Bob the Builder

We had BEAUTIFUL weather in Atlanta this weekend, so we spent most of our time outside with Eli, enjoying it. Yesterday we took him on his first mountain bike trip. He didn't get to experience the biking aspect of it, however, since he spent his time at the trail-head with whichever parent wasn't riding. As we were getting our bikes ready, we set a blanket down on the grass (which was actually just dirt with a few blades of grass trying to peak through) so Eli could entertain himself. He did just that, and ended up with dirty shoes (from kicking off the blanket) and dirt and dried leaves in his hands. I don't think he ingested anything, but it was the first time Eli played in the dirt. After church this morning, we met Cooper (who turned six-months today) and his parents at the park. We pushed the boys on the swings for the first time and they both seemed to really enjoy themselves.

Eli is accepting new foods much better these days. He's no longer refusing the carrots and bananas, and he has since tried nectarines and oatmeal, both of which he appears to really enjoy. His latest trick is staying awake almost all day. Friday he napped a total of 1 1/2 hours all day (normally he averages 5 1/2). He remained happy all day until about 5PM. This was odd for him considering he's usually a mess without adequate sleep. He went down for his naps at all of the normal times, but after about 15-20 minutes each time, he'd wake up and play in his crib. I let him play in there for a full hour one time, in the hopes he'd go back to sleep. No such luck... Then Friday night Eli decided to play all night. He went down at 8:30, but at 2:00AM we heard him in his room kicking the crib. No cries or fusses; just kicking noises (loud ones that prevented us from sleeping). This noise returned at 4:00AM, and again at 6:00AM. Lehr has nicknamed Eli, "Bob the Builder", because when he kicks his FisherPrice Aquarium with his bar on, it sounds like he's hammering and building something. Last night and tonight we wrapped Eli's bar with an old kickboxing hand-wrap in the hopes that it will protect his crib and aquarium from damage.