County Fair 2013

We took Eli to the local county fair for the first time tonight.  We missed out on the fair the last 2 years because it was just way too hot.  On Wednesday night, we went to the fair parade.  He finally understands the concept of picking up the candy that is thrown out and seems to really enjoy that part of the parade, along with pointing out all the tractors and trucks, of course.  I, however, did not bring a bag to put all the candy in since he had no interest in any of the candy at the last parade we went to, so I was stuffing it all in our small diaper bag that was already filled to capacity.  Lesson learned; always bring an extra plastic bag.

When we arrived at the fair, we first toured the animal barns.  Eli loved checking out all the farm animals, mimicking their noises as we walked past.  My favorite part is looking at all the 4-H exhibits and craft projects.  
 
After we ate supper, it was time for the carnival rides.  We started with the carousel.  The best part was there were no lines, and a couple of times, Eli was the only rider.  There weren't very many rides for little kids, and we even had a hard time using up all the tickets that were bought.  I think Eli was a bit overwhelmed by all the activity, but I think he still enjoyed the rides.

We ended the night by watching the tractor pull.  Eli probably would have stayed there the entire night if we let him.  He loved watching and would clap with the crowd after each one was done.  He was definitely ready for bed by the time we got back home!

Family Photo Session

 We recently had our family pictures taken by the same photographer who took Eli's pictures every 3 months during his first year.  You can check out the images by clicking on the link below:

www.shootingimagesphotography.com

Click "Enter site."  
Then, click on "Clients" in the bottom right hand corner.  

The password is "mmcdonald"

Enjoy:)

Liam Turns 3!

Today, we celebrated Liam's third birthday.  The theme of the party this year was Ninja Turtles.  The weather was perfect for a backyard party.  There were a lot of different activities, from decorating turtle shells to a kid tattoo station.  A TON of kids of a variety of ages were in attendance enjoying all the ninja activity.  Eli joined in a few times by running around with them but mostly preferred to do his own thing, playing with all the other toys.  It was a fun party from beginning to end, and I'm sure all the kids and parents alike were wiped out by the end of the night.      

 

 Eli loved wearing the turtle shell!

 He was so excited about the cake pops and shrieked, "Cake!"

Check out these personalized pizza boxes!  This gives an idea of how many kids were at the party; one box per kid as a party favor.  Such a neat idea!

 Enjoying the favors after we got home; so many fun things inside the box including a Ninja Turtles puzzle, glow stick, mini ninja, stickers, and Eli's favorite - fruit snacks.

A Little Video

Fourth Festivities

Happy 4th of July!!  

This morning, we took Eli to watch his first parade.  He really enjoyed it.  The constant activity kept his attention the whole time.  We discovered he does not quite understand the concept of dashing out into the street with the other kids to pick up candy.  Even when the other kids there offered to give him some of theirs, he repeatedly threw it back on the ground.  

After grilling out for supper tonight, Ian wanted to introduce him to sparklers after it gets dark, and then we are planning on watching the fireworks here in town, another Fourth of July first for Eli. 

Two Years

Today, Elijah went to his 2-year checkup.  He measured 36 inches, placing him in the 85th percentile and weighed 34 lbs, 10 oz, which puts him in the 98th percentile.  Everything else checked out okay during his doctor's appointment, and best of all, he is caught up on his immunization schedule, which meant no shots today and no more until he starts kindergarten! 

Eli is still a good eater for the most part.  While he may refuse to eat a certain food one day, he will eat it again another day.  Among his favorite foods are oatmeal, cheese and crackers, hot dogs, all kinds of fruits except apples, tuna and noodles, soups, and fruit snacks.  While I still offer him vegetables daily, he will rarely eat them.  Cooked carrots have the best chance of getting eaten by him.  Both "cake" and "cookie" have become a regular part of his vocabulary, and he will immediately identify these if they are offered to him as a dessert.  While I myself enjoy an occasional meal from McDonald's, we have found Eli's favorite Happy Meal option:  Chicken nuggets with sweet and sour sauce.  He will devour them along with the fries.  (I think I may even be just as excited as he is to see what the toy is at the end of the meal, too.)  Another special treat is ice cream from Dairy Queen.  Instead of just sharing some of mine the last time I ordered, I got him his own small dish of twist ice cream, and he ate the entire thing.  

Finally, he has shown interest in using utensils.  He is becoming more proficient at using his fork and spoon but will get easily frustrated if it doesn't work quite the way he wants it to the first time.  

Now that he is 2, he has been switched from whole milk to 2%.  I don't even think he really noticed the difference.  For the longest time, he would refuse to drink both water and juice; he would only drink milk.  (What kid doesn't like juice?!)  He finally has started drinking more than a tiny sip of both of those.  Maybe he was just waiting until he turned 2 to acquire a taste for them.  In fact, today was the first day he drank half his cup of apple juice.  

As for his teeth, he has 16 teeth now.  Some days it seems like he is working on his molars in the back, but they have yet to start popping through.

Eli is also still a good sleeper.  He takes one afternoon nap from 1:00 to 4:00.  Occasionally, he will take an extended nap and sleep for 4 hours.  He goes to bed at 8:00 at night and wakes up at 7:00 in the morning.  

As for potty training, I am going to hold off on that for now.  I am still waiting for his language to develop a little more.  I am going to follow the doctor's advice; it can be done in as little as one day if you wait until they are ready.  

Of course, Eli's main interests right now include tractors and trucks.  He loves to chase the cat around the yard when he is playing outside.  He seems to also have fun walking aimlessly around the yard pointing out trucks and cars as they go by.  He enjoys pushing things, such as his new toy lawn mower and his grocery cart.  He still likes shopping cart rides in the grocery store and going to the library and to the park.  He gets so excited when he sees the slides he can hardly wait to get out of his car seat.  Going to daycare is a treat for him, too.  His daycare provider has described him as an observer.  From what I can tell, he plays independently quite a bit there, going from one toy to another and is more of a follower at this point and is still learning how to interact with other kids.  There are two other kids there now that are his age; the rest are all older except for one baby girl, who he is very gentle with, even handing her toys to play with.  Eli still loves books and will spend a lot of time pulling off one book at a time from the shelf and looking through them on his own.  He loves to be read to and picks out his favorites often.  

Once we moved to Maquoketa, we could sign him up for the Imagination Library  program.  This program, founded by Dolly Parton and sponsored by our local library, is open to all kids ages birth to 5.  There is no cost to the parents, and once a child is signed up, they receive a free book in the mail every month until they reach age 5.  One day when I went to get the mail and I had Eli with me, his book for that month was in the mail that day, and he really seemed to know it was for him as soon as he saw it.  The books are age-appropriate, include a variety of genres, and are fun to read.  Quite a few of the books he has received so far are among his favorites that he picks out over and over again.

"Bubble Guppies" and "Team Umizoomi" are still two of Eli's favorite TV shows, but now he also enjoys watching "Dora the Explorer" and "Mike the Knight."  He has his very own mini recliner that even includes a cup holder that he received as one of his birthday gifts.  It makes for a good TV-watching chair:)

Slowly but surely, Eli has been adding new words to his vocabulary.  He still understands way more than he can actually say and follows simple commands.  When he helps me empty the dishwasher, he knows where certain things go in the drawers that he can reach, and he will put them away.  Any new words he learns will only be said again on his own accord and not always when prompted.  The words he says most often include mommy, daddy, truck, tractor, car, papa, kitty, and "cah-cah" for motorcycle.  He has started stringing words together more often (daddy's truck, papa's tractor, where daddy go?). 

This second year of Eli's life has been quite the adventure.  He can really have a mind of his own at times as he learns to gain his independence.  Overall, he is generally a mild-mannered boy with boundless energy who can keep himself entertained easily.  We are looking forward to seeing what the rest of toddlerhood has in store for us. 

Get Your Tractor in Gear

This year, we celebrated Eli's second birthday with a tractor-themed party.  Much of the party was Etsy-inspired, from his special birthday shirt to the invitations and printable decor.  

Even Ian was quite involved with the birthday preparations this year.  After his to-do list had been completed, he wanted to do something extra special for Eli.  It was his idea to spell out the birthday message below and set up the front yard this way:

I had to capture a picture of him cutting out the letters.  I would have never imagined he would have taken an interest in doing something like this:)

My mom and dad came early Friday morning to pick up Eli and take him back home with them until they brought him back to the party on Sunday.  It was such a strange feeling to be without him at home for 2 full days, but we kept very busy, and it was nice to be able to get ready for the party in a kid-free environment.  When they arrived on Sunday, Eli was most excited to see the balloons.  He also quickly noticed his tractor cake.  

The menu this year consisted of summer sausage, cheese, and crackers, fresh fruit and vegetables, and Chex mix with green and yellow M&Ms for snacks.  For lunch, we ate BBQ pork sandwiches, potato salad, baked beans, pasta salad, Oreo/pudding dessert, and fresh fruit.  

If we were to follow Eli's agenda for gift opening, it would have taken a week!  He insisted on playing with each new toy as it was opened and was not as interested in actually ripping open the wrapping paper.  He became easily frustrated when we attempted to divert his attention to the next gift to open.  Now that he has had a chance to check out everything he received, he has truly enjoyed all his new birthday gifts.  I think he gets more and more spoiled every year by all his relatives!  

Last week, Eli's daycare provider even celebrated his birthday with a small party, complete with party hats, a birthday banner, and a Rice Krispie treat cake shaped like a number 2.  She even gave him a new tractor as a gift.  When she mentioned Eli didn't know what to do when it was time to blow out the candle, we started practicing at home that day so he was ready for his party by Sunday.  I think he enjoyed the singing, and he actually knew what to do at the end of the song when it was time for him to blow out his candles.  

Eli had a lot of fun with his cousins, Shea and Liam.  It is neat to watch all 3 boys interact together, especially as they get older.  Next week, we will celebrate Liam's third birthday!