Mr. Clean

We all know how much Eli likes to clean, but now he's taken it to a new level. For a few months now Eli has been more interested in, and at the same time scared of, the dust buster and vacuum. The noise they make seems to be hitting him wrong, so he often protests when I turn them on (much like a dog hearing a high pitched noise). He isn't afraid of the cleaning machines though; he actually likes to get as close to them as possible so he can hit them softly and protest to their face(s). But I digress....

Eli's newest trick is attempting to clean the floor with the dust buster. I usually leave it on the floor in our bathroom since I use it so often, and that suits Eli just fine. He loves to grab onto the handle and push it around the floor as he's seen me do so many times. The problem with that is sometimes dirt and dust fall out (due to Eli's rough handling) making more of a mess. But I'm not one to put a damper on the boy's enthusiasm for cleaning, so I welcome his attempts.

After his bath last night Eli decided the floor needed to be cleaned too:

Chatterbox

As I mentioned a few days ago, Eli has been saying "Mama" (rather "Mamamamama", discriminatly, for a few weeks now. Just the other day he started saying it as soon as I walked in the door from an errand, just to melt my heart I'm sure.

Now Eli is adding more babble to his vernacular. Although it is more pronounced and articulate, these new words are not recognizable to us. I take that back: Eli is saying "whoa whoa whoa" a lot now. I'm not sure if he picked it up from us, or if it's just babble. I do say "whoa" from time to time, but not nearly at the speed or rate which it comes otu of Eli's mouth. It is very common for him to sit and play with a toy while saying "whoawhoawhoawhoa.." non-stop.

Eli's other new speech is indescribable; I really need to get a good video of it. It is very silly, and it includes a lot of consonants and syllables. The best I can duplicate is "doe-beeoye-beeoe-lible-doe-doe" (which really does it no justice). Even Lehr, who doesn't use the word "cute" thinks this babbling is rather adorable.

Fork It Over!

I've been working with Eli's fork and spoon skills for a few weeks, but tonight he thoroughly impressed me. The spoon has gone nowhere fast, but Eli has taken to using the fork pretty well. (He even showed off for Grandma Cathie last week.) Tonight I filled a whole bowl full of carrots, peas and turkey sausage and let him go to town with the fork. I have to load it up for him, but he does really well at putting it directly into his mouth and pulling the food off. I think the biggest 'wow' tonight was the fact that Eli never reached his hands to the fork end or the bowl to pick up the food with his fingers; he only wanted to eat it off the end of the fork. Also, once he'd emptied the fork, he would either look at me and raise his fork or try to refill it himself by pushing it around the bowl, as he had seen me do. Talk about a sponge!

Check him out!

$#*%

Seriously...that's all I can say.

I'm going to warn everyone first: this post is not for the faint of heart. What happened to me today shouldn't happen to any mom anywhere, anytime. The only good spin I can put on the situation is the knowledge that I truly earned my mom status today. Everything started fine; Eli and I went to his 1-year doctor appointment this morning. (BTW - Eli weighs 19lb. 2oz. and is 30 1/4" long. Also the doctor says he's "smart". Should you agree, continue reading and you might change your mind.)

When we returned home, Eli and I played and then I put him down for a nap. He played in his crib for about 15 minutes and then cried a little, but nothing out of the ordinary. I always leave Eli's door cracked a little so I can check on him once he's quiet, to make sure he's asleep. Never have I been more glad to have such a routine. I peeked in Eli's room and noticed him lying on his blanket, apparently sleeping. The room was dim, so nothign appeared out of the ordinary except for a strange smell. I peeked my head in further to see if the smell was indeed coming from the room. Just as I realized it was I caught sight of the crime scene. (I did take one picture after Eli and his blanket had been removed, but Lehr has forbidden me from posting it.) Excrement was everywhere, including coating my son from waist up.

After about a minute of shock, I kicked into mommy-mode and grabbed Eli and his blanket out of the bed. I threw him in the bathtub and started the water. After I had the pieces (are you grossed out yet?) cleaned off of him, I emptied the water and rinsed out the tub and then filled it again so he could bathe. Luckily his nursery is right across the hall from the bathroom, so I left him in a little bit of water so I could start in on the nursery. (Note: I never leave Eli in the bath alone, and I assure you I ran back and forth every few seconds if/when I couldn't see his little head poking up over the bath's edge.) The amount of detail cleaning I had to do was unbelievable. Every slat, every underneath of the top rail, every nook and cranny. The sheet didn't make it; it went directly into the trash. Eli's beloved blanket (which he's screaming for in his crib right now) is still in the wash; it's touch and go. Two hundred diaper wipes, 1/2 roll of paper towels and countless sprays of Clorox Hard-Surfaces Bleach later, his nursery is clean, but I am officially wiped out.

