The Lawnmower

Gran and Granpa gave Eli a lawnmower for his first birthday. Since he had long ago become an expert at pushing anything movable around the house, we just assumed that a lawnmower would be no different. Unfortunately, the handle is not a weight bearing handle and Eli continually ate floor until he found out you can't lean on the handle to stand up or push it! Our little landscape artist didn't give up however and was soon pushing it as well as any other 3+ kid that the toy was intended for. (We will be waiting on the bubbles though!) I am the proud mother of the shortest indoor grass bar none. If you find yourselves facing a new lawnmower and are hesitant how to begin, let me relate Eli's 4 steps to success.

Step 1: Learn how to find your balance without the aid of the lawnmower:

Step 2: Wear a goofy grin and push the lawnmower like you've been doing it all your life.


Step 3: Before starting on the big jobs, or as soon as you think something might be almost ready to go wrong, or that it might not be put together right, go ahead and check all the parts, even if it means going to Lowe's.


Step 4: Put pants on and go show the big boys how it's done.

Vacation P.S.

Eli started experimenting with walking upright over vacation. Now he is a walking pro, running whenever possible!

Walking

Vacation Part IV

In between the cousins' birthdays, we of course had to have a party! Eli was very gentle with the cake, patting it lightly like we teach him to pat the dogs. Once he had a piece of his own, however, he went to town. He very possessivley covered it with both hands so no one would take it from him. Magically, the small amount of blue frosting on top of the cake covered his entire face by the end!

After cake and industrial cleaning supplies, we/he opened presents! A hit was the singing book from Grammy. It helped that she put his picture in it and he was on every page. My how handsome the main character was, even Madelyn thought so!

Vacation Part III

Beach, boardwalk, Funland. It just works! What better way to spend birthday party Saturday than at the boardwalk! We weren't quite sure how the kiddos would like the rides. Our first attempt was the carousel. Eli was a champ and loved sitting on the horse. It took him a minute to realize that he was moving up and down though.



Since the carousel was a go, we tried the flying helicopters. Eli got very impatient that the ride took so long to start, and I am pretty sure I was having way more fun than him, but overall I think it was a positive experience. The thing you need to know though is that you move the lever in and out and the helicopter goes up and down. Well, Eli just liked pushing it in and out really fast...luckily we didn't really take flight!

Helicopters led us to the hot air balloon ferris wheel. I let Jason climb into the mini ballons and was able to snap this adorable picture. As soon as it started moving, Eli stood up, he's such a little daredevil.

As if the day wasn't busy enough, we packed up and head back to the house for the party... and of course cake!

Vacation Part II

Once in Delaware, we packed and packed and packed to go to the beach. Eli and Madelyn wore show-stopping outfits and had no idea what was going on.



Once we found a spot, Eli was so heavy that I just plopped him in the sand and he LOVED it. It didn't matter that sand found its way into all the creases, of which he has many, or that killer 6 inch tidal waves flattened him, he always got up for more! Jason and I bought him a new hat to wear. We only found one "boy" had that a strap to it, but everyone kept making fun of our little German soldier. I thought it was cute! 4 hours of preparation made for a fantastic 2 hour beach excursion.

Vacation Part I

Jason had two weeks off from school/work and we took advantage of it! Our first stop was the lake for a fun weekend with Jason's family! Gran and Granpa showed up with one of the coolest toys Eli had ever seen. Here is he playing with it:



He kept pushing it round and round and round the house. When he wasn't playing with and empty plastic box, we went swimming! We plopped him in his crab, tied a rope to a claw, and gave the other end to Granpa and he had a great time. (Both Eli and Granpa!)

He also liked playing with daddy in the water too. It was the first time that any of us had gone kayaking as well. Now that is a good workout! Before we left Texas, we went to Coolidge to track down some ancestry links for Randy. We visited cemeteries and found headstones and even walked through the house his grandfather built in the early 1900's! It was so neat to find everything almost exactly how he remembered it. After the lake we headed to Dallas and on to Part II...

Playing

This is the face I see at least 10 times a day. It can mean anything from "I didn't do it!" to "Are you sure your my mom, you're so weird!" to "I know you think it's cute, so I do it!"

(No, I did not take this most excellent photo, but I'm glad I have it!)

Here he is post-sprinkler fun!

Eli is so busy all the time. I turn around and he has discovered a new game or toy. Recently, he has found a red ball on page two of his new favorite book. On page three he found the sheep, and on page one he discovered crash cymbals. It was the first time he really noticed things on a page, and I was so excited! Now he sits in his play area and organizes his books, putting them in the basket, or sometimes the tupperware, and taking them out again. I realized I had been stifling his reading experience because I thought he was closing every book I opened, when he was actually very clumsily turning the pages!

The first steps have been taking....and forgotten. Eli is a fan of standing, but not walking. I partly blame Tank (who gets blamed for all the weird things in our house) for Eli's race-quality crawling. They are now head to head on the floor and when your bestest friend is the same size as you, why change a good thing! I've never seen anyone crawl this fast! Tank has the uncanny ability of making Eli belly laugh like Jase and I can not. If only we could record it for you. Unfortunately Tank isn't as big a fan of Eli as Eli is of Tank!

Splish Splash

We had fun in the pool today with Jody and Clara! Eli liked floating around in his crab, it made him anything but crabby!

There could have been more pictures, but I was having too much fun too!

He's gonna love sprinklers!

He didn't want it to end!

He's getting so big! His feet touch the ground when he sits on the front porch!



Remember the tupperware? Some of it did not make it back in the cabinet. He likes to push it around the floor, occasionally trapping one of Tank's toys underneath which drives him crazy. This particular dish became a step stool. You just know that he is looking down thinking "I didn't know this would make me taller. Maybe if I find a really big one, I can finally get on the other side of this gate and eat the dog food!"

I call this "The Tippiest Tip of His Tippy Toes".

The great outdoors

After a walk around the neighborhood, we parked him on the back deck while we mowed and tended to the yard. The lawnmower captured his attention and as you can see, left him spellbound.....with his ankles crossed.

Eli is also the master of silly faces. Here is his "I'm so exicted and full of energy that I just can't stand it so every now and then I just have to make a freak out face." What you can't tell is that every muscle in his body is tensed.

This is his "I know that I am adorable and that by putting my hand on my knee and looking intently yet with a hint of surprise off to the side I can make mommy's heart melt" face.