A little Texas

Patrick's Aunt Judy and Uncle Joe sent Elijah this onsie from Texas.

Cute stuff!

Spoon!

Yesterday Elijah was practicing eating with his spoon - he ate three bowls of Cheerios! (Most of that was with his hands, but we're working on it.)

This is fun!

Just playing

Here are just a few pictures of Elijah playing today.
He intercepted one of his bed sheets as I was folding laundry. We played peek-a-boo and made a tent. He thought it was pretty funny for both of us to be under the sheet.
Reaching for the camera

What's the boy doing now?

Lots of things, actually. Some of his current "things" are:

Using sign language to ask for milk and say "all done."

Drinking LOTS of milk

Making a train motion with his arm to say "chug-a-chug-a-choo-choo!"

Giving great hugs, spontaneously, at bedtime, and even when asked

Chasing balls wherever they roll off to

Saying "hi!" at all sorts of random times

Following simple instructions - come here, find your ball, etc.

Pointing at things to ask and answer questions

Holding on to support when he's standing or walking, even though he doesn't need it anymore

Doesn't it look like that second chin is coming back?

Muffin

Here's a video of Elijah eating breakfast the other day. Unfortunately, Patrick picked up the camera a moment too late - Elijah had already shoved an entire bran muffin into his mouth!

Playing at the park

Today Elijah and I went to the park to play for a while. It was a great day for playing outside - most days this summer have been too HOT and sunny to be out for very long, but today has been overcast and only about 80 degrees. We had a great time, and I didn't have to worry about keeping Elijah in the shade, keeping his hat on all the time, or about the gravel and equipment being too hot to touch. And since school has started around here, there weren't many other people there (so no big kids to trample little EJ). Elijah enjoyed swinging for a little while, on his own and with me, but his favorite thing is just to sit and play with the gravel.

Look who's talking!

Elijah has been trying to talk for a while now. He definitely intends to be saying understandable things - we just haven't been able to figure it out most of the time. In the past week or so, several actual words have become recognizable - "hi!" was the first and is the most frequent. He is also saying "baby," and seems to be saying "yeah," and "duck." They all still seem somewhat accidental, except that they come out regularly, and to some extent, in context. I'm not sure why "yeah" and "duck" are useful or so important, I mean anything he wants to say is cool right now - "yeah" is very conversational and usually draws a laugh, and he does like his ducky bath toys - but in the great scheme of things, I would have guessed something like "eat," or "daddy." "Baby" is useful, and important to him - he likes to point to pictures and ask who is in them, and he likes pictures of babies the best. He's still not saying anything resembling mama or daddy, despite the development charts that say that all babies say those things first. What a surprise! I will try to get some actual words on video sometime, so you can all enjoy with us Elijah's first baby words.

Aunt Louise

This week my Aunt Louise has been in Colorado visiting from Pennsylvania. It was fun to get to see her! She met Elijah and Piper for the first time and we enjoyed having her out here. On Tuesday Elijah and I went with Aunt Louise and my mom up to Estes Park and enjoyed walking around and seeing the pretty mountains.

Peaches

Last weekend, my parents and my Aunt Louise went to the western slope to visit my brother John and his family. What a great time of year to go - the western slope is famous for wonderful peaches. They brought back a big box and we've been enjoying the end of summer joy of fresh, tree-ripened peaches. Aunt Louise made a wonderful pie, and we've been eating them plain and with ice cream (yum!) all week. Elijah loves peaches! Yesterday afternoon he ate 3/4 of a very large peach after a big snack. I can't blame him - I think they're wonderful, too.

Out for a little air

We all need a little break now and then. Last week, Elijah needed a little break from his diaper - he got a very uncomfortable diaper rash that just didn't want to heal. I was extra vigilant about making sure he was completely clean and dry at each diaper change and slathering him with butt paste, but it didn't seem to be getting any better. I tried changing him often (really, really often), switching to disposables for a while, and read every suggestion I could find. Finally, I did my best to "water-proof" Elijah's crib and the surrounding carpet, got him some bath toys (that could easily be washed in case of an accident), and let him hang out diaper-free for a while. That seems to have done the trick! (Plus, I got a couple cute pictures.)

A small accomplishment

The other day I finally finished a little project that I've been meaning to do for months. I put up some hooks in Elijah's room to hold a couple of special things: the play horse that Elijah got for Christmas from Bobbi & Papa, the cowboy outfit that he got from Nana & Grandpa, and his cowboy hat. Elijah was not thrilled to have to hang out in his crib while I used the tools in his room, and he wasn't terribly impressed with my work, either. But I'm glad to finally have it done, and I think it looks nice.

Every day with Elijah ...

Here are some more pictures and video that I took yesterday - a pretty average day - of Elijah doing his everyday things. After I finished a little project in his room, Elijah and I played with cowboy hats:

Yee Haw!
Little Buckeroo

Elijah is learning lots of new things. He has started hugging people and things (he says "awww" when he does it) besides just me - his bear, books, and even the table last night. He understands "no" and usually obeys, although he often tries over and over to see if I'll change my mind. Lately he's become quite the little chatterbox (except on the phone, which he either listens to or tries to eat), and seems to be trying to get out some real words. It makes me laugh when he chatters away and looks at me like I should know what he's talking about.

Elijah talking to some photos

Elijah eating lunch - and guzzling his milk

Playing peek-a-boo

Pictures from last weekend

Here are some pictures from Elijah's weekend, as promised. Check out Melissa's blog for some pictures and a video of Elijah's visit with Logan.

Driving around while "helping" Uncle John load the moving truck

Exploring at Nana & Grandpa's house

Hugs for Nana and Bixby the Bear

Elijah's morning

I've been trying to capture some of Elijah's normal, everyday life. Here are some pictures I took of our morning, which went like this:
8:00 Wake up and play
8:30 Breakfast - french toast, sausage, banana and milk
9:00 Get dressed
9:15 Play, read, explore
11:15 Lunch - ham, peas, Cheerios, milk

Elijah's weekend

Elijah had a fun weekend with Nana and Grandpa while Patrick and I were camping. He slept well, ate well, and was a very happy baby. (Whew, what a relief for Mama!) I will post some pictures of Elijah's weekend soon (when I download them from Nana's camera). Over the weekend Patrick also helped my brother John pack up their house here to officially move across the state. We are very thankful that everything worked out for them in their move - jobs, selling the old house and buying a new house, and we're excited to go see them when they get settled. But we'll miss them being over here.

Camping

Patrick and I got to have a couple of days to go camping, without the little man, courtesy of my parents. We had a great time! We love going to the mountains, and it was so nice to get away by ourselves for a little while. We tried out a new campground, and it was great - beautiful, lots of trees for shade and privacy, and a creek running right past our tent. Here are some pictures of our trip.