Back to work :(

Well, tomorrow I officially become a working mom (at a job that pays me $$, that is :). I have mixed feelings about this transition. On one hand, I have always thought working part-time would be the ideal situation: I can actually utilize my degrees that I spent a lot of time & money acquiring and have some adult time. There have been many times that I wished I had some time away throughout the week (for both Eli & myself). On the other hand, I have loved my time home with Eli. It's awesome to wake up each day and know that my one main job is to take care of our little man. No alarm clock (besides his ;), no boss (besides him ;), no commuting, just him & I deciding what each day holds. I feel very blessed that Eli has such wonderful Grandmas who are willing to spend 10-15 hours a week caring for him as this DEFINITELY eases my mind. I know they will care for him like he is their own....as Grandmas do :) I also will continue to attend breastfeeding group on Monday evenings and hopefully G-land friends will meet about 1-2 times a month for play groups as I think Eli needs socialization. So, we'll see if there are any tears on the way to work tomorrow (both Eli & I), but right now I feel okay. Oh, and this week will be a HUGE transition as I have to work FULL days T-F for training. Then my part-time schedule will kick in the following week. Wish us luck!!

Eli continues to crawl like crazy and get into everything he isn't supposed to. His most recent discovery is the fire place, as you can see below:

Our little pyro :)

He also crawls around the first floor and has discovered the gate on the stairs:

How did Mocha kitty get over there??

OH, this is how!!

He continues to pull up to his knees and put one foot out to prepare to pull up all the way, but hasn't yet. That will be soon, I'm sure. He just started to cruise the couch today, although slow, so I'm sure by the end of the week he'll be really fast:

Eli is also improving with his eating. He allows us to feed him bites of what we have on his tray and he tries to feed himself, but often misses his mouth (but tries really hard!!). He is eating a variety of fruits, veggies & grains. We tried avocado this week and it was REALLY messy as I gave him free reign to explore:

Yummy!

This week we had G-land play group at Beth & Addie's house. As I said last week, hopefully we can continue these play dates on the weekends 1-2 times a month so "working" moms can be included. We had a lot of fun! But, I forgot my camera so you'll have to go to Beth's site for pictures. Addie has great toys and was nice enough to lend us this toy, which Eli loves playing with, thanks Addie!!

Aunt Holly was here this weekend while Eric went to DM to participate in a computer game party at their house. So, it was just us. This was Eric's first time away from Eli and while Holly & mom helped a lot with Eli, I was the only one 100% responsible for him which gave me a little taste of being a single mom. YIKES!!! It can be hard! Of course, he was impossible to put down to bed last night and he seemed a little extra fussy so that made it harder. But, we made it and had fun overall! This afternoon we went to the park and Eli actually wore his hat:

He was smiling and giggling, just not in this picture :)

Love his cute little ears!!

Aunt Holly taught him a fun trick and he has continued to do it all day:

Hope everyone has a great week! I'll post this weekend about our big change!

Faster crawling videos :)

Crawling & eating (kinda)!!!

Well, we officially have a crawler! Eli decided it was time & while he started out pretty slow, he is getting much faster and keeping us on our toes! Since starting to crawl, toys don't hold his interest as much as things like the VCR (the door flap is fun! We should get rid of it anyway, as we don't watch video tapes anymore!!), door stop, fireplace (we have a cover but it isn't all that childproof-yikes), vents, etc. He hasn't discovered that he can crawl & actually leave the living room but once he does, we'll have to chase him around the house!! Here is some video to show his new skills. Oh, for some reason dropshots which I use for videos, stopped working on my computer so I have to use blogger video which doesn't allow me to load very large videos. These crawling videos are from earlier in the week when he was slower. I tried to load the ones with him faster and it wouldn't load :(

Second time crawling....he was mad because I took away the dust buster he crawled to the FIRST time!

