Eli & Mia
Jed & Eleanor
Jed & Cousin Grayson
Jed saying "uh oh"
Saturday, September 26, 2009
Jed turns 1!
This past Tuesday, the 22nd, Jed officially turned ONE! It is hard to believe. Where did the year go? We had a small party last Sunday with family and friends at our house. Jed loved all the attention!
Eli & Mia
Jed & Eleanor
Jed & Cousin Grayson
Jed saying "uh oh"
Eli & Mia
Jed & Eleanor
Jed & Cousin Grayson
Jed saying "uh oh"
Wednesday, September 16, 2009
Trash Truck Dance
Last weekend John and Eli got to go to see The Trash Project, a performance where trash trucks, cranes, dead animal pick-up trucks, and other trucks were choreographed to music. They had actual city workers driving and operating the trucks, and the music was all live. Read more about it here http://www.forkliftdanceworks.org/projects/trash_project/
It was Eli's dream come true! It got rave reviews. Apparently you didn't have to be 3 years old to think it was amazing. John said it was one of the coolest things he's seen as did other people who went. They had to turn away close to 1,000 people! Only in Austin would people be excited about seeing trucks dance to music!
It was Eli's dream come true! It got rave reviews. Apparently you didn't have to be 3 years old to think it was amazing. John said it was one of the coolest things he's seen as did other people who went. They had to turn away close to 1,000 people! Only in Austin would people be excited about seeing trucks dance to music!
Thursday, September 10, 2009
I Stink
This is Eli reciting a whole book, almost word for word. The book is "I Stink" by Kate & Jim McMullan. We checked it out at the library and it came with a CD to follow along with while reading. Needless to say, Eli absolutely loves this book and has memorized it! We might have to purchase this one. I read that memorizing books like Eli does is a pre-reading skill. We can't skip any pages or any words while we read books to him anymore. I think learning to read might be in Eli's near future! We better get busy!
Silly Jed
Jed likes to make us laugh! Lately he's been putting food on his head. Not smearing it in his hair as much, just placing on top of his head and then waiting for a laugh from us.
He's also figured out how to play the kazoo. It's hillarious when he crawls around with it in his mouth while playing it. That's talent! Maybe we have a musician on our hands!
He's also figured out how to play the kazoo. It's hillarious when he crawls around with it in his mouth while playing it. That's talent! Maybe we have a musician on our hands!
Dress Up
Eli loves to dress up like any 3 year old should. Last week, I found the perfect fireman costume at Costco. It seems authentic...the colors, the material, the hooks on the coat, the reflective stripes, the red suspenders, even the built in gloves on the coat. It is the perfect fireman costume, and I think Eli would agree. He's worn some part of the costume every day since I got it. He calls it his fireman gear, which is appropriate. As you might notice, he and Freddy the Fire dog match now!
We found another jump house called Locomotion Inflatables that is about 2 minutes from our house! I like it much better than Goin' Bananas because of the layout, better baby area, and the dress up area. They have rooms for the kids to pretend and dress up, like a little town. There's a vet, a diner, a theatre, a grocery store, and a mechanic shop. Eli spends most of his time in that area and takes breaks to jump. We meet friends there every Wednesday to play. It's funny because it seems like every time I look up to check on Eli, he's dressed as something different! I got some pictures of him as the veterinarian. I wish I had some of him as a chef and Scooby Doo, too.
We found another jump house called Locomotion Inflatables that is about 2 minutes from our house! I like it much better than Goin' Bananas because of the layout, better baby area, and the dress up area. They have rooms for the kids to pretend and dress up, like a little town. There's a vet, a diner, a theatre, a grocery store, and a mechanic shop. Eli spends most of his time in that area and takes breaks to jump. We meet friends there every Wednesday to play. It's funny because it seems like every time I look up to check on Eli, he's dressed as something different! I got some pictures of him as the veterinarian. I wish I had some of him as a chef and Scooby Doo, too.
Wednesday, August 26, 2009
Say What?
Jed has officially said his first word! I always thought a baby's first word would be obvious, but it really isn't. It wasn't with both my boys at least. The signs helped me out. Jed's first word is "dog"! Right now he says "dah" or "duh" and points to a lot of things. However I know he's saying 'dog' when he sees dogs because he also does the sign (patting on your leg like calling a dog to come). He's said and signed it when he saw a dog on tv, when he was watching our friend's dog, and he does it all the time when he watches our dog, Boone. I will try to get a video of him saying/signing 'dog' soon.
Jed also signs "more" and "all done" as well as says Mama to me and Dada to John. I got a quick video of him signing more. He just touches his hands together...look close!
Jed also signs "more" and "all done" as well as says Mama to me and Dada to John. I got a quick video of him signing more. He just touches his hands together...look close!
