Eli's time off

Eli was home from school for three weeks. I took a few pics, but the most impressive one was Eli posing with the vacuum cleaner. Mom had a wonderful week with him in Madison. Then, we took him to Brazil and had an even better time! Grandma Linda and Grandpa Mike came with us. We got to spend time in the city and at the beach. Eli liked the sand, and he was always looking for "X's". We counted, read, looked at letters, and ate lots of good food. All the things one does with a toddler when traveling. Now, back to school!

South Carolina

We took Eli to South Carolina last weekend for GG's 89th birthday. Eli had a good time. He got to go to the Children's museum, zoo, and two swimming pools! At the Columbia zoo, people can feed the giraffes. Sure enough, we did that, but only after a trip through 'sprinkler alley.' Eli also became a big fan of railroad crossings. He kept 'looking for X's' during the whole trip. He got excited every time we saw one. We had dinner at a restaurant right next to a railroad crossing one night, and he spent half the time outside looking at the 'X.' Eli also had fun with his cousins Sara and Ellie. He wanted to play catch with Sara and he liked playing with Ellie. He also enjoyed playing with the piano and the radio at Eric and Pamela's house.....nonstop. We also went to Jim and Lainie's house on the lake over the weekend. Eli had a blast in the swimming pool. He especially liked being tossed up in the air.

Overall, Eli was good on the trip and we hope he will be just as good on the next one next week!

Vacuums, families, and canoes

It has been busy around the O'Connor house lately, as usual. We had both sets of grandparents visit in the last week. I think I need to start referring to each grandma and grandpa with their names too. I wonder if Eli is getting confused when I say that "Grandma and Grandpa are coming to visit?" Also, if you haven't spent much time around Eli, he is obsessed with the vacuum cleaner. I have included a picture of a happy Eli playing with the house vacuum cleaner (It's pretty special when he gets to play with the house vac, rather than his toy vacs). And, lastly, we capped the week off with a trip in a canoe. We had a wonderful time canoeing today. We all sang "Row, row, row your boat," quacked at ducks, and hunted for wildlife. Eli was on tip-top behavior in the front of the boat with Dad. I think we will have more canoe rides in our future!

Enjoy!

Wednesday nights with dad

The last few weeks have been great. I hurt my knee, which sidelined me from soccer, but allowed me to spend more time with Eli! Each of the last two weeks, we've gone on a dad and Eli date while mom played soccer. Last week we went to the Memorial Union, watched ducks and geese, and ate ice cream. Tonight we went to Noodles for mac and cheese, visited the library, and finished our night with rainbow ice cream. Between these fun Wednesday nights we had the 4th of July. I just finished a major project at work so I was able to spend the weekend with the family and not focus entirely on work. We crammed a lot of activity into a few days: we took in the fireworks from the Memorial Union, keeping Eli up until 10:30 in the process; we marched in a neighborhood parade; we went to two merry-go-rounds on Monday, one at the zoo and one at Ella's deli; and we spent lots of time at the park. Here are a few pictures from the last couple weeks, along with a video showing Eli's increasing enthusiasm.

The zoo and more

We've had a fun last few weeks with Eli. The 'biggest event' was probably our trip to the zoo. You can see that Eli fed the goats, rode the camel with Dad, chased a peacock, and drank from the water fountain. Such fun! But, we missed our chance to feed the giraffes. We will have to go back for that.

Otherwise, Eli's just been a very chatty little boy. He talks all the time. He is now saying multi-word sentences. And, he is working on his 'big' words, like "Arboretum, fireworks, terrace, and ice cream." He says something new everyday....or so it seems....

spring fun

We have been getting around town with Eli lately. Here, you can see the remnants of our breakfast down at the farmer's market. Yummy scones and bananas! And, we took grandma and grandpa and triscuit to the dog park during their visit. Eli also got to enjoy some yummy bumbleberry pie! We took him to Cows on the concourse last weekend too. Rather than a milk mustache, Eli made a milk goatee. Unfortunately, we didn't get pictures of the cows. They were there too. I think Eli liked the balloons more...

visit to STL

We took Eli to STL to visit Grandma and Grandpa last weekend while we were getting our floors refinished. We had lots of fun going to the zoo and to the park. Eli got to ride around on Dad's shoulders, see the goats, and see lots of other animals. When we went to the park, he demonstrated some of his fantastic climbing skills too. Oh, and he got to share a slurpee with Dad. I was driving, and I heard a voice from the backseat, "More slurpee please." Can't beat that.

May-time fundin

We keep falling behind posting pictures. I think most of these pictures are centered around the fun Eli is having with his new toys we got when we went garage sale-ing a couple of weeks ago. We got some great toys -- a little tricycle, a bucket of dinosaurs, musical instruments, Mr. Potato head, more blocks, books, and more. We went early -- and got great stuff! He has been a babbling fool lately too. If you say a word, he will repeat it over and over and over. Lately, he keeps telling me about how the turkey is in trouble, bad trouble, because it is thanksgiving (from a book), and he keeps telling me that we are "all done vacuuming." I'm not sure if he's trying to make a statement about my cleaning habits, but here we are. Oh, and I should add that he and Dave made me cookies for mother's day. They were yummy! Enjoy!