It's a bird...it's a plane!

Today Uncle Will stopped by and Eli enjoyed his company! The second he saw him he was smiling and wouldn't take his eyes off him. He later was cooing and talking to Will as well...so cute. Yesterday for the first time Eli was deliberately putting a rattle in his mouth. He's started drooling a lot more lately. I about freaked out when I found out friends of ours who's baby was born a few days after Eli just cut his first tooth! Yikes! I don't want to have to deal with that for a long time. Eli is becoming a lot more vocal. Brandon and I have noticed a big difference in just the past few days. He's cooing a lot more and making new sounds. He said "da" a few times. He also thinks his hands are quite marvelous as well and enjoys sucking on them and playing with them. Tonight after our walk we decided we couldn't get enough of this weather so we called friends (Chris, Tanya, and their baby Seth) and went out to Meridian Park (which is just a big field) and flew Brandon's plane. Well, Chris and Brandon flew the plane...Tanya and I enjoyed chatting. It was fun and Eli loved being outside! Here are pictures of Eli talking to his uncle Will!

Church!

We finally got to take Eli to church today! We dressed him up in a "big boy" outfit. Everyone thought he was so cute and kept commenting on how his hair reminded them of Brandon's :-) Both my boys are balding :-) At least Eli's is growing back in!!!! A song we always considered one of Eli's songs, and we sang it to him all through my pregnancy and now is Sometimes by Step by Rich Mullins. The crazy thing was when we walked into church that was the first song our friend Josh was leading for worship (we've never even done that song at our church). God was welcoming Eli! Yesterday Brandon heard our bird Shiloh say "That's Eli's!" That's what I always say to our dog Rica when she starts to go towards one of his toys. He picks up the funniest sayings. Every morning now we do our best to get Elijah laughing. Usually blowing raspberries on his stomach does the trick. We love it. Brandon was proud that with our fajitas last night he was able to eat cayenne peppers from our garden. I'm ready for the spinach and lettuce to be ready so we can eat some fresh salads. That will help with continued weight loss! I can't eat less obviously because I'm nursing, but we can eat healthier and exercise. Brandon's already lost 5 lbs just from us walking every day, and I only have a couple more to go. We have a fun filled May planned. We have something going on every weekend...so I'm looking forward to a lot of good times with family and friends!

I should mention...our band is playing at Common Grounds Coffee House in Hutchinson, KS on July 11 at 8:00 p.m. doing all of our songs in an acoustic set. I know it's far off...but mark your calendars! We'd love for you all to come and hang out!

Mall!

Yesterday we took Eli to the mall for the first time to walk around. He absolutely LOVED it! Usually in his stroller he falls asleep immediately, but there was so much to look at he was constantly intrigued and fascinated. For a couple hours he checked everything out. People commented on his pretty eyes and one lady said she wished her kids were calm like him. I was nursing him in a dressing room at Dillards, and all of a sudden he had a giant fart/poop explosion. Unfortunately, there was a couple in the dressing room next to us....I sure hope they didn't think it was me! When Brandon saw shirts, jewelry, etc. with neat patterns or colors he'd show Eli and he would just examine everything carefully. I gave Eli a "What Not To Wear" lesson when he started staring at these aweful mens shirts. Now we know where to take him if the weather is nasty and we need an outing or a walk!

The day from.....well you know where!

Eli didn't feel good yesterday after the vaccinations. He was fine for a couple of hours, and then started fussing and crying. He never had a fever (I did check like 20 times), but I could tell that his legs hurt and who knows what else. No matter how I held him he acted like it hurt, so I basically sat by the bouncy seat all afternoon between feedings and changings holding in a pacifier :-) He sure was tired and cranky. At around 5 he was back to his normal self, which just so happened to be when Brandon comes home (he always lucks out). I don't know who cried more...Eli or me :-) Poor Brandon had to deal with a very drained exhausted me (but later I found gold earrings under my pillow that he hadn't given me yet....maybe I should have bad days more often)! Brandon got us both out of the house for a good walk along the river last night and it was refreshing. Today Elijah acts like nothing happened, and we've been having a lot of fun to make up for yesterday. I think we held a 30 minute cooing/smiling conversation. He's getting good at it. We think Eli is sort of laughing now. It's not very often, but once in a while he does this little laugh thing. I can't wait until it becomes an every day thing! He loves songs and anticipates the actions; it's so funny. He reacts to Peek-a-boo and Pat-a-cake now too. Today is very windy and chilly, so we're going to take our walk in the mall.

2 month appointment!

This morning was Eli's 2 month appointment. He smiled and cooed at the doctor and loved the chime hanging above the table. Everyone always comments on his big beautiful eyes! He's gained 2 lbs and grown 2 inches. He weighs 11 lbs 1 oz and is 22 inches long. He didn't like the next part so much. He had to get 4 shots and screamed!!! We've never heard him cry like that, so we were both traumatized. I didn't cry, but I did tear up! I'm probably going to take his temperature like 50 million times today to make sure he's okay. We'll see how it goes. We finally can get him out and about more! We are excited for church this weekend. It's been 2 months for me! Next mission: second attempt to rid him of cradle cap!

Thanks Granny!

We had a great date last night at Red Lobster and a few other stops. Eli was great for my mom! She took him on a few walks; one in the stroller and one in the baby bjorn front carrier. I guess they joined in on a pow wow in the park and danced the friendship dance. Eli has like 3 different Native American tribes flowing through his blood, so it came naturally :-) The only aspect that has been really hard for me since I had Eli is my upper back pain. For Mother's Day Brandon got me one of those massagers that goes on your chair. It really works great! Hopefully it will save Brandon having to give me a back rub every day after work! We are loving it now that Eli has finally settled into a pretty predictable pattern. The only thing is, now we don't want to mess it up! Last night he slept for a 5 hour stretch and then a 3 hours stretch! Yippeee!

Tonight Brandon and I are going to Red Lobster (thanks to a gift certificate from Brandon's sister) while my mom babysits. We're excited! I'm nervous for Eli's 2 month appointment on Thursday morning. He turned 2 months the day before yesterday. I can't believe he's on his 9th week! I can't wait to see how much he's grown and am nervous for the vaccinations. I'm seriously going to pray over them. What else can I do?

Brag Alert

These are all the things that Eli can do as of now:

1. Lifts and turns head when on stomach

2. Can see far and loves to look around inside/outside, toys, and at peoples faces

3. Socially smiles and smiles at toys

4. Holds head steady when upright

5. Coos and makes vowel consonant sounds and many vowel sounds

6. Holds and shakes rattles

7. Reaches for objects and hits objects under play mat

8. Follows objects 180 degrees

9. Looks and sucks on hands

10. Finds Brandon and I's voices in a crowd

11. Recognizes both Brandon and I

12. Puts weight on legs when upright

13. Gets excited for ABC's, Itsy Bitsy Spider and a few other songs

14. Likes to read books and look at the pictures

15. Squeals in delight

Lets go to the Park!

We had a great day with Brandon's family! The weather was amazing, so Eli was able to spend a lot of time outdoors. We took Brandon's model plane to Sims Park and did some test flights. We also took a long walk along the river. The highlight was when a crazy guy knowingly hit a golf ball towards us, and it missed me by a couple feet! Yikes! Eli loves to look around oustide, especially in the backyard. It was so gorgeous we couldn't resist going on another long walk at the Riverside Park by our house. There were kids playing and people having picnics everywhere. Great times for all! Brandon's dad made fun of Donna and I because we had Eli bundled up in a hoody and we were paranoid about mosquitos. I swear it's impossible to figure out what he should wear outside all the time. Is he too hot or too cold? You never know! We did take it off eventually :-) Overall, it was a perfect day!

Family weekend again!

