Elliot at Two

Elliot turned two a month ago. He is a joy. Funny, talkative, outgoing, silly, happy, friendly, energetic. He loves to read, ride his bike, ride in the bike trailer, take walks, play in water. His favorite toys are animal figurines, dinosaurs, books, crayons, and cars/trains. But he will happily play with almost anything and anyone. He loves to talk, describing everything around him (mostly in his own language, but with more and more real vocabulary emerging everyday). He is still a very picky eater, refusing all fruits and vegetables unless in squeezy pouch form, or dried fruits. But he happily eats nuts/seeds, meat, cheese, grains, yogurt, and sometimes tofu. And he loves his milk.
Here are a few photos:

Settling in to Riverside

Here are a few photos of our first month and a half in our new Southern California home.

Our hallway is a nice place to read a book

Playground at Fairmount Park

Dayhike in Big Bear

At the SD Zoo

At the SD Zoo

Bubbles outside our house

Backpacking in Big Bear

We just got back from a short (overnight only) backpack trip up in Big Bear, San Bernardino Nat Forest. It was Elliot's first backpack, though not first time camping. We chose a short 2 mile trail since we had to carry all our things AND Elliot. Though as it turned out, he walked about half the distance up the hill (saving my load by 25 lbs!). Chris carried most of the gear, save the pots, which we accidentally forgot in the car, whoops. Luckily, it was only 2 miles down (and 2 back) to retrieve them before dinner! Some photos and a couple of videos:

Our packs

Enjoying the view

Make me breakfast!

Helping pack up the tent

Fun with Mom

Video: Elliot describes the evening sky.

Video: Running up the trail after 1/2 mile of hiking uphill.