Blood work & Christmas stuff!

Eli had to get blood drawn this week for lead & iron testing (they do this around his age to make sure the levels are okay). I was a little scared about this, just because it wouldn't be a quick shot like a vaccination, but 20 or seconds of a needle in his arm! I then thought that surely they would do a different way of drawing blood for a 15 month old, but I was wrong! They take it exactly like they do an adult!! I was SO nervous for him thinking he would just have a fit & it would take numerous tries to get it done. The tech doing the job was really great and she told me to hold him in my lap, hold his left arm with my left arm, & put my right arm across his chest. She then held his right arm & I decided I should try to think of something quick to try to distract him as best I could. He likes "Old McDonald" so I quietly began singing it in his ear as she put the rubber sincher thing around his arm, looked for a vein, and then carefully poked a small needle in his arm. To my amazement, ELI DIDN'T EVEN FLINCH!!! I was so proud of him & the tech was nice & put a smiley face on his bandage. Oh, and the results came back normal! Phew!!!

Eli sees his daddy & mommy drink coffee every morning. Lately he has started to feel left out & begins to cry if he doesn't have a coffee cup of his own. Below is Eli with his own coffee cup (a mug that is broken:):

After Eli is done eating, he waits patiently in his high chair while I clean up. This is how he chilled as I cleaned on Saturday:

This year we had to be creative about our Christmas tree arrangement. We brought up the coffee table & small ottoman from the basement & strategically placed them. Another funny thing, is when I first started buying Christmas decor for myself (when single & childless), I liked to buy what I considered sophisticated decor in silver & gold. I also decided I liked stars & have bought many stars in the same color scheme. Well, since having Eli, my decor has shifted a little to cute "kiddie" decor: santas, snowmen, Rudolph, snowglobes, etc. I will say that Eli had such an amazing look on his face when he first saw the decorated tree, mantle & stockings. He really loves it which makes my shift in decor all worth it :)

Eli loves the tree SO much he tries very hard to find ways to touch the tree:

Our tree has remote controlled lights (we got it at a steal price 2 years ago on black Friday). Eli loves any kind of remote & turns on & off the lights numerous times a day:



Last year we bought Eli his stocking has Rudolph that sings his famous song (& we decorated it with his name & year with glitter....again, very kiddie-like). Last year I think he just kinda stared at it, but this year, he points at it & fusses until you make him sing. Eli also likes to dance to Rudolph & the dancing tree:





This year, we bought a Rudolph stuffed animal that sings & his nose lights up. Eli knows how to make him sing all by himself:



Eli enjoys his antlers very much, as you can see:

Eli continues to expand his vocabulary & does a lot of mimicking. I haven't put any new words on his list because most of the words this week have been mimicked, without a whole lot of connection. It's still cute though! Below are a couple of videos of him saying some "words":

This week Eli gets his second dose of the flu shot, we have a visit from our parent educator, & we get our Clarkson family picture taken (with grandma, grandpa, uncle Blake & cousin Sammie)! We hope to get in our visit to Santa this week, too. Have a great week everyone!

P.S. Today (Monday) he's said ball several times while touching or pointing to a ball. I've added it to the list!!

Thanksgiving, 15 month well check, snow, Christmas tree AND more walking!!! (phew!)

Thanksgiving was yummy, as usual, and we hosted having Eric's parents and my mom over. Eric's mom cooked the turkey & pies, I did casseroles & rolls, & my mom did a dessert & rolls. It was a good time had by all! Here's our Thanksgiving 2008 family picture:

Friday, Eli had his 15 month well check. He checked out great & has continued to level out with his weight. Amy, the Pediatric Nurse Practitioner Eli sees, was happy with his development in all areas. Here are his stats:

Weight: 26 lbs. 75th%
Height: 31 1/4 in. 75th-90th%
Head: 19 1/2 in. 95th%

After the doc appointment & lunch, Eli & I (Eric had to work) went to visit Grandma Bidney at HER place. She is always coming to our house & we hadn't been to her place in months! She had a few updates done so it was good to come see the place. Eli enjoyed exploring & I brought his push toy/walker with us so he could have a mode of transportation :) Here are pictures:

