Love this boy!!!!

Birthday boy!!!

Early morning birthday cuddles

Eli has started waking up at 5:45am and crying. This morning I couldn't stand to let him cry so I went in to cuddle.

Happy Birthday Eli!

1 year ago this beautiful bundle of sweetness completed our family.  Happy birthday Cheeks McGee!

Killing 2 birds with 1 stone

I've been trying to think of punishments that kill 2 birds with 1 stone.  Jonah's handwriting is atrocious so his punishment is to write a sentence over and over again - neatly!  Here he is writing "I will not break Trey's toys."

Joe's babies

Joe's chicken babies have moved out of the house. They love being outside. The funny thing is Riley never paid a lick of attention to them while they lived on the sunporch, but now he is crazy about them. He runs around the cage whining and trying to get to them.

The boy can dance!

Who is ready for his first dance circle? This guy! Cue hands in the air and the snake.

Last today as a zero-year-old

Eli's first time on a swing

I would say he loved it!

Eating a cookie, watching the laundry

Doesn't everyone start their day this way?

Eli's version of the ab roller

He loves to do this!

The running family

Trey and I started the Couch to 5k program on Saturday..so far so good!  We did the workout on Saturday, Sunday, and Monday.  We're on a roll!  We're planning to run the "so  long to summer" 5k in Parker in early august.

There should be a post-Pinterest website

It looked so cool when I found this low bookshelf idea on Pinterest, not even thinking how annoying it would be when Eli got old enough to pull the books down.  One by one.  Over and over.  It's a losing battle to keep these books on the shelf.

How to entertain Eli for 30 minutes

Give him part of iced lemon cake from Starbucks

Watch as he crumbles it then spends 30 minutes picking up the tiny pieces and eating them

1st pool day of the summer

Even though it was only 61 degrees outside and calling for rain, Joe wanted to work in the yard all day without interruptions (as he calls us), so the boys and I chanced the pool.  I'm so glad we did!  It warmed up a bit (63 by the time we go there), and the water was really warm.  The boys didn't seem to mind the cold air, even Eli.  While Trey and Jonah ran around like crazy people and apparently made a pact to never fight again (we'll see how long this lasts!), Eli loved sitting and splashing in the shallow water.  It was a nice Saturday morning!

a day of firsts...by 7:15am!

Eli has been a busy boy today!

- found him sitting up in his crib this morning with all his binkies on the floor

- somehow his diaper exploded and that gel stuff was all over him and his crib - 1st morning bath!

- first time being hit in the head with a door - we still aren't used to him crawling around and Joe didn't expect him to be on the floor by the door

- 1st whole milk

On the go

He even fights to get down when I'm holding him. The little boy who didn't want to be anywhere but in my arms. I'm not ready for him to be 1 year old!

we're in trouble with this one

Time to lower the crib!  When I got Eli up today he was sitting up in his crib - 1st time I've ever seen him sitting in his crib.

When I put him on the floor, most of the time he goes immediately to a crawling position and starts rocking.  He doesn't always take off, but he looks like he will!

all the sudden things are clicking with Eli!

Last night in the bath he was pulling up, then crying when he couldn't figure out how to sit down.

Does uh oh count as eli's first words?

He loves saying it when he drops his sippy cup.

Lara
617-512-4026

And the obsession continues…

Trey told me that Jonah wakes him up every morning just like Anna wakes up Elsa at the beginning of Frozen.

Stomach bug

The stomach bug is sweeping through the house. Keep your fingers
crossed it passes by soon! Eli's been sick yesterday and today
(completely happy in between throw ups), and Jonah was struck tonight.

Mommy hold me!

Milestone!!

Eli crawled today! He was headed for an iphone or beer, not sure which. But he legitimately crawled! A few steps with his hands and a few with his knees before he dropped to his belly, but it counts!

And in Eli news....

He sleeps on his belly now. He loves to eat and eats large
quantities. His top right tooth and another bottom tooth just popped
through. He has the "uh" part of "uh oh!" down. And all of the
sudden he seems pretty close to crawling. He doesn't get to all fours
by himself, but when you put him there, he'll crawl with his arms and
try to "pop" both legs forward. Not sure why he's trying to do it the
hard way, but he seems close! Joe is betting by the end of this week
he'll be crawling. And just a shade under a year too. Little guy is
cutting it close!

Mother's Day Goodies

I am especially excited to learn that lots of people like to hear me singing.

Smarty pants!

Bookworm

This is how I found Eli this morning. He LOVES books!

Eli and his favorite cabinet

Eli keeps himself entertained by pulling stuff out of this cabinet and scattering it around.

Seriously?

Snow? That stuck?

NYC Trip: Day 5

Our last day in NYC. :(

This morning we woke up around 7:30 and packed our suitcase. We had
our last breakfast at the hotel then went in search of a post office
to mail the postcards we'd been carrying around since Thursday. So
much for having the postcards beat us home!

We walked up to the American Museum of Natural History to be there
when it opened. Trey showed once again he's just not a museum
kid...even with a place as cool as the AMNH! We sped through it. The
IMAX movie about was very cool though and we both deemed it one of
the hilights of the trip.

After the museum we caught a taxi back to the hotel. Believe it or
not it was our first and only taxi! Everywhere else we walked, and if
it was more than 1.5 miles we took the subway. We got to the hotel,
grabbed our suitcase, and were on our way to the airport. We got
there very early so we chilled in the United Club - I had a few
passes. Trey was very impressed by the bathrooms!

It was the perfect amount of time for NYC. I think we are both ready
to come home. I give Trey a B+ for the trip. He's an excellent
traveler - ALWAYS in a good mood and full of energy....just sometimes
too much. I noticed even after a full morning he tended to get wired
and feisty in the early afternoon just as I was hitting a wall, and
that's the only time I got really annoyed at him, hence the B+. But
overall he does really well traveling, even on limited sleep.

It was interested how little we spent on food this trip. We had
breakfast at the hotel (included in our hotel), we split a sandwich or
something small for lunch, and dinner was a salad and sandwich or cold
pasta salad from a market. We had a total of 1 sit down meal in NYC
and that was before Matilda. We only ate when we got hungry (some
days it was 3 or 4pm after our big breakfast) and grabbed whatever was
convenient. Admittedly we did have quite a few sweets!

We're already thinking of where to go on his 9 year old trip!

NYC trip - day 4

Since we were out late last night for the 3rd night in a row, our plan
was to sleep in. Trey slept until 8:20! We had breakfast at the
hotel then headed out to Central Park. The previous few days were
packed, so Trey got to choose where we wandered. He loved climbing
the big rocks. We rented a canoe which was fun. Then we checked out
the little motorized sailboats, rode the carousel, and saw belvedere
castle.

We had both the American museum of natural history and the intrepid on
our list, and since we were right by the AMNH we tried that. Holy
line! So we rode the subway down to the intrepid. It was cool, but
Trey was ancy. I bought him a ticket to one of the rides so all he
could talk about was the ride. He's really not a museum guy. He
wasn't even that interested in seeing the planes or the space shuttle
(just the outside). We finally got to the ride - a flight simulation
that lets you go upside down. 30 minute line for a 3 minute ride.
Ugh! But he loved it so that's what matters.

We found a cool indoor market and split a bowl of authentic ramen,
which was super yummy and perfect for a chilly, windy, cloudy day.
Then we walked back to the hotel and are currently resting. Since we
had such a late lunch and no evening plans, I'm not sure we'll even
venture out again!

Tomorrow we'll hit AMNH then leave for the airport around 2:30pm.

Trey's NYC quotes

After 3 late nights in a row...
Me: we can go to sleep early tomorrow night if you want.
Trey: why would we? This is New York!


After watching street performers in Central Park....
Trey: I wish I had more money to give them
Me: you could print some more like you and Jonah did
Trey, in a hushed tone with wide eyes: Mommy! Don't talk about that in public!


Trey: there don't seem to be a lot of kids in NYC.
Me: well it's Friday - they are probably at school.
Trey: kids in New York go to school?

NYC day 1

Such a perfect first day! We left for the airport around 6am for our
8:20 flight. No issues except that we were delayed out of Denver, but
then made up the time in the air. I forgot how old and dumpy
LaGuardia is! We found our bag and called for the car I reserved. We
had to chase after our driver for a bit. When I flagged him down, he
grabbed the suitcase and I told Trey to get in the back. He started
to climb in the trunk. Ha! The ride to the hotel was a bit scary -
those drivers are crazy!

The hotel room is small but comfortable. It's a modern style hotel
and just opened a few months ago. We have a little mini kitchen with
fridge, freezer, and microwave. The location couldn't be better -
broadway and 54th. We are on the 58th floor and holy moly the view is
amazing!!!! It's a little freak to be up so high honestly. We
discovered the little window was open and I could get it closed - Trey
wouldn't go near it until the maintenance man came up to close it.
Quick walk to both Central Park and Times Square. We dumped our bags
off and we were out exploring by 4pm.

1st stop - Central Park. We didn't stay long...just long enough to
enjoy our 1st NYC hot dog on the rocks. We hadn't eaten since
breakfast. Then we walked over to the plaza hotel since that is where
Kevin stays in Home Alone 2: Lost in NY which the boys love. It was
pretty but they don't let non-guests go in the part of the lobby that
was in the movie, so we moved on.

Next up: FAO Schwarz, which Trey kept calling FAO Shorts. That was
cool...he wasn't impressed by the piano but loved the flying toys they
had guys showing on every corner. I told him he had $20 to spend on
himself and $20 for Jonah for a t-shirt or souvenir, and he wanted the
flying thing. I convinced him that we didn't want to carry it around
all day, so I would come back Monday morning if he still wanted it.
Hopefully he spends his $20 on something else before Monday!

Then we walked over to Dylan's Candy Bar which had beautiful displays
of any candy you could imagine! Trey had been nagging me about ice
cream so I got him some there. You can see his blue mouth in some of
the pictures.

That was all I had planned for Day 1 since I wasn't sure how tired we
would be. We had more energy so we headed down to Rockefeller center.
We tried to go to Top of the Rock but the next available time was
10:15pm for tickets. So we just explored, went to the cool lego
store, and had a quick dinner at a sandwich shop. Trey picked a
make-your-own-salad. I know he's hoping for more ice cream this trip!

Then we made our way back to the hotel around 7:30pm. Not a bad first
day! We read and planned day 2, then lights out at 9:30pm.

NYC trip photos and journal

Photos here!

Happy 11 months Eli!

• still rocking 2 teeth but several others are close to popping through
• getting so heavy!  i don't know how much he weighs, but it's hard to carry him around for hours like I love to do
• not crawling yet, but very interested in it!  I think he is just a few weeks away.  
• rolls over to his belly in his crib in the morning, and although he knows how to roll to his back, he doesn't - he just cries
• eats massive amounts of food!  Joe decided he's doing all finger food from now on...no more baby food.  Eli LOVES cheese just like his mommy.  He also loves turkey, fruit, cheerios, peas, goldfish crackers
• he loves beeping noises (he does a beep in return) and when you make a kitty cat sound
• he has a few tricks - waving hi, cuddling (puts his head down)
• he doesn't seem as timid around strangers as he did a few months ago, but he still puts his head down on whomever is holding him when a stranger first talks to him
• he can be loud loud loud with his happy screams and noises
• loves to roll a ball back and forth
• taking baths in the big bath without a bumbo.  he does pretty well, although i put my feet in the water in case he loses his balance and falls over
• starting to get very very squirmy.  i have a feeling the next plane ride won't go as well as the other have when he was content to sit on my lap for a few hours.

Eli is a happy happy baby!!