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.

Eli's FIRST Birthday

It's celebration time!

 Mason was very specific about what he wanted his party crown to look like. 

The party scene

Eli's favorite part: The decorations spinning around from the ceiling fan.

  

 The cake!
 

I couldn't pick just one picture, so here's a bunch. Mason tried showing Eli our tradition of taking the first bite sans hands, but Eli was interested in the carrot. This was Eli's first taste of chocoloate (...pretty much). He loved it.

Easy to please, Eli loved his simple presents.

 

Thanks to Grandma and Grandpa Heaton, Eli got TWO phones. Hey, we have TWO boys that want to play with them.... thanks guys.

happy go "lucky"

Here is Eli.
Typical Eli.
He has every reason to not be smiling, yet smiling he is.
Is this just this just the kind of person he is always going to be?

Eli fell and hit his head really hard. Sometimes we handle things well. Sometime we think, well I did my best. And sometimes we lose it and totally freak out and traumatize the 3 year old. Guilty. Whenever Mason sees blood he always says "I didn't want that to happen." Mason, by the way, is not responsible for this injury. He just really doesn't like blood or when his brother cries.

By the time I uncovered the mask of blood on Eli's face and had ice on it, Mason was shrieking as he ran up and down the hall. I've mentioned he's a lot like me, right? Around this time I was calling for Mason to come to where we were and Eli just up and fell asleep. I yelled at Eli to wake up and cut it out. I wasn't sure sleeping is allowed after such a fall. Jason was out and not answering his cell so I did what anyone would in this situation. I called Mom. She came right over and got us all calmed down by the time Jason came in. The cut wasn't as bad as I thought. I took Eli to InstaCare where he continued to be darling and charmed all the nurses. The doctor gave him three stitches and Eli hardly fussed. By the time the doctor was finishing up, Eli had caught the eye of one of the nurses and was flirting and smiling. The doctor repeatedly told me he'd be fine, no brain injury, and as I left he asked "Um, are you going to be okay?"


What am I to do with such a boy? It seems like the more I struggle, the more he shines. I react badly, he keeps smiling. I dwell on how bad it could have been and how scary parenting can be, but he's over it. Moved on. Thank you God for sending us Sunshine.

daddy's boy

Eli loves his daddy. Every day when Jason gets home from work Eli MUST be picked up by him and MUST try on his hat (that's his first official word) and MUST be held for a bit before his dad goes and does anything else. He often picks Jason over me, which is fine, it makes me happy to see Jason happy. If Jason is sitting on the ground Eli will find him and make himself comfortable on his lap, leg, or head. He just wants to be close. It's cute to see them hanging out like that. And like most crazy boys, Eli likes to play rough and wrestle and daddies are really really good at that.

Note: Eli does not like to be thrown around much. Or tipped upside down too fast. And he doesn't jump off things like his older brother did at his age. He's more cautious, or perhaps we (as parents) have gotten lame. Lamer? Most lamest.
 

to my techno baby

Little Buddy, I know you love electronics but I can't find the mouse to the big computer, the remote for the downstairs tv, and my cell phone has certainly seen better days. You love buttons and the little lights on microwaves, DVD players, and the alarm panel. You pretend everything is a phone, from shoes to blocks. Even now, as I'm trying to quickly type this you are thrashing around trying to get your hands on the keyboard. I say no and you say "uh uh uh?!"

Love you tons,
Mom

bedhead like beethoven

This is quite similar to what Eli's fro looks like in the mornings and after naps. I'm gonna take it as an indication of great musical aptitude.

Also, last weekend in Richfield Eli started making a funny little snarl face, a bit like this expression but with more grump. Mostly funny because he's normally so darn smiley.

rockin it

This is Eli's new favorite place to play. He climbs up in and rocks back and forth... standing up and shouting the whole time. (Don't mind the camera phone pic).

eli the climber

Eli is getting into everything! I know it is typical of his age but I'm alarmed at the things he can manage to reach. He really likes to climb and will climb onto boxes, suitcases, and little chairs just to be a little higher. We have a mini rocking chair that he climbs into, then stands up in. He'll rock back and forth until he tips over, just to do it again. One of his favorite play things is the dishwasher. He plays with the dishes, pulling them out and then throwing them back in. I stepped out of the room and heard a noise that sounded like the dish drainer being moved. Sure enough, Eli climbed up on to the dishwasher door, stood up, and was reaching up to the dish drainer. What am I going to do with this crazy little boy?

Eli's Halloween

Eli was Santa for Halloween. I know. Wrong holiday. But I knew that the Santa outfit wouldn't fit come December and I wanted to see him in it. Funny, we ran into a few people that didn't know us well and even dressed like that remarks were made about how cute "she" was and Mason was asked if his little "sister" would like a treat. While Mason ran frantically from door to door to get more loot, Eli was held by trucker/redneck dad and enjoyed being outside in the beautiful weather.



We did give him a couple pieces of candy to hold, which you can see he enjoyed sucking on, wrapper included. (seriously, you'd think I'd learn my lesson with Eli and any wrapper!) He hasn't had any sweets yet and could taste some of the sugar. Trust me, he was totally obsessed and wouldn't give up his soggy candy for anything.




Then we went to the Heaton's party and he continued to be adored by all, especially the lovely fairy princess Lauren, and continued to try and get his hands on that amazing candy.

another outtake

This is what we call Fear Face. Eli does it at the funniest times, and not usually when he's scared, although this expression flashes across his face often when big brother approaches. He also makes a funny noise that scares me. It's that inhaling cracking voice noise from the movie "The Grudge". He makes it when he's excited or really happy and we often hear it when he's, ironically, crawling up the stairs.

10 months

The little Aaaahhh is a sound Eli makes all the time. It's a happy-this is fun-caw sound. Mason will make this sound back and him and then Eli will repeat it. Back and forth.

Eli is zooming around the house on his hands and knees. He navigates all over the living room by standing and grabbing onto couches and tables. He stands on his own, but on accident, and when he realizes he's standing he slowly lowers himself to the ground where he's more comfortable. His favorite toys are the stairs (going up and down), any door (swing open, swing shut, bang bang bang, Aaaahhh!), and clothes pins. He also likes jar lid rings, chewing on socks, and toilets- which is why we are perfecting the habit of closing the bathroom doors.

He still has just four teeth, two up and two down, although I know every inch and cell of his body and know we'll be breaking this three month teething hiatus shortly.

Eli loves to splash in water, eat whole apples and pears, and play tag with our family. He takes two great naps during the day but sadly, has been having less predictable night and coughs a lot in his sleep. He's perpetually drooling, it's like he smiles too much and the spit just leaks out. Eli does not like clothes and especially detests shoes. His hair is as crazy as ever and goes really curly in the back. Often, his cheeks are pink and rosy which we suspect is a reaction to certain things in his diet.

Eli is learning how to say Bye Bye by waving his hand. He claps his hands but it's in the most adorable crooked fashion, one hand stationary with the other one patting down on it, that I just love. He likes to dance to my cell ringtone, so we often dance instead of answering.

eli at the ranch

Thank you Lauren for taking this picture and sharing it with us. You really captured him. Isn't he darling?

confessions of an overwhelmed housewife

My dishes aren't done.
I have a ton of apples that need to be dealt with.
There are wet clothes in the dryer that need to be put on the line.
I haven't worked out. I haven't showered.
I need to go grocery shopping or we'll be eating...apples...tonight.

Big brother will be at preschool for almost three hours. In that time I could get most of those things done. Instead I have spent most of that time playing with Eli.

We wrestle. We giggle. We nibble. We hug.

He laughs when I laugh. I laugh when he laughs.

I pretend to eat his toes, his ears, and his tummy.

He gets in my face and we tell whispered secrets.

He becomes exhausted and collapses onto my chest. Still giggling.

Eli needs a nap and so into his crib he goes.

I'm covered with slobber and love.

If only every day could be so productive.

simple & sweet

We've gotten in a bad habit of letting Eli doze off while sucking on his bottle. I've been trying to fix this. Today Eli was tired, but Mason was in their room cleaning up a box of toys so I waited to put Eli in his crib. Soon he got overly tired, his teeth were probably bothering him, and he got cranky. Instead of reverting to the usual bottle-fix, I thought about how I'd like to take a nap... if I could.

So I bundled my Eli in my old baby blanket, for it's his favorite.
I held him close
and walked outside.
I held him while standing under the willow tree.
I watched
him watch
the leaves move in the breeze.
His eyes reflected the color of the sky.
He gazed
silently,
intently,
and motionless
for a few minutes.
Then he softly closed his eyes
and soundly slept.

I wished the world would wait for a while so we could stay in the moment a little longer.

outtake

Brother, if you steal my food I'm going to get seriously grumpy on you.

7 months

Eli is seven months old.
He's crawling from room to room,
getting his first teeth,
telling all sorts of expressive stories, 
and eating all sorts of food from the garden.

He's also eating all sorts of thing that should NOT be eaten. More on that later.


Love you Little Mister. We're the "lucky" ones.

more from the 4th

These are pictures we took the weekend of the 4th of July. We celebrated Independence Day with the Starr family in Richfield. The weather was hot and humid, consequently Eli was a little less smiley and a little more drowsy.

Necia gave Eli this hat that says "mom's lucky charm"

Where did we get such smiley guys?

Classic Eli. Huge grin, bare feet, and a onesie.

It's hard to be patriotic when all you want is a nap.

Grandma Starr at the parade

Uncle Jeff, one of our awesome veterans

Eli's opinion of family pictures :)

Oh there we go, there's our happy boy.

happy boy, happy life, happy independence day

This is from a Starr family 4th of July photo shoot. It was not much fun for us, but this picture was worth all the craziness. Eli had just started sitting up really well and I couldn't resist putting him in there and asking the photographer for a couple more shots.

He's perfect.
Breathtaking.
One of the greatest pictures of all time.



But what I love the most is my little secret.
He's so beautiful and so happy.
His expression... his posture... the composition is perfectly delightful and leads one to wonder what it is he's looking at.
Well you see, he's that happy because he's making eyes at his mom.
Me.
Me, his mom.
What an honor.
My children are everything to me.
For now I can be everything to them.


I hope I can always make you smile, Eli.

6 months

My heartbeat. My sidekick. My favorite accessory.

He loves being outside.

Eli has been given so many monkey things.

He likes to hold his foot when he eats.

He was sitting up right before I took this picture. Oh well. I'm sure I'll get a million other shots. I love this onesie. I love his legs!

name game

We call him Lucky.

Or Mr E. 

Or just Mister. 

He's our "little professor".

When he randomly wakes up in the night I sooth him and call him 'lijah.

His universal nickname is "smiley", 

everyone somehow knows this and calls him by it. 

When Mason says his name it sounds like Eeyiy. 

So how did Eli get his name? I'll tell you. 

We had a few names we liked but none of them were really standing out as The One. One night I was in the living room with Mason. I was up on the couch reading and he was playing on the floor. I started asking Mason what his little brother's name was. Jokingly I asked "Is it baby George?" and Mason laughed and said "No Mom!"

Is it baby Bill? No Mom!

Is it baby Fred? No Mom!

Then I started asking him the names that we were seriously considering. I named off a few. The response was always "No Mom!"

Then I asked "Is it baby Eli?"

Mason stopped playing, 

looked up from his toys, 

and said "Yeah Mom! Baby Eeyiy!"

It was like he remembered that name, 

that he KNEW it was his little brother's name.

From the point on he wouldn't allow any other name to be considered. We wouldn't mention that name at all and yet every time we talked about the baby Mason would say "Baby Eeyiy!".

The name grew and grew on us. We waited to meet Eli to be certain that it was the name for him. Sure enough, Mason was right. Eli it was.

(Good thing too because I couldn't imagine trying to tell stubborn little two year old Mason it was going to be any other name.)

five months

These pictures were taken on Mason's third birthday. Eli is almost five months old! Mason has started calling Eli "Eee Iye Eee Iye Oh!" and sometimes he throws "head" on the end too. A few days after these pictures were taken Jason trimmed some of Eli's hair. I could hardly stand it since I don't believe in haircuts or chocolate until the age of one. Jason didn't mess with too much of it though, just the long part from the top that was long enough to get in poor Eli's eyes. Eli has become the droolmyster. I worry about dehydration due to the amount of fluid he loses. We keep suspecting teeth...then nothing happens. He's started to hold onto his feet a lot, especially when eating. He also tries to hold his bottle on his own.

More from April

His default expression... GLEE!

I have this same pose picture of Mason somewhere.

Aunt Mamie... remember that once when you watched Eli over night and he did NOT sleep through the night like I bragged he would and you were up every two hours?

Eli likes to be all wrapped up and cozy to sleep but not swaddled tight.

This is one of the many times I step out of the room and when I come back things are NOT as I left them. In this case Eli was NOT on the floor when I left. He doesn't fuss when Mason man-handles him. I couldn't bring myself to fix Mason's redeyes. It's just too fitting.