14 meces old

Dearest sweet, loving and pretty (handsome), Eli,

You are rocking our world these days!  Not only do you follow simple commands like, "take your cup to dada", or "bring me your shoe" and "roll the watermelon to dada" (seriously!), but you also understand certain phrases and respond appropriately.  If we say, "let's go bye-bye", you walk to the garage door.  If we say, "are you thirsty?", you walk to the kitchen, and "are you hungry?" prompts you to walk to your highchair.  In so many ways, my life is getting easier!  Thank you!

You're "officially" walking now... hardly crawling anymore!

Your vocabulary is expanding, including "shoe" and "bye".  You cracked us up this month by saying "bye bye" every time you heard me say "I'll talk to you later".  I'm not going to lie... that one kind of blew me away!   You sign "eat" when I say "snack", "hungry", "lunch", etc and sign "milk" when I say "bottle" and "cup".  There's some serious connecting of dots going on up in your noggin!  :)

You are also learning more in terms of action -- brushing your teeth (and spitting - it usually lands on your belly), finding your belly button, ears, and eyes, and brushing your hair on your own.   You love pushing on me when I'm sitting down and making me fall over - I'd better be the only girl you do that to!  ;)  You will now kiss and hug on command, which is quite possibly the sweetest thing EVER.  I make you kiss me all day.  :)

"Hug Teddy!"

cutest trick ever

Your favorite meal, lately, has been PW's chicken spaghetti.  You insist on eating it with a fork, but you eat LOTS of it, saying "mmmmmm" the whole time!  :)  You also love homemade burritos, roasted chicken breast (you ate an entire breast the other night - and 2 cups of broccoli!), and mac & cheese.  You are eating lots of fruit these days - strawberries from the garden and melons as part of dad's "market research".  :)  You were officially weaned from formula a few weeks ago, and are now drinking milk from your sippy cup.  I still give you a night time bottle, but you get a cup the rest of the time.

You love using a big-boy fork!  (Spinach noodles in the chicken spaghetti)

You actually didn't pick any of those, but you did entertain us while we did!  :)

You are still climbing on everything, and almost able to climb up on my chair while I'm working.  Once that happens, I will be in serious trouble!

Driving the boat at Grand Lake... You loved it!

You also got to stay with Grammy and Pops O'Connor for a night while mommy went on a shopping trip with some girls from church.  They absolutely adored having you there for their first over-nighter and LOVED having you all to themselves!  I wasn't there to insist on naptimes or anything, but you more or less stuck to your basic schedule and did perfectly for them!  You and aunt Care had a great time together, too!

 

You also stayed with Grandma and Papa Shelby for your first weekend stay-over while your mommy and daddy had their first getaway in over a year!  We hung out with Blue's parents at the lake, and talked about you both often!  You spent lots of time with your cousins, and went on several 4-wheeler rides to see your cow!  You do adore those rides!

You also played with sweet Maria, who is just a few months younger and oh-so-beautiful!  Eli... trust me..... she's a keeper!  :)

You loved seeing Maria!

Eli, your dad and I could not possibly love you any more than we do - it's already overwhelming to me as it is!  While you do exhaust me, and have now pooped in the bathtub more times than I can count (apparently that's a hereditary trait... sorry, mom!), I cannot imagine a more PERFECT baby!  Yes, I'm biased.  But, I'm your mom... I get to be!  :)  You're such a blessing and gift to us, and we thank God for you every single day!

Mother's Day, 2011

Love,
Mom