Mountain Man

Hello from Montana! It's beautiful here. Nice and cool, although the locals say it's very hot. The weather has been sunny and in the 90's, but since the air is drier it doesn't feel as hot as the humid hot air in Austin. At least it cools down into the 50s at night, which feels great!

Eli did amazing on the trip up. He slept 45 min. on the first plane and then over an hour on the second plane. I think both plane trips were about 2 hours long. Our 6:00 AM flight got cancelled, so we got an 8:00 AM flight, which was much better. I was nervous about the plane trip, but we had no problems at all. Eli liked entertaining people and playing with the boy's hat in the seat behind us. Let's hope the trip back will be just as nice.

So far we've taken a couple hikes with John's parents, gone on some picnics in the woods, lots of site-seeing, and went to a little historical villiage in Eureka. Gramma and Grandad have a nice little house in Fortyne, MT. Eli's highlight so far has been "Uncle Orvis", Gramma and Grandad's chocolate lab.

Here are some pictures we've taken so far:





I love this hiking carrier, and so does Eli! He looks so cute in it. I think it is also relaxing for him. John says it's not too bad carrying him either.

Tomorrow we go to Glacier Park for 4 days to meet up with my sister and her family and my dad and step mom, then back with John's parents after that for a few days. More adventures and pics to come!

15 months old

FYI: this post is lengthy...I've written alot of this for me so that I can look back and remember things : )
Eli is doing so much now, it's hard to keep up! Now that he's walking like a pro he's into everything. His curiosity is bigger than ever, which means that I have to keep an eye on him 99% of the time. Now I know why I've heard that moms have eyes on the back of their heads! The Eli-proofing is never-ending. Eli's learned to climb. I walked into the kitchen to find him on the chair and getting into things on the table. So, I've taught him how to get down safely by going feet first. It's a very good thing to teach a climbing toddler. He's gotten good at it, thank goodness!


We're also trying to teach him to be gentle with things, especially Boone. We're still working on that one. Eli's also learned to throw. John and I got excited when he discovered how to throw the ball to us, but then he realized that he can throw a lot of different things. Now we're working on just throwing balls and soft toys. Another fun activity in the Perkins household lately is dancing! Eli loves to dance as do his parents! I'll have to get a good video of Eli's dancing. Eli has also become very good at flirting with the ladies. He knows how to capture their hearts by scrunching his nose and smiling that big smile with his bright blue eyes...gets 'em every time!
Here's Eli with my mom, "Mammy"...he LOVES his Mammy and even has his own sign for her!


Eli is saying about 35 or so words now and uses almost 30 signs. He tells me when he wants to go to take a nap now by pointing toward his room and saying "nai nai". He's also even gone to the rocking chair a few times and said night night. He's starting to know what he wants and discovering likes and dislikes. This is where his signing and vocabulary come in handy. Distraction and redirection are key when there is a dislike, and he's not happy about me saying no. I'm seeing him gain a little independence, but he's still very much a mamma's boy, and I love it!

Eli now has 12 teeth, including 4 molars that are visible, but not all the way in yet. This is good for eating, but not good for me b/c he likes to bite me! He only bites me and sometimes John. It's not out of anger or frustration either. I think they're love bites, but they hurt. I've got bruises all over, too. I've got to find out how to stop it.


A report from the doctor check-up: Eli is big!...no new news there. He's 33 in. tall and 26 lbs., still on the top of the charts. The big kicker is that we're pretty sure he has a peanut allergy. The doctor said that he'll most likely always be allergic, but I'm still holding out hope that he'll outgrow it. We have to get an Epi pen to have if he has a severe reaction, and we also have to go see an allergist. I'll keep you posted on that.

I'm sure there are more things I could post for 15 month accomplishments, but I can't think of more. I'll just have to be better at doing more posts to keep up with Eli!

Full Speed Ahead!

I guess I now officially have a toddler. I've held off calling him a toddler for as long as possible, but now that he's walking I guess I have no choice. His still my baby though!



Eli is practically doing laps around the house all day. This means trouble for our dog, Boone. Eli has always loved messing with Boone, but Boone has been able to get away quickly before now. Now that Eli can go after him, Boone's in trouble! Eli loves the game of "chasing" Boone and trying to give him things. Boone gets very annoyed, which worries us a little. So we might have to figure out another game, or teach them how to play nicely. Eli's excitement when he "plays" with Boone is pretty funny, though.

Don't worry, Eli's okay after his fall at the end of the video.


Here's Eli and Boone playing Hide and Seek:

Problem Solving

Eli figured out how to pick up his food without letting go of the balls. Impressive!

Backyard Fun

I thought it was going to be fun this summer hanging out in the backyard with Eli in the kiddie pool. Well it is fun hanging out in the backyard, but the interest in the kiddie pool only lasts maybe 5 minutes. Now that Eli is walking and able to explore, he wants to go see everything in and around the yard. So I spend my time following him around, talking about what he discovers, telling him not to put it in his mouth, and then dipping him in the pool to clean him off. Not exactly a relaxing time in the pool but still fun. I guess that's my life now...chasing my toddler around!