Ring My Bell...

Eli is obsessed with the phone. You've all seen the video of him being 'coaxed' to crawl for the first time as I used the phone as bait. So I don't let him use our real phones as toys, but we have an old one that I've taken out of storage for him. Also, one of Eli's friends has a small toy phone. As much as Eli likes the toy phones, he pushes the buttons and looks at them, but never brings them to his ear. However, any other toy that at all resembles a phone goes to his ear. Wooden blocks, spoons, toy cars...you get the picture. Most days I turn around in the car to see him holding a toy truck to his ear as he says 'Ha?'

All Grows Up

It appears that as soon as Eli turned one, he decided to 'grow up' a bit. Most importantly, he has done much better with his sippy cup of milk in the last few days. One night he actually chugged 4oz without spilling a drop (this is big for my messy drinker). We're not quite where we need to be with his sippy use/milk intake, but we're a lot better off. Secondly, he's been signing milk a lot more also. Every once in a while he'll get confused and sign milk when there is only water available (or maybe he's saying he'd rather have milk?), but he's still signing. Waving has been taken to a whole new level also; last night he was even waving "hi" to waiters at the restaurant. Lastly, he's said "mama" more this last week, and most of the time it's while looking at me, or at least when I'm in the vicinity. I'll take it!!

Big Week

Eli has had a very busy week with his birthday and Grandma Cathie in town. (She came to celebrate his big milestone; she wouldn't miss it for the world!) During her visit Eli had sushi (nothing raw), had a birthday party, went to the park, went swimming, and played with his toys non-stop.

Check out the hat Grandma Cathie bought him! (It matches his Rock Star shirt.)

Movin On Up

So yesterday was Eli's first smash-your-face-in-cake annual celebration. He really enjoyed himself (photos) through the presents, balloons and cake. I made a frog cake (organic, low-sugar, yada yada OF COURSE) for him and he really seemed to like it. Lehr had fun eating with him since Eli was so generous with his offerings of frosting covered hands. A few times yesterday I looked at him and marveled how grown-up he was.

However my first glimpse of that was on Sunday. I decided to move Eli to the toddler room in the church nursery; he is too mobile for the infant room, and most of the babies, er kids, he's been with since birth have already made the move. I dropped him off and walked down the hall a little to peak into the room (there is a window in the hallway), and what I saw took my breath away. The worker that received Eli at the door carried him to the center of the room where 4 or 5 babies, er kids, were sitting. She sat him down and he played with his tag, but turned his attention to what the other kids were looking at (maybe story time?).

It was amazingly similar to a kindergarten class, which made my heart skip a beat...

Imagine how fast it would have gone had I blinked!

Eli the Frog and his Cake

Eli's birthday was a hit! He loved the cake, the presents, the balloons and the attention (duh!). Check out Eli's dissection of his cake:

Eli the Frog is 1!!

Exactly one year ago you were placed in my arms. I can still feel the how slippery your skin was and how your sweet little cry filled the air and you refused to open your eyes because the room was so bright compared to your previous home.

Happy Birthday Eli!

From this:

To this:

What a little man you've become!!!

Year-End-Review

Mr. Edmund Lehr Eliason V (Eli):

I'd like to start off by informing you that you have far exceeded my expectations. Your supervisor (aka Dad) agrees that while we anticipated your arrival to change our home office, we have been taken aback by the magnitude of your presence. Even though productivity as a whole has suffered, the moral of your supporting staff has increased immensely. I'd be amiss if I didn't mention how your sunny disposition and positive attitude has made working with you such a pleasure. Your determination to constantly increase your skill set and your go-get-em attitude are, to say the least, admirable.

In the past year you have overcome some initial setbacks, and you have caught up to the majority of your peers in said areas. This is nothing less than completely inspiring, and not a day goes by that your supervisor and I don't appreciate all the hard work and sacrifices you've made to achieve that goal.

