Busy busy times...

Very few spare moments to post...

Technical diffictulties...

Picture drought...

Too many lists...

Too little time...

Check back at Christmas...

Here is Eli waiting for the plane that took him to Grammy! Contrary to his facial expression, I think he
enjoyed the flight. I know I did! He slept the whole time.


Nowadays, he likes to spend time at the office. My little executive works his team hard, calling four to five meetings a day! Denny the Dragon usually gets in trouble while Mr. Sunshine always gets a big grin!


We've been having a lot more tummy time lately. He's rolled a couple of times, but seems more concerned with scooting. He puts his head down and pushes with his feet and after a few good pushes he pops his head up to see how far he got, and then he starts pushing again.


His hand-eye coordination has been improving as well. He gets his hand to his mouth 9 out of 10 times, and can clasp them together if he wrinkles his forehead enough!

 

Weigh-in: 16.2 lbs.

Height: 25 inches

Head: still growing

Diagnosis: Reflux

Treatment: 1 capsule emptied onto small amount of applesauce daily.

He also gave the green light on rice cereal.

Let the solid food games begin!

It's been a while since I blogged, but so much has been happening in little Eli's life! After the visit from his cousin Madelyn, Eli dabbled in the art of card playing and enjoyed sitting on the kitchen bar, which is only clean every other blue moon!

This past weekend we took a trip to see Grammy! Eli's first plane ride and he was most excellent. Now while being one of the chosen few in the pre-board line is quite exciting, I can't decide if it is worth all the suspicious stares and whispers from the other passengers as they roll their eyes and cross their fingers he won't cry! He turned out to be a pro at flying and promptly went to sleep during the two hour delay and remained asleep the entire flight! It was well worth it and Eli loved meeting his family and they loved him.

Here he is with his great-great grandma who has two great-great grandkids! ...

here are all the boys....aren't they cute ...

great-great Mary... whom Eli finds quite hilarious ...

and cousin Drew!

I just like this picture of my boys:

Someone once told me (or I am just making this up) that having children gives you special insight into how God might view us big kids. I was reflecting on that as I was bouncing and be-bopping around with a screaming Eli in the middle of the night marvelling at just how much patience a parent needs (and I do not have!) I wonder how many times a day God tells me to calm down and listen to him and I just keep screaming my head off....

 

Eli is getting a whole lot more leg and head control, I just can't believe it! He is now playing in some more of his toys and focusing on hand control. His favorite toy today was the smiling sunshine flower. He studied it for a really long time and then started uncontrollably grinning at it.

Later during naptime he surprised me with the crawl position:

Now, if he could only work on that when he is awake!

Weigh-in: about 14.4 lbs.
Disposition: supremely happy one moment and utterly distressed the next. It is exhausting, but lovely just the same.
Favorite activity: looking in mirrors

I found out that my son will be two years old before our Benedryl expires....that's weird.

Countdown to first airplane ride: 15 days

We are headed to see Grammy and what Fall looks like!

Madelyn and Eli meet!

Something you shouldn't do while holding Eli: Try to answer the questions of an automated voice menu on the phone.

Invariably coo, ooh, and aaaaaahhhh are NOT choices the automated voice understands. Thus, you will be repeatedly forced to start over and over and over.

I think he was trying to eat that bug on his head.

This was taken in a park in the middle of Houston...nice, huh?!

The beautiful crib! More to come when we get the room cleaned up...

Eli Swimming

Just don't laugh too hard at our "baby talk"!!!

Eli is getting to be such a big boy! He likes to wake up really early to eat and then go back to sleep. Daddy had snuck in while I was sleeping and set up this little photo opportunity:

This past Thursday was his two month birthday! I can't believe how fast the time is going! Everything checked out great at the doctor. He is taller than the average bear:

But with a "petit" head. The doctor assured us that that is no problem at all, since his brain is still growing. Everyone was wondering how he had such a round head even though he was born "the regular way." Answer: little head. He also had to get 5 shots! In the end, Eli did better than his mommy, but his poor little legs were sore for a while. Someone out there should fine a better way to deliver vaccines....needles are too sharp!

 

Each day since Eli has started smiling, he has developed an increasing awareness of his face and the fact that we have faces too! Not only does this lead to some of the cutest faces I have ever seen, but it also lets me distract him. When he starts to get fussy, it is sometimes possible to make him reconsider when I contort my face into something silly and speak in an abnormally high voice. When I throw in some french, his eyebrows shoot off his head as he tries to understand..."Ecoute mon cher, ne crie pas, mon petit elephant!" His favorite face to make uses as many facial muscles as he can: he raises his eyebrows, crosses his eyes, flares his nostrils, and squishes his lips like he wants to whistle. I'll give you a minute to try it out.

Of course, throughout the course of a day we get many variations of "the face," for example:

Along with the smiling and the faces has come the cooing. So far I have heard coos that resemble the following sounds: Kapowie! Grrrr! Uh Uh! (as in No way!) and Moooooom! (as in how he would say it when I show this picture to his first girlfriend.)

And finally we have Eli striking a vogue pose as he models his pants and socks. He hardly ever gets a chance to wear them in the heat, but the church nursery is cold!

 

My mommy thought it would be fun to take me swimming....hrmpf!

It only took a few minutes for him to get used to the water and then he was splashing and kicking his legs!

Over Labor day we went to grandpa lake's house with Jake, Erin and Battlecat. Eli is getting used to long car rides I think, although the trip takes longer when he gets hungry every two hours! The lake house is the game house and everyone had a turn at "Calm the Crying Baby."

Here's grandpa taking his turn.

After a rousing game of Balderdash, Eli was wiped out and quickly fell asleep on his daddy's shoulder.

To make a long story short...

10 runs scored in 9 baseball innings when an 8th inning rally gave them a 7 run lead. There was a 6th inning engagement and 5 dollar parking that let 4 Astros fans call 3 strikes you're out. Eli had 2 screaming sessions but his daddy caught him 1 foul ball!

The weirdest part was when a guy came up to me after we won and told me, "His daddy caught him a ball!" I had been standing at the back holding a finally quiet Eli and didn't really believe this guy until I saw Jase with the ball!

Oh yeah, Eli's just cute.

My mommy got a new haircut! I'm not sure what to think...

I guess it is still my mommy afterall...

 

We got a package yesterday from Pam. She made Eli a great blanket with Snoopy on it and it came with bandanas for the dogs! All evening they pranced around showing them off.

Eli has started smiling at us! I have been trying to get a picture of it, and I'm getting close...

Eli is trying to be like Daddy!

Last night he snuggled with Trolley while Daddy snuggled Tank.

Then he wanted to sleep in Daddy's spot. He even left one leg outside the covers.

Later, he tried on Daddy's shorts. Even with all his stretching they were still too big!

I told him he should stay my little boy as long as he can.

Eli in the car on the way to the lake...



Eli at the lake...


Eli on the way home from the lake...


He's upset because he slept through the lake! Ok, so not really. He practiced his smile, his cry, and his mad Rummikub skills.