Say Goodbye.....

...to this toothless smile!! 

Eli is finally getting his first tooth! And I don't think his second is far behind. I think I can feel a another one trying to push through when the first hasn't even fully broke through yet. Poor guy! Actually he has been pretty happy through it all. I do think that it has lowered his immune system though. He was just getting over a cold when he started with another one. The second cold came with a really bad cough. He would wake up in the middle of the night with a coughing fit that wouldn't stop unless I nursed him. Finally, after four straight weeks of sickness, we are all healthy again (cross your fingers).

Eli started pulling himself up to things last week. The dishwasher and the entertainment center are his favorites.  I get a little nervous because he forgets that he has to hang on so he doesn't fall. At church today he had a pretty good fall and got a little goose-egg, but he is so tough, that he let out one big sad yell and then he was over it. So many times after he falls, I get ready to run over to him thinking he is for sure going to cry over that one, but rarely is it more than just a little whimper before he is off to get into more trouble.

This is the first time that he pulled himself up. He was so proud!

He thinks he is pretty cool.

Eli loves cords and pulled out all of my cookie racks to get to the cord of the waffle iron. Did I mention he loves cords? Well he DOES! If there is a cord on the floor or in reaching distance, he is on a bee line to get it. 

Now to explain the ugly hat... I noticed a couple days ago that he was getting a dry scalp and I did not want it to develop into cradle cap, so I scrubbed it as best as I could and lathered his head with vaseline and then put this cap on for the day. That night I tried to wash it out of his hair and even after 7 shampoos it still wasn't completely out.

But it made for some great hair dos!

I love this picture. It looks like he is saying, "Come on, Mom. Seriously? Enough already!" 

I don't remember if I mentioned that we bought some bikes off of Craiglist a couple months ago and have been looking for a bike seat for Eli for the summer.  We got him a bike helmet, so we are ready when the weather decides to really warm up.

How cute is that?

Here's just a few more pictures of him over the past few weeks.

Sometimes he can be a little monster! ARRRR!

Ready, set, ATTACK! 

He still hasn't figured out how to crawl, but is perfecting the army crawl. On the kitchen floor it's more of a slither, with his legs swaying behind him.  If he is in the kitchen and the fridge or the pantry is open he really picks up the speed to beat the door closing!  

Baby bums are so stinking cute!

This post is getting pretty long, but it's Mother's Day today so we took a couple pictures outside after church. 

My two boys are the greatest! They made me waffles for breakfast (anything with syrup is my favorite breakfast food) and grilled some burgers for lunch. It was such a beautiful day that we ate outside on the patio. 

Grant helped Eli make a card for me. Eli thought it was so funny to hold the pen while Grant moved his arm around. 

I love being a Mother!

I am so appreciative of mothers now that I know what it is like to be one. We love you, Mother (both of you)! 

Projects and a Visit from Grandparents

I have been working on this rag quilt for a while now and I finally finished it a couple weeks ago. I spent a good part of conference weekend snipping away to fray the seams. I think it turned out pretty cute. 

Fortunately the fraying makes this quilt very forgiving and covers up a lot of mistakes.

I grew up with always having canned chicken and I have been missing it so after seeing how easy it was I decided to try it out!

Happy to report that they all sealed! I did a few more than this but they are just so good that they won't last very long around here.

The past few days Eli has been doing this cheesy-wide smile that shows off his gums. His gums look pretty swollen so it might the reason behind the different smile.

Grandma and Grandpa Nelson and Janna made a quick weekend visit from Pittsburgh to see (by us, I mean Eli). :) We were very excited to see them. Sadly we all got sick a couple days before they came so although Eli was surprisingly happy for how sick he was he wasn't quite himself. Although I feel badly that we were all sick, it was kind of nice to have someone always wanting to hold Eli since Grant and I weren't feeling up to it. Hopefully we didn't pass the sickness on.

  Saturday we hung around the house, played games, watched a movie and....

of course, it's tradition that we go get the deep dish pizza at Giordano's! A few veggies in lots of gooey cheesiness! Sooo good! 

One of these times when they come up we are going to take them downtown. Seems like every time they come the weather isn't quite warm enough or we just had a baby... We need to just quit making excuses and go for it!

Grandma gave Eli a bath and as usual he loved it! 

The Grandparents were always down on the floor helping Eli play with all of his toys. He loved ALL of the extra attention.