Saturday, Daddy went to the KU/MU football game with some friends and Eli & I invited our friends Sue & Kalani over for a visit. Kalani & Eli are about 10 months apart, which Sue was saying seems like a big gap now, but in the future hopefully they'll be best pals :) Eli wasn't TOO mean to Kalani, but he did pull his hair once (he has lots of it!). Eli enjoyed rough housing with Sue & Sue was a great sport, letting Eli pull her hair, too. Oh Eli!!! Here's pictures of the visit:

Today we had snow that actually accumulated for a little while. Eli has seen snow before but he was only a few months old, so it was new to him! I'm sure we'll have more snow pictures as the winter goes on but here are a couple of Eli learning that white stuff is COLD!!!:

Now that winter is here, we have to put back out the rugs for the our wet & yucky shoes. The rugs were put away for awhile because Eli would always get stuck in them with his push toys & walker. As soon as I brought them back out, he immediately had to play with them. Silly boy finds EVERYTHING to be interesting:

Today we (I should say Eric) put up our Christmas tree. This year is a little different than last year as last year Eli wasn't anywhere near mobile. So, we had to plan out where to put the tree & how to blockade our little man from destroying it! I looked up online ideas & found a few that were interesting such as putting the tree in a playpen, putting up a small tree on a table, or putting your couch in front of the tree. We decided to just do what we could to barracade the tree with 2 coffee tables (one from downstairs) & a foot rest. We'll see if it works :) So far the tree is just up, no decor, so we'll do that sometime this week!! We did let him explore the tree once we first put it up. He was of course facinated by the "ights" & loved touching them. I have a picture of me at around Eli's age standing in front of the tree starring at it. I'll have to see if I have it & post it. I tried to reinact the picture with Eli:

Okay, now what you all came to see.....more walking videos!! Eli is doing much better already & while he still crawls most of the time (or uses his push toy walker), he is becoming more & more brave about walking by himself without us even encouraging him. It's so adorable because he is SO proud of himself. He gets this look on his face as he starts to stand on his own & then starts smiling as he makes the attempt to walk. He's walked probably 8 or 9 steps at a time & seems to really enjoy himself! He gets so excited that he actually starts to almost run as he is walking to us. Enjoy!!

Lastly, Eli has a few new words this week: papa (grandpa), hot (for the heater in his room), off (in relation to lights) & doggie. At dinner today he said a form of the word "cracker", but only once & my rule is he has to say it more than once AND with actual meaning or connection to what he is saying. He's entering the phase of mimicking us which while he is saying words while doing this, it really doesn't mean anything to him or connecting it to anything, just a mimick. That's just my silly rule for his "first words". Soon he'll be saying many more words and we'll have a hard time keeping up with the documenting, but until then, I'm being "stingy" about documenting what words he actually says :)

Hope everyone has a great week!

Thanksgiving Day 2008: Eli's first steps!!

I think we'll count these as his first steps :) He just needed an audience, I guess!! As the day went on, he got better & better!

I'll post about our week as usual on Sunday. I'm sure we'll have even BETTER walking videos to post! Hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving!

Eli's alphabet dinner, push toys, & more words

This week, we started to fight a cold in our household. Thankfully, Eric & I have the worst of it (particularly me, I had to stay home on Friday) & Eli only has a runny nose. I hope that's as bad as it gets for him. It seems that I get the same virus each time I get a cold that starts as an itchy throat, then a runny nose, & then results in congestion & a bad cough. No fun.

Before the sickness arrived, we had fun with a visit from Gael & Mi Jean. Gael was such a sport during the visit as he took all of Eli's "affection" of pulling hair, butting heads, & trying to bite. Keep in mind Eli was happy the whole time, this is just how he shows emotion whether it be happy or mad! Here's pictures from the visit:

Eli liked Gael's cool boots:

Mom, can I pull of Gael's bib and strangle him while I do it??? What's wrong with that???