More crawling adventures (and hurting himself)

Also this week, Eli decided he would expand his horizons with food. I have discovered that the key is he MUST be able to feed himself & he MUST be able to hold it in his hands. Otherwise, no go. He completely bypassed baby food and even mashed food and went straight to finger food. Oh well, at least he is starting to eat! He doesn't eat a significant amount, yet, mostly little bites & tastes, but I'm more excited about his willingness to eat. So far he has ate banana, sweet potato, potato, Zweiback toast, biter biscuits, rice cakes, graham & saltine crackers, and pears. The only down fall is this new process is VERY messy & the floor, high chair, & him are completely covered in food each meal time. Here's video/picture to show his eating skills and the mess he makes:

This week we attended our second Graceland play group. This coming week will be our last unless some of the upcoming groups are held on the weekends as I will be starting work in a week. Hopefully we will so even more G-land mommies and kids can attend (hint, hint ;)!! Mi Jean & Gael hosted last week at her mom's shop in Lee's Summit. Upstairs her mom made a big room into a play room which is really awesome. There A LOT of toys, the coolest being this big play car that has little stations all around it so at least 4 kids can play in at a time. Eli really liked it as it was at his level height wise & he could stand and play for a good 10 minutes. Here is a picture of him playing:



What I also like about the play group is there are a variety of ages from 7 weeks-2 1/2 years old. It's fun to see all the kids play together despite their age difference. Plus, Eli thinks bigger kids are funny and likes to laugh at them. Here are pics & a video of the fun day:

Mia is funny

Gael, Carrie, Zoe, Beth, Kalani & Caden

Gael enjoying his walker (although he is stationary :)

Carrie, Caden, Sue & Zoe

Lucy driving her new car

Zoe & her mama

Gael & his mama

Eli playing his maraca

This week is my last week before I start work on the 11th. Grandma Clarkson & Bidney will come over & "practice" with Eli this week. I feel pretty good about the transition going well, although the first couple of weeks will be hard. Aunt Holly will be here this coming weekend so it will be a nice weekend before starting work. Enjoy some other pics from the week!

Coffee tables are good teethers :)

Eli always has some funky hair after waking from a nap. We think he looks like Peter Boyle:

Riding his "pretty pony"

Daddy & Eli reading together....Eli is really intent on listening!

Here's a picture of Eli I couldn't pass up because Eric had the same pose taken when he was a baby around the same age:

Have a great week & stay cool!

11 months!!

Eli turned 11 months old today and like I say every month.....how did he get so big so fast?? Here's his 11 month picture with Mr. Monkey:

11 months (this is the best you'll get, mama ;)

This week we did a lot of socializing. Breastfeeding/play group on Monday & Friday, our first Graceland play group on Thursday, and went to lunch today with some friends from breastfeeding group. I'm so glad that Eli can socialize with babies/toddlers each week since he is our first child (thus no siblings....duh, right??). He really likes playing with the other babies & is doing much better with not trying to gauge his friends' eyes out ;) It always makes me laugh how much babies enjoy exploring each other & how much they love every other baby's toys but their own when together. Us mommies just decided that sharing all those germs (because they always end up in the mouth, ya know) is just building immunities! Eli & I really hit the jackpot with our breastfeeding group as we have made some good friends who have essentially seen Eli grow up & have been support twice a week since he was 2 weeks old! I see these women more often than I do a lot of my friends & family! Hopefully as some mommies begin to wean and others continue breastfeeding (as Eli & I will be) we can continue on some form of our playdates for some time to come.

Of course, when participating in these fun play groups, I often completely forget that I own a camera. This usually hits me either at the end of the play group or after everyone leaves. Here are some pictures I got from the Graceland get together:

Kalani taking a little snooze

Zoe aka burrito baby


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Eli & Lucy had a great time at play group. She was piling stuffed animals on him & he laughed & laughed. This video is just the tail end of the funny event. He is starting to like older women (Lucy & Eli are almost exactly 1 year apart)....don't worry Callie, you still have his heart :)

Here is what Eli's play area looks like when it is cleaned up

Here is what it looks like after Eli "the destroyer" has made his mark

Eli really likes his zebra. He can jump up & down & hold on really well but when he is done, he just decides to fall off....not the greatest exit strategy

Look at those thighs of steel!!

Eli is liking to stand more & more. Here is a picture of what I see when he is standing and using me as support


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This is video of a little game Eli & I play sometimes....good times


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We have a video monitor that we watch while Eli is napping. When he wakes up, he either cries saying he is still tired and wants to go back to sleep or is awake & explores his crib. This video is of Eli waking up from his nap this morning.

When Eli's bath is done, we watch the water drain and I say "good bye water" & wave to the drain. This is what Eli decided to do tonight as the water was going "bye-bye"


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Eli decided he wanted to try out a new laugh (one of many) a couple of days ago. Here he is providing proof of this new skill

A few updates:

1. Monday will be 2 weeks before I start my new job. My mom has come over a number of times and Eli is doing much better without my presence :) Still having issues with taking mommy's milk from a cup & napping, but those will fall into place as he gets accustomed to the new schedule.

