Christmas 2013

Here is a recap of our Christmas festivities this year:

We were able to meet the newest little McDonald on Christmas Eve, as Jamie and Cassie hosted Christmas this year at their house.  Finnegan Sloan McDonald arrived just one week before Christmas.  

Here is Finn sporting his new little Santa suit (I love the look of anticipation on Liam's face as he is waiting to hold him).     

 A family now of five; Shea and Liam are such proud big brothers!

 Presents everywhere!

The chef and construction worker

On Christmas day, Eli was excited to see a surprise from Santa.

Quite the little farmer

Then, we headed to my mom and dad's to celebrate Christmas with our family.

Santa stopped by for a visit without a tear even being shed by Eli;

in fact, I think they have now become friends.

Lastly, we wrapped up the celebrating today 

with my mom's side of the family.

 Playing with one of his favorites, Anna

 Eli was intrigued by the remote control helicopter.  

If you look closely, you can see it in midair.

 Thanks for the train set, Paige!

 My mom and her brothers and sisters

Cousins

Looking at these pictures again, I think of the family and legacy Grandma and Grandpa Winter have created and know they are looking down on all of us. 

2-1/2 Years

 Height:  38 inches

Weight:  38.8 pounds

At 2-1/2 years, Eli is always on the go.  He is an independent and content toddler who can entertain himself easily.  We have noticed more in unfamiliar situations he demonstrates a much more reserved demeanor, which is to be expected I guess with parents who are both introverts.  

As for his eating habits, Eli has developed his own preferences and is much more reluctant to eat foods he does not like.  For the longest time, he would not drink juice either, but he now enjoys juice of all flavors and of course his milk.  He still refuses to drink water.  Among his favorite foods include oatmeal, french toast, tuna and noodles, chicken nuggets, fruit snacks, pretzels, pudding, all types of fruit, and of course any kind of sweet treat.  Here's a new one we just discovered he loves - onion rings.  He will not eat any vegetables except corn and raw carrots.  

We are still waiting to begin the potty training process.  I don't think he is anywhere near ready yet.  He will occasionally announce that he has a dirty diaper but only after the fact.  His little potty has been set out for a while now, and he sat on it a few times, but we haven't really been too serious about it yet.  He has shown more interest in the real toilet by lifting the lid and flushing.

Eli has always been a really good sleeper.  When it was time for both his nap and to put him to bed at night, I would always lay him in his crib and he would go to sleep on his own shortly after.  Now, his sleeping habits are changing a bit since he will wake up at times during the night.  For the most part, he still sleeps from 8:00 p.m. to 7:00 a.m.  He will take a 3-hour nap in the afternoon almost every day.  It seems about once a week now he decides not to take a nap.  He has also been working on perfecting the art of stalling before he goes to sleep by attempting to pick out a whole bunch of books to read or requesting to be rocked before he goes to bed.  I have to say I truly enjoy those moments with him rocking in the chair since I know he will soon outgrow my lap. 

After multiple failed attempts to transition him out of the crib to a twin bed, I decided to try it again a few weeks ago.  Surprisingly, he decided he was ready for the "big boy" bed.  For a couple of weeks straight now, he slept in it for naps and at nighttime without any issue.  He occasionally will still opt for his crib, though. 

Eli loves being outside with Ian; they are really two of a kind.  I just love to see the two of them outside together riding by in either the tractor or gator.  He also spent a lot of time in the combine this fall.  

More recently, Eli has really developed a love of putting together puzzles and he will do them over and over and over again.  He can put together the simple wooden jigsaw puzzles independently.  

(Notice the tongue sticking out; 

always a must when fixing puzzles.  Maybe a concentration tactic?)

He is still interested in playing with anything that has wheels that he can push around.  He loves to move all his vehicles and farm equipment from one place to another and at other times will line them all up as if they are in a parade.  He has engaged in more pretend play, using his toys in a more meaningful, real-life way.  

He also loves school buses and always points them out when we see one on the road. 

Eli recently found a pair of Ian's sunglasses.  He insists on wearing them to do all kinds of things around the house.  

He loves to talk on an old phone we have; whenever you ask who he is talking to, he replies, "Elsa," a girl from his daycare.  

Shopping cart rides are still fun for Eli.  When we get home from getting groceries, he even enjoys helping me unload all the stuff by putting it on the counter.

Even unloading the dishwasher seems to be a highlight for him.  

As soon as I set out a box of cake mix, he will push a chair over to the counter and get a spoon out of the drawer to be a part of the action.  

Eli still really loves books.  He will not sit on my lap like he used to when I read to him (unless it is before he goes to sleep), so now I find myself reading to him when he is sitting at the table eating.  He still loves browsing through books on his own and remembers the titles/subject matter of books and will repeat that as he looks through each one.

He also likes to color and doodle.  Whenever he is given a blank sheet of paper and draws something and you ask him what it is, he answers, "School bus."  

The TV shows Eli still enjoys include "Bubble Guppies," "Dora," and "PAW Patrol."  He is starting to prefer to watch more of the animated movies, such as Monsters, Toy Story, and his favorite - Rio.  

He really does not enjoy getting his hands messy when eating.  This is something that never seemed to bother him until now.  Another thing he still does not enjoy - sitting on Santa's lap.  Even when you ask him what happened when he sat on Santa's lap, he remembers and will say "cry."

Finally, his vocabulary is rapidly expanding.  He readily learns new words and really surprises me sometimes by how he remembers them even days later after first being introduced.  He is beginning to understand that Eli is his nickname, while his full name is Elijah.  If you ask him his name, he will say "Eli," but if you ask him something such as who made this mess or did something that he wasn't supposed to, he will reply, "Elijah" almost as if he blames it on his alter ego.  

He is a very observant passenger in the car.  He can spot the stores we regularly go to it seems sometimes a mile away, almost as though he knows they are coming up.  Maybe he has Ian's good sense of direction.  Local stores like Walmart, Fareway, and Dairy Queen are a regular part of his vocabulary.  When we go to Dubuque, he will point out Applebee's from the highway and even the Harley store, which has its sign kind of tucked away from the road, but he seems to recognize the logo even from a distance. 

Since going to church is a weekly outing for us, I thought it was about time to try to introduce the concept of who Jesus was to him, which proved to be a bit of a challenge trying to introduce such an abstract concept in a concrete way to a toddler.  We have lots of books with bible stories for kids, etc., and now, Eli knows we "see Jesus" in church and will recognize statues of him.  Even characters in books that have long hair and beards he refers to as "Jesus."

Around the time Eli turned 2, he showed interest in identifying colors.  At first, everything was blue, but then he learned the rest of the colors, although he is still working on black, gray, and pink.  With some prompting (but mainly it has to be on his own accord), he can count to 10 and thanks to Dora can count to 10 also in Spanish.  Another Spanish word he learned from Dora is "abre" for "open."  I wasn't even aware he had picked this up from the show until he started using it in context.  

He is starting to recognize a couple of the letters in his name (E and I).  The only shape he can identify so far is a circle.  As for these academic-type tasks, they are usually not on his agenda, so I try to take advantage of the times when he initiates some interest, such as when he plays with the magnetic letters.  

Eli still attends daycare twice a week on Mondays and Wednesdays.  From the little bit that I have glimpsed from when I drop him off, I think he tends to keep to himself.  It has still been a good experience for him to be around other kids without me there.  He really seems to enjoy being there.  When we talk about his day after he comes back home and who he played with, he will go through the whole litany of names of the other kids there.  Whenever I ask him what he ate that day, he will usually say macaroni and cheese and hot dogs, but I am sure they have other things on the menu:)  

Overall, Eli is a mild mannered toddler.  He is an enjoyable little boy who makes us laugh often.