Eli enjoys being in the kitchen a lot. He has his own cupboard with a variety of items but likes to explore the other drawers & cupboards, too. We have latches on most of them, except the ones that have towels & pot holders, thinking it won't hurt him, so why bother! Well, below is the reason why. Oh well, it's fun for him!!

Eli also likes to play with anything that has buttons, knobs or levers. Here he is figuring out the dishwasher (which he now knows how to turn on!):


A couple weeks ago we started having Eli eat from a spoon (as I stated last post). Here he is exploring his spoon & bowl:

At each meal, I sing Eli his own version of the "Abby's Alphabet Soup" song (by Ralph's World) called "Eli's Alphabet Breakfast/Lunch/Dinner". He LOVES it when I sing this & while I try to say his food in alphabetical order, it doesn't always happen :) His favorite part is when he gets to say "H" at the end of the song. He just started saying "H" all on his own this week. Too cute:



Eli also likes to reinact the commercial with the dog who drags his butt on the floor....only Eli's butt is covered by a diaper :)



Here's Eli with his favorite Grandmas :)

Grandma Clarkson

Grandma Bidney

Still loving his bounce & spin zebra!

As I've said in previous posts, Eli makes most everything a push toy these days....

....diaper boxes,

ponies,

& laundry baskets!

On that note, he is taking a few steps to us when we ask him to. We also "catch" him standing by himself when he's not paying attention & then as soon as he notices, he falls. Little stinker:)

I try to put Eli's snack in a bowl, plate, or some sort of container so he can eat in the living room. Well, the food never stays in the chosen container & always ends up on the floor. Oh well, it's building his immunities, right??

Eli loves daddy's hat & now can say hat!:

Eli continues to learn more words, or words that sound like words ;) Here Eli is showing off his animal sounds. He gets stuck on kitty kat though and says "tittat" instead of the sound. But he does mimick our cats when they meow. Oh, and he is starting to say cat instead of "tittat" now!:

Hope everyone enjoys their Thanksgiving!

Our stubborn little man (aka little stinker :)

This week our pictures revolve mostly around our little stubborn man. He is such a curious, active, fun little guy but this also means he can be stubborn....surprise, surprise as he's been this way since day 1!! No worries, though, as we still adore him to pieces (it helps that he is too cute & has a smile & laugh that melt your heart ;). Here's a few examples:

Eli continues to be a little stinker & only walk with the assistance of his push toys, walker, high chair, our hands, couch, etc., etc. I know he'll do it on his own time, but it's funny to see him be able to walk so well with assistance:

Here is a video of him walking with his push toy & being able to turn around with no problem:





Eli has not figured out how to be nice to "titt-tatt" yet. Poor kitty tries to handle his rough love but always loses out in the end:

Eli stood for a few seconds for daddy this weekend but when I tried to take video of him, here's what he did....little stinker (I call him that a lot :):



Eli has started in the last few weeks to throw mini tantrums when he gets frustrated or has to be redirected from things he shouldn't be doing. I've read that at this age the only thing to do is redirect and/or allow the fit to happen and ignore it. This works for the most part, but some times of the day it seems like almost anything makes him mad (usually if he is getting tired or hungry). He also bites & pulls hair when he is excited OR mad (definitely emotionally driven!). We just say "No, hurts mommy" (or whoever it is) & redirect. So far this works okay and I can't wait to see what the terrible 2's bring our way!! Yikes!! He's always been strong willed so I'm sure it will be fun! :)

Now for videos/pictures of our sweet little man:

"Peek-a-boo, I see you!":

Who can resist that face!:

Today we tried to go on a walk since it wasn't too cold being in the 50's. It was chilly & Eli didn't have as much fun as he usually does....we'll miss our walks over the winter:

Eli still loves his zebra and in the last month or so is able to get on & off by himself:

Eli had an up & down week of eating but ate awesome this weekend! I know, that's a toddler!

Eli LOVES cottage cheese & got carried away & got some on his face. He was doing this hilarious thing where he would stop, look down at the speck of cottage cheese & make a strange face:

Eli also is starting to explore utensils. Remember that Eli never ate any baby food so he hasn't had much experience with a spoon (he jumped straight to table/finger food). He also has never liked mushier foods like yogurt, applesauce, oatmeal, etc. Well, he has now decided he likes them and gets at least one at each meal with a spoon. For my own sanity, I feed him with the spoon & let him play with another one. Soon we will allow him to feed himself & just put up with the mess, but I wanted him to explore the utensils first.

On the vocabulary front, Eli is able to identify a few more objects by pointing when we ask where they are (but can't say them): clock, cow (in books), ball, & book. Eli likes to say "moo" when he sees cows in books along with "ooffooff" for doggy sounds, and "eee" for kitty kat sounds. His favorite by far is "ight" for light as he loves to show everyone that he knows where the light is!



Have a great week everyone!

Weekend in Iowa

This week, we enjoyed some warm weather before the chill & wind returned blowing all the fall leaves to the ground. Eli enjoys looking out windows & doors and does so any chance he gets. Here are pictures of him looking out the back door:

We went to the park, probably for the last time before winter sets in. Eli really enjoys swinging:

Eli makes almost ANYTHING a push toy these days. He can walk, he just chooses not to without the assistance of something. Here he is using his highchair which he pushed into the living room:

Eli loves to be "in control" of most things, including brushing his teeth, brushing his hair, eating, etc. Here he is brushing his hair:



Daddy let Eli "lift weights" with the blinds:



This weekend we made the trip to Des Moines to visit the Bidney fam. While it is only a 3 hour trip, Eli can't stand being cooped up in his car seat for very long. We usually have to make 1-2 stops to "release" him from his car seat. Here he is doing some reading on the way down:

While in Des Moines, we stayed with Aunt Holly & Uncle Chris. Eli loves seeing his aunts & uncle! I'm not sure how, but I didn't get one picture of Eli with his Aunt Sarah & Aunt Stephanie! Here is a picture of Eli sitting with Aunt Holly & Uncle Chris:

Aunt Holly let Eli loose on their DVD collection. Eli had no problem knocking them all on the floor! But, Eli did find a missing DVD that Uncle Chris had been looking for!:

Aunt Holly & Uncle Chris have an old school desk. Here is Eli showing how good he'll be when he attends school in a few years:

Eli HATES, I should say LOATHES brushing his teeth. I've tried showing him how fun it is when I brush my teeth, allowing him to brush my teeth, letting him play with his tooth brush, etc., etc. He enjoys this, but once I attempt to actually touch his teeth with the brush, the tears flow!! I reasearch this online and found an idea of buying an electric toothbrush. So I went to Target and bought one. He seems to think it is very interesting, but still hasn't allowed it to willingly enter his mouth. Here he is playing with new crayola toothbrush:

It was even colder in Des Moines (30's during the day, 20's at night) so we made sure Eli had his coat & hat. He has always disliked hats, but to my surprise, he seemed to like his monkey winter hat. Hooray!!:

Eli had more practice with climbing stairs at Aunt Holly & Uncle Chris':

Also while in Des Moines, Saturday night we had a yummy lasagne dinner with Grandpa Bidney, Roberta, Aunt Holly, Uncle Chris, Aunt Sarah, & Aunt Stephanie and watched a couple of movies. Then Sunday we ate brunch at Grandpa Bidney's golf club before heading to the mall (I finally changed my watch battery that I had been wearing around for a week now!!). Unfortunately, Eric is really allergic to Aunt Holly & Uncle Chris' cats & my allergies kicked in Sunday morning, so we didn't feel that great. We may have to consider staying in a hotel for subsequent visits so we aren't miserable while trying to enjoy our visit!! Regardless of this, we did have a good time & enjoyed spending time with the Bidney gang.