summer market

We took Eli to the Farmer's market this morning. He was happy as a clam! We got to enjoy some cool summer weather. Can you believe we were wearing jeans and long-sleeve shirts in the middle of July? Anyway, we got some sweet blueberry muffin/bread for breakfast. Can you tell who enjoyed it?? That's right, Eli kept grabbing for more. I had a tough time getting pictures, but you can see him eating it. Yum!

Eli bedtime video (long form)

Several people have asked us to post longer videos of Eli. Here is a 12 minute, long-form video of Eli's bedtime routine, captured last week. It is split into two parts. Sorry to all who could not open the previous, You-tubed version of these videos.

Stuck in Lodi Again

As mentioned last week, we had big plans for the July 4th weekend. Eli's unexpected bout with roseola (not to be confused with Rosealia). Apparently Eli had it easy - roseola fevers can spike in excess of 106°! And I thought he was burning up when his registered 100-101°. After his fever broke, he felt better (than ezra?). But for a few days, he had a nasty rash that covered his entire trunk. It didn't seem to bother him, but it mortified Shelby when she took him to swimming. It was almost like waving a banner that said 'parent who doesn't notice that her son is covered in splotchy rash'. The rash is hard to see in photographs, but check out the picture below:



Eli fully recovered by Friday, so we planned a family Saturday chock full of activity. This morning we ran around the Arboretum, stopping to pick up breakfast at the coffee shop about a mile from the house. We walked the rest of the way home, enjoying the scenery and mid-summer sunshine. After cleaning up and running errands, I spent time sitting on the balcony doing work. In a welcome development, Triscuit has decided that he prefers to perch himself on the balcony and watch people walk by instead of going for walks himself. This leads to the admittedly goofy sight of dog and Dave sitting together outside the house. Eli is also captivated by the glass door and the dog that is just beyond his reach:



We decided to spend the afternoon at the Lodi Agricultural Fair. Lodi is about 30 minutes west of Madison, well in the middle of rural Wisconsin. At the Fair, Eli got to pretend he was a farmer: collecting eggs, apples, and potatoes for sale at the market.



After playing farmer, Eli and dad rode a train:



We then got to play with the livestock: cows, pigs, sheep, ducks, chicken, and rabbits!





After seeing the animals, Dave and Shelby won enough tickets playing Skee-bal against one another to win Eli a souvenir pig beanie baby. Before we left the fair, Eli and Dave rode the merry-go-round. The horses went a little fast for Eli's comfort, but he only voiced his displeasure a few times during the ride:




And that was our big day at the fair! A good time was had by all, but Eli was tired from his busy afternoon by the time we got home. Hopefully he will sleep in again - one silver lining to his illness last week is that his sleep schedule recalibrated. He has slept until at least 6:30 each of the last four or five days.

Eli's first fever

Eli turns 10 months old next week. As we creep towards his birthday, Shelby and I realized that we have been very fortunate - Eli has gotten his share of colds but hadn't gotten really 'sick' until this weekend.

I'll start by reporting he is on the mend. Eli slept well during the day today and was cool as a cucumber by bedtime. Hopefully he will wake up rejuvenated in the morning and ready for school (by Wednesday, if not tomorrow).

Yet this weekend didn't play out exactly as expected. We planned on spending lots of time outside, taking advantage of the nice holiday weather. We ended up spending most of the weekend inside fretting about Eli. On Friday night, Eli spit up/vomited a sizable portion of his dinner. It was a new food, so we didn't think very much of it at the time. Eli was irascible Saturday morning, but only for a little while. He then became listless and fatigued. We called the doctor because Eli had also fallen on Thursday and we were concerned these events were related (in retrospect, they almost certainly were not). Nonetheless, the doctor advised us to come in for an exam.

When we went to the clinic, Eli was running a low grade fever. After leaving the doctor, Eli was tired the rest of the day. We hung around the house and made him as comfortable as possible. We thought that the worst had passed, but then his fever spiked this morning, reaching 100-101, which is the warmest he has ever been. Fortunately, a little Tylenol took care of the fever. He slept through much of today and was doing better by bedtime.

Toddlin' E

Eli's new trick -- standing!!! He gets so excited when he stands up, but he doesn't know what to do. He can stand in his crib, in his pack n' play, at the washing machine, at the bathtub.... and so on..... but, he did not stand up at school today. I don't know why not?? He is also learning to wear T-shirts that aren't just onesies. I think that is a real sign he is growing up.....

pics

Here are some cute pics we had of Eli. Most are from our visit to Chicago. I will hopefully find more cute ones soon!

Eli Meets the Fountain

IMG_3447, originally uploaded by dhoconno.

From the Long Grove Strawberry Festival.