Boom-boom....pop...pop,pop,pop,pop!!

Hope everyone had a great 4th of July....ours was fun! Eli celebrated his 2nd Independence Day & this time......he got to see LIVE fireworks! Last year, Eli was such a chubby little guy & this year, he is long & lean (I weighed him last week & he is 30 lbs)! Here are some pictures of the festivities:

We bought $4.10 worth of fireworks that consisted of sparklers, snakes, flower spinners, & poppers. We figured these were simple fireworks to start Eli out with. Fireworks had been going off pretty much all day & when we came outside after dinner to do ours, our neighborhood sounded like a war zone! Eli was a little uncertain about it all & ran to grandma for some security:

This is as close as Eli got to the sparklers:

Poppers!:



Since Eli had been talking about fireworks all week, I really wanted to try to have him see the big display. After seeing our own & some neighbor's go off, he still seemed interested so we headed out. It was an hour past his bedtime & by the time we got home, 2 hours past his bedtime, but he did well considering. I was concerned about him being scared of the noise, so we decided to watch the display a few blocks away in a bank parking lot. It worked out great because we could see them well but the noise wasn't bad. Eli seemed to be mesmerized (& tired) & went between daddy, mommy & grandma to watch them:

Some video of the event:


He looks a little tired here:

This week Eli continued to try to put more words together into phrases. Before we know it, he'll be speaking in sentences!!
"Fall down, duck!" (When duck fell down)
"This way"
"I sweet"
"Bright...sun"
"____ break"
"Again!"
"Side down" (going down slide)

Now a few pictures from the week:

Looking like a "2 year old" on the couch (he's often mistaken for at least a 2 year old and sometimes a 3 year old!):

"Aipane....fly!":

Mommy took out all of Eli's toys from his toy box & Eli enjoyed walking around the circle & counting them:

Building stuff with blocks with mommy:

Silly little man:

Silly big & little men:

Swimming lessons ended last week & we hope to do some fun activities over the last couple of summer months with our buddies. This week we hope to go to a petting farm & Toddler Town. The weather will be warm, but no rain is called for until Friday....here's hoping! Hope everyone continues to enjoy their summer!!

Swimming, playdate, phrases & funnies

Hello all! Here we are almost at the end of June! At this rate it will soon be fall....although I'll already welcome some cooler weather :) Another post full of pictures and videos so to help everyone keep up, I've divided the post up into sections. Happy viewing!

Swimming Lessons

This last week we started Eli's swimming lessons where he is considered a "shrimp" (their groups are ocean creature names). So far it's been enjoyable because Eli's friends Callie, Christopher, Addie, & Lily have joined in on the fun! I wouldn't be able to give the lessons themselves an "A", but we are exposing Eli to the water which is what is most important. So far he is doing well and has learned to blow bubbles, kick, go under, and do the hokey pokey! Becasue daddy had the week off from work, daddy attended each lesson and I know Eli enjoyed having us both there. One of his favorite things is to be thrown back and forth between us!

Eli & mommy ready for the lesson to begin:

Learning how to inch along the side of the pool:

The group practicing some skills:

The Hokey Pokey!:


The facility where the lessons were held has a splash n play area that we went to after each lesson last week (we'll see if we can this week...:). It's a fun area that the kids found fun....yet a little intimidating:


Eli with his daddy:

Haircut

Eli got a much needed haircut this week (his 4th one). We actually attempted to get his haircut twice, with only one being a success. We are on a misson to find a wonderful yet low priced hair cut place for Eli. We decided to try a local beauty school but as soon as the cape was put on, Eli broke down and literally scared the poor student off to find her instructor. We then decided students really don't do well with kids yet, so we went next door a couple days letter to a chain place and lucked out with a hairdresser who had a grandchild Eli's age and was AMAZING with him. I think we'll probably go back there until I get brave enough to cut his hair myself. I just feel he's too fidgety at this age to "test" out my skills.

He SO looks like a 2 year old now:

Impromtu Playdate

On Friday I got a call from my college friend Carrie who has a little girl, Georgia, who was born 1 day before Eli. We hadn't seen each other since the kids were 5 or 6 months old and she was going to be in the area so we planned an impromtu playdate! Our other college friend, Beth, also came over with her little girl Addie (and her little one baking in the oven :). It was fun to see them and see the kids interact. There were a few little squabbles, but I think everyone had a good time :). As soon as Georgia arrived, they gave each other kisses, which was adorable!

