Eli is 20......

.....months that is! No more teens......although I'm sure the actual teen years will be a little more challenging :) It's strange to think that Eli will be 2 in less than 4 months!

Eli & I both feel better although it took Eli about a week to get his appetite back. I swear he didn't eat one vegetable the entire week! We went to the doctor on Thursday to see if there was anything more going on as he was still have loose stools & not eating. She said he had a viral bug that had made the cultures in his tummy out of whack so she prescribed probiotics. I had heard about probiotics and had considered them for Eli but never had until now. She had him take a higher dose to help his system but we hope (after some research) to continue him on probiotics on a daily basis since he seems to have digestive issues overall. I'll keep you updated :)

Due to Eli's bug, we skipped out on Toddler Town (I actually think that is where he caught the bug to begin with) on Wednesday but attended a Parents As Teachers "Spring" event on Thursday. There Eli (or I should say I) made a wind sock out of a paper sack & string and a butterfly out of coffee filters and colored water to dye the filters with pipe cleaners. That's what is so great about attending PAT events as everything they do can be done at home with very cheap and accessible items. On Friday, we attended a picnic playdate at the park per a good idea by Cheryl. All kiddos and mommy's had a great time and we plan to do it again this week! Here are some pictures from the playdate:

Miss Callie eating grapes (see Eli in the background?):

Miss Addie with her adorable floppy hat:

Playing with the Jack's (I think??) Sponge Bob bat:

Heading up to the slides:

Playing ball with Brody:

See, there's Brody!:

After much searching, I used the RSS feature on Craigslist (thanks Anjanette!!) and found this toddler slide. It's the perfect size and Eli already has figured out the steps. We still haven't tried to put up the tree swing, but hopefully it will work. At least we have something in the back yard now!!:

Eli's favorite outdoor activity, picking "fowers":

He's growing up so fast!!:

We also have our favorite visitors (or residents) who returned this week to our back yard (no, I didn't take this picture):

If you couldn't tell, I was being facetious. These little boogers are called Carpenter Bees because they burrow in wood to make their nest where the queen bee lives and the male worker bees spend their time intimidating anyone coming around the nest. They are a decent size and are quite intimidating, although they don't sting. We MUST get rid of these things for Eli's sake along with the wasps who also like to hang out in our yard. If we could afford frequent pest control, I would do it in a heartbeat! Eric is researching how to to get rid of the bees and we will hopefully have results soon.

Now some other pictures from the week:

Eli has become very good at being entertained by everyday, mundane things. Here is an example:

And another one:



Did you know Hy-Vee gave out free balloons to kids? We were going to buy one for Eli today and found out this little tidbit:

This week we go to the chiropractor (we cancelled last week due to Eli's bug) and have another picnic playdate on Wednesday. We then head up to Des Moines to visit the Bidney clan Friday. Have a great week!