Yesterday my parents and brother came down to register for his classes at Wichita State University. I am so excited for him to move down here this summer! We introduced Will to the NuWay burger...a must have in Wichita. He loved it! Eli loves admiring someone other than his boring mom all day. Brandon leaves a harmonica in the nursery on the window sill so he can grab it and play Eli a few tunes. Yesterday I was changing him and he peed a direct shot right on Brandon's harmonica! Oops! I was laughing so hard. Congrats to my cousin Katy and Lazelle for the birth of their baby boy Jadyn. He weighed about the same as Eli, but I'm not sure of the height yet! She had a super long hard labor (around 24 hours) and then ended up having a c-section. It was a dangerous situation because her heart stopped at one point. We are praising God that both Katy and Jadyn are fine and healthy! Today Brandon's family is coming for the weekend, so we're excited for a weekend filled with family and fun!

We LOVE Spring!

We are loving Spring around here! Yesterday was gorgeous weather, so we took Eli to buy flowers for all my pots outside! He enjoyed strolling around amongst all the pretty plants (okay, that was a lie...he slept). He does like to look at all the new sights outside normally. Brandon bought peppers for the vegetable garden, and I finally found a beautiful ground cover I think might actually grow in the completely shaded corner of our lawn! I tried to get flowers that attract hummingbirds and butterflies this year for the pots. My cousin Katy was induced last night and I'm anxiously awaiting news of little Jadyn's arrival! I'm so excited for Eli to have a playmate so close in age. We found out last night that our neighbor across the street is having a boy as well in July. Another playmate! Eli has decided that 5 a.m. seems like a great time to get up in the mornings. Brandon and I have been trading off on staying up with him. I'm hoping it's only a phase :-) This morning when we were playing he really was clinging on to some keys and shaking them around like crazy. He hit himself in the head a few times and it didn't even phase him, so I'm assuming he has the Corman head (hard as a rock!)

Tulsa!

We had a really good time in Tulsa the past couple of days. Eli slept the entire 3 hours there on the way down and woke up a mile from my sister's house, so it was perfect. Eli loved spending time with his aunt and granny. When we first got there he was so happy to see my sister he smiled for like an hour! They doted on him the whole time and he smiled, "talked" and stuck his tongue out with them the whole time. It really helped distract my sister. On the trip home yesterday Eli slept for 2 1/2 hours and then woke up, so we stopped and fed him and my mom and I traded driving so she could be in the back and entertain and enjoy him. He's so good in the car. Brandon missed him, but he made the most of his one night without us :-) He rented a scary movie that I would never watch in a million years and actually got an uninterrupted night of sleep! When Eli saw Brandon he was so joyful! He had missed his daddy.

Off to Tulsa

Tomorrow Eli and I are hitching a ride with my Mom to Tulsa to spend the night with my sister. She's been having some health issues and has an important appointment, so we're going down to cheer her up! Eli will surely do the trick! We were so excited today because Eli started mimicking us sticking our tongues out! He mimicks smiles, opens his mouth, coos, but I still couldn't get him to stick his tongue out. Today he did it several times....so cute! After I change his diaper he starts getting excited because he knows I'm going to sing Itsy Bitsy Spider and do the actions. He gets so happy; he loves it. We had a blast with my cousin and her boyfriend last night. Eli started smiling at Ellen. He knows a pretty lady when he sees one :-) I told Brandon to enjoy his full night of sleep tomorrow while we're gone. He usually wakes up when I get up at night, poor guy. Wish us luck for a 3 hour drive tomorrow. Eli's going to have to get used to it since all of our family lives out of town. Brandon's parents are 6 hours away in Plano, TX...that will be the true test.

Pei Wei date!

Last night I ran to Babies R Us and spent way too much money! It was mainly on essentials, but then I came across the guitar/rock'n'roll section and I kind of went crazy! I got Eli a guitar swimsuit, shirt, and onesie for this summer. I about died they are so cute! My cousin Ellen and her boyfriend Paul are bringing us Pei Wei tonight...which is owned by P.F. Changs and is the best food EVER! We are having dinner and watching a movie. I'm really looking forward to it. Brandon is leading worship at church this weekend, and I'm not looking forward to losing my help mate for half a day tomorrow and wish I could go. We are taking my mom's advice and giving Eli a bottle of breast milk once a week to make sure he'll continue taking a bottle. So far so good!