Future Cowboy...?

...or maybe a DJ.  

He likes pushing the preset buttons 
to scroll through the different songs.

Eighteen Months

Today, we took Elijah to his 18-month doctor's appointment.  He weighed in at 30 pounds, 10 ounces, placing him in the 98th percentile, while measuring 35-1/2 inches, 99th percentile.  

He has been a very busy boy now that he has been walking, which he started around 13-1/2 months.  He has been picking up speed and will sometimes run.  More recently, he has started climbing on the furniture.  He loves to climb up steps and scoot back down them.  

As far as his language development, he seems to be able to understand far more words than he can actually say, pointing out certain objects in books and being able to go and pick up something that is asked for, while also understanding the way a conversation works back and forth.  He seems to be the only one that understands his jibber-jabber language, though.  

He can put together simple puzzles and stack blocks. 

 

 

 

Eli enjoys a variety of foods.  His favorites include fresh fruits, cooked carrots, crackers, summer sausage, cheese, and pasta/meat dishes including lasagna and spaghetti.  

 

He prefers his milk rather than water or juice.  He is still learning to use his eating utensils and will generally dump his plate of food onto the tray of his high chair rather than eating off the plate.  

Around 17 months, Eli transitioned from 2 naps to just 1 afternoon nap, usually 1:00 to 4:00.  He goes to bed at 8:00 and will wake up around 6:30 in the morning.  On days he goes to daycare, he is ready for bed at 7:00.  Starting around the same time as his second round of teeth coming in, he began waking up more during the night.  He has 12 teeth now and had a hard time when his molars came in, even necessitating a relapse on the pacifier use.  He has continued to wake up during the night on occasion, especially if he is sleeping somewhere other than at home or if he does not get his full nap during the afternoon.

Eli loves to play with all his new toys he received for Christmas.  

 

He really likes anything with wheels, buttons, sounds, and lights.  He enjoys playing with trucks and farm toys.  Books with flaps can still keep him entertained for a really long time.  He now has his favorite books he will pull from the shelf and requests that they be read repeatedly.  He even seems to enjoy getting his teeth brushed and will head upstairs to the bathroom when you say, "It's time for brush-brush."  Tractor rides and going outside with Ian are also among his favorite things to do.  

 Getting ready to go outside.  

Ian took Eli on a special shopping trip by himself and picked out this entire ensemble for him so he could have a set of outside "chore" clothes.

 Matching "McDonald Motorcycle Service" T-shirts

 Trying on the clothes from Ian's (boy) Cabbage Patch doll.  

He always puts the scarf on as the first thing when he pulls the clothes out of the bag.

He likes to go grocery shopping and on trips to Wal-Mart where he can ride in the shopping cart.  Eli still goes to daycare twice a week on Mondays and Wednesdays and joins right in with the other kids when I drop him off.  I think it is a good experience for him.  He also loves bath time and could probably stay and play in the bathtub for hours.  

 Eli especially likes to line up his bath toys and then knock them back down into the water.

He has always been a fan of watching country music videos on TV, but now he also loves to watch "Bubble Guppies."  

It has been fun to watch Eli's growing independence this past year and a half, and we are looking forward to seeing what the next 6 months will bring leading up to the big T-W-O!

Family Museum

This weekend, we took Eli to the Family Museum in Bettendorf, complements of a gift certificate from Aunt Cari for Christmas.  He loved it!!  His favorite part was running back and forth from one activity to the next.  He also really liked walking on the huge bridge, which had 2 ramps on either side. 

 Checking himself out on the big screen

 There were a lot of different musical instruments to try out.

 Now those are mega blocks!

 Lego light table

 He was quite the observer.

 

 Banging on the drum

I loved the use of step stools everywhere; perfect for kids his size.

 My favorite part; the miniature house.  

Eli loved to peer out the windows, which were at his height.

 This area was a lot of fun for him, too, 
and he spent a lot of time here.

 He loves the train table at our local library, but this one was much bigger!

 I thought he would love the water table since he likes to splash in the bath tub, but he was a little hesitant.  I think it might have been because the water was really cold.

  It was a fun day, and we are looking forward to going back sometime when they finish the new exhibit they were working on when we were there that day.

Grandma

Earlier this morning, my Grandma Winter was called home to heaven to be reunited with my grandpa.  She endured a battle with Alzheimer's for quite a while, so she is now finally at peace.  

These are pictures from our visit with her shortly after Eli was born.  I remember how amazed she was at his tiny little hands and feet:)

Christmas Festivities

Now that the holidays are winding down, here is a look back 

at our Christmas celebrations this year:

 Getting ready for Grandma Mary's and Papa Ron's

  Eli enjoyed pushing Betty around.

 Liam, Seamus, Elijah, Betty

He loved his new four-wheeler!

 Christmas Eve

 We celebrated at Aunt Connie's.

 Liam, Seamus, Elijah, Layla

 Checking out the new stacking blocks from Connie

 Last year on Christmas Day:

This year, Christmas Day:

 Opening presents from Santa

 All ready to go to Grandma and Grandpa's

 (He wouldn't sit in front of the tree by himself, so I had to sit with him.)

 He loved to sit on top of all the big boxes.

Now he even has his very own Harley!

 "Blondie" the horse!

 Despite the expression on his face, he really did like his new horse.

 Aunt Laurie stopped by for a visit.

 He also got a lot of new books with flaps, his favorite.

 Some of my cousins also stopped over.

New Year's Eve, our final celebration:

 Sitting on Uncle Mike's lap

 Learning how to take pictures.  He loved to see the flash go off.

 Playing with his new car carrier from Samuel