Exploring outside & what a learner!

This week has been full of activities and fun! On Monday, we attended Toddler Town which is a open gym type of activity for toddlers that only costs $1 to attend! It's indoors, which is great during the winter months. We met up with Callie & Jack, but I forgot the camera, sorry! Eli enjoyed playing with all the toys and I enjoyed chasing him around :) We plan to go on Friday this week so daddy can attend with us. On Wednesday we went to toddler story time at the library. It was full of toddlers and it consisted of reading of stories, dancing to music, and an activity at the end. Eli preferred to explore the library after the dancing, so we skipped out on the activity. He was quiet and didn't knock books off the shelf, so it was okay for him to explore. Then on Friday we attended breastfeeding group. It was a full house! We plan to attend at least 2 of these activities a week so Eli can get out and socialize since he stays home most of the time. Thank goodness for low cost/free activities!

Now for some pictures and videos:

Eli loves his Mocha cat (notice her ears ;):

Playing drums on the Cheerios' box....cheap entertainment!:

Another beautiful day on Saturday so we took a family walk. Eli enjoyed being in the wagon for the first half of the walk and then wanted to get out and help daddy pull the wagon. Too cute:

Eli is learning how to use his screwdriver to make his tool bench work:

And learning how to make his choo-choo train go:

Daddy had this Friday and the next 2 Friday's off due to comp time. Daddy took Eli outside and helped him down the stairs to play in the yard. Daddy also helps him go down the stairs inside when we are going to the garage. He's getting pretty good at it!:

Eli had a little bit of a tough time while exploring the front yard.....no tears, though!:

Eli is doing well at learning his letters. We bought a fun toy that helps Eli learn his letters:


On Thursday, our parent educator, Katie, paid us a visit. She hadn't seen us since before Christmas and we wanted to show her how well Eli is doing with his shapes, words and letters. We had Eli do his shape sorter toy and shapes puzzle and identify some letters and words in his favorite books. Katie was very impressed and even said that in her 5 years of being a parent educator she had not seen a 17 month old be able to not only say shapes, words & letters but identify them in books and put them together in puzzles by himself. She said that it seems he just has a great desire to learn and explore. She was also impressed with how well he mimics us and communicates his needs. I told her that he seems to enjoy all the learning toys/tools we have and often sits down and reads, does puzzles, and plays with his learning toys by himself with no initiating from us. I was very glad to hear that a professional agreed that Eli seems to have such a zest for learning. I hope this desire continues for a very long time!!

We also use flashcards and he enjoys telling us the letters he knows. It's funny how he will name several letters at a time and then begin to "forget" the letters he just identified. Can't expect perfection at 17 months!:

This week, Eli started to mimic us when we would say "whoa!" and even used it a few times appropriately (while walking backwards or turning in circles). He also likes to knock on doors and windows and say "knock". Eli also started to identify the heart shape and call it "hut". Eli's new letters that he can identify (most of the time ;) are T, Y & H.

Eli continues to have teeth sprouting up all over the place! He's been wanting to nurse more this weekend along with waking more night....all I contribute to his new teeth (and bout of constipation this weekend...poor guy!). When Eli lets me look in his mouth, I see 3 molars almost all the way in, a front tooth almost in, and 2 top teeth showing their white caps. Not sure what has instigated the sudden tooth parade, but I think it is making our little guy a little uncomfortable. Although I will say he doesn't act in pain, it's just the extra nursing and more waking at night. Hopefully he'll get a break soon!

Eli got new shoes this week. He was wearing a size 4 in "Genuine Kids" brand from Payless and they were getting harder and harder to get on his feet. I bought a size 5 in "Champion" brand and when I got them home and compared them to his old ones, they were hardly any bigger! I then exchanged them for size 6. They seem to fit him well but I can't believe he's wearing size 6! My growing boy!

This upcoming week we will attend a playdate, a cranialsacral appointment, and Toddler Town. Valentine's Day is this weekend and Eric & I are doing our taxes and going out to lunch. Very exciting....I know. Six years ago on February 15th, Eric asked me to be his wife.....wow! Have a great week everyone!!