Thanksgiving

Oh, the holidays... how I love them! I love seeing family and spending time with people I love, but don't normally get to spend much time with. And now Eli is getting old enough to share that with us. Last year was his 'first Christmas', but he really didn't care one bit about any of the things going on. :) This year I hope he will notice and enjoy things more. He already is more aware of people; even if he doesn't see them every day or every week, he is starting to remember grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins.

Off of the holiday subject for a minute, I find myself getting more lax in my picture taking... I wondered why, but after thinking about it, it's probably a combination of things; Eli getting older and moving around more (harder to take pictures when he won't stop moving and always getting into things), and my desire to be with him and interact with him, not just be by him taking pictures. I love to read to him, or play stacking games (a current favorite), or walking around the house with him, or play his 'chase me up the stairs' game (he loves someone to chase him up the stairs and growl and say "I'm gonna get you!"). Oh, I'll still take pictures, it just may not be the 20 pictures a day like in the beginning (you've probably already noticed the decrease over the last few months!). :) Trust me, I didn't post half the pictures I took of him!

Getting back to holidays; we spent Thanksgiving Day with Josh's side of the family, and the next day with my side.

Eli was very interested in a game Josh and Jake were playing.

Eli and Aunt Lauren!

Cousins with grandparents!

Grandpa was making funny faces!

I know these pictures are not of the holidays and they are late (as they are one-year-old pictures), but I wanted to finally share them!

For whatever reason, he really likes to put his hand in his mouth when he's smiling about something!

This one is one of my favorites... it was just him being him! 

I gave him this little pumpkin to hold and he acted like "what am I supposed to do with this?" 

My other favorite! He loved the bubbles! 

Some family pictures... in my photographer's defense, she says we are very pale and had to edit quite a bit to get our faces this good (I still think we look pale, 'cause we are, but editing can only go so far!).

Walking!

He has been walking around more and more everyday... going a little farther, a little longer... till we have this!

October 2013

The first weekend in October, we traveled to see Josh's family for Aunt Sara's birthday... needless to say, with 2 little boys, things get messy. Scout was going to take a bath, and Aunt Rachel asked if Eli wanted a bath too, Eli perked up and said "bath!" so clear and loud, no one could doubt what he wanted! We took some pictures of our cheesy boys... so silly!

On the way back from Missouri, we stopped over at Gram and Gramps to spend the night and play a little bit... Gramps got a new swing for Eli!

I slid down this slide when I was little! Eli wasn't too sure about it, but the puppy was fun.

"What?!"

"It licked me!"

"Oh, rub the belly..."

 More swinging!

On Eli's first birthday...
  ~ he weighs 30 pounds (officially!).
  ~ he is 30.5 inches tall.
  ~ his favorite foods are pancakes, mandarin oranges, bananas, and whatever you are eating.
  ~ he likes windows and doors to see out and watch anything that happens to be out (Dad, squirrels, big trucks, etc).
  ~ he loves new things, new places, new people; he looks, he watches, he tests things out... until he is satisfied or looses interest.
  ~ he takes a few steps by himself, I think every day he takes one or two more at a time.

Birthday breakfast! Pancakes and bananas.

On his birthday evening, we had a small gathering at a friend's house with dessert and ice cream, Eli had a brownie with a candle. We all sang happy birthday to him, and he acted all shy and ducked his head down and had this little smile until we were done. He tried to blow out his candle (he knows how to blow on his food), but we ended up helping a little bit. 

Acting shy...

Trying to talk him into blowing out the candle...

Eating his first brownie!

Presents!

Duplo cars and blocks from Shelleys

And a big car from Neffs

He's so excited!

His favorite thing is the buttons!

The weekend after Eli's birthday was Arkalala in Ark City (they have a parade and a carnival, etc.), Josh's side of the family came to visit us that weekend. We all met at Ark City and ate lunch and walked around and Scout rode some of the rides (I think his favorite was the slide). Then we headed back to our house to hang out and eat dinner. The only pictures I really took all weekend were at Ark City... most of the other times were inside (indoor lighting is not my friend in pictures), and I was content to just enjoy the weekend.

Scout waving as he goes by us.

Eli took a nap while Scout
rode the rides!

Scout sliding with Aunt Beth...

... and again with Uncle Jake!

That is pretty much our month! 

11 Months and Random Bits

This is a long one with lots of pictures! Are you ready?

Time is flying by! My little 6 pound baby is almost a 30 pound one-year-old. Crazy! Here are some random moments throughout the last month (I'll try to be as chronological as I can).

A while back I froze some applesauce in the middle of some baby washcloths for teething times. I'm not entirely sure he was teething (so far, he is up to 8 teeth!), but he did like to suck, chew, and crawl around with it in his mouth.

He likes to 'help' with things on the counter; making bread, doing dishes.... pretty much anything where he can grab things and SEE what's going on.

Doin' the dishes

We went up to Kansas City for a wedding 2 weeks ago.... he did better in the car this time, compared to previously, but he was bored there at the end and decided his toes made a good snack! He was just chillin' in his seat, sucking on his toes!

 At the wedding reception (bad indoor low lighting!).

Cousin Scout with Gigi

Playing with Grandpa Gerri

 Being silly playing with spoons on the table.

Saturday morning after the wedding we met up with the grandparents at City Market and walked around for a few hours. So much fun! The vendors had almost every kind of vegetable you could think of, and there were several with all kinds of spices too. We found a big pumpkin display and put Eli next to these ginormous pumpkins!

Eli started getting a little bored in the stroller, so he rode around on Dad's shoulders for a while...

Crazy boys!

Starting to get tired....

He may or may not have drooled on Dad's head...

Took a little nap, and right back in the action!

My big boy

He is starting to imitate sounds more and more; lately he has been waving and saying "Buh". As we were leaving Kansas City, we tried to get him to do it to Aunt Sara, Gigi and Grandpa Gerry, but no luck. Then as we turned the corner and head down the street, he starts waving! 

Back home, with the recent cooler weather, we've found he likes to look out the window, but only if the window is open! We pull up the ottoman and it's the perfect height for him to stand on and be able to look out.

11 Months!

It's hard to get him it hold still with the monkey! He'd rather play with it...

Playing on the front porch...

Crawling around...

...watching cars...

...picking at dirt...

...and trying to eat it!

Watchin' cars

... it's serious business 

He sees the puppy next door

"What is making all that racket?"

Monkey!

Josh has been working putting a greenhouse on the back of the house! Yay! I'm so excited... even though we are obviously only in the beginning of building.

Eli was 'helping'... by tasting the materials....

...then he got his snack taken away. Sad face!

But he never stays sad for long! He sees something new!

"What else can I taste?"

"Oh, Daddy, that pounding is loud!"

"I think this does something..." 

"Don't worry, I'll figure it out..."

"Whaaaaat?"

"Ohhhh, that's how it works!"