One Week

We had a great holiday week in Washington. Eli loved seeing 'Mater again, though he didn't really need to rely on him as much since he decided to exercise his walking skills the day we got there. He met my grandmother, his great grandmother (G.G.) for the first time. Even though they had a few tender moments, for the most part he gave her a really hard time. Lehr and I called him a 'brat', but she insisted he was anything but. Eli caught up with his cousin, Treis, who loved chasing him around with 'Mater, talking back and forth, playing with Eli's new toys, or beating on the pots like they were drums. We were fortunate to have one really good snow day, so Eli was able to get out and build a snowman. On Christmas Eve we went ice skating downtown and Eli got a ride around the rink with Grandpa Jim. He also rode on a mini-carousel (think $0.25 in front of Wal-Mart) for the first time and LOVED it. Eli gave G.G. and Grandma & Grandpa a DVD and a photo book for Christmas; of course they were smitten.

On a surprising note, the plane rides weren't horrible. The way out was a little tough, but they way back was smooth sailing compared to last time. (The last flight we took out west proved Eli to be "that" baby.) This was quite shocking considering Eli's age and teething status (another tooth or two popped while we were out west). A pleasant surprise, but still a surprise.