Eli Enjoys the Weather

This weekend brought uncharacteristically warm October weather to Madison. Eli (or perhaps more importantly, us) really wanted to get outside to enjoy the warmth. On Saturday, I got to go on a 15 mile bike ride on the Capitol City Trial, while Shelby got to ride through the UW Arboretum a few hours later. Today we bundled Eli into his sling and brought him for a walk through the paths of the Arboretum. I'm still recovering from an ankle sprain suffered in early August, but I was able to walk reasonably well on the uneven trails (with Shelby holding Eli). Tonight we did something that we thought would have to wait until spring - we walked Eli down to Monroe Street to pick up dinner. For those of you from out of town, one of our pre-Eli rituals was walking the two or so miles from our house along the Arboretum to Monroe St., where we would pick up dinner from one of several restaurants clustered within about a one block area. Shelby, Triscuit, and I got to walk to Monroe St. two weeks ago when Grandma Linda and Grandpa Mike visited and watched Eli. Tonight we took the risk that a bundled Eli would handle the walk well on a full stomach. We were rewarded with a sleepy, sleeping, and generally docile Eli who stayed snug as a bug in his carrier for our entire walk. Taking the entire family (now with Eli) felt like a return to normalcy, though we are acutely aware that we probably won't have the confluence of ideal circumstances (time, weather, and Eli disposition) to do this again until the spring. 

Also, Eli has started recognizing objects a little bit. Here is a video of him trying to play 'swat the stuffed thing'.