Stellan

I visit Stellan's blog daily and when I visited just now, things weren't well. Keep baby Stellan and his family in your thoughts & prayers tonight.

Outdoor activities & 23 months!

I was better at taking pictures this week, as you will see :) A lot of our activities involved being outside, and Eli turned 23 months (thus the post title)! ALMOST 2 YEARS OLD!!! Amazing! First some moments to remember from the week:

1) Eli woke up from his nap on Monday with a 100 degree fever that only last about 4 hours....just a little bug thankfully!
2) Eli has pretty well mastered his 4 wood puzzles he got from Aunt Holly & Uncle Chris. We can lay out the pieces and he can put them all back where they belong.
3) Eli pointed to my eyes during a diaper change and said "blue!". Took me a minute to realize he has noticed my eyes are blue (blue/green, but close enough). I then talked to him about how his and daddy's eyes are brown.
4) Eli found it hilarious this week when he heard my stomach growling
5) New phrases:

"I found it!"
"Bless you, mommy"
"Bees eating it!" (When watching bees in the flowers...an outside favorite activity)
"Big hug"
"Fami hug" (family hug; Eric started this and it involves a big family hug that Eli now asks for)

6) Eli continues to be a little parrot and will mimick us and then most of the time appropriately use the phrase again later.

During the week, we do a variety of activities....

....we play with stickers

....draw with chalk

....blow bubbles

....draw circles

....listen for trains (Eli learned from Yo Gabba Gabba to say "listen!" and hold his hand up to his ear....too cute)

....and swing from tables!

We attended the nature park again this week for story time and this time I brought my camera!

Looking at the fish

....and the turtle

....and rocking in the "big chair"

....exploring flowers

....and walking nature trails

....checking out the creek

....and the geese

....picking up sticks and crossing bridges!

We did craft time this week and made a coil snake and a snake out of shapes:

Saturday we visited Grandma & Grandpa Clarkson to see their newly renovated kitchen. It looks amazing!:

We also took a dip in the pool:

And wrapped up in a towel to dry off:

Eli loved the big wheel!:

Snacks in Grandpa's chair:

This week we have a few activities planned: a playdate, splash n play, and back to the nature park for 2 hours of dragonfly activities! Have a great week everyone!

Another week in Eliville

For some reason, this last week I took very few pictures. The largest bulk of the below pictures are from our 2nd trip to the farmstead, this time with daddy & grandma. I do have some things to write about, though, so bear with me :)

1) Eli had his 2nd dentist appointment ever last week. His front teeth had started to get stains from the vitamins I was giving him that have iron in them. This was a new dentist to us, and while the dentist was nice, Eli HATED it! He was having a HUGE meltdown, even though he was laying on me. I felt kinda bad for the dentist (he is a pediatric dentist, though) but more bad for Eli. He has just always hated having his teeth brushed and so you can only imagine a stranger with a big light and a the tooth cleaning machine. The stains were removed and a fluoride treatment applied, so that is good. What was funny was that as soon as he got down, he was still crying and said "all done, all better!" and then was done with his meltdown! Thankfully we only go 1-2 times a year!!
2) Some of you may have been wondering what happened to Eli's potty learning? Well, we've put it on hold for a couple of reasons. First, Eli was having digestion issues (irregular, constipated) so we started him on probiotics about 2 months ago, which has helped tremendously. Second, it has become quite difficult to change his diaper. While he gives grandma the most trouble, he does give Eric & I a hard time, too. Third, he stopped telling us when he was about to or had pooped. He used to do pretty well, but he seems to want to hide and not make us aware unless we ask. So, with these reasons, we feel that trying to pursue potty learing right now would not work out well. We do still have the potty chair out, read potty learning books, and he has no problem being in the bathroom when we are in there, so we'll just follow his cues!
3) We attended a nature park this week and went to story time and took a short hike. It was fun & we plan to go back this week and maybe see a real snake!!
4) Eli started to say in succession "Mommy, daddy, grandma, mommy, daddy, grandma!" over & over throughout the day in an excited voice. It's too funny.
5) Eli is currently fascinated with identifying when characters in books & on t.v. are happy or sad & crying. He knows which books show characters crying and immediately looks for the crying picture and says "crying, sad" and then turns to the happy page and says "happy day!"


The below picture is called "Adventures in pudding eating part II" He had to take a bath after this picture, even though it was lunch time!:

The Farmstead

Feeding the goats is the best part for the kids. Can you say "FEED ME!":

"Yes, I am a master goat feeder":

Eli enjoyed being "forced" to look through the hole (I was down below trying to help keep his face there long enough for a picture...see my fingers?):

Fun walking path:

Mr. resident cat:

"I don't like this bench as much as I did last time!":

Eli really likes bridges & runs towards them anytime he sees one:

Eli, mommy & grandma:

Ringin' the cow bells!:

"WHY are we standing next to this cow, mommy??":

"And this saddle????":

Giving the old tractor a try:

"Cool tee-pees!":

Eli's first day of school. Heading up front to say hi to his teacher and.....

....heading right for the dunce cap!!! Hope this isn't a sign of things to come!:

"This desk is just my size!":

"Hats off, and working hard on my school work!":

"Circle!":

Getting ready to leave.....a great day!:

Have a great week!!

Farmstead & Trip to Iowa

This week we went to a really great children's farmstead for the first time and loved it! We met up with some of our playdate buddies: Callie & Cheryl, Tiffany & Lily, Susan & Andrew, and Jennifer & Victoria. It was a hot day, but we arrived early and left before lunch, so we missed most of the heat. Of course, the best part was feeding the animals, and Eli got the idea of what to do right away:

Petting another animal (ewe??):

A few of us decided to take a wagon ride around the farm. Eli & Callie sat next to each other but we wouldn't let them hold hands (hehe):

Saying "hi" to the horses:

Lounging in the butterfly garden:

Watching the groundhogs:

Ringing cow bells....fun until you swing one too hard & it comes back to bonk you in the face (he was more shocked than hurt):

"Wheel!":

"Big!":

This weekend we made our way up to Iowa for a quick trip to celebrate the belated birthdays of Aunt Holly, Uncle Chris & Grandpa Bidney. We grilled out at Grandpa Bidney & Lola's house Saturday evening and got in a little swimming, too. I forgot Eli's suit at Aunt Holly's house, so he swam in his diaper. When he got out, it was HUGE!! Lola has taught swim lessons to children for many years so she gave Eli (& me) an impromptu lesson. We learned more in 30 minutes than we did an entire 2 weeks of lessons we paid for!! She taught us the right way to hold him and what to look for in signs of him being ready to do certain things. She said he is doing really great & seems to love the water, which is the best thing:

After swimming, we came in and watched part of "Wall E" which Eli was truly mezmerized by. I think he loved all the little sounds and language they spoke:

Growing up, we had 2 golden retreivers, one right after the other. The first one stayed with our family until he passed away from seizures and now our 2nd one, Gus, was sadly diagnosed with a malignant tumor a few weeks ago. He had it removed, but it had already spread. The vet said this is common with dogs his age (he is 15!) and that it is best to let him go in his own time. He is doing really well and doesn't seem phased by any of it (or in pain, thankfully) so the plan is to just let him keep on living life until he acts that he is in pain. He could live another few months, a year, who knows! Eli has loved Gus the times we have been around him. He is such a gentle and loving dog and I think Eli senses that . This could be the last picture we get with Eli & Gus:

Fooling around with Aunt Stephanie:

And Aunt Sarah:

My sisters & I all play piano & a string instrument. We all play sometimes (Holly the most since she is in an orchestra) and I only play piano when around one! Here is Eli helping mommy make some music:

Listening to the wisdom of Grandpa:

I do a lot better walking up & down stairs now!:

Sunday morning we ate at good ol' Crackerbarrel. Eli enjoyed sitting on all the rocking chairs:

Eli LOVES flowers. We must always stop to look at, fondle, and smell the flowers we see. Eli was very happy to see all the flowers in the back yard:

"Side down!:

Great-Grandpa Bidney used to do a lot of wood working in his garage. One of his most popular toys was the walking duck. We found an old one at my dad's house but the stick was missing. I asked him if he had any left over rods and he said he would fix it. Now Eli has one that is just his size and loves it! Here he is taking duck for a walk:


My little tree hugger:


Eli has enjoyed learning how to play the game "Memory". We pretty much made up our own toddler version, but he does well figuring out which ones match, nonetheless:


Just a cute picture before bath:

I attempted a "time out" with Eli this week. It was very impromptu, but I wanted to see how he would do. I asked him to sit in front of the door and told him it was because he was trying to hit mommy and throw his food. It was funny, actually, because he really just sat there for a good 30 seconds and then got up and came into the kitchen to find me and just looked at me. I redirected him back and repeated myself about why he was there and he sat down again, no problem. He started to play with the door stop a few times, and continued to get up every 20 seconds or so. He wasn't ever upset or didn't seem phased either, so not sure it was very effective. We'll see if I use this technique again or not....may wait a little longer:

Eli thinks it is very fun to pretend to sleep. He will climb up on our bed and lay down and say "nigh-nigh". But, if you try to leave and turn out the lights, he cries. So, it's "nigh-nigh" with teh lights on :) Here I told Eli to close his eyes for sleep:

And he can get up & down from our bed with no problem now, yay!!:

Eli, on his own, figured out how to do a somersault. What's funny is he can only do it once and then can't do one again for awhile:

Other interesting/funny Eli stuff:

1) Eli knows how to identify what things are "big" and what are "tiny". I was wearing a shirt with a small turtle on the front and a big one on the back. He immediately pointed to each one and said "big" and "tiny". He also says tiny in a high pitched voice.
2) Eli continues to love to take walks and at least once a day we walk around the neighborhood while he pushes his stroller. He loves to stop to watch the ants and says "bump" before every bump in the sidewalk. He knows how to stop before the street but he seems to be stopping further and further away from the street. I have to tell him we have to stop closer to the street so we can actually see if any cars are coming. He also loves to point out all the firework trash & stains on the road and says "clean it!".
3) Eli loves to say "I did it!"
4) Eli loves saying "all better" after he falls and his ouchie is cleaned or if he was mad/sad and feels better with a big smile.
5) Today, Eli learned how to reach in and push down the child latch in one of the kitchen cabinets...yikes!
6) Eli also learned how to OPEN the car door from his car seat WHILE the car is moving! Thankfully I was on a side street and it didn't open all the way. Child locks were immediately turned ON!
7) Eli is very good at applying something he knows to another situation. For example, today he laid out 5 books on the floor and pushed them along the floor and said "train!"

Have a good one!