A Walk In the Woods

Eventhough Eli's been in the woods many times, this was the first hike we went on where Eli could actually walk by himself for at least some of the hike. It was a pretty short hike, but it took a long time. Eli had to stop and look at everything. He was so curious and so intrigued by everything he saw. And he saw some pretty cool things: butterflies, bumblebees, spiders, flowers, nuts, sticks, leaves, trees, mushrooms, moss, rocks, a praying mantis, and a caterpillar. I think it was a very good day for Eli.

Leading the way...


The butterfly was so into the thistle, he hardly even noticed Eli. Eli was just about to grab it when in flew away. But, he gave Eli plenty of time to look.


Eli loved the caterpillar until we had him hold it. He did not want it crawling on him and tried to shake it off.


The only thing better than throwing rocks is throwing rocks into the water. Eli didn't even notice that the water was freezing cold. All he wanted to do was pick up the biggest rocks he could find and toss them into the water.

At the Rose Garden

The roses are in bloom at the Park of Roses near our local library. Eli really is a flower fan. When we go for a walk, he always stops to check out the flowers. He touches the petals, smells them, and if I'm not quick enough, picks them and tries to put them in his mouth. He usually loves flowers with button-like centers (daisies, coneflowers, black-eyed susans) best, but I think he fell in love with the sweet, sweet smell of the rose. He walked around the park sniffing like a dog, his hint to us that we needed to help him smell the roses. Here are some wonderful pictures of our day.

I should mention that Eli took a pretty good digger today. Here are the pictures to prove it. Poor kid can't get a break. He was sick all week with a fever and the first day he feels good he falls on the sidewalk and tumbles off the curb.


Eli showing us his sniffing.


Leaning in to smell the roses.


Playing with the petals.

Bubbles!

Ky has a "Bubble Generator" that spits out hundreds of bubbles a minute. Eli loves chasing after the bubbles, popping the bubbles, and just looking at the bubbles. Bubbles are such wonderful things!

Eli's Best Friend

Everyday Eli plays with his friend from next door, Ky. When they hear each others voices, they yell each others names "Li, Li" (Ky's name for Eli) and "Da-Da" (Eli's name for everyone). Ky likes to come right up to our window and yell for Eli to come and out and play and Eli always yells something back in his own jibberish that Ky seems to understand. They hug, chase each other, swim together, play with bubbles, wrestle, play catch or kick the ball and, as seen below, play with each others cars. It really is a sweet friendship. Ky, however, will be starting school again on Tuesday so Eli will only see Ky in the evenings. I think Eli will be pretty bummed. I'm pretty sure when they boys are older they'll have a tin-can telephone stretched out the window as their rooms are right next to each other!


Ky pushing Eli.


Then they switch and Eli will push Ky.