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!

mid-april pics

Hi all -- I thought you might enjoy some random pics of Eli. You can see him trying out his bike helmet by mouth and on his head. He really likes his new bike trailer. We'll have to get a pic of that too. There is also a picture of Eli from pajama day at school. And, the big news...Dave got tenure! So, I took Eli over to work to celebrate with cake. He was shy in the picture, but he ate a lot of it!

Words, words, and more words

A brief note to say that Eli has become much more communicative in the last few days, with occasionally hilarious results. Today we walked down the street and Eli was unusually excited. He ran down the street as fast as his short legs could carry him. As he got further and further away from our house, he started muttering something excitedly. Eventually we realized he was saying 'dog park...dog park...dog park.' Unfortunately, it was actually a golf course. But we saw how he would make that mistake!

And then tonight before getting ready for bed, Eli got to practice his talking a little more. We asked if he loved mom and dad and he answered with a perfectly enunciated 'yes' - the first time we've heard him say that word with that much precision and deliberation. Very cute.

An Eli Parade

While Shelby was out playing ultimate frisbee, Eli, our rolling cow, Triscuit, and I had a parade through the living room!

From the Easter Bunny to Passover in one day

Mike and Linda came for a visit this past weekend for all sorts of fun-filled adventures. On Saturday, we took Eli to the neighborhood Easter Egg Hunt. He got to meet the Easter Bunny, collect his special balloon, and collect eggs. He had a good time. He especially liked the bunny. We had to visit him 3 times!! Eli must have known that Mom used to dress up as the Easter bunny. Then, Mom put together a Passover seder. Sure, it was not on the first night of Passover, but we still had it. Once Eli sat down, he identified his cup of diluted grape juice and drank and drank and drank and drank..... He drank grape juice for our entire seder. With Dad's help, he found the afikomen after dinner too. Mom hid it in Eli's box of blocks. She figured he would find it there. A good day was had by all!

climbing, stacking, and hanging out at the dog park

I know it has been awhile since I made a post, but Eli has been keeping me busy! Actually, he keeps me so busy that I often forget to take pictures. Here are a few to enjoy. Eli has a fondness for climbing. This is apparent at parks and on stools around the house. I put a stool in front of the bathroom sink, and he doesn't want to get down. He likes to play with the water and grow sponge-dinosaurs in the sink. Good fun. He has also become quite the block stacker. He likes stacking all sorts of things, and he generally doesn't want to knock them down. You can see him trying to stack his cups. And, he did a really nice job stacking his multi-size blocks one day. He also likes stacking his regular wood blocks and other things, but I didn't get pictures of those yet. We usually keep stacking until the tower falls down. By that point, I missed the picture. We have also been going to the dog park lately too. Eli really likes it, but I have to keep him close and pick him up if a dog comes near. He usually wants to run off, so it can be challenging. But, Triscuit and Eli enjoy going, so we figure it out.

A video that speaks for itself

Some more new pictures

It's been a while since we've had a chance to post more pictures. Eli has been keeping us busy! Next week, keep an eye out for pictures from Mike and Linda, who will be babysitting Eli while Shelby and I travel.