Jed's Newest Tricks
Get ready for some videos! Jed is now 11 months old, and he's doing new stuff everyday, I can't keep up! I feel like I say that in almost every post about him, but it's true. His personality is shining through for sure. He loves to make us laugh and loves to be mobile. So here are the latest tricks:
Playing peekaboo...he used to do it by putting his hands on his ears or head because his hands just couldn't quite make it to his face. He's got it down, now.
Dancing to music...stomping and bouncing...good moves!
Walking and pushing the walker:
Here he is doing his fake laugh:
Playing peekaboo...he used to do it by putting his hands on his ears or head because his hands just couldn't quite make it to his face. He's got it down, now.
Dancing to music...stomping and bouncing...good moves!
Walking and pushing the walker:
Here he is doing his fake laugh:
Monday, August 24, 2009
Our Date
Eli and I have started going on dates every so often, just me and him. It is very refreshing for both of us. Sometimes, I miss the days when it was just me and Eli ( think he does too), so going on special dates is a good way to still have that time together. I absolutely love it. That quality time makes a huge difference in his behavior, too! I need to remember this!
Last Sunday we went to Build-a-Bear at the mall for the first time. It's a store where you do just that, build a bear...or other animal. I've learned that Eli is very decisive, unlike me. We walked in, he chose the puppy dog right away, then we picked his voice (a bark), then we got to see him get stuffed. Eli stepped on the pedal to make the stuffing machine go, and he got to choose a heart to put in his puppy. After he was stuffed and fluffed, he chose clothes for his puppy. Once again, he was very decisive and went straight to the fireman jacket, pants, boots, and helmet. Once the puppy was dressed in his gear, Eli chose a name...Freddy. Freddy the Firedog. Freddy is top dog now in Eli's world. He's definitely well taken care of. Freddy also has quite a personality. So cute!
I'm looking forward to our next date, and so is Eli!
Last Sunday we went to Build-a-Bear at the mall for the first time. It's a store where you do just that, build a bear...or other animal. I've learned that Eli is very decisive, unlike me. We walked in, he chose the puppy dog right away, then we picked his voice (a bark), then we got to see him get stuffed. Eli stepped on the pedal to make the stuffing machine go, and he got to choose a heart to put in his puppy. After he was stuffed and fluffed, he chose clothes for his puppy. Once again, he was very decisive and went straight to the fireman jacket, pants, boots, and helmet. Once the puppy was dressed in his gear, Eli chose a name...Freddy. Freddy the Firedog. Freddy is top dog now in Eli's world. He's definitely well taken care of. Freddy also has quite a personality. So cute!
I'm looking forward to our next date, and so is Eli!
Thursday, August 13, 2009
Colorado Vacation
The first week in August, we went to Colorado. It was beautiful as always and perfect weather...highs in the 70s and lows in the 40s. Every time we go there, John says we need to move there. We'll see about that. This year was John's family reunion year (they get together every 3 years), so we all got a huge cabin together at the YMCA camp in Estes Park and stayed there for the week (Mon-Fri). There is so much to blog about, so I will give a day by day summary. I'll try to make it brief. We have a lot of pictures, so I did another slide show. You can pause it and take a closer look of the pictures if you want.
We arrived in Denver on Saturday afternoon. The boys did great on the plane there and back, by the way. Thankfully, they are good travelers. We were planning on staying with our friends, Brandon and Amy, at their house in Denver, but they had a gas leak at their house a few days before our arrival and no hot water. So, we changed plans and all went to Amy's parent's house in Loveland for the weekend. It worked out for the best because her parents have a llama farm and a house with plenty of space for all of us. Not to mention, Loveland is on the way to Estes Park. While we were there, we got to take the llamas for a walk around their place. Eli loved it! He thought it was really cool to do by himself. He was very comfortable and confident around the llamas. They also had a front loader and tractor at the farm, which Eli got to sit in and "drive". I don't know which was more exciting for Eli, the trucks or the llamas! Jed also got some play time with Brandon and Amy's little girl, Liza, who is 2 months older than Jed. They got along well!
We arrived in Estes Park on Monday, and everyone got settled in at the big cabin. It was Gramma and Grandad, our family, Aunt Courtney, Uncle Cliff, Vivian, Emma, Uncle Steve, Aunt Laura, Will, Alex, Uncle Dan, and Aunt Lisa. We all took a night or morning to cook for everyone and all took turns cleaning. It worked out well. Eli had fun playing with Will and Alex, who are 6 months younger than him. They spent most of the time at the cabin outside "working" with their trucks. Vivian and Emma (10 and almost 9 yrs. old) had fun playing, too, but mostly stayed out of the way of the boys. The girls had some books by Roald Dahl, which Eli really enjoyed listening to. They are chapter books and don't have many pictures, so I'm surprised Eli liked them so much. We'll have to get our own copies to read to him.