We've noticed the last few weeks have been exciting for you as you 'climb' your way to the top. Having witnessed your overtime in that area, I believe you are in line for a promotion. I'm proud to inform you that from this day forward you will be deemed "toddler", instead of your current title of "baby".

We look forward to another year of your achievements, as you make the home office one we all enjoy each day. In closing, We, at Eliason, Inc., thank you for every day you've spent with us, and we hope you feel the same.

Regards,
Mom

Eli's Second Ink

Some of you might remember when Eli got his first tattoos, almost a year ago. This weekend I gave Eli some colored ink, as part of a picture project for a fellow blogger, Daring Young Mom. I think the pictures speak for themselves:

My New Favorite

I've got a few today.

#1 - Eli's New Sleeping Position
I love love love how he curls up on top of the blanket. He looks so peaceful!

#2 - Eli's New Vocal Skillz
Even though I'm not technically counting it as a real word yet, Eli has been saying "mamamamamama" a lot recently. Usually it's when he's either climbing up the stairs or when he's in his high chair and wants more food/drink/whatever. Totally cute. Seriously.

#3 - Eli's Giraffe Stance
Now that Eli is more active in pulling up and crawling on all fours, he's experimenting with different positions and modes of transportations. Most recently he's learned how to get up on all fours and then push off of his feet while lifting his knees so that he is on his hands and feet (legs straight). He doesn't walk/crawl once he's there, nor does he pull up and stand, so I'm really not sure what the purpose of the Giraffe is. It's cute and quirky though, so it's worthy of being one of my "new favorite things" Eli does.

Step Off!

Cooper came over to play on Tuesday. The two boys alternated between not noticing the other was there and jockeying for toy-possession and attention. Here is some footage of the two "playing".

**Note: No babies were hurt during the taping of this footage.**

Sleep

Eli's favorite sleeping position is currently on his stomach, on top of his blanket. First he bundles up the blanket though, so it's almost as if he's sleeping on a body pillow. Since his room is so dark and the (still) camera and flash are so noticeable, I've only been able to capture video of this sight. (My first youtube project - hope it works!)

New Video

I've been rather lax with posting video in the last few weeks. (Sorry - Eli is almost too active to catch on video.) To make up for that I have three posted today.

Eli dancing to his caterpillar again
Eli playing in the kitchen
Eli telling off the camera

Fun in the Sun

We had a pool party/picnic with some friends tonight. Here are a few pictures of Eli and his friend Tyler after their swim. Check out the hats!!

Another Drummer...

I've mentioned Eli's obsession with our pots and pans before, but this love affair has taken on a whole new level. Eli now prefers to open the cabinet, crawl inside and/or stand and lean inside, and pull out two or three at a time so he can bang them together. Sometimes it's just the lids (cymbals?), sometimes it's the whole pot or pan. Either way, our house is very noisy these days. I had to laugh at him today as he got himself stuck in the cabinet. (Believe it or not, I put down the camera to help him out instead of snapping away for the sake of my readership's enjoyment.) He leaned in (as seen right) and then moved his arms to the lower level. From there he tried to crawl deeper into the cabinet and then got his head stuck under the shelf.

My Own Little Ed Grimley

Lehr and I have gotten into the habit of spiking Eli's hair after his nightly bath. In the last few weeks it's gotten a little longer, so the mohawks have had more staying power. Last night I started with the regular mohawk and then it moved to an Ed Grimley-esque front spike. (Unfortunately the batteries died on my camera before I could snap a photo of that.) The great thing about the EG-spike is it usually holds until the morning.... Man is he going to hate his parents when he gets older!

Got Milk?

So here I am, not giving Eli any credit for signing "food" for so long. On top of that, anytime someone asks me how he is doing, I tend to tell them how slow he is (as in, he's not the sharpest tool). Low and behold, it appears Eli is determined to prove me wrong. As I sat him in his highchair this afternoon and handed him a cup of milk, he started to sign milk like it was going out of style. Although I was pleasantly surprised at first, I thought he might just be experimenting with hand manipulation again. So I tested him a few times and he passed! For the next 15 minutes we alternated one bite of food with Eli signing "milk" and me shoving the milk at him to reinforce his efforts.

Update

I know, I know. I've been slacking on updating everyone. Eli has been so fussy and time-consuming (imagine that: a child who is time-consuming??). Between the stubborn tooth he's been trying to break for going on three weeks now and his newfound mobility, this kid is an emotional wreck! Needless to say, I've been otherwise occupied and without much time to take pictures or blog.

