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!