These pictures are from a playgroup we had in our backyard. One of the moms brought this cool play mat that shoots water up. Eli sat right in the middle of it and loved it!

14 months old

Another month has quickly flown by, and my baby is now 14 months old. As you saw on the last post, he's now walking. He's still testing the waters in that area because his preferred mode of transportation is still crawling...as of today. I know that will change quickly! He is becoming such a little person with a big personality. His latest thing now is scrunching his nose and smiling at the ladies to make them laugh and think he's real cute. What a flirt!

He is still learning words and signs like crazy. I can't keep up anymore. We're to the point where we have to be careful what we say around Eli because he'll try to repeat it. For example, we were in the car today and John said "shoot" and we heard "shuh" from the back seat. Eli's favorite thing to say lately is "bi tuh" for big truck. He says it over and over like "bi tuh bi tuh". He'll also say a list of the kinds of trucks, which I don't always understand, but every other word is "tuh"...so cute!


Golf balls are also a hit. He's fallen asleep holding his golf ball a couple times. I guess they're the perfect size for his little hands to hold. We also started a music class called "I Hear the World Singing". It's a class for toddlers where we get to sing songs, dance, and play instruments. We've had one class so far, and Eli loved it. He was giving his shakers to everyone...a little social butterfly!



Eli is also working on his molars coming in. I discovered the two little sharp molars on his upper gums a couple nights ago after he wouldn't go back to sleep for 4 hours! It took me awhile to figure it out, but after a little Tylenol, he was out and relieved! We also had a little red flag when Eli broke out in a rash all around his mouth and all over his body after I gave him a tiny bit of peanut butter cookie. So, no peanuts for him probably for a few years. I'm hoping he'll outgrow that and not have a peanut allergy.

Other than that, life is good! We're having lots of fun! I love this stage in Eli's life. Why does it have to go by so fast?

A Step in the Right Direction

This past Sunday Eli thought he'd see what walking might be like. He took a few steps on his own, and John and I looked at each other like "Did we just see that?". Ever since then, Eli's been practicing and perfecting this skill off and on. He's not walking across the room yet, just taking some steps and trying it out for now. His face is so cute when he's walking because you can tell he's so excited and proud!

Recent videos

Here are some videos I've captured of Eli's talking, signing, and playing. It's harder than you think!

This is Eli saying ball:


Here's Eli walking behind his truck and also calling for Dada:


This is Eli doing the sign for flower and all done:


Eli says bird "buh" and does the sign for bird (watch his right hand):


And here he is waiting for the trash truck:

Road Trip

Eli and I went to Dallas this week to visit my family, and we had lots of fun! Eli is learning so many words these days that I had to write them down while we were there. He's learned about 10 words and 3 signs since Monday when we got there. Here are some pictures of our trip. It was so fun to spend time with family. I wish we lived closer so we could see each other more!

This is bathtime with cousins Grayson and Garrett. They had lots of fun being boys and sticking their faces in the water and blowing bubbles for Eli. Eli even said "buh buh".




Eli wanted to go in the pool, but quickly discovered that he did not like the cold water! Grandpa was a sport and got in with the boys. Eli said "ba" for splash, or he might have been trying to say pool, I couldn't quite tell. He would point or look at the pool and say it, so he had the association. Watching his cousins splash in the pool was lots of fun for Eli!


We also took a trip to the Owens farm and saw lots of animals. We fed the goats, sheep, ducks, and longhorn. Eli loved the goats and was laughing at them. We also got to go on a hayride that was pulled by a tractor. Eli was amazed by the tractor the whole ride. We also got to see turkeys, chickens and horses. Eli said two new words at the farm: duck and tractor. Too cute! Unfortunately, I forgot my camera, so I don't have pictures right now. My sister took some, so I'll post those later.

Mommy

I know I'm a mom when:
~my days are scheduled around nap time
~I look forward to trash day b/c of the TRASH TRUCK!
~I start to get excited and point out the trucks when I'm in the car by myself
~I begin to cut my food into little pieces before I eat it
~I sign or repeat everything I see
~I have the songs from Eli's toys in my head
~I wave bye-bye to another adult

These are just some of the things that I've done that remind me that I'm a mom...yes, I still have to have a reality check sometimes!

Here are some pictures of my mothers day at the park. We had fun playing and riding the train. John barely fit!

13 months old

Eli is officially 13 months old today. He's still very active and curious as ever. He's into everything and is still crawling everywhere...he's quick! He's started bear-crawling on his hands and feet with his bottom up in the air. That takes some skill! He's also a little sponge, taking in language like crazy. Eli says about 15 words now and signs about 13. It seems like lately he's been learning a new word each day. I love it! He's still very into trucks. "Tuh" is the word we hear most often. He now says "trash truck", which sounds something like "ta tuh". His words usually have the beginning sound and the correct vowel sound for sure, so they're somewhat recognizable. I love seeing him recognize things, realize that they have a name, and then sign or say the words. Maybe it's the speech pathologist in me, I don't know, but it's so fun to see! Another word Eli has learned is "no". Whenever I've told him no, he'll go back to what he was doing (usually climbing on top of the fireplace hearth), and before he gets into trouble, he'll say "na na" and look at me...he knows! I've taken so many videos lately, so I can't post them all. I'll have to post some later. It's hard to keep the blog updated with all Eli's doing!
Here are some of his favorite activities: playing in Boone's bed, riding in our friend Stephanie's truck, playing with "his" pots and pans, and looking outside for trucks.

TRUCKS

Eli has been all about trucks lately. It seems like all I hear is "tuh" all day long, it's great. He likes to practice saying it all the time...as soon as he wakes up, when he's eating, when he's playing, and also when he actually sees or hears a truck, too. He recognizes all types now and knows what they sound like. As I mentioned before, car trips are very fun because there are alot of trucks to spot, and pickups count, so they're everywhere! I think Mammy is the one who taught Eli about trucks when she was here for his birthday and was sitting with him in the backseat pointing out all the trucks. I think that's when he started saying "tuh". The highlight of his week is when the trash truck comes. This week when we went outside to watch the trash truck, he was in awe. He just stared with wide eyes, mouth hanging open, and completely silent. Eli's cousin Grayson also loved trash trucks when he was about the same age. So cute! I hope you can hear him say it in the video...you have to listen closely.

Makeover

Since it is the second year of Eli's blog, I thought it would be appropriate and refreshing to update it a bit and change the look of it. I'm not very computer-savvy, so this took me FOREVER, WAY too long! After I was very frustrated and thought I'd messed it all up and lost everything, John came to the rescue and fixed it. My hero! I hope you like it because I don't want to try to change it back. Change is good!

Big Time

For Eli's birthday, I turned his car seat around to face forward. This is a big milestone for him...well maybe more for me. He's been in his "big boy" carseat since he was 6 months because he outgrew the baby carrier that was supposed to last until he was one. The car seat has had to face backwards, but now that he's one he can turn around and see the road and everything around him from a new perspective! How exciting! He absolutely loved it. Trucks are much easier to spot now. All I heard from the backseat was "tuh" and giggles. Eighteen wheelers are very exciting! I got some pictures, but don't worry, John was driving when I took them.

Birthday Zoo Trip

Eli and I took a trip to the Austin zoo for his birthday. It was his first time to go to the zoo, and he loved it! To him, the trees were just as amazing as the tigers! He kept trying to tell me what he saw by lifting his hand up and saying "duh". I think his favorite animals were the goats. As soon as he saw them he started mooing, which is what he does when he sees a cow. They're similar to cows, right? He loved it when the goats talked back! It was a fun birthday for both of us. I hope to continue the special Mommy/Eli time for his birthdays to come. I'm thankful for times like those.

Eli is 1 year old today!!

Can you believe it? I can't! He's so much fun right now...now that the teething has subsided! He's on the move...crawling and content with that for now. His language is taking off, and he's becoming quite the communicator. He's trying to repeat alot of words, and they actually sound recognizable. The most recent favorites are: truck, book, and Boone. He's still signing, too. I love when he is babbling in long "sentences" while looking strait at me with wide eyes like I'm supposed to know exactly what he's telling me. I of coarse I act like I know and have a conversation with him.






We had Eli's birthday party this past Saturday, which was supposed to be at the park...ha! We had to move it to my house due to the weather. I can't believe it was sleeting that day!! We had the party with Ellaiden, our friend who was born the day after Eli. We had about 40 people at the party, and it was so fun.


The best part was watching the two kiddos smear cake all over their faces. Well, Ellaiden wasn't too into the cake, but Eli had chocolate cake all over him. He loved it! He was overwhelmed with all the people in his house at first and was a little clingy to me, but after he got his cupcake, he was happy! He was attached to my hairbrush that day, so I let him have it for comfort since he was overwhelmed. Therefore, most of the pictures at his party, he has his brush. I'll be explaining that to him when he's older and looking at the pictures. Thanks to all who came to the party inspite of the weather and for all the fun gifts!

We also had a baby dedication at our church's Easter service. Eli and his three best friends (Ellaiden, Cash, and Naomi) all were dedicated together. It was very special and meaningful. I'm very thankful that we have them and their parents as friends. Thanks for being our friends!

Dancin' Machine

This is hilarious!

Signs and Books

Eli is now signing and trying to say words. He signs more, drink, dog, light, and all done. If he wants to sign something but doesn't know how, he just moves around his hand in a circle. He says 'deh' when he's happy or thinks something is funny, says dada to John, and says 'buh' for book and Boone. Sometimes he says mama to me, but only after I say it, so I think he's just repeating. He also loves books right now. He likes to turn the pages, touch things in the books, and is content sitting in our laps listening to us read. That is, as long as it's the book he wants to read!
He'll pick up the books he likes and hand them to us, it's great. I hope the interest in books lasts. He's also into cows lately. He'll point to a picture of a cow and say "hmmmmm", like it's mooing. I love to see him make the connections. It'll be fun to hear him talk!

This video demonstrates his side-stepping abilities. The motivation is to get the books!