In the last week I've come to realize Eli has been signing "food" or "eat" to me for some time. I just chalked it up to him putting his fingers in his mouth, since he tends to do that so often. However, I started to notice that when I first put him in his high chair he puts one finger at his lips (sometimes right inside his mouth) and then pulls it away, all the while looking at me for recognition. Obviously this kid is going to have to work hard for Mom's praise since she doesn't seem to notice when he is achieving a new milestone...

Eli is pulling up on anything and everything possible. This morning he decided to help me with the laundry by pulling up on the dryer and opening and closing the door. In our closet we have stackable drawers with metal mesh pull-out drawers. Eli's latest feat in there has been to sit and attempt to pull up on the second drawer. This always results in him holding on for dear life as the drawer pulls out and lands on top of him. Luckily the floor is padded by carpet and the drawer doesn't even weigh 5 pounds.

Eli is still scaling the inside stairs any chance he gets. I really need to turn the video camera on one of these times because the noises he makes while climbing are hilarious. It's as if he's cheering himself on.

Just call him "Spidey"

Our yard is a mess; I seriously have to weed the non-grass areas more often than Lehr has to mow the lawn because the weeds grow so fast. Today I had some other work to do while Eli was napping, so he had to be outside with me when I was weeding. I tried to get him to sit in the Bumbo (since I use it next to never, he hasn't - read: hadn't - figured out how to get out of it yet), but that didn't work. After about five minutes he leaned over the side and climbed out. No problem; I figured he'd just crawl around on the deck while I finished up the front flower beds. He'd be a little dirty, but oh well. Of course that was not good enough for him...he proceeded to crawl/climb down the front steps onto the sidewalk. This is a boy who only in the last week learned how to crawl up the stairs. He made his body flat and maneuvered down the wooden steps like Spiderman - agility like nobody's business. I should have known he would do this: Eli loves to crawl over my legs, back, arms, or toys, books, laundry whenever possible. He'll actually go out of his way to climb over something rather than staying the course and avoiding the obstacles. Too bad Double Dare is off the air.....

Drumroll please.....

After Eli's drinking buddy, Cooper, left tonight, the three of us sat around and talked. Right before I wisked Eli off to bed, he pointed at Lehr and said "Ah-Dah". Close enough for me! For quite a while Eli has been saying "hi", "dadadadadada", "bababababa", etc., but very indiscriminately, so I haven't counted anything as a real word yet. Even though "Ah-Dah" is not technically "da-da", he pointed, so I'm willing to bend the rules a little.

Chug Chug Chug!

Three Things

1) Now that Eli is standing in his crib all the time, he has found a new teething toy: the crib rail. It seems that while he's standing and talking (and singing, and dancing, and playing) before and after naps, he also sharpens his teeth on the wood. I guess paint chips taste good!



2) Eli is finally (after a month!!) starting to crawl more on his hands and knees (instead of his belly, imitating a lizard or army-crawl). In the last two or three days, Eli starts most of his crawling 'up', but always reverts back to the stomach slither, most likely since it's faster.



3) Eli and I went to a big consignment sale today to look for some gently used toys and/or clothes. We were lucky to find several new board books and a nifty pair of sneakers. I could go broke buying shoes for Eli now that his feet are free!

Up, Up, and Away!

Eli has found a new passion: the stairs. Anytime he thinks about it, he heads towards them when he's downstairs. He loves to climb them. I had the grand idea to show him how to climb them last week and now he constantly wants Lehr or I to watch him climb. (Though, if we don't move fast enough, he'll start without us, which could prove to be quite dangerous.) Last night, for the first time, he climbed all the way to the top, including the turnaround halfway up, by himself. Lehr monitored the process, but he never once lent a helping hand. My boy is growing up!

Pictures

I haven't posted much lately; Eli's been all out of sorts with teething. The one causing him an unusual amount of discomfort right now is on top and you can see it clearly (white and shiny), but it hasn't broken the skin yet. So while he wails, here are some pictures to keep the site 'current'. (Please excuse the diaper and lack of pants in the following pictures. Eli had just woken up and I was keeping the bar on to get his full twelve hours in, since he went to bed late last night. I assure you this is not a normal outfit for him.)

Here is one that speaks for itself. You have been warned (both that I'm blogging everything and that Eli's a "true play-ah, with his hands in the air"):

This is Eli's politician point: