Happy Birthday, Jed!

Hey, Jed. Happy Birthday! How's it feel to be a whole year old?
Congratulations,
-Eli

Busy Baby

I was astonished that it had been two weeks since I updated all of you Eli followers out there. At first I couldn't put my finger on a good excuse (other than me being lazy), but then I realized that we'd actually had a very busy baby on our hands. And busy babies make busy parents.

Since Eli has learned to pull up and to "walk" holding on to our hands he pretty much won't sit still and play. Upright is his favorite state of being now, so we accommodate by putting toys on the couch. This works for a little while, but eventually the magazines on the end tables call his name. (Sorry, Mama, but the magazines I pass on to you are going to be pretty well used from now on.)
When destroying magazines loses its charm, Eli can always resort to crawling all over the place looking for things to pull off shelves, cats to "chase," or dirt to get into. He's still doing the walrus style crawl, although he has made a few forays using the traditional hands and knees crawl.

This past week (the week between the end of the semester and the beginning of summer session) Chris took off and worked on making and installing the kitchen trim. Joy of joys!! I was busy outside planting the garden. Eli loved being outdoors with us. He discovered that grass is a lot of fun, but eating mulch is even more fun! Good thing I garden organically is all I have to say.

If all the above was not enough to keep us busy, poor Eli is now cutting his upper teeth. He's having a harder time with these than he did with the lowers and fights going down for naps. Much rocking, soothing, and Tylenol-giving have ensued. In a most unfortunate twist, the teething has coincided with him learning to stand up in the crib. Sitting back down and going to sleep is not an option apparently once you stand up.

While we are very busy caring for Eli at the moment I think that really this is the calm before the storm. We expect Eli to be walking on his own before too many more weeks judging by the concentrated effort he's putting into it at the moment. And then.... watch out!

Last, but not least, we want to send a huge 'thank you' to our friends Sarah, Eric, and Jed. A thoughtful gift of Sarah's needlework arrived last week and we all think it is beautiful.

Good Times...

Yesterday was both my first Mother's Day and Eli's 8 month birthday. We celebrated with a full day outside digging in new flower beds in the front of the house. But first, Eli gave me my card and present. What a clever little boy, talking me out of buying this pot when I saw it at the store and then sending Daddy back to get it for me! My card was slightly rumpled and damp from being chewed upon, but it was all wonderful.

Eli has been leading up to the 8 month mark by being focused on "walking." Forget playing with toys, he has much more important business to attend to and will do little else if you are sitting nearby to provide a pulling up spot. He has also found every potentially dangerous thing in the entry, dining room and living room. These are, of course his favorite haunts: electrical outlet with things plugged into them, the radiator, the lead paint-y newel post. One would think you could keep a semi-mobile baby out of these things, but you would be surprised how close the score is between baby and parents in the baby-proofing game.
Despite these worries and frustrations, Eli grows more into his own personality every day. He's determined (some might say stubborn), curious, loving (think big sloppy baby sugar), and mischievous (we call his name when he's heading to the radiator, he stops, gives us a big grin, and keeps on going).

Chubby cheeks and big blue eyes - a winning combination.
Finally, a shot of that elusive toothsome grin.