Pumpkin Patch

We went to a pumkin patch/fall festival a few weeks ago with Uncle Dan and Aunt Lisa. This was before the weather got cooler, so the only pumkin patch picture I have of Eli is him in his shorts and short sleeves. It doesn't quite look right. Thanks to Aunt Lisa for the pictures!

Tractor!

This tractor has been sitting outside at the grocery store "hauling" pumpkins, and last week Eli finally got to sit on it. He was very excited about it!

Talk about a chip on your shoulder, more like...

Hmmm, maybe Eli had a few too many at happy hour that night. Grandpa came to visit, and we had lots of fun! Eli loved putting on a show for Grandpa and making him laugh. I guess the cheese, chip, and guacamole in his hair was worth it!

18 months

Wow, Eli is 1 and a half years old! Part of me feels like it went by really fast, but part of me also feels like he's always been a part of my life. This sure is a fun age. I love seeing things click in his mind. His curious little mind makes for a busy little body. The preferred mode of transportation is running! He definitely still keeps me on my toes.
Eli continues to talk more and more each day. He's even started putting two words together. He'll say "more cheese" or "Dada shoe" or "Mama snack", for example. He's also become quite a little helper. Two fun activities lately are for him to put the paper in the recycle bin and to feed Boone. He looks so proud when he gets to help.
Eli is also blooming into a social butterfly. He says HI to everyone and everything. The way he says it is pretty funny. For some reason, he has a nasal voice and kind of whines "hah-eeee". Do I say HI like that, does John? I dont't think so. Don't know where he got that!


I like this age because Eli is more and more interactive. He tries to make us laugh all the time, it seems, and it usually works! It's fun to make him laugh, too. He's good at making funny faces (as you saw in the "Mirror Faces" post) and making funny sounds. The way he imitates everything we do is funny and really cute, too...so far. When he imitates us so well, it's kind of scary because it reminds us that we need to be good examples for him to follow.


Oh and I almost forgot, we made a big purchase...the potty chair! Eli has shown absolutely no interest in using the potty, but I thought we'd put it out and let him sit on it and get used to it for now. Maybe it'll spark some interest.
On to the next adventure!

Car Wash

Eli had a blast "helping" John wash the car on Sunday. Spraying the water hose was his favorite part. He did pretty good at actually spraying the car, but of coarse other things were sprayed, too, including John and I. Fun times!

Eli's friends (updated)

Some of you might remember Eli's friends from our church. They were all born within 3 months of each other. This picture was taken when Eli was 3 months old. From left to right: Eli, Ellaiden, Cash, and Naomi.


Here they are today: Naomi, Eli, Ellaiden, and Cash. We love our friends!

Mirror Faces

Headbands

For some odd reason, Eli thinks it's really fun to get my headbands out of my drawer, put them on, and wear them around the house. He also will go to the mirror with them on and dance or make faces at himself. A few days ago, we were leaving to go to Target and he had his headband on, and he did not want to take it off. I almost let him wear it into Target, but I just couldn't do it. I had to distract him with the keys and then take it off real quick and shut the car door. I don't know what it is about the headbands. I think Eli wears them more than I do! These are some pictures to show future girlfriends! I wish they showed up better in the pictures.

Mammy

Mammy, my mom, came for a short visit last weekend. She came Sunday morning and left Monday afternoon. She said she was having Eli withdraws. Eli and Mammy love each other like crazy and have so much fun playing together. I love watching both of them. When she's around, Eli's all about Mammy, and I take full advantage! John and I actually got to go out and see a movie! Thanks, Mammy! However, the leaving part is really hard. Mammy left when Eli was napping, so when he woke up and was calling out for Mammy and she was gone, he was so upset! It was pitiful. He cried and cried and kept saying "Mammy?", and after I told her she went home he'd start crying more. So, of coarse I had to get a picture to show Mammy. We miss you and love you, Mammy! Wish you lived closer!

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: