This is for Aunt Susanne

Aunt Susanne, you might have to sweet talk Eli to get your mug back. It seems he has taken quite an interest in it. As you can see, it is the perfect size to collect pacifiers in!

Talking

This is kind of a long video but it is one of my favorites. Eli has really become quite the talker. He also has developed a new game of chasing the camera . . .

Grandma's visit!

We had another great treat in January. Grandma W came to visit because of the new cousin. She stayed with us for two weeks. Here you can see Eli sitting on Grandma's lap to talk with Grandpa.

Eli has learned all about skype. Every time skype rings, Eli comes fast from wherever he is. He has learned already that the ringing means talking with grandparents! What a small world we live in!

Computer Games already

Daddy is starting Eli young! Here he is playing his first computer game.

Fun in the cupboards

Eli has discovered the joy of kitchen cupboards. This one is his favorite.

Napping . . .

Eli has been taking short naps by himself, followed by nice long naps on Daddy's lap.

It seems that Xhayvian enjoys the same comfy snuggle naps.

New cousin

Our biggest excitement in January was the arrival of a new cousin. Xhayvian (pronounced Zay-vian) was born Jan 22. Uncle Ryan & Aunt Kathy were still living with us at the time, which meant Xhayvian lived with us for the first month of his life! It was so fun having a baby around, although Eli wasn't so fond of sharing Mommy & Daddy.

Catching Up

So I think I finally have all the pictures on my computer. I'm going to blog-dump in an attempt to catch up on the last two months!

Enjoying his food

Eli has a new trick while eating - he loves to dump his bowl over his head! The applesauce is especially satisfying with the way it drips down the head.

Christmas

I'm still missing some but I found a few pictures from Christmas to share.

This was one of Eli's favorite gifts. Yeah for the MOPS sale! He still plays with it everyday!

Eli & Daddy got each other soccer balls for Christmas. Eli was so fun this year. He enjoyed the wrapping paper AND figuring out that there were toys inside!

Later on Christmas day we went over to Givens. Here was Eli enjoying his other Great Grandma!

Blog Update

So I am not trying to ignore you all. . .

There is something wrong with our camera card. My computer doesn't want to recognize it. That means that I have to get pictures off of Kris' computer in order to blog, and this takes a long time.

In the meantime, Eli's big news is TEETH. He is 11 months old this week and until yesterday was still completely toothless. Yesterday the first one peeked through. Today another appeared. And it sure looks like another two are close behind. Cutting four teeth at once does not make for a happy child! But he is loving frozen peas!

Visit with Great Grandma

In December we went to Grand Rapids for a visit. We got to spend some fun time with Great Grandma while we were there.

Fun in November

Eli discovered the wonder of jumping! He gets some serious air in this thing. Thank you Dan, Lars & Jennie!
We've been remodeling a new laundry room in the kitchen. During construction we discovered that Eli loved to play in these plastic storage bins - and it kept him safely out of trouble.
November was all about moving for Eli. He began the month with scooting and ended the month crawling. He crawled for the first time Thanksgiving weekend. Then it was a matter of days before he was into EVERYTHING!
Uncle Ryan and Aunt Kathy moved in with us at the end of October. For the record, Eli thinks Uncle Ryan is the funniest person in the world . . . and a pretty good snuggler while watching TV.

Halloween

Just playing a little blog catch up . . . for Eli's first Halloween, he and Mommy drove to Ft Wayne to visit Aunt Liz & Uncle Phil. Daddy was in St. Louis for Nav National Conference. About the cutest cow you've ever seen. Wouldn't you agree?

Reading with Daddy

I know it has been awhile since we've updated anything. To tide you all over, I thought I would share one of my current favorite pictures. This was our Thanksgiving . . . Eli & Daddy read the newspaper together.

Peek-a-Boo

Squash, anyone?

Squash is WAY better than peas!

Can you do this?!?

Giggles

This is an experiment to see if I can upload a video. Thought you might like to see and hear this. Apparently, Uncle Ryan is the funniest person EVER!

Peas

Eli is less than impressed with peas.

Happy Half Birthday!

Today Eli is 6 months old!

Cereal!

Eli joined the exciting world of eating "real" food this week. He is learning to eat cereal and so far, he loves it!! What a surprise?!?

My Men

These are the smiles that melt my heart!

More Chicago

In Chicago we also went to Kris' cousin's wedding. Congrats Ryan and Laurie!



Eli even got a little dancing in. This is Kris' other cousin, Rachel, with her son Cody. The boys had fun together, until Eli decided he had enough and went to sleep.

Friends in Chicago

We just got back from a ten day trip around Chicagoland. This picture was taken with Thinh, my former co-worker. We had lunch with her and enjoyed catching up on the past four years. We had such a great time visiting so many friends. Unfortunately, we didn't do a very good job taking many pictures. You will just have to take our word for it, we saw lots of fun people!

Mommy & Eli

Toes are the best

Ducky!

Fun to play with! Fun to eat!

Silly Daddy

The things Daddy lets him get away with!


And, yes, this is a coaster that says "No Worries" and yes, he chewed on it until it fell apart!

Carrots

Not eating them yet, just playing with them. I couldn't resist this picture. He played with this box of carrots for at least fifteen minutes!

Just Relax

This is Eli's favorite way to sit in his highchair. Comfy, don't you think?

Sitting

Through this last month, Eli has been working very hard to sit up on his own. Look at this progress. This was Eli sitting up a few weeks ago.

This is Eli sitting up today. Look! No pillows!

Our little family

Playing with Evelyn

This is Eli's cousin Evelyn. She is seven weeks younger than him. We captured this rare moment of playing together - rare right now because Clarissa was safely strapped into her highchair eating dinner, and not harassing the babies. She loves having the babies around. . . and sometimes she loves just a little too hard.

Cousin Clarissa

So this isn't a picture of Eli but it is adorable! This is Eli's cousin Clarissa. She is turning two next week. Last night the whole family went out together so that Grandma could introduce Clarissa to the wonders of ice cream cones! She obviously enjoyed it very much.

Books!

Although Eli is not always fond of tummy time, he does love books. So I have found a way around the hatred of tummy time! Can you believe the fascination with large trucks starts this young?!?