pics

Here are just some recent pics we had.  With Dave gone, I haven't taken many pics lately.  But, enjoy these!  I'm sure we will have many more to add in a couple of weeks after our trip.

Fun with rattles

Eli's become a big fan of rattles.  He can shake them.  He can eat them.  Sometimes, he even likes to shake two at a time!  He is still working on using them more elegantly, but boy does he like the rattles!

Flickr

This is a test post from , a fancy photo sharing thing.

valentine's day pics

Eli was looking cute for valentine's day before we headed out to the gym.  He especially likes his kangaroo.  I need to get some pictures of him chewing on the rings.  Maybe next time.    

Dave also suggested that we put Eli down to bed earlier last night.  It worked!He slept from 8:30 until 3:30, and then again from 4 to 7.  Can't complain about that.  We'll have to try it again tonight!

Wednesday Morning, 3 AM

The last few days with Eli have been nice. For the first time since December, temperatures crept above freezing. Yesterday's high temperatures were in the 50s! Shelby and I took advantage of the nice weather to walk Triscuit and get Eli fresh air. Last night we even walked down to Monroe Street to pick up dinner. Colder temperatures return today, but it was nice while it lasted.

I'm writing this as Shelby feeds Eli. Sleeping at night continues to be a challenge. Around 7 each night, Eli gets fussy. Feeding him offers temporary relief, but he returns to form very quickly. Putting him down to sleep for the night hasn't worked well, nor has bathing him or trying to placate him in other ways. We are now trying to iron out a new wrinkle in his evening routine, in which Eli wakes every hour or so after he is put down for the night. Last night we gave him the opportunity to fuss himself back to sleep and it worked - he eventually did - but he is still up now insisting on another feeding.

Tomorrow (er., later today) will be exciting. Triscuit goes to the vet for his annual paw fixing. We take him there early, bring Eli to day care, work, pick up Eli, pick up Triscuit, and come home. Not exciting to the same level as bringing Eli halfway around the world, but exciting enough nonetheless.

Sometimes the cereal misses the mouth

As you can see here, the cereal does not always get in Eli's mouth.  He is getting a bit better at swallowing it, but it doesn't always work too well.  Nevertheless, Eli is generally happy when he is done eating.  Who wouldn't be happy if they were well rested and had a full belly??

Eli's growing up

I had this picture of Eli sitting in a corner of the base of the couch from awhile ago and I thought I would take another picture today of an older, more 'mature' Eli.  Hopefully you can tell which picture was taken today....

No rest for the weary

As Eli's cold lingers into its second week, it is taking its toll on us all. He isn't sleeping more than two or three hours at a time, often waking when he coughs. Fortunately, he is pretty good natured most of the day, but he is getting very tired and fussy in the evenings.

Tomorrow I will be home alone with Eli because Shelby is giving a presentation at a Global Health symposium. I hope it goes as well as my time alone on Sunday night, when Eli took a nap with me, played for a while, and eventually took another nap himself.

We also learned today that our trip to Chicago last week was successful. All three of us received five year, multivisit travel visas to go to Brazil. It will be embarrassing when Eli is speaking better Portuguese than us in two years.

It is already time for us to sign up for day care for next year. If all goes according to plan, Eli will 'graduate' with the rest of his 0-1 year old class and his existing teachers to the 1-2 year old room in August. So, like his dad, he is already shaping up to be one of the youngest kids in his class.

Lastly, our solid food adventure is slowly improving. Eli now opens his mouth - more or less - when we feed him. In a only slightly disgusting turn of events, Triscuit is also quite fond of Eli's food. We usually give him the last spoonful from the bottle. I don't understand the appeal. Shelby and I both tasted the cereal ourselves and weren't impressed.