time favorite. I relished every moment of filling Elijah in on all the Christmas lore and starting some new traditions. The idea that we were quite possibly creating memories that will last a lifetime for him was very exciting. He seemed to understand everything we told him because he would explain it back to us every day. Before he went to bed on Christmas Eve, he set out cookies and milk for Santa, and even oats for the Reindeer. But Christmas morning he slept in, and when he finally woke up, he just lounged around until I couldn't stand it anymore and had to remind him that Santa may have come last night! Then he tells me, "No, Santa doesn't come for a few more days," which happens to be what we would tell him every time he asked, "Is Santa coming tomorrow?" Needless to say, he was stunned when he saw that Santa actually did come...then he complained, "That's too many gifts." We'll be sure to remind him of that in the years to come. We hope everyone had every bit as much joy this holiday season. Have a Happy New Year! Love, Nasreen, Rob & Elijah