2. Eli is still getting himself into the crawling position & then falling. But, he did make a couple of crawling moves once & then he seemed to be surprised and just collapsed on his belly. He'll get it sometime soon I'm sure :)

3. Eli is doing a great impersonation of a drunk person walking when he practices walking while we hold his hands. But this is quite an improvement from him acting like his feet were in cement!

4. Eli babbles & babbles with many sounds that resemble words but I somehow can't qualify as a "first word". He definitely says "mama" & "dada" well & says "nah" a lot when someone is talking to him followed by a lot of smiles & laughing. Not sure what "nah" means, but it means something to him!

5. Eli is a champ at turning pages while being read to.

6. Eli laughs after he sneezes.

7. Eli LOVES biter biscuits & Zwieback toast by Gerber. He sucks on them & rubs them on his teeth. But put anything else in his mouth and he gags....little stinker likes to be in control that's for sure!

8. Eli drinks water out of a sippy cup, straw cup & open cup really well. He did drink about 1 oz. of my breastmilk out of a straw cup for ME this week. Progress!

9. Eli can sit and watch almost an entire Baby Einstein DVD. If it's one of his favorites he can watch the entire 20-25 minutes. He loves them & often laughs at parts he finds funny.

10. Eli bites when he gets excited which I swiftly try to respond with a "NO, hurts mommy!" in which he either laughs or just moves on to something else. Doesn't seem to phase the boy....I'm a little scared if this is his response!!

11. Eli pushes the garage door button to close it when we go inside the house.

12. We are feverishly planning Eli's birthday party :) We are doing a monkey theme and have found several cute ideas for decor, food, etc. We got the invitations from Kylie in the mail and they are so adorable!! We'll get them in the mail soon!

Thanks for checking in!

P.S. Sorry about the strange text size & italics near the end of this post. I have been trying to fix it for about 45 minutes with no luck. Dumb computer stuff REALLY makes my blood boil!!

Summertime & skill mastery fun!

This week has been filled with summertime activities & working on "mastering" Eli's crawling & pulling up skills. He still has a little ways to go but is definitely getting more into the idea of it. He is showing more frustration when he can't crawl or pull up, which is a good thing because he's becoming more determined! We also practice walking which he is doing better with putting one foot in front of the other. He'll be crawling OR walking before we know it! Enjoy this week's pictures!

Uncle Blake & Cousin Sammie visited last weekend. Cousin Sammie is fun to play with!!

We got new deck furniture and broke it in while Uncle Blake & Cousin Sammie were visiting

We keep meaning to visit parks more often but it seems to be so hot all of the time! Hot weather makes my cheeks red. But I still had fun at the park with mommy!


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Swinging & sliding is fun but it's TOO hot out here!


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What a funny boy I am....I like to make mommy & daddy laugh


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I like my fun baby pool that gives me shade so I don't get burned!

Mommy thinks this is a a sweet face I make sometimes

Playing in the laundry basket provides endless entertainment

How did I get inside of here!

Okay, now I'm outside....phew!

What happened....I've been smashed!

Look at me getting ready to crawl!!

Whoops, never mind!!


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Here I go....rock, rock, rockin'!!


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Pulling up & crawling attempts....I'll get it someday soon!

Standing is my specialty!

Mmmm.....biter biscuits are YUMMY!!

I enjoy watching Baby Einstein & eating biscuits....I make quite the mess, though!

WARNING: THE BELOW PICTURE IS A LITTLE SCARY!! Okay, nature has been getting on my nerves lately. We've been fighting carpenter bees, wasps, ants, and now this!! This week Eli & I were out on the deck & I heard a terrible screeching sound. I look in our neighbor's yard & can't quite make out what it is but it was a black mound of something. I ran inside and got our binoculars & saw this:


I then took a couple of pictures & looked it up online. From my research we have a Black Rat Snake slithering around our neighborhood. They are constrictors so what I heard was him squeezing to death a bunny....yuck!!! This is a little concerning to me since we are in our yard often. My research says they stay away from humans but that they can get pretty big. I even went as far as to send this picture to the Missouri Conservation people to see if I am right in my identification & if we should try to do anything about it. Snakes are not my favorite anyway but to see one do this was pretty traumatic!! Until I hear back from the conservation people I'm a little leary about the back yard. I'm no country girl, that's for sure!!!

We had to reschedule our G-land playgroup to this week so we look forward to playing with everyone. Eli also turns 11 months on Friday.....1 year, here we come! Have a great week everyone!