Eli's New Birthday Presents

Eli got some fun gifts for his birthday. Here are his favorites.

Dennis and I got him his first pet, a fish. Eli named him Bubba and loves looking at him. Currently, Bubba is off limits as Eli's favorite thing to do with Bubba is hit the side of the bowl so the water splashes out and Bubba rocks in the waves. But, he still loves to sign fish and point to Bubba.


Eli's Aunt Pat gave Eli this fancy Rock, Roll 'N' Ride trike. He likes all of the features and asks numerous times a day to be taken for a ride. Then, he'll decide half-way through to stand up and ride, then he'll want to get off and push, then he'll want to ride, then he'll want to push. It takes about 1/2 an hour to get down the sidewalk. Oh, and he loves to push his best friend, Ky, in it. (I'll show those pictures later.)



Eli has grown out of his baby hooded towels, so we broke down and got him a gigantic puppy hooded towel. He's soooo cute.

The Walker

While visiting ND, Eli became a walker which was fun for grandma and grandpa, but Dennis missed all of the excitement. Once we were back, he would take a few steps here and there, but because our house is so small he couldn't practice all that much. A week ago, he started really walking everywhere, but his balance wasn't so good. Now, he can walk great distances and stand himself back up after he falls. He loves to walk on the cement because it's even, but it's not so good when he falls. He walks on the grass too, but falls a lot more. It's been so much fun watching his new-found independence and now I'm wondering why I really wanted him to walk so badly. Good-bye babyhood, hello toddlerhood.

Look out!


He's so proud of himself.

Eli's First Birthday

Eli's birthday party was a success! He invited friends over for a backyard bbq. We had hamburgers, hotdogs and all the trimmings. It was so much fun watching him walk around in his birthday hat and visiting with all of his friends. A fun time was had by all!

Eli, playing the good host.


Playing with Luke.


All of the party goers. (Its sooo hard getting a good picture of little movers.)


Time for cake.


The thumb test.


More cake, please!


I can't seem to get enough...


Finger lickin' good.


The cake before it was destroyed. I'm so proud of it. It was my first attempt at cake decorating.


Opening gifts this morning. He was way too pooped to do it last night. This gift, a sea animal book, fit our fish-theme birthday party perfectly.

Happy Birthday, Eli!!

A year ago today...


Today...

More Belly Than You Need To See and Eli

A girlfriend took some photos of my growing belly and some great mommy/baby shots. I'm officially in the home stretch as the third trimester has begun. I'm sure I'll be expanding.

Minnesota Lakes

Eli and I are in ND visiting Grandma and Grandpa. We went to Detroit Lakes to take a ride on Great Uncle Ron's new pontoon. Eli loved being on the water and he did really well on the whole 2 hour trip except towards the end he really started to hate the life jacket.

Dipping our toes.


Enjoying the view.


Yea! I love boat rides.


We also went to Bemidji. Eli took a dip in the shallow water and was swimming up a storm. He loves to dunk his head, blow bubbles, and drink the water.

Taking a ride.


Eli says, "I love this."


Drinking the delicious water.

Quick Trip to Cincinnati

Eli and I are heading to ND for two weeks without Dennis. So, we decided to have a fun family weekend together before we leave. We decided Cincinnati was a great choice because it's close and we've never been. Here are some highlights.

We spent quite a bit of time at the Newport Aquarium. Eli loved it and pointed to everything. Here he is in the shark tube, which was sooooo cool. We even got to pet a shark!!


A big shark!



Pointing (again) at the clown fish.


We enjoyed the ribs at the famous Montgomery Inn. Everytime he took a bite he made a sour face, I think the BBQ sauce was a bit too much for him. And he hated that bib, it only lasted long enough to take the picture. We also ate atCincinnati's own Skyline Chili, which neither of us liked very much. Eli loved the oyster crackers, but that's not a very good reason to go back to a restaurant.


Traveling with a baby, we now notice a lot more parks than we ever have before. It's a great way to give Eli a break and wear him out before we get in the car for a long drive or go to a museum. Eli could spend hours and hours and hours climbing, crawling, and cruising along. We spent a long while at the children's museum which will be great when he's about two. I think Dennis and I liked it more than he did and we were wishing we were six so we could enjoy it a little more without looking so foolish. We also went to the Natural History Museum and Freedom Center. But, Eli could have done without them. He would have been just as happy sitting in his stroller looking at the big buildings and bridges downtown or looking out the window at the hotel. We were on the 17th floor and the windows went all the way down to the floor so Eli was face to glass admiring the view. (I was having visions that the glass would somehow pop out and my baby would plummet to his death.)

Curly Sue, Driving, and Splash Park

I have no idea where Eli got his beautiful hair from as neither Dennis nor I seem to have it. It's so beautiful that I refuse to cut it no matter how many times he's called a girl which happens to be a lot!!!


Eli looks very toddler like in this picture. Sigh. He loves to drive and wave.


It's been hot and humid here in the mid-west so we took Eli to the no-depth splash park to cool off yesterday. I guess this is the next big thing in community parks instead of pools as you don't have to have a life-guard on duty and it's easy to maintain. It's just a bunch of sprinkler-type gizmos that kids run through and the bigger kids looked like they were having a blast! I think the best part is that its free. It definitely cooled us all off.

Abigail's Chair

Since Michelle commented on Eli's personality, I think this picture really shows off his personality as he's such a laid back kid. Every time we're at playgroup at Abigail's house, Eli climbs into this chair, kicks back, puts his feet up, relaxes, and smiles. Last week, Abigail even fed Eli goldfish crackers while Eli lounged in his favorite position. It's quite the life Eli leads.

ETC...

I have a bunch of pictures from June that I have wanted to post, but just haven't gotten around to it. So, here are some random pictures from June and one from July.

Here are Eli and his French girlfriend, Abigail, playing house in her cardboard box. She actually really bosses him around, pushes him, hits him, and he just smiles at her and takes it all. It must be love.


In one of my mom's groups, all of the babies are turning one or turned one sometime between March and September. We decided it would be easier to have one big party instead of worrying about going to 15 parties or planning a party for 45 extra people. Here they all are, they've changed so much from the picture posted in February. There was a lot of cookie bribery going on to get them all to sit still for a minute so we could take the picture and that still didn't work very well.


Well, actually the cookie bribe worked very well for Eli and Daniela. They were still sitting even after all the other babies ran away. Then we started taking a ton of pictures of just them and they just sat and smiled.


Malcolm and Eli having fun in the dragon tunnel at the park.


Columbus has its annual Doo-Dah parade on the 4th of July. Basically, anyone who wants to be in the parade can so there are a lot of strange things not seen in a usual parade and lots of people making political statements. Eli sat in awe, smiled and clapped the whole hour as the parade went by. And he saw it all: Rollergirls, topless women (its legal in Columbus for women to go topless and they do, who would have thought that Ohio was a red state), people on double decker bikes, promoters of Rocky Horror Picture Show, people with skulls painted all over their faces, etc. He loved every minute of it and kept looking down the street for more.

A Visit To Our Nation's Capitol

We just got back from spending a week with Grandma and Grandpa Sperle and Aunt Pat in Washington DC. We had a wonderful time seeing all the sites. Luckily, it only rained one day when we were there, but because of all the rain several Smithsonian Museums were closed. Nevermind that, we had fun anyways. Here's some highlights.

Eli and Grandpa Sperle hanging out in the hotel room. (I can't believe I didn't take any with Grandma and Eli. I must be losing it.)


In the rain at Arlington Cemetary. Eli is showing off his new skill: pointing. He pointed at all the planes that were going by and there were lots!


Eli with mom in front of the WWII Memorial.


In front of another fountain. This time it was the FDR Memorial.


At the botanical gardens with Aunt Pat.


After leaving grandma and grandpa, we took the scenic route home through the BlueRidge Mtns. We stopped at Shanendoah NP and Eli took his first hike on the Appalachian Trail. Here he is pointing to everything. He could have stayed up there all day! Dennis and I fell in love with West Virginia. I think we're going to be spending a lot more vacation time there in the future.


A nice family shot.