Grandpa feeding Eli a sno-cone BEFORE dinner! 

Eli had invisible flavoring (to save his clothes since he spits half the the ice out after it melts), but he was fascinated with our blue tongues!

Sunday before  church we had to take a picture of the clan with Eli before they left us.

Grant had an early meeting so he had to go to church before us.

Saying good-bye to Janna. Eli doesn't usually like to sit still, but he did pretty good for Janna so she could hold him a few times. So sweet. 

Thanks again Mom, Dad and Janna for coming to see us! We had a great time. 

Eli on the move!

The past couple weeks Eli has started to become mobile. He is perfecting his army crawl and although it is quite slow, it doesn't stop him from getting to whatever catches his eye! At first he would just reach with one arm and drag his face on the ground while he pushed with his legs, but now he is able to lift up his head and use both arms. It takes a lot of grunting to get around, so he can't sneak off too far. Here he is on the hunt for his Easter basket:

One day I found him under his favorite destination...

the coffee table!

I don't know why he always end up here, because it usually ends in tears. He pulls his upper body up to reach the books on the shelf but always comes down and bonks his head. 

We haven't been up to too much this past week, but here are a few pictures...

Eli giving himself kisses.

Eli's friend Trenton came over to play.

Eli loved watching the balls bounce around.

Eli with his Easter presents.

And in his new high chair! Such a big boy!

A Trip to the Zoo

When the weather was really nice a couple weeks ago we went to the Brookfield Zoo with a couple of our friends. It was fun to get out and see all of the animals and enjoy the sun. Eli mostly chilled in the stroller.

Kicked back and relaxing.

My favorite animal to see at the zoo is always the giraffes. I think they are so cool with their long necks and tongues. Eli didn't really seem to even notice any of the animals...

But he loved the aquarium! He was really good at tracking the fish as they swam around and got excited when they would swim up close. We have a fish tank in Eli's room that he loves to look at. Sometimes when he is sad in his crib and can't go to sleep, all we have to do is turn on the light to the fish tank and that will calm him down. 

He was such a tired boy by the end of the day.

Eli's 1/2 Birthday!!

I know I say that Eli is growing too fast and time goes by so quickly a lot, but SERIOUSLY 6 MONTHS!?! I worked at CEC (the job I had last year before I had Eli) for 6 months. The time I spent working felt like an eternity compared to the past 6 months. Of course being pregnant didn't help pass the time . It has been so much fun watching Eli grow and develop.
In the past couple weeks, Eli has become very active and playful. He is sitting up without support now, reaching and grabbing for EVERYTHING, rolling all over the place and getting into everything he can. He loves to roll over to the coffee table and pull off anything he can reach. He is still a great eater and is just starting a sippy cup, but hasn't quite caught on yet.

He went in for his 6 month appointment last Friday. The doctor said he looks like a million bucks!

Weight: 17 lbs 8 oz - 75th percentile
Height: 27 inches - 75th percentile
Head: 17.5 inches - 75th percentile

Pretty well proportioned :) He didn't grow very much from his last appointment, just gained a pound and grew a half inch. I am not complaining! Lugging him around in his car seat is getting tough!

We enjoy every day with our little munchin and love him so much.

He is starting to cheese-it for the camera.

Precious sleeping boy.

We are still swaddling Eli at night, but are working on sleeping without swaddling for naps. Now that he is rolling around, I have to go in and check on him after a while because sometimes I find him with his arm or leg stuck in between the bars.

Such a big boy!

Showing off is newly acquired rolling skills.

Gnawing on his first orange.

Sometimes Eli gets in a really giggly mood. It is the cutest thing...

Summer has begun!

It has felt like summer this past week in Chicago. We have been above 70 this entire week and even 3 days above 80! We have been breaking all kinds of records. I love it! Grant and I have been getting really excited for the summer and have put a few small vacations on the calendar giving us something to really look forward to. We are so ready to get out of the house and enjoy summer activities.

Eli and I have been on a walk every day this week and are waiting for our jogging stroller to get here next week so we can go jogging!

Enjoying the nice day after our walk.

Wednesday we all went to a minor league hockey game. There weren't many people there so we made it on the dancing cam, kissing cam, got a cookie and caught a T-shirt! (Pretty sure Eli had something to do with it:)

He was being so good even though it was past his bedtime. I look like I am almost dropping him, but he spent 20 minutes on my lap like this content to just play with the arm on the chair.