Eli, Addie & Georgia:

Eli & Georgia at 5 months:

Eli & Georgia at 22 months:

Georgia going in for the "bite" at 5 months:

Eli & Georgia not biting, but trying to coordinate a kiss:

Phrases & Funnies

Eli has had another great week full of new phrases. He's really starting to add "I", "you", "it", etc. to his phrases. Here are the ones I actually wrote down:

"Ali's (Eli's) _____"
"Hold you!" (when he wants to be held....too cute)
"Water fell!" (when he spills water)
"Airplane fly!"
"I turn" (when we take turns doing something)
"It fell"
"Bess you" (bless you after sneezing)
"I stuck"
"Balloon, caught, down, get!" (what Eli said when the balloon got caught in the fan...see below)
"Mmmm.....good!"
"Bump!" (when we reach a bump in the sidewalk)
"Pummus" (hummus....his new favorite food)

Eli likes to try on my sunglasses anytime he can. He's already broke 2 pair so it's the $5/$10 shades for me!:

Mommy forgot the balloon was in the room and turned on the fan....oooppps....Eli was a little traumatized:

Eli patiently waiting for the water monkey to grow (we check on him everyday to see how big he is):

Bowling is a wonderful sport :):




Another Yo Gabba Gabba song that Eli loves and picked up on his own:

Awww.....Eli has really LOVED his week with daddy. I am so happy they are so close:

Eating Eli's new favorite food...."pummus"!:

Eli found this picture in the paper today and was very fascinated by what it was. We told him about fireworks and what they sound & look like. Looks like we'll be trying to find a fireworks display to take him to next weekend!:

Sticker fun:

Hanging out after dinner on the deck:

Hope everyone has a wonderful 4th of July!!

New phrases, big boy table, climber, Music w/Mar, & Father's Day!

Eli has started to really expand his phrase vocabulary and says the cutest things these days. Some new phrases include:

"Go, out, shoes!"
"I climb it"
"I stuck"
"I hold it"
"I push it"
"Uh-huh"
"I clean it" (he says this while cleaning but also when he talks about ouchies)
"Get you" (a game that daddy & Eli like to play)
"I funny"

Eli is also funny when he sometimes says "bye-bye" to things around the house: the couch, doors, toys, etc., even if we aren't going anywhere!

Eli has graduated to eating at the table with us! Bye-bye highchair! He seems to like this better, but still thinks it's fun to throw food :( Mean mommy makes him pick up the food off the floor after lunch/dinner but he doesn't seem phased by the consequence....in fact he ends up eating the food on the floor most of the time anyway....little stinker!

As Eli likes to say "I climb it!" We have to put down the lid when he does this....such a monkey:

On Saturday, we attended our first Music with Mar class with Ms. Debbie (we've attended before with other teachers). I went to college with Debbie and she holds classes in our town 2 days a week up the road from us so it's really convenient. The Saturday class is held at a retirement home so it's really awesome that the residents also participate! You could see how much the residents loved having children there. Here a couple of videos of the music activities we did. We hope we can go every couple of weeks as Eli seemed to really enjoy himself!

And of course, today is Father's Day and Eli has such a wonderful daddy to be thankful for (as am I!) The day started with presenting daddy with coffee & breakfast courtesy of Starbucks.
Eli helped daddy eat his breakfast:


Daddy then opened up his card from Eli:

And gave Eli a hug for the below thoughtful words:

"Daddy means smiles. Daddy means hugs. Daddy means love. Daddy means the world to me."

My card to Eric seemed to be the perfect card for us. It went like this:

"We both know that being a parent is one of the most rewarding and demanding jobs there can be....on Father's Day, I want you to know that I feel lucky to be sharing the decisions, the laughs, the frustrations, and the all the happiness with a terrific husband like you."

