Eli the Reader

IMG_0157, originally uploaded by dhoconno.

Eli and the Butterflies

IMG_0187, originally uploaded by dhoconno.

Eli 'Howard Hughes' - always washing his hands

IMG_0208, originally uploaded by dhoconno.

Sleeping Eli in Minneapolis

IMG_0215, originally uploaded by dhoconno.

With ann aunt, uncle neil, and Shelby's cousins

IMG_0230, originally uploaded by dhoconno.

Minneapolytics

A few hurried thoughts. With undergrad classes starting next week, Shelby and I are gearing up for our busiest semester yet. I'm sure we will persevere, but it will be a challenge. There just seems to be so much to do!

1) Last weekend we visited Shelby's Aunt Ann and Uncle Neil in Minneapolis. We had a terrific time. Not only did Eli behave in the car (we stacked the odds by having him take his midday nap on the way there and drove back late night on Sunday), but he was adorable all weekend long. On Saturday we walked around a lake (only 9,999 to go), visited the Mall of America (and took Eli into a butterfly exhibit - go figure), and played around the house. Sunday brought a long walk through the neighborhood, projects around the house, and a visit from Shelby's cousins and their three children. A really nice visit was had by all.

2) Google Analytics continues to surprise me. I'm not certain who the 15 people per day are that visit us to learn the latest in our uneventful lives, but I guess we should continue posting pictures and smarmy commentary.


3) I put Eli to bed unassisted for the second time tonight. Well, I was assisted by a medley of Queen classics that substituted for the traditional lullabies that I don't know.

4) More pictures will follow.

dave

Madison Children's museum

Last weekend we found a new Madison gem -- the Children's museum! There were a lot of fun things to do there. You can see Eli playing in the toddler barnyard. He also liked crawling after these wooden pull-toys that were dinosaurs and pigs. We got him to go into the tunnel to get the pig toy. And, he liked playing the bongos. Overall, it was a really good time, albeit very stimulating for Eli. We now have an annual pass so we can go whenever we want -- yay! I think we will be spending many days at the museum playing with all sorts of toys, but learning at the same time!

bear hug and the pool

I thought I would share with you a picture of Eli's new 'bear hug' around my neck. He has been using it somewhat regularly these days. Here is a picture before we went running last weekend. But, he also does it in the pool. When we are in the pool, he holds on so tightly that I can let go and he just floats while holding onto me!

Also, we took out the baby pool last weekend because it was warm and nice. We played for a bit, but then it got buggy. Eli really likes it, but we have to make sure he doesn't slip too much. He really likes the turtle head too....

Ahh....Triscuit....

For those of you who don't know, Triscuit likes to eat plastic toys. I try to put most of Eli's toys away that I think Triscuit will eat, but I am not perfect. I closed up Eli's toybox the other day, but I did not zip it shut. Needless to say, Triscuit got a fish teething ring. There used to be five fish on the ring. You can see that there are now only 4. And, the remaining 4 don't look so good....

Also, I put Eli's Cardinals gear on him today. I don't think I should take him to a Brewers game wearing those clothes, but they look great! And, you can see he got a little stuck in Triscuit's bed. This was the first time he really took a dive into Triscuit's bed. Maybe that was because Triscuit was somewhere else....hopefully not eating plastic....

more pics

I wanted to post a couple more pictures, but I needed to do it separately so they would upload.

enjoy!

pics

I thought I would post a few pics. Here is one from the visit by the grandparents last weekend. And, you can see Eli standing and throughly enjoying his yogurt....yum!

Babblin' E

The last few weeks have been eventful. Eli continues to crazily crawl around rooms, exploring the many wonders of the living room and preparing to walk (probably not too long now). Last weekend Shelby and I rearranged the house to deal with mobile Eli. We took all of our television gear out of the great room downstairs; moved our computer gear from the study to the guest room; moved our networking gear and printer to the basement; and put our TV and peripherals upstairs in a new Family Room over the Garage (aka, FROG). The new arrangement gives Eli much more safe space downstairs. It can be a little noisy at night, but on the balance it is a major improvement. Moving furniture and rewiring took the better part of last Sunday...

Last week's major event was a little more traumatic. Eli had an accident at day care and somehow lost his fingernail. He was not too happy about this, either, since it was a finger that he habitually sucks. The nail fell off completely when we went to the doctor, and he fortunately showed no long-term effects. Yet it is always a little frightening when you get a call from day care saying that Eli had an accident.

This weekend Grandma Linda and Grandpa Mike visited. They got to listen to Eli babble sounds that are increasingly articulated. I think he will be saying 'Dad!' (or at least dadadadada) very soon. The grandparents also got to watch Eli while Shelby and I went for a bike ride. Lastly, Grandma got to go to the park with Eli and watch him enjoy the swing. Everyone likes the park!

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.

Weekend with Gramps

We spent Thursday to Sunday in Chicago. Here are a few observations:

1) Each time we pack with Eli, the car gets just a little bit fuller. But we need to leave space for the new toys and other accessories that we invariably bring home to Madison. We have a roof rack for the car, but even it is beginning to fill up. When the time comes to consider whether Eli should have a sibling, our inability to transport more than one baby may become a very real issue!

2) Eli is getting better every day. Better at walking, better at exploring, and better at expressing himself. He crawled around the grandparents' house and explored every nook and cranny. He played in a turtle baby pool and got to play with bubbles. A good time was had by all.

3) We went to a strawberry festival on Friday. Little town festivals are a lot more fun with small children in tow.

4) Eli ventured to the big city for the second time on Saturday. He ate outside at a restaurant on mom's lap. He ate real food. It was almost like a real meal! Within a few months, we may venture to restaurants more regularly. Nah, who am I kidding?