Eli walks

Eli started taking a few steps here and there for a couple of weeks ago.  But on August 1st, at his friend Grant's first birthday party,  he took 6 in a row!  Now he is walking a lot more!  We took this video on August 2nd.  I love how he holds his arms up!  He is just so cute!  I can't believe he'll be one in just over 2 weeks.  Time has flown by!

Eli

Eli is such a smartie pants. We taught him the sign for "more" but now it has morphed into "I want". He claps twice and points to what he wants. When we get it right, he nods quite vigorously. When he wants to go outside, he points to the door and waves.


I can't believe he'll be one in just over a month.  The time has flown by!  I just love having a baby in the family.  He is adored by his siblings and his parents.  I'd say pretty much everyone who comes in contact with him is a bit enamored.


The other day he took a step and he stands alone for longer and longer amounts of time.  He'll be walking before we know it!


One thing he really likes to do lately is draw on the fridge.  I found out that dry erase markers wipe right off, so everyday we get 2 or 3 masterpieces by Eli!


We are now trying to teach him the signs for "please" and "all done".  It's so nice when babies can tell you what they want.

Another Legacy Lion in the family

After much thought and consideration, Tristan is happy to announce that he will be attending Legacy Preparatory Academy starting August 16th.  

After much thought and consideration, he, along with Chris and I, have decided to leave the online school and try out a mainstream school.  

It just feels right!  He is ready to learn how to be around other students and have a chance to meet some friends.  It's time for him to have more choices in his classes.  He is ready and willing to give it a try.

We met with the principal.  He seems like the type of person who would be easy to work with and talk to.  Tristan did great at the interview, shaking hands, making eye contact, and answering questions.  He even made a joke or two.  He selected his classes and  paid the fees.  Now he just needs to submit an essay about why he wants to go to LPA, and find two people to write letters of recommendation.

We are so excited!

9 months old

Eli turned 9 months old last week.  He sure is growing up!  He went to his check up and here are his stats:
weight 16 lbs 11 oz (only up 2 oz from his 6 month visit)
length 27 inches

Here are some fun facts about Eli:
Got his first tooth at 7 months old
started crawling at 5 months old
started eating solids foods at 6 months old

things Eli likes:
crawling just as fast as he can!
standing up and cruising around the furniture
crawling up the stairs
taking  baths
eating "real" food.  He loves shredded cheese, yogurt, and kix
going for walks
sleeping with Mama
playing with the kitty food
"helping" in the kitchen

things Eli doesn't like:
sleeping in his bed
getting in his car seat
laying down to get his diaper changed
sleeping for longer than 3 hours at night
grass
getting his nails trimmed
when Mama leaves the room

Eli has recently discovered "peek-a-boo"  he will cover his face until we ask, "where's Eli?" then he will uncover his face and laugh!  It is so cute.  Last night he was holding his car up by his ear (like a phone) and saying hheh?  It was so cute!  It is so amazing how fast he is learning new things and growing up.  Babies change so much in the first year and I am so happy that I have had the chance to watch Eli discover so many neat things about the world around him.  I will work on posting some recent pictures soon.

lullabies

When I rock sweet baby Eli, I like to sing to him.  Mostly I sing primary songs or hymns.  But there are a couple of lullabies I sing to him.  One I learned from my Grandma, Leah Hendrickson.  It goes like this:

Go to sleep, baby dear
Close your eyes of blue.
There is nothing to fear,
Mommy is watching you.
Little birds have gone to rest,
Stars begin to peep.
So lay your head on Mommy's breast
And go to sleep.

Every time I sing that, I think of her.  I hope that my kids know this lullaby and sing it to their kids.

frustrated

I got a new camera and I can't remember how to load pictures onto the blog.  I did it with my last post, then got really busy, didn't blog for a while, and now I can't do it.  bleh!!!!!  stay tuned for cute baby crawling, eating solids, and trying out a pen!  Also, Connor sang with the school choir. I will figure this out!

half a year

On February 23rd, Eli turned 6 months old!

Can you believe he's been a part of our family for 6 months? I can't.  But then again, I can't image life without him in it.  He is truly a joy and a blessing in our family.

Six months stats:
Weight 15 lbs. 10 ozs. (17%)
Height 26 1/2 inches (34%)

He is small like his siblings, tall and skinny.  He is really getting around now.  He doesn't crawl yet.  He gets up on his knees like he's going to crawl, but then he goes back on his tummy and scoots around.  He's pretty fast and really goes when he's after the cat or his mommy.

Eli has officially tried solids.  He loves rice cereal the best, having only tried that and oatmeal until tonight. Tonight he had sweet potatoes and he made the funniest faces, but still opened his mouth for more. He likes to eat!

He still isn't sleeping through the night.  I'm happy if he goes more than 3 hours in a row.  That makes for a tired mom, but I know it won't last forever, so that helps.

He has the sweetest smile that just lights up the room.  He is an amazing child and I love him so much!