Workin' Hard

Eli's latest pastime is working in the yard. There is a bed of dirt around the tree in our front yard, which is now a construction site for Eli's trucks. He usually wears his yellow rubber boots for working out there. It's very serious business! I guess there's a method to the madness because I've unknowingly walked through or stepped on some of his projects, and he's gotten very upset. I know now to ask what he's got going on before I walk near it. I love watching the creativity and imagination while he's working. He looks good in a cap, doesn't he?

Jed's latest accomplishments

So Jed is now 8 months! He has four teeth with two more coming soon. Jed is very mobile although he's not crawling yet. He scoots all over the house, and I mean all over! I wish he would crawl instead of scoot because his tummy gets so dirty, not to mention all the tiny things he finds to put in his mouth while scooting around. He is seriously like a little vacuum. There's no way I can keep the floors clean enough! I'm expecting crawling to come any day.

The past few days, he's been trying to pull up on things and crawl up and over stuf. A couple days ago, I stood him up on the ottoman, and he was so proud of himself for being able to stand there by himself. See his proud face? Cute!


Jed is also babbling more and more. He says Mama and Dada and some other consonant sounds and other rasberry-like sounds, too. He constantly experiments with noises, loud and soft, but mostly loud! He also recognizes his name now when we call his name.
He's eating lots of food lately. Jed likes baby food but he loves when I give him finger foods. Tofu is his favorite lately, but avocado has always been on the top of the list.









Jed loves jumping! He has little frog legs. Here he is in his jumpy seat:

There are many firsts each day with Jed. I can't keep up!

Mr. Talkative

Here's just a glimpse of the way Eli can ramble on about anything and everything. He also has a big imagination! These videos are very long, but I thought they were worth posting. I know the gradparents will enjoy!

Just havin' fun

Here are some recent pictures of the boys playing and being silly.

Swim Lessons

Eli completed his first swim lessons last week! I think we accomplished our goal of just getting comfortable in the water. Eli has never liked the water, not even as a baby, so I wasn't sure how the lessons would work. He didn't even get in the water the first couple days. He just sat on the top step while the other kids were fully under water and participating in class. He ended up in a class with 4 other boys who were a little older. I thought this would help him get motivated to swim, but that wasn't the case. Eli's teacher was very patient with him and knew when to push him and what motivated him. Eli was always happy to go each day, which was a plus. I think after the first couple days, he tried something new each day. He waited until the very last day to put his face in the water. It was the last skill he needed to pass the class. So, all in all, it was a success! I signed him up for the next level in July. I'm sure he'll be much improved by then because I'm planning on getting lots of practice!

Moony

Moony is Eli's nickname for Jed. We have no idea where it came from. I think it's pretty cute, though. When I found out we were having two boys, I was looking forward to them being able to play together and entertain each other. I just didn't realize it would be so soon. Jed is almost always entertained by watching Eli. And Eli loves entertaining Jed by singing to him, giving him toys, taking toys away "to keep him safe", making faces or noises, and dancing for him. Sometimes Eli loves his Moony a little too much! Poor little Jed gets hugged or squeezed too hard, or knocked over, or pinched, etc., but I guess that comes with the territory. Jed's learning to be tough while Eli's learning to be gentle, and Mama's learning the balance! Ah, boys!

On the move...or not

I was beginning to think that Jed was going to skip the stage where he would just sit and stay in one spot and play with toys around him. I thought this because he's been rolling and scooting for a couple months now and really getting good and mobile. Lately, he's even been getting up on his knees and rocking like he's getting ready to take of and crawl. He's also become so good at scooting that I'll put him down in one spot and a few minutes later, he has scooted all the way back to me in another room. Here are a couple videos of Jed's mobility:


However, I was getting a little worried because Jed was able to move and scoot but not able to sit up by himself yet...until last week. I started to set him down sitting up instead of on his belly so he could practice balancing, and I guess it worked. Jed will now sit up and play in one spot for several minutes. It's a nice break for me right now! I'm glad he didn't skip this stage because I needed a little break from all the action. Maybe Jed feels the same...until he starts crawling!

Just Swingin'

Jed has now discovered the joys of the swing. I put him in the swing in our front yard, and he immediately started belly laughing and shaking his arms and legs in excitement. So cute! Of course, when I tried to get it on video, he stopped. Here is a picture, though.

Easter Eggs

Our Easter weekend was so busy with Eli's birthday party, Jed's dedication, and other festivities that we never got to dye eggs. So, last week, we got to finally dye eggs...actually we painted them. Better late than never, right?

Jed's Dedication

I never mentioned that on Easter Sunday, Jed got dedicated at church. It was a special time where all the parents with new babies come up to the front and the pastors say a little something about them and then the church as well as the parents commit to raising them as a gift from God. Jed did great...no spit up or crying. He just looked around and smiled the whole time. He was the oldest of the four babies. The others were all girls, 5 weeks old, 6 days old, and 4 days old! Jed looked huge compared to them! The pastor made a comment about how big Jed was and that he was definitely a Perkins boy, but 5 or 6 months is a huge size difference when your a baby! I like having big boys, though! Unfortunately our pictures didn't turn out b/c they are all very dark. But here's one of us at church afterward.

Eli's Brand New Bike

Our present for Eli's 3rd birthday was a big boy bike. Our friend Kansas helped us get the perfect bike for Eli, custom made! Kansas likes to build bikes and fix them up. Eli loves it. It has training wheels, but he won't need them much longer. So, here it is!



Here's Grandpa helping Eli. This was the day after Eli got the bike. Now, Eli doesn't like any help with it. He says he can do it all by himself, and he can, for the most part!

Eli's 3rd birthday party!

We had a party at one of Eli's favorite places, Goin' Bananas. I scheduled it on his actual birthday, which was on Good Friday this year. It was much cheaper to do a weekday party there, so it worked out great! About 20 of Eli's friends came, and they had a blast! I made a cake according to Eli's very specific request: a chocolate cake with chocolate icing and a dump truck, a front loader, and an excavator on top. The cake as well as the party was a success! I now have a 3 year old??

House Addition

Our house is about done! The shelves in the closets are being installed now and then painted, then it's pretty much done! It's been quite an adventure includung ups and downs but very worth it. I think it's taken about 6 weeks to complete, which isn't bad. Now, on to cleaning and organizing!

I tried this slide show since there were several pictures,so hope you like it!

I think he likes it!

A couple weeks ago Jed ate some solid food for the first time. I gave him mashed bananas mixed with a little Mama's milk. As usual, he just smiled and seemed to like it just fine!