On Tuesday, we had a family picture taken in the morning, which was a success. In the afternoon, we took Eli to play putt putt. He was much more interested in it than last year. I played while I wore Jed in the Ergo carrier and won! I'll add that to the long list of 'things I can do while wearing Jed' list.
Wednesday, we went with Steve, Laura and their boys on a short, easy, beautiful hike around Sprague Lake. They let us borrow their hiking backpack for Jed, and he loved it! I think he liked that he was tall and could see over John's shoulder. He smiled the whole time. About halfway through all the boys got hungry, so it was effort to make it around the lake. However, after we made it to the picnic tables, it was all better.
Wednesday night, we all went on a hayride with a wagon that was pulled by two horses. I forgot what type of horses they were, but they were bigger than horses I've seen. Their names were Nitro and Glycerin. The hayride included a campfire and marshmallow roast halfway through, along with two coyboys telling stories about cowboy magic. I loved that we were cold and needed jackets! One of my favorite pictures is of Dan roasting his marshmallow. Good technique, Dan!
The next morning, we got to go on a horseback ride. Courtney, Cliff, the girls, Steve and Alex, Dan and Lisa (Lisa's first time to ride a horse!), and me and Eli we on the ride. Eli rode on the horse with me. Our horse's name was Tonto. I wasn't sure how he would like it, especially since it was an hour ride, but he did great. At the end, I asked him if he like it and he said that he liked the hayride better because it didn't hurt his weeny and booty. Now that's good blackmail material!
Thursday night, we ended our stay at the cabin with a family campfire outside. I even found gluten free graham crackers so that I could actually enjoy a real s'more for once! It was a perfect way to end our stay there.
On our way out of Estes on Friday, we went to the go kart place and rode go karts, bumper boats, and the kiddie train. This year, Eli cried the whole time while riding the go karts because he wanted to ride in a red car instead of a purple car. Oh well! John's in all these pictures because I was wearing Jed in the Ergo trying to get him to take a nap the whole time...he never napped by the way. After we played at the go kart place, we ate lunch and had ice cream in down town Estes.
Friday night, we were back in Denver. We stayed at Steve and Laura's house. It was a nice, relaxing evening just hanging out with them and letting the boys play. We were all worn out by then!
Saturday, we boarded the plane and came home! All in all it was a fun time! We can't wait to go back!
We arrived in Denver on Saturday afternoon. The boys did great on the plane there and back, by the way. Thankfully, they are good travelers. We were planning on staying with our friends, Brandon and Amy, at their house in Denver, but they had a gas leak at their house a few days before our arrival and no hot water. So, we changed plans and all went to Amy's parent's house in Loveland for the weekend. It worked out for the best because her parents have a llama farm and a house with plenty of space for all of us. Not to mention, Loveland is on the way to Estes Park. While we were there, we got to take the llamas for a walk around their place. Eli loved it! He thought it was really cool to do by himself. He was very comfortable and confident around the llamas. They also had a front loader and tractor at the farm, which Eli got to sit in and "drive". I don't know which was more exciting for Eli, the trucks or the llamas! Jed also got some play time with Brandon and Amy's little girl, Liza, who is 2 months older than Jed. They got along well!
We arrived in Estes Park on Monday, and everyone got settled in at the big cabin. It was Gramma and Grandad, our family, Aunt Courtney, Uncle Cliff, Vivian, Emma, Uncle Steve, Aunt Laura, Will, Alex, Uncle Dan, and Aunt Lisa. We all took a night or morning to cook for everyone and all took turns cleaning. It worked out well. Eli had fun playing with Will and Alex, who are 6 months younger than him. They spent most of the time at the cabin outside "working" with their trucks. Vivian and Emma (10 and almost 9 yrs. old) had fun playing, too, but mostly stayed out of the way of the boys. The girls had some books by Roald Dahl, which Eli really enjoyed listening to. They are chapter books and don't have many pictures, so I'm surprised Eli liked them so much. We'll have to get our own copies to read to him.
On Tuesday, we had a family picture taken in the morning, which was a success. In the afternoon, we took Eli to play putt putt. He was much more interested in it than last year. I played while I wore Jed in the Ergo carrier and won! I'll add that to the long list of 'things I can do while wearing Jed' list.
Wednesday, we went with Steve, Laura and their boys on a short, easy, beautiful hike around Sprague Lake. They let us borrow their hiking backpack for Jed, and he loved it! I think he liked that he was tall and could see over John's shoulder. He smiled the whole time. About halfway through all the boys got hungry, so it was effort to make it around the lake. However, after we made it to the picnic tables, it was all better.
