Eli the Pianist

Eli has shown interest in learning to play the piano recently, so we decided that instead of paying to put him in lessons, John could teach him. So far, it's going really well. Eli seems to be more interested in playing the songs rather than learning proper hand placement, posture, the notes and how to read the music, but he'll get there. He's getting the idea of it all already though. I found a couple of piano books for beginners, which are great for kids his age, and he does pretty well reading how to play some of the songs in there just from looking at the notes and the pictures of hand placement. So far he can play "Mary Had a Little Lamb", "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star", and "Ode to Joy", plus some of the other little songs in his piano books. This all started about two weeks ago, so it's pretty amazing how much he's learned in such little time! I hope the piano playing continues for Eli. It's fun to watch John teach Eli and see Eli blossom as a musician!

Eli at the Dentist

I think I've posted about Eli's "weak" teeth here before when he had his first cavity filled about 6 months ago. This week at his regular cleaning appointment, the dentist found more cavities! He had to have silver caps put on two of his molars because the cavities were taking over most of the tooth. I don't get it. We do everything we're supposed to...floss every night, brush two times a day, limit sugary foods and drinks, etc. The dentist said she doesn't doubt we do all those things, especially when I told her I've never had a cavity before. It's just the way his teeth are. The dentist did give us some hope when she said that his adult teeth could be less cavity prone and just because his baby teeth are troublesome, doesn't mean his adult teeth would be that way. Let's hope! Thankfully, Eli is a good patient and does great at the dentist. He's very cooperative, quiet, and still! He was even a good sport about his mouth being numb and having to hold gauze in his mouth for 30 min. It was pretty funny to see him try to talk when he had a numb mouth! Here are some pictures of him when they were putting on the caps.

28 weeks Pregnant

I am now 28 weeks along, officially in my third trimester. I'm feeling great, too. This little guy seems to be pretty active. I can usually tell when he's awake by all the movements and kicks, and I can also tell what position he's in, which is really cool. It's getting to where other people can tell where he is in my belly as well as see the kicks and movements!
We had a follow-up sonogram appointment yesterday to check to see if the cysts in his brain have gone away. They discovered those in my 18 week sono and weren't too concerned about it but wanted to make sure they were gone...and they are! He is looking healthy and right on track in growth...yay!
It was really amazing to have sonogram this late in the pregnancy. We saw him moving around, turning his head, opening his eyes, and opening and closing his mouth. It was like he was talking to us, but we couldn't hear him! The boys were there and at one point, Jed asked the lady where his weenie was. I guess that was the most important thing for him to see...ha!
This baby is already a big one...no surprise there. He's measuring in at 30 weeks, and he's about 4 lbs. already. The sonographer said that's to be expected considering the other almost 10 pounders I've given birth to. My midwife says I have a proven pelvis! I'm really not worried about the size. I'm proud to show off my big belly and big babies!
Here are some recent belly pics and also a picture of the sono where you can see the baby's face. His face is sideways with his eyes closed and mouth open. The picture doesn't compare to seeing it on video!

Swimming!

We've been spending a lot of time at the pool this summer since it's one of the only ways to keep cool in this crazy heat! A few weeks ago, Eli all of a sudden decided he was going to swim like a big kid. It's like something clicked and he started saying, "watch me, Mom" and he was suddenly swimming underwater and not afraid to try new things in the water. So, we decided it was a good time to put him in some lessons so he could learn the proper ways to swim with arm/leg movements, etc. and get even more comfortable in the water. It's a bit of a relief when we're at the pool now since I don't have to watch both boys like a hawk and keep both near me at all times. I still keep an eye on Eli, of course, but now I'm more confident in his swimming and safety skills in the water. Jed does pretty well in the water, too, I think he's more confident than Eli was at Jed's age. This makes me a little nervous since Jed will try things he hasn't quite mastered yet, like follow Eli into the deep end or bounce up and down, go under, and then come up coughing. I'm sure he'll get it soon enough!

Date with Eli

Eli and I got to have a fun date last week! John's work had a team building day out at Krausse Springs, so he took Jed along with him for the day since Eli had swim lessons in the morning, camp in the afternoon, and we also went to my midwife appointment (busy day!). We had some time to kill between Eli's swim lessons and my appointment, so Eli had the idea that we should go to Zilker park and ride the train and get a snow cone. Great idea! It was a little spontaneous date for us. I love hanging out with my boy! And to top it all of, I got an afternoon to myself while Eli was at camp! I went shopping and got a pedicure, complete with flowers on my toes...so nice!

Best Buddies

Eli and Boone have bonded recently. That could be because Eli is the one who feeds Boone most of the time, but maybe not. They play together, hang out together during rest time, and have lots of snuggle time. I keep remembering when Eli would take out his frustrations of having a new sibling out on Boone after Jed was born. Boone put up with a lot of pinching, hitting, and biting in those days, but now his relationship with Eli has done a complete turn around. Thankfully, Boone was willing to put up with all that. Boone's a good 'ol dog and I love seeing him and Eli together!

Eli is reading!

We have these little books called Bob Books for beginning readers. They are really short books, each with only a few letters in them to focus on so that it's easy to sound out the words. Eli has read a few books in the first set now, and is doing great! He's always asking how to spell things or what a word spells, but now we are having him sound them out. I love seeing his little mind at work!