without dad

Although we miss Dad, we have been getting along ok without him for the last week. Here are a few cute pics of Eli. One day, he had a lot of fun with funnels. Another day, he really wanted to wear his boots. He is trying to put on his shoes himself, but so far it has been unsuccessful. With my help, we have no problem. Anyway, Eli wore his boots around the house for awhile. The picture of him and Triscuit is fuzzy because he didn't want to stop moving. He is getting much better at walking in them inside! Outside walking is still a challenge. But, we did practice that a bit in the past week too. You can also see that I have been keeping Eli in in good shape -- we went to the library and he got his second haircut -- all in one day. Such a handsome fellow!

winter

hi all. Here are some winter pics for you to enjoy. Eli seems to really enjoy going out on the sled. I like taking him to the dog park. The snow can be smooth, and he can get in a nice sled ride. He is also learning how to walk on the snow in his boots. He is getting better at it, but once he falls down, he is stuck. Eli also likes playing with the pot lids and going to see noodles. Noodles doesn't mind the lids, but Triscuit does not like them at all! I should also say that I can tell Eli is learning more each day! Today, I asked him to get his milk and bring it back to me. He had to walk over to another room and he found his milk and brought it back. Ahhh, the little things impress me!

Hearing, now with more listening.

Shelby, Eli, and I spent a lot of time together. Since Eli's day care is closed for two weeks around Christmas, we've used a combination of parent-care, baby-sitter-care, and mom-and-dad-care to keep Eli entertained. One notable discovery is that Eli is developing quite the receptive vocabulary. He can identify his body parts, Triscuit and Noodles, and, perhaps most impressively, objects around the house. He can point to the oven, doors, cabinets, and more. We have to be very careful of what we say - even though Eli isn't talking back, he is absorbing our discussions.

He is also very interested in books. Shelby and I have read him more than 20 books each of the last few days. Fortunately, he isn't as wed to specific titles as he was a few months back, giving us a little more variety in what we read to him.

Eli returns to school tomorrow. We fear that the adjustment will be hard on him. He is finally happy to spend time in the playroom at the gym, which is now familiar because we went several times during his break, but we suspect he will not like being apart from us for entire days. I am also not sure how Eli will cope when I go to Uganda in two weeks, nor when Shelby and I go to Brazil and Costa Rica in February.

Well, we can't worry about the future when there is so much to do today!