Wednesday night, we all went on a hayride with a wagon that was pulled by two horses. I forgot what type of horses they were, but they were bigger than horses I've seen. Their names were Nitro and Glycerin. The hayride included a campfire and marshmallow roast halfway through, along with two coyboys telling stories about cowboy magic. I loved that we were cold and needed jackets! One of my favorite pictures is of Dan roasting his marshmallow. Good technique, Dan!
The next morning, we got to go on a horseback ride. Courtney, Cliff, the girls, Steve and Alex, Dan and Lisa (Lisa's first time to ride a horse!), and me and Eli we on the ride. Eli rode on the horse with me. Our horse's name was Tonto. I wasn't sure how he would like it, especially since it was an hour ride, but he did great. At the end, I asked him if he like it and he said that he liked the hayride better because it didn't hurt his weeny and booty. Now that's good blackmail material!
Thursday night, we ended our stay at the cabin with a family campfire outside. I even found gluten free graham crackers so that I could actually enjoy a real s'more for once! It was a perfect way to end our stay there.
On our way out of Estes on Friday, we went to the go kart place and rode go karts, bumper boats, and the kiddie train. This year, Eli cried the whole time while riding the go karts because he wanted to ride in a red car instead of a purple car. Oh well! John's in all these pictures because I was wearing Jed in the Ergo trying to get him to take a nap the whole time...he never napped by the way. After we played at the go kart place, we ate lunch and had ice cream in down town Estes.
Friday night, we were back in Denver. We stayed at Steve and Laura's house. It was a nice, relaxing evening just hanging out with them and letting the boys play. We were all worn out by then!
Saturday, we boarded the plane and came home! All in all it was a fun time! We can't wait to go back!
Tuesday, August 11, 2009
Give me an E!
Give me an L! Give me an I! What does that spell...Eli! Eli has learned to write his name! He can also sign his name, which is pretty cool, I think. There are advantages to having a name with 3 letters!
A Boy and His Truck
We have a truck that we share with our friend, Tim. The truck is named Sid, short for St. Isidro, the patron saint of farming. Sid mainly helps us out with gardening projects and other house projects, too. Eli has become very close with Sid. They play together a lot. Eli loves getting in Sid and pretending to put out fires, drive Boone places, go to work, and many other things. So, here are some pictures of Eli and his buddy, Sid.
Monday, August 10, 2009
Mr. Jed
Poor Jed is not going to have as much pictures or videos of his childhood as Eli. That's just the way it goes with the second kid, right? He's changing and growing so fast, it's just hard to keep up! Jed is going to be 11 months old at the end of this month, and I'm already thinking about 1st birthday plans! That's crazy to me!
Jed is crawling on hands and knees like a pro and can get anywhere he wants, pretty much. He loves the water, especially the toilet water. Whenever we can't find him in the house, he's usually in the bathroom either in the empty bathtub or at the toilet trying to open it if it isn't already. We are trying to remind Eli to flush and close the lid when he's done because we've found Jed splashing in toilet water that hasn't been flushed...I know eeewww! Jed is also talking, well really babbling, but it sounds like he's trying to say words. He acts like we should know what he's saying. He points to things and says, "duh". He's very vocal and likes to scream, too. He waves hi and bye. Jed also cruises, which I think is the term for when he pulls up on things and then side-steps along. We've also seen him let go and stand for a few seconds. I'm really trying not to encourage walking yet. I'm just not ready for that yet. He mobile enough as it is! Plus, Mammy says crawling is good for brain development.
I will try to get some videos of his latest skills and post them soon. His little personality is starting to show, and I can't wait to see more of it!
Here are some pictures of Jed's crazy hair (he likes to smear his food in his hair) and pics of him playing the piano. I like the rock star faces...he really gets into it!
Jed is crawling on hands and knees like a pro and can get anywhere he wants, pretty much. He loves the water, especially the toilet water. Whenever we can't find him in the house, he's usually in the bathroom either in the empty bathtub or at the toilet trying to open it if it isn't already. We are trying to remind Eli to flush and close the lid when he's done because we've found Jed splashing in toilet water that hasn't been flushed...I know eeewww! Jed is also talking, well really babbling, but it sounds like he's trying to say words. He acts like we should know what he's saying. He points to things and says, "duh". He's very vocal and likes to scream, too. He waves hi and bye. Jed also cruises, which I think is the term for when he pulls up on things and then side-steps along. We've also seen him let go and stand for a few seconds. I'm really trying not to encourage walking yet. I'm just not ready for that yet. He mobile enough as it is! Plus, Mammy says crawling is good for brain development.
I will try to get some videos of his latest skills and post them soon. His little personality is starting to show, and I can't wait to see more of it!
Here are some pictures of Jed's crazy hair (he likes to smear his food in his hair) and pics of him playing the piano. I like the rock star faces...he really gets into it!
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