Eli's latest

Having enough hair to have a bad hair day!

Playing with Dada's bike helmet.



Playing with my little cars and trucks...and holding three at one time!

Being a couch potato, and eating a snack on the couch.

17 months

As of Monday, Eli is now 17 months old. Our baby boy is becoming a big boy! He's into everything and likes to run everywhere and climb on everything. I think he's realizing his independence more, too. He's able to let us know what he wants by talking or signing or pointing...most of the time. He's a good little communicator! Two words that I hear often are "neh, nuh" (no) or "doouh" (look). He's got "no" down for sure. Eli's version of "no" sounds very polite, his pitch goes up like he's asking a question, and it also sounds like he's stuttering a little. You have to hear it. Like most 17 month olds, Eli doesn't like to be told no. Therefore, his fits have evolved in the last month into more of a fit, but that's expected, I guess. It's still pretty easy to distract him though. Also, now when I tell him no or catch him doing something he knows he's not supposed to do, he'll look right at me with a cheesy grin and wave. It's really hard to keep my stern mommy face on after that!

He's also entering the phase where he wants to do things himself. This is a learning process for all of us because either he'll get frustrated if he can't quite do something, or I'll be surprised when he does do something successfully without my help. One example is that he now likes to eat a whole apple by himself and feel like a big boy. He can eat about half of the apple, then I have to finish it off. I'm surprised and amazed at his new-found capabilities every day.

I feel like this month has been full of travels, as you've seen on the blog. It's been tiring, but nice because Eli's has had many new things to see and learn and several "firsts" for him as well. It's been nice to feel like we can get out and do more things as he gets older. One thing that's been nice for our car trips is that Eli can keep himself pretty well entertained with books. He likes to "read" them himself as you see in the picture. I love hearing him jabber about the books and tell us what he's looking at.
I think I've done a pretty good job of keeping the blog updated with Eli activity lately, so I'll try to keep up this month! Whew!

South Padre vacation

We had a blast at the beach! Eli's favorite thing to do was play in the sand. I think the water was a little scary for him, but at least he tried it out with me holding him. There was also a dump truck dumping sand at our hotel one day and a front end loader tractor another day, so it was like Eli heaven with trucks and playing in the sand. He also ate a few mouth-fulls of sand, of coarse! Mammy was also his favorite this trip. He wanted to be with Mammy all the time, which was fine with me! The weather was great and we didn't really get sunburned. Eli even kept his hat and sunglasses on the whole time at the beach. I was very surprised at that! We also got to go to a sea turtle rescue place where we saw several different types of sea turtles. This was cousin Grayson and Garrett's favorite, I think...well, maybe boogie boarding, which they are very good at, by the way!
We also got to take a day trip to Reynosa, Mexico on Sunday. Mammy has some friends there, who happen to be nuns. Mammy had donated some money for a playground at the Catholic center they have, and we went there to celebrate the opening of the playground. It was a very special time. Eli was a trooper once again b/c it was so miserably hot and there was no a/c! We forgave him ahead of time for any fussiness. Before we left Mexico, we went for a short trip to the market, which was a fun experience, too. Eli's highlight of Mexico was seeing their trash truck. It was a cart pulled by two donkeys!
All in all it was a great time. Thanks, Mammy, for a wonderful vacation, and Happy Birthday! I think we'll be staying home for awhile now because we are worn out from all our traveling lately!
Here are some pictures:

Beach vacation!

Can you tell Eli's excited to go to the beach? Eli and I head off to South Padre today to celebrate my mom's birthday with her and Aunt Brynn and the cousins. I'm sure there will be things to post when we get back next week. We can't wait!

Great photo

This is Eli's new friend Bailey that we met at a playgroup. Her dad captured this moment of surprise on camera. They made these faces when a man turned on his monogram machine at the coffee shop. This is one of Eli's favorite faces to make lately, too!

Welcome to the world!

Eli's friend, Ellaiden, has a little sister! Soren Litten Margrave was born at 12:02 this morning, September 4, weighing in at 6 lbs. 10 oz. Congratulations, Chris, Jenny, and Ellaiden!

Sick

Well, Eli has had his first stomach bug. We went up to Holly Lake in East Texas over Labor Day weekend with my family for my dad's belated birthday present, and Eli got sick the first night there. He couldn't keep anything down, but he acted like he felt okay and never had a fever as far as I know. It only lasted 2 days, thank goodness. It's a very scary and helpless feeling to see your baby be sick and not be able to make it all better. Eli was a trooper...I think he held up better than the rest of us! Sorry cousin Garrett for getting you sick!

Body Parts

Eli likes to show us his body parts as well as show us ours. Belly buttons and tongues are the most fun according to him. This video is the best I could do. He's easily distracted by the camera.

The Chase

This is what we spend most of our time doing. We have a runner! Luckily we live on a cul-de-sac, and we have friendly neighbors with friendly dogs who don't mind Eli exploring in their yard. I love when his arms get swinging in front of him really fast...too cute!

Truck book

A big part of Eli's world is still all about trucks! He recognizes the different types of trucks now, too. Fire trucks are fun because he makes a siren sound when he sees them, but I didn't get it on this video.

Jesus = Dada?

Playin' in the Rain

Thanks to Tropical Storm Erin, we had refreshing rain and cooler temperatures last week, and we took full advantage of it!

16 months

Eli is doing so much now, it's hard for me to keep up! He's so much more interactive now. It's amazing to see his little mind discover things. I've lost count of how many words he has in his vocabulary. It's over 50 for sure. Same with his signs...too many to keep track. He's getting pretty good at repeating or trying to repeat words now, too. His words are also becoming more and more recognizable. I love it!

John and I have been surprised lately at the things he knows. For example, we've been trying to teach him body parts, and he's been able to show us his nose and belly button for awhile now. Yesterday we were naming several body parts for him to point to, and he pointed to all of them like no big deal! I also like the fact that he can now follow simple directions. He only does this when he wants to, of course, but it can be pretty handy for me. I have to take advantage of that. Also, John says that Eli knows his shapes. He said that Eli correctly pointed out the shapes John named in a few different books. Maybe they were lucky guesses, maybe he's just way advanced, I don't know, but he hasn't done it for me yet. Not that I doubt he can do it or anything! : )


Eli likes to put things on and wear them proudly around the house. He usually puts things around his neck, like John's head lamp or my underwear...I know that's a little weird, but it's funny! He also loves to wear hats, glasses, and mommy or daddy's shoes.


Outside is Eli's favorite place to be lately. He doesn't care that after about 2 minutes he's drenched with sweat. Mammy got him an outdoor play set, and I can't wait until we get that set up so Eli will have something else to do in the backyard besides pick up yucky things and try to eat them. Plus, he loves to climb, and it will be much better for climbing than our furniture!

I guess I should mention Eli's fits. He doesn't quite know how to throw a fit...yet. Whenever we tell him no, he'll lie on the floor slowly and carefully and cry some. This lasts maybe 30 seconds and then he either gets comfortable and lies there, or he gets distracted by something else. It's easy to distract him with something else to play with or to see, thankfully.

I can't wait to see what he learns next!

Home Sweet Home

Montana was wonderful, but it is good to be home. Here are some reasons, according to Eli:

Playing with my toys again!


Watching the trash truck!

Getting to wear my new truck shoes...yes, Eli picked them out. He's so proud of them!



The back yard! There are so many things to explore, and there are huge watermelons in our garden!

Montana Boy continued

Here are some pictures from our last day in Montana. We went on a hike with Gramma and Grandad, and Eli had fun playing in the dirt and getting very dirty. We've loved it here. It's hard to leave!

Montana Boy

We are still enjoying beautiful Montana. We're back from Glacier Park now and staying with Gramma and Granddad again. Glacier Park was a blast! We did a few hikes, swam in the freezing water, threw rocks in the lake, and ate rocks, too. For some reason Eli loves to try to eat the rocks. Eli has become quite an outdoors man with his scraped up knees, dirty nails, and bruised legs. He loves being outside, especially here. I guess the rocks taste better here, plus he gets a little pine needle in there, too.



Eli has been a real trooper. We went on a couple hikes which took most of the day, and he fell asleep in the hiking carrier. He's really surprised me with how well he's done without naps and going to bed late. All of the new experiences and things to see help keep him interested enough that he forgets he's sleepy, I think. It's been so fun to have him here. John and I realized that it's our first big vacation with Eli, as a family. I can't wait for more!

There are so many stories to tell and pictures to show, but I don't want to spend my vacation blogging. Here are some pictures we've taken, mostly in Glacier Park: