Give me my foot!

It's been a few days since I posted because we've been trying to recover from all these trips :-) Eli has adjusted back into his old schedule well. He went back to napping in his crib fine, which I was glad about! He's discovered he can pull his knees clear up to his chest and grab his knees, which causes him to roll to his side, or he kicks his legs out and lets them hit the ground hard. I showed him yesterday that he could grab his foot. He thought it was hilarious!! Next time I did it he concentrated really hard on holding it and still thought it was funny. Cracks me up. During tummy time he is almost rolling over! He's so close. He's really trying to move now. He does crawling motions a lot. A couple days ago he moved completely from one side of the blanket to the other and turned 180 degrees. The thought of him actually moving OFF of the blanket I put him on is a scary thought :-) even though I'm always right there playing or reading to him. When we were at my parents my mom commented that it looks like he's starting to teeth...I pretended I didn't hear her ;-) Then, when we were with Brandon's family his mom commented on the fact that it looked like he was starting to teeth, so I was forced to face it. I know a tooth might not actually pop through for months and months, but he is drooling a lot more and gnawing constantly on his hands or whatever he can get his mouth on. He's 3 1/2 months old now, which means he could actually be given rice cereal in a couple of weeks. I want to follow the recommendations and wait until 6 months, but I am going to ask about it when I go for his 4 month appointment on June 24th. I can't believe he's getting so old! It goes so fast.

We took Eli to have his picture taken. I haven't had time to scan them yet, but here are photos of them!

Yesterday was our last day in Plano. We met Brandon's sister and our nephew Gavin at a Wiggly Play Place (from the tv show the Wiggles). We all played with Gavin and took him down the slides. Eli loved watching the other children play and dance during the music time. Eli slept for the longest stretch he's ever slept....8 hours!!!! Yeah!! He went to bed at 8:50 and slept until 4:50!!!!!! Today we drove home. We got an hour into the trip and came into a horrible storm; we had to stop in Gainsville and wait for an hour at Starbucks. Eli was great on the trip again. We had to stop a couple of times to feed and change him, but it was no big deal. He started fussing 5 minutes from our house! We are ready to relax for a few days! Eli has a new best friend.....fans!

Plano

We had an amazing trip down here to Plano!!! Eli slept the entire trip but 40 minutes of it and still slept once we got there. We've had a great time spending a lot of time with Brandon's family including his grandparents and aunt who had never met Eli yet. We had a big family celebration last night for his brother Lance's graduation. We've had fun helping watch our nephew Gavin and playing with him. Gavin was so cute when he saw Eli for the first time. He was so excited and loved touching Eli and helping me change his diaper (he handed me everything). He even was giving Eli kisses (his version is leaning his head into you so you can kiss him). So precious! He also was trying to share his toys and kept trying to put them in Eli's hands and helped me swing him in the swing. Gavin has never been around a baby, so we were all curious what he would do. He just loved Eli! I can tell he just gets the biggest kick out of Eli. Brandon's brother Paul brought over his new ball python "Lucy" short for Lucifer :-) It was neat! Eli has loved taking his baths in the sink. He's never been in that deep of water, so he had a great time. I will post a lot of pictures when we get home Tuesday!!!!!!

Bird Attack

When we got home from Minneapolis the same baby bird that I had issues with last week was still in our yard, so I had Brandon go out to put it outside the yard so Rica wouldn't hurt it. I'm so glad I didn't try because I heard some noise and looked out....there were 6 starlings attacking Brandon's head!!!! It was like "The Birds" all over again. I laughed so hard! All of my family came into Wichita on Tuesday, so we got to spend more time with everyone before they flew home!! I went out to eat and shopping with my aunt Cathy and mom, and had a blast because they don't have Dillards in California, and there is one designer there my aunt loves. My aunt and mom treated me to a few outfits, which was fun!!! Later we had an American Idol party at the hotel with my grandparents because my cousin is working for the company that does American Idol, so she was backstage and my uncle was in the audience. It was great to spend more time with my relatives. Today, we are leaving for Plano to see Brandon's family. Only God knows how Eli will do for 6 hours in the car!!! Here's Eli and his cousin Jadyn.

Minneapolis

We've been in Minneapolis since last Friday for my brother Will's high school graduation. I got to spend time with my grandparents and aunt and uncle that I don't see very often. We had a wonderful time!!! We had a bonfire down at the pond with fireworks the first night. Saturday we went and celebrated my grandpa's 80th birthday at our traditional place the Brookville Hotel. We had great food and enjoyed laughing and learning many memories and events of my grandpa's life. Brandon got to go see the new Narnia movie. He hasn't got to go to a movie since we had Eli :-) Sunday we flew Brandon's glider in the pasture and went to Will's graduation and great party afterwards. I'm so glad that most of my relatives have now met Eli!!! Everyone was so amazed at how good of a baby Eli is. He was his charming self. My mom has most of the pictures, but I'll put up a few that I have until I get more.

Barbecue

We had a fun day yesterday! We were supposed to have a barbecue in the park for our bible study, but it started raining. Everyone headed over to our house instead. We crammed a million people and tons of food into our little house! Eli was just taking it all in. We had lots of kids and babies. It was great!!! I didn't have time to baby proof since it was a last minute thing, and at one point we looked back and our friend's baby (he's 1 1/2) was sitting there chowing down on the dog food!! He screamed and cried when she pulled him away from it. She was horrified of course, but I guess it had happened before at her sister's house, so I didn't feel too bad! Another friend put her 7 month old under the play mat, and he didn't know what to do. He just laid there forever just holding the toys. It looked halarious, so I had to take a picture. I chopped my hair off yesterday (think Victoria Beckham...although I'll never look like her :-)) Tomorrow we head to Minneapolis for my brother's graduation from high school. My grandparents and uncle from Nevada are coming, and so is my aunt from California. I'm so excited to see everyone!!!

Happy Mother's Day....a little late!

I had an interesting Mother's Day! I woke up with a sore throat...grrr! Today it feels better, so hopefully I'm avoiding sickness. I've washed my hands so much in the past couple days I'm surprised they are not cracked and bleeding! We went to church and got my favorite soup for lunch. Then, I had Brandon help me clean the house :-) We rented movies, and I enjoyed Brandon's help in getting a lot of things done I normally don't have time for! This morning was a disaster. The state informed our pediatrition that Eli's heel prick test (PKU etc) that he had when he was born was messed up in the lab, so he needed to have it done again. They just said to stop by the office then go to the lab in the same building and have it taken care of, so I thought it was going to be a quick almost painless event. After waiting forever to get into the lab, Eli didn't even make a face when they pricked his foot. Everything changed when they couldn't get hardly any blood and kept squeezing and squeezing his foot. Finally after a while they gave up and said I needed to go to another lab for them to give it a try. So...I hauled my exhausted baby over to another lab having to park in a parking garage and lugging the carseat a mile. At this lab, the guy said he hadn't done one of these tests in 2 years and had to call someone to even see if they had the paperwork. By this time I had been dealing with all of this for 2 hours, and I thought I was going to scream! Eventually he tried on the other foot and had the same problem. Eli had another scream fest while he tried to squeeze blood out. No such luck. He tried to send me to another lab clear across town and I said NO WAY! I was not going to let someone else torture my baby another time today. Whenever I get the guts to go again in the next couple weeks, I guess I'm going to have to go try again. I despise whoever messed the lab up!

Daddy and Son Day....

Last night we took Eli over to our neighbor's house for a party, and of course everyone admired him and loved how calm and alert he was the whole time! The River Festival started here yesterday, so while Eli slept we sat outside and listened to the opening concert, which was Colbie Caillat (sings Bubbly). We live right by downtown, so we can always hear when there is a really big concert during River Fest. We went and cheered for our friends/family who ran the 10 k race today (that's my cousin Ellen Mitchell in the picture). Later, Brandon watched Eli for a couple hours while I went to my best friend's graduation from Friends. It seems like just yesterday that I graduated! Brandon took Eli to the Indian Center by our house for some River Fest fun. They enjoyed some Plains Indian dancing. I came home to a happy baby and some beautiful flowers, which Brandon claims was Eli's idea. Tomorrow after church we're going to spend some time at the festival and go to the art/book/craft fair, listen to some music, and Brandon's determined to eat a turkey leg :-) Eli has just been "talking" like crazy. Every day it's something new. We swear today he said "da da" and "Mom"....I know it's highly suspect. He really does copy the sounds we make though.

My cousin Ellen and her boyfriend Paul came to dinner last night. We had a great time, and took a lovely walk to the park. It was a beautiful evening! Lately, we've been talking about now