Cousin Chloe

I'm a little late posting this, but my cousin, Emily, delivered a beautiful little girl, Chloe Grace Sutton, on Monday, October 6th at 4:09pm. They didn't know the sex of the baby ahead of time, so it was a surprise to all! Plus, she was 3 weeks early, but she is very healthy and all is well (we couldn't have thrown her shower ANY LATER!) She weighed 5 lbs. 13 oz. & was 17 inches long. We were able to meet her Tuesday and it's hard to believe how tiny she is! Compared to Eli, especially! Emily says Mallory (her first daughter who is almost 2 1/2) is being a great big sis so far. Visit her blog for more pictures! Congrats Emily, Josh & Mallory!

Chloe Grace

Chloe with Grandma

Josh, Emily & baby Chloe

This will be my only political post.....

......but I had to put up the link to this video. No need to comment.....just make sure to vote in November!!

Trucks, wagons & more!

We had a few events this week that are worth noting. Wednesday, Eli had his first dentist appointment. We went to a pediatric dentist who said Eli's teeth (4 with 2 coming in) look great. Until he is age 3, they will just do checks and fluoride treatments. He'll have his first fluouride treatment in 6 months. Eli hates having his teeth brushed, though, which is a battle twice a day. It has to be done so he just suffers through it.

On Thursday, our parent educator, Katie, visited us. She told us about some fun homemade games for fine motor skills. One of them is in the below video:

Katie also told us about some fun activities this month. One of them was this weekend and we thought Eli would enjoy it. It was called "Touch-A-Truck" where all kinds of trucks were available for kiddos to climb in and around and honk the horns. Eli just took it all in, as he does in new places! Here are some pictures from the event:

We continue our evening walks and decided to get more use from Eli's wagon:

Eli enjoys pushing all his cars & trucks around throughout the day:

Eli usually just pushes around his dumptruck, but has become a lot more into practicing his walking. He will use his push toys, cruise the furniture, and move his way around the room from toy to toy to window sill to couch. One day he'll just decide to let go and he'll be walking! Here's video of him pushing his dump truck:

Eli also pulls up on the stair railing and crusies along it back and forth:

Eli likes to watch the Disney Channel in the morning. One of his favorites is "Mickey Mouse Clubhouse". Daddy bought him a Mickey doll which he loves:



Eli is doing a lot more "talking" these days. I tried to get video of him saying "tit tat" for kitty kat, but wasn't successful. He loves to just talk with a lot of infliction, point, and look at you as if to say "right mommy?". He simulates a kitty meow with a high pitch "eaaaaa" and a dog bark (more of a "huff" sound when he hears a dog bark). He takes his books and opens them up, points to words and pictures as he "talks" and turns the pages. I'm so happy he likes books so much! He also is picking up some of the sign language we do: milk & bath he does the best. I even mention either of those words and he is doing the sign. Too cute!!

Everyone have a great week!!

Eli says: "See ya later!"

Fun weekend & 13 months!

This week was fairly typical: work, breastfeeding group, & chiropractor appointment. Tuesday Mi Jean & Gael came over for about an hour which was fun. I think Eli scares Gael a little :) I didn't get any pictures, though :( This weekend was quite busy....yet great family time! My sisters and I threw my cousin Emily a baby shower for her second child due in October. We also had "sister" pictures taken today, visited Grandpa, and attended Callie's 1st birthday party!! So, I divided up the post so it doesn't get too confusing :)

Emily's Baby Shower

Emily is due with her second little one at the end of October. My sisters and I decided to throw her a shower. It was a nice intimate shower that was fun to prepare for. They are not finding out the sex of the baby, so we just used neutral green, yellow & white for colors.

Cute baby balloon

Cupcakes with little pacifiers (NOT edible pacifiers, as I reminded everyone :)

Sarah, Stephanie, Holly & Emily

Eli enjoying his time at the shower

Kalani, Da, Zoe & Sue

Eli enjoying a balloon from the shower

Time with Eli's Aunties!

Aunt Sarah reading Eli bedtime stories

Sisters with Grandpa Bidney

Mom, "the sisters" & Stephanie

P.S. You may wonder why we are wearing the same shirt!? Well, we had "sister" pictures taken on Sunday and had the same shirt so we decided to wear it. So, no, we don't usually dress alike :)

Callie's Birthday

Eli's girlfriend, Callie, turns 1 tomorrow and hosted a fun play date for her birthday. Eli enjoyed exploring their house more than anything and sometimes playing with some different toys. Happy Birthday, Callie!!

Eli, Lily (who turned one 2 weeks ago!), & Jamie (Callie's daddy)

Eli playing with the cool magnetic board Callie has in her living room

"Toddlers" exploring the house!

Eli playing on Callie's "space ship"

Our friend Jack (who will be 1 in October!)

Susan & Andrew (who ALSO just turned one recently!)

The birthday girl, Callie, and her mommy (congrats to her, too!)

Random Stuff from the week

These last couple of weeks, Eli & I (& sometimes Grandma) have taken evening walks. The weather is cooler (although could be cooler for my taste) and Eli really likes to take walks. So, before or after dinner, Eli hops in his stroller & we take a walk around the neighborhood. Before we know it, it will be too cold to take walks so we are trying to take advantage of the nice weather!

Eli ready for his walk

Along one of the sidewalks is a bush with thorns. EVERY time we go by, Eli sticks his hand out to touch it. He is yet to get scratched, though!

Eli is LOVING to stand while holding onto things (after pulling himself up). I know this means he will soon be standing without help and then walking! Here he is dancing and shaking his rump to "Mickey Mouse Clubhouse":



Eli has MASTERED climbing up the stairs. Now he just needs to learn going down as well :)




Fun time with toys before bed time:

We have several spiders that have declared our yard "home". One of these spiders built a web in the tree outside our front window. He is pretty big and Eli is able to see him almost every day. I don't mind spiders when they are OUTSIDE and not in my path. So, he's okay :)

Eli loves balloons!

On Thursday, Eli turned 13 months. I kept forgetting to take a picture in his chair with his monkey. Maybe I'll remember this week and just post it late! Happy 13 months, big boy!

Thankfully we will have cooler weather this week....more like fall! Eli will go to his dental appointment that was rescheduled and we will have a visit from our parent educator. Grandma Bidney will be watching Eli for the next 3 weeks while Grandma/pa Clarkson are on vacation. Lots of Grandma time! Hope everyone has a great week...thanks for checking in!

1st Royals Game!

For some reason this week, I didn't take many pictures....until today! Eli went to his 1st Royals game today to help mommy celebrate her birthday. This was also mommy's 1st game of the season (and the last since it was their last home game). Eric & I bought jerseys about 5 years ago but we had to make sure Eli was also decked out in Royals gear. This was actually a good time of the year to do so because it was 1/2 off! The outfit came with a hat but it didn't fit his large cranium but he still wore it for a picture:

Grandma Bidney came with us (after all, it's her day, too, she's the one that did all the work 32 years ago!!) and she was all ready to block out the sun:

Eli seemed to enjoy himself and did really well. We didn't stay the entire game because he got tired of sitting & being held, as you can see. Here is Eli's "I want to get down & crawl around" look:

It was a gorgeous day and we had PERFECT seats (for cheap seats, that is)! We were on the aisle and were in seats that had no seats in front of us. We were in the sun for about the first 30 minutes and then it went behind the stadium.

Eli & mommy on a beautiful day at the K:

Fun video of Eli clapping. He did this a lot during the game....too cute:



Daddy & Eli as we were leaving the game:

Call it coincidence, but as soon as we got home, Eli crawled over to his bat, picked it up and started to play with it:

One of the pictures I did get this week was of Eli tearing up a phone book. He enjoys doing this immensely:

Daddy's favorite hairstyle for Eli:

Eli goes to the chiropractor, but only every couple weeks and soon just every couple of months. One of the things she said to do is hold Eli upside down at least once a day. As you can imagine, daddy & Eli both find this to be LOTS of fun:

This week we also attended La Leche League, breastfeeding play group on Friday, & Alison's 5th birthday party last night. This coming week we will have a playdate on Tuesday afternoon with Mi Jean & Gael, Eli turns 13 months on Thursday, & Aunt Sarah & Holly will be here this coming weekend to attend cousin Emily's baby shower we are throwing her. I'm also happy that tomorrow is the first day of autumn....my favorite season! Oh, and we exchanged the bee costume for another fun one that he looks ADORABLE in. I'll keep it a surprise though until Halloween :) Have a great week everyone!!

Dumptrucks, dancing, dunking & drinking!!

Eli received a couple dump truck toys for his birthday & really enjoys them. I have showed him how to load up the dump truck with blocks & dump them out. He thinks that's fun. Here are pics:

Eli likes to dance when he hears music. It is the standard "baby dance" of moving his upper half up & down to the beat. I saw a couple other babies today do the same dance except they were standing. It's too cute. Here is Eli dancing to the "yummy in my tummy" song I sing while he is eating:

Here he is dancing & enjoying his "Wonder Pets" toy:



More dancing only this time to "Imagination Movers" theme song:



Eli likes to make baskets in his sports toy from Grandma/pa Clarkson. What's funny is he quickly figured out that the green switch inside the basket makes the score board change numbers. He spends more time pressing the switch than actually putting the ball in the basket!


Eli enjoys drinking his milk & water out of a variety of cups: straw cups, sippy cups, & open cups (open cup is only with adult help, of course). This cup is a cup with a lid & no stopper like in a sippy cup. He does well with it but sometimes spills it all over himself.

Okay this is too funny. At Costco they are selling Halloween costumes for a great price. After searching through the bins, we decided on a bee costume. It said 12-18 months on the tag, but it looked like it could fit him. When we got home we tried it on to see if it fit. Well, let's just say once zipped the crotch was on to the side & he could barely move his head. The whole event made me laugh so hard I cried, though, so that was good:

Eli loves our "kitty kats". Only Mocha, though, will let him "pet" her. I try to teach him to pet, but he prefers to "grab & pull" fur or whatever body part is closest. She is so patient & takes it for awhile at least:

Eli continues to practice pulling to stand but still prefers crawling:

Today we went to our breastfeeding group friend, Lily's, 1st birthday party. She had a "Mickey Mouse Clubhouse" theme. Eli watches this show every morning. It was a good time except that Eli needed a nap so we left after the cake. Happy 1st Birthday Lily!!

This week Eli has his first dentist appointment. Until I talked to my parent educator, I thought he wouldn't need to go until all of his teeth were in. But, it's really 6 months after his first tooth comes in. Up until age 3 they just inspect his teeth & mouth to make sure there are no cavities or other issues. I'm a little concerned about how he'll do since I can hardly get any form of a toothbrush in his mouth but we'll see. We're going to a pediatric dentist so hopefully they have some tricks up their sleeves.

Also this week I will be celebrating my 32nd birthday....yikes!