Daddy then opened his gift of a new summer outfit. We then decided to venture out and go to the park and then lunch at Sonic....yum! Here are some pictures from the park:

Later in the day, Eric's family came over to celebrate. Eric's mom picked up BBQ (so the guys didn't have to grill) and we enjoyed some yummy food and time together. Here's a picture of the dads and kids:

Father's Day 2009....what a pair!:

We also attended a fun pool birthday party for our friend Madelyn on Wednesday. I didn't take any pictures (I was in the pool with Eli!), but it was good to have Eli in the pool before his swim lessons start tomorrow. He was a little scared at first, but then warmed up quickly. We look forward to the lessons and the fact that daddy gets to attend due to having the week off! Yay! Some of our friends are also taking the class so that will be fun to see. The weather should be clear but HOT (in the 90's) so the pool will feel AWESOME! I'll definitely get some pictures.

Due to swim lessons this week and next week (2 weeks M-Th), we won't be attending a lot of other activities during the week. Daddy & Eli should have a lot of fun together while mommy works about 18 hours and grandma gets the week off! Hopefully daddy will take a lot of fun pictures of their time together. This week also is Aunt Holly's birthday, Grandpa Bidney's birthday, and Eli turns 22 months! Happy Birthday! Hope everyone has a great week!

P.S. To celebrate the 1st day of summer, I updated the background and picture of our blog. I hadn't planned it, but the last picture was of Eli holding an umbrella, which was quite suiting for all the rain we had been getting! Now it is full on summer with hot weather and not much rain in the forecast. This picture is of Eli at the park and the background is of things that "go", which Eli is currently in love with. Too cute!

Playdates & garage sales

Last week was kinda a bum week weather wise with multiple days of rain/storms. But, we were able to have a fun playdate on Friday morning with wonderful sunny weather! Here are some cute pictures from the morning!

Eli wanting to try out the big kid swing:

He didn't make it up this slide but he did make it all the way up (the wrong way) the twisty slide!

Swinging, a favorite park playdate activity:

This park has two great playgrounds for the kids that are, for the most part, toddler friendly:

Eli & Colton eating snacks in the shade:

Eli became interested in the highschool tennis practice. He kept calling it "baseball":

Below are some fun pictures I used the online editing site picnik. Love that it is free and fun!

Mr. Jack:

"Peek-a-boo Christopher!":

"Hello mommy!":

Love how this effect makes their lips look and cheeks dark & rosy. Eli, Kennison and Colton sharing snacks:

This was too cute that they all decided to sit down together. They all REALLY wanted to wander down the hill, though!:

Always have to check out the picnic tables:

"Eli the Explorer":

On Saturday, our subdivision had a neighborhood garage sale. We decided not to hassle with putting out anything ourselves, but we did partake in the shopping! Eli, of course, is the one who benefited from the shopping, but it was all things were wanting to get him anyway!

Eli loves to watch daddy mow the lawn. Luckily we found TWO lawn mowers that BLOW BUBBLES!:

This is really cute as both lawn mowers actually look alike!:

Getting ready for summer time at the pool with this purchase of an inner tube, or as Eli calls it, "circle":

To go along with his previous garage sale purchase of an airplane, Eli got a really cool helicopter:

There hasn't been much advancement in the potty training area.....maybe this is why:

Adventures in pudding eating, part 1:

In other news, since we brought up the cable box (only took 21 months :) we have been in love with Noggin and Sprout stations. Eli's new favorite show is "Yo Gabba Gabba" which is quite the interesting show. What is great is they have a lot of guest stars including Jack Black....hilarious....see for yourself! Eli loves to say "Yo Gabba Gabba" many times throughout the day.

Unrelated to Mr. Eli, I have a little annoying story to share. While driving on the interstate, a work truck several hundred feet ahead of me had a can of paint literally fly out of the truck into the air and land on the road, of course spraying paint everywhere. I was thankfully far enough away but one unlucky car was covered with paint. I did get a nice light spray of paint on my car, though, which we hope we can get off with a little scrubbing if it is water based. I always get really paranoid around trucks that have things in the back that don't seem to be as secured down as they should be!

Also, yoga is going well (this will be my 6th week!) and I signed up for the next session. I started doing some exercise videos on the alternate days to hopefully help me get in a little better shape.....although not soon enough for swimsuit weather :( Which reminds me, Eli starts swim lessons on the 22nd! Should be fun!

Depending on weather (storms in the forecast AGAIN!), we hope to play with Eli's friends at a splash park, probably go to the park a few times, and hopefully make it to Music with Mar on Saturday. Have a great week!