The boys

There's just something about little boys in overalls...

and that deer in the headlights look...

A happy Mason!

A dancin' Eli!

Prelude to a hug...I hope!

The bucket, etc.

Eli is generally disinclined to the wearing of hats. The way they mash his curls out around his ears is irresistible to his momma while simultaneously being abhorrent to him. It turns out that it is just the style of head adornment that has him concerned. While playing outside with his lawnmower, I discovered just the hat Eli didn't know he was looking for. It was never on my radar before because it had been masquerading as the pups' water bowl. It is the only hat Eli asked to have put back on.




Tonight we were once again outside mulling over ways to make our backyard more enjoyable when Eli came up with the perfect yard art.

The bucket hat.

As it turns out, Jason and I have led relatively boring lives since the last post, but here are some updated pictures of us...Jase and Eli are super cute, and Eli and me, well, you know....

Twinkies!

Nudie!

A desktop background suggestion....

Transformation

Slowly but surely I am going to transform this blog from an Eli extravaganza to a more inclusive family thing. I'm doing this because, well, because I think Jason and I are pretty interesting too. Don't worry, you can't really get Jason and me without Eli anyway.

The pictures are, for an unknown reason, at a standstill for the moment. I shall attempt to create pictures with my words to capture some of my sons adventures.

Most parents seem to possess an innate desire to find pieces of themselves in their children. These things are usually good things, such as eye color, laugh, or anything cute or smart that their child does. Since the check out lady at the grocery store is hoping the next one will look like me, I can't claim Eli's big brown eyes, or his curly sandy blond hair, or even his chin. I get to claim this: my son loves anything that cleans and that is something he gets from me. I posted a video of him with the dustbuster if you don't believe me. You could not pry that thing out of his hands. Finally, Jason had to convince him that the dustbuster needed "nite nite" and so did Eli! The other day I was swiffering the floor, a nice dry dusting if you will, and was replacing the mop when Eli pushed his way through my legs to grab the broom. Although I thought that that was a little rude and he really shouldn't be in the laundry room anyway, what kind of mother would I be if I discouraged chores? Needless to say I quickly added a clean dust cloth and sent him on his way.

Jason and I have had our first encounter with "The Grandparent Clause." Now don't get me wrong, this is nothing exclusive to Eli's grandparents, it's just a fact. The Grandparent Clause is as follows: I am the grandparent. If handing a whistle (or anything else that in the long term will cause distress and tormet of the parents) to my grandchild causes him/her to smile, laugh, stop crying, or go to sleep, then a whistle they will get. And not only will I give them the whistle, I will teach them to use it. While Granddad was watching Eli this past weekend, Eli received just such a whistle. One that lights up and blinks blue like a strob light. Eli can even wear it around his neck so he will never ever lose it. Since he couldn't whistle properly at first, we (yes, Jason and I included, we got sucked in to the charm of our little one year old trying to blow a whistle) would demonstrate and help him try it to. Eli's little brain snapped into action and since it was a little frustrating to get the same sounds out of the whistle that we were, he decided to just use his own vocal chords....loudly. That means that taking the whistle away does not stop the boy from whistling. When he does manage to whistle properly a big grin sprouts on his face. Ahh, the life of a one year old...

Jason and I keep living our lives as a backdrop to our curly headed boy. Jason only has a week left in neurology and then he gets a well deserved break. It has been so nice having him home in the late afternoons. Neurology has a much better schedule than surgery did. For those of you who don't know, he is starting his third year in medical school. I don't know how to elaborate because I don't really know what he does while he is working, and I don't think I would understand it anyway.

I have been busy myself. I have agreed to watch Mason full-time and am really excited about it! Eli and Mason will grow up to be good buddies.

I am also getting more involved with the MOPS (Mothers of Pre-Schoolers) group at church and have agreed to teach english as part of the JOY program there as well. This year is going to busier than last, but I am hoping it means that more structure will lead to more organization as well.

Tank is sleeping at my feet and Trolley is sleeping in her chair. That probably won't change anytime soon.

Shoes

More Chores!

double-click for the fun!

Apparently the dishes weren't enough. As the night wore on, he got more and more skilled, switching hands just to show off. The vaccum quit before he did!

Chores Already?!

double click for the fun!

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!