Baby Bubba

Eli wants to hold Sam...all the time. Especially in my bed all cuddled up.

The two older boys fight over the baby a lot. At least they like him I suppose.

It's crazy how a newborn can make a 20 month old look so HUGE.

2:30 = midnight snack time

Two nights ago Eli woke up around 2:30am. He called out "Mom? Mommmmmm? Mom?" in such an awake and clear voice that I knew he wasn't going back to sleep without some intervention. As soon as I went in his room he said "Food! Eat! Eat! Eat!"

We went to the kitchen and got him a cracker and a banana. Turns out I was starving too thanks to baby brother. After some awkward cuddling in the recliner I thought he was asleep. I stood up to take him to bed and he popped his head up, wide awake. I put him in bed anyway and told him goodnight (good morning...).

Five minutes later I heard him start yelling, "Dad? Daddddddddd? Dadddy?" but this time I just rolled over and we all went back to sleep.

bare

Eli, I know that someday you'll say "mo-ommmm! You posted naked pictures of me?!" You are right. I am sorry. But I can't help myself. You are just too cute.

I came home from work late at night and was on the phone with Aunt Amy when I heard you cry. It was not your usual Hey-I-Woke-Up-And-So-I'm-Going-To-Holler-And-Go-Back-To-Sleep cry. So went in to check on you and you just kept crying so I picked you up. Suddenly I realized that you didn't have a diaper on. Your blankets were wet. Oh boy you are silly. I don't know why you'd take your diaper off.

I put you in bed with dad while I changed your bedding. Dad pretended to be tired but we all know he liked the extra cuddles.

To make the story better, the next morning I heard that same strange cry and checked on you. Once again, bare bum and wet sheets. YOU DID IT AGAIN. It started feeling a little less darling and a little more shocking. I have friends that have said they have to tape diapers on their kids to keep them on.

Since you haven't done it since, I'll leave you in the darling category.
I love you from your curly head to your little pink toes... and everything in between. 

bridge troll

Despite renewed conviction to attend our ward's playgroup, we are pretty hit and miss. When we do go the boys have a wonderful time and I do too. This Monday, depsite the best intentions, we missed it. Luckily we got a second chance since Monica came through town and we got together later in the day.  Eli likes to perch atop his bike and mostly watch the other kids. Yesterday though, he found a hideout under the slide and hung out there most of the time while kids climbed above him. The Three Billy Goats Gruff kept coming to mind.



Today at playgroup Eli just walked around begging food from the other kids. Good thing he's cute.

eli sandwich

Jason and Mason we're playing around on the little dirt bike. Instead of being alarmed at the noise, Eli just wanted to be part of the fun. We sandwiched him between his dad and brother and he stopped fussing, just held on for the ride.

 

st. patrick snack

Thank you Eli for loving my spinach muffins when no one else did. You reminded me of a leprechaun all day and I wished I had a little suit and hat to dress you up in. I love celebrating each holiday and each every day with guys.

spaghetti eddie 2.0

I used to take countless pictures of Mason eating spaghetti. I couldn't help it, he was so darn cute. Now I see that it must be a universal cuteness for all children. Messy faces, especially stained in bright orange/red sauce, make eyes brighter and smiles bigger. So now I take countless pictures of little brother.  

facts about eli

1. Eli likes to help clean. Unfortunately it doesn't always mean things get cleaner, usually the opposite actually. But it's cute that he wants to be part of what we're doing. His favorite chore is dishes.
 

2. He still has four front top teeth. Three front bottom teeth. Two top back teeth. His bottom gums are sad a swollen and blistering. My poor kids have really unusual teething patterns.

3. He doesn't wear clothes much. He starts out in clothes but they don't last. He likes to wear shoes though.



4. I really really do trim his hair. But it seems to make his hair grow faster. And sometimes without thinking I apparently pin his hair back with bobby pins I find on the floor. I didn't realize I did this until I saw this picture. Headbands, though, I use on purpose.

aunt jennifer

Jennifer stopped by with her boys on their way to California. As they were preparing to leave Eli put on his big brother's snow boots and charmed his way into her arms. He wanted to GO! He wouldn't come to me and just stayed in her arms not looking at his parents. We joked about her taking him but I'm afraid he really would have gone and not looked back.

It's always an awesome moment as a mom when you have to pry your kid out of someone else's arms and they cry because they have to stay with you. I don't think Eli knows what stranger anxiety is, at least not when it comes to his awesome aunts. 

(For the record, the diaper and boots outfit is his favorite.)

now you see him...

I was at Mom's admiring her new iPad. Eli was sitting next to me on a stool and I was even holding onto him. I'm still not sure what happened but all of the sudden he was flying through the air. He did a back flip! I managed to keep him from landing head first but he still hit pretty hard. I'm pretty sure he'll be sporting some black and blue on his left eye by tomorrow, just in time for a check up with the doctor. (Thanks Mom for the picture)

big spooner

Eli wants to be a big boy. I try to tell him to stay little, but he doesn't listen. Today I caught him using his spoon really well. This is remarkable since when he eats I encourage him to just use his hands. It's cleaner in the long run. This boy loves his bowl and spoon though and will often empty the dishwasher and carry these items around the house. Today if he couldn't get a good scoop he would carefully load up his spoon with food until it was full enough to put in his mouth.

I love his capabilities.
I love his determination.
I love his bed head.
I love his smile.




I love his "I am not going to smile even though I want to and you want me to I'm just not going to do it " expression. Yep, there it is. All the men in this house have this look. Love it.

what eli might look like

Looks it's Mason and Eli.
Just kidding, but when playing with Kyson we couldn't help but realize that Eli and Ky look alike with their matching curls.

  

If only Eli (or the camera) would have cooperated... 

drink

Today at church, while spending the majority of the three hour block in the hallway, Eli figured out the sign for "drink". He does it by sticking his finger up his nose, tilting his head waaaaaaay back, and saying "d".

Aw, close enough.

i think i am a crazy mom

I remember- prekids- hearing crazy moms talk about their kids. I never really really understood what was so cute about the things they said or what was so fascinating about their...um...diaper details.

But then I had kids and I realized how every little thing they do is completely incredible. For example, I was cleaning the boys' room and found this pile of socks under Eli's bed. And I think it is just adorable. I love that he pulls off his socks before he falls asleep. I love that he dumps them out in the same spot. It's just cute.

So yeah. I am a crazy mom. And I love my kids. And their socks.  

om nom nom

Eli eats. and eats and eats and eats. When we go to dinner at my parent's house, I feed him first, then we get there and he eats again. If he sees any food at any time, he wants in on it. I run out of ideas of what to feed him. His favorite foods are bananas, pears, and crackers and he'd eat them non stop if allowed. I mean entire bananas and pears and probably wants the entire box of crackers. Sometimes we hand him food and then turn around and it's gone. We search, but it's just vanished. I mean consumed. Gulped. Inhaled.

When I can't find something, I prefer to say "Eli ate it" than admit I'm getting absent minded. He eats so much more than Mason. We like to tease Mason that someday his brother will be bigger and stronger than him and then he'll get him. That was a bad idea. Now Mason seems to be trying to fit in all his bullying now while he has the chance.

For Family Home Evening we had a special treat: orange ice cream bars. You better believe that Eli wasn't going to miss out on the refreshments or let a drop of goodness go to waste. Check out his killer grip on Jason's hand. His finger tips are turning white. This eating machine means business!





 

typical day

Had I known he was going to sleep in until 10 I would have been more wise with my time. Usually Eli is up at 7:45. Also he is ready for bed every night by 7:45. We try to get him to last until 8pm.

Eli woke up happy happy as usual. He wouldn't be removed from him crib until he had a firm grip on one of his blankets. He never leaves without one. He ate a huge breakfast of oatmeal. He eats circles around his big brother. He helped me do laundry. Eli loves filling and emptying the baskets although it doesn't help much in terms of actual chore completion. He got mad when I wouldn't let him get in the dryer to play.

We waited for Mason's bus to come. We looked out the window. He kept pretending what we were doing was really cool. I suppose it was.

Eli hung out in the sink while I cleaned the hall bathroom. He likes looking at his reflection. As I was trying to finish the last few tasks he decided it was time to play with the toilet. He loves to open the lid and then flush. Over and over. I scolded him and removed him from the room. I kept cleaning. As soon as I wasn't paying attention he bolted back in a did it again. "No no no, Eli". He just smiles. He kept at it until I realized I was never going to finish cleaning. So I put him in time out. I've never done that with him before. I put him in his crib. He smiled some more.

Mason saw him in there and decided to join him. I told Mason that if he was going to be in time out too he better teach Eli not to do naughty things. I heard Mason say "I know it's hard, just don't do it". That sounds familiar. Really I shouldn't let Mason play in there. Eli takes a nap every day at noon. But since he slept in, I'll just let the boys be happy together. I love they have each other.

Yesterday Eli was up before Mason. I changed his diaper and he realized Mason was still in bed. As soon as I let him get up he went to Mason's bed and crawled up in it. He pounded on Mason's shoulder and announced his presence with loud "ah!"s. Mason tried sleeping through it but kept smiling which encouraged Eli to continue. Finally Mason gave in, sat up, and said "Good morning brother".

territorial

Eli just asked me to open the dryer (well not in so many words). It's one of his favorite toys. I opened the door and he saw it was filled with clothes. He got a very grumpy expression on his face, yelled some obscenities, and is now taking every article out and flinging it to the floor. How dare those clothes be crowding up his play space.

( Don't worry. He's well supervised. )

Good Night 2011

Eli is a stomach sleeper, but sometimes he stays on his back long enough for me to sneak back in and take pictures. He sleeps with my old baby blanket both at night and for nap time. Eli goes to bed first and then about an hour or more later we quietly go in with Mason to tuck him in.

We got lazy and started letting Eli take a bottle to his crib for a couple months. I felt really guilty about it. Plus, I noticed he was waking more and more at night and often we'd need to get him and hold him and then eventually get him a midnight snack bottle to get him sleepy again. I was sure we'd ruined this perfect sleeper. After he turned one it really started bothering me that he had a bottle at all. Yes, we are normally the "toss the bottle at one" type of parents. But this week I just decided ENOUGH! and put them all away. Cold turkey. For about one day Eli seemed to be wondering where it was. Within three days we had a new nap/bedtime routine that did not involve any bottles. Walk into his room, turn on the cd player, turn off the light, shut the door, he reaches for the door, we say no. Pull the blanket up between us, he rests his head, sing a song, kisses, say good night, he says Ya! Ya! Put him in bed. He giggles. We giggle and walk out the door. I can't believe how easy he adjusted. Sometimes Eli will cry out once at night but then he goes right back to sleep until morning. Overall his sleeping, quality and quantity, have improved.

I wish I could take credit for this awesome sleeper, but we also have a three year old that doesn't often make it through the night in his own bed, so... no credit. No blame :)

Eli looks a lot like my baby pictures, but every day he looks more like Mason, who is a mini me of Jason. 2011 was a fun year, we can't wait to see what Eli comes up with next year.

games

Eli's favorite games are:
1: Putting lids on containers. This results in a very cluttered kitchen floor. He also likes to fill the containers full of whatever he can find. I love watching him stay busy. He'll half fill a bowl, dump it out, put three things in, take two out, dump the last one, put them in again and repeat.
2: Throwing things down the stairs. If I can't find something, I check the bottom of the stairs and usually find a pile of random objects he has thrown down. My mom had a bunch of Santas at the top of her stairs when we went over for Christmas Eve. It was like a huge jolly massacre as Eli threw each of them down, down, down.
3: Bowl and spoon. We have to be really careful about closing the dishwasher or else Eli will have it emptied in seconds flat. He likes to carry around a bowl and spoon and pretend scoop up food.
4: Empty the drawer. He is into everything. I am learning the art of closing doors. This has never been a strength of mine but if I want the house to stay in any type of order it helps to contain the chaos in each room.
5: Eat the blanket. Okay, so not really a game just a silly thing that he does a lot. Especially now that he doesn't get a bottle he seems to need extra mouth stimulus.

elf on a shelf

Have you heard of Elf on a Shelf? I was interested in getting one for Christmas until I realized I had the best edition out there. This is where Eli prefers to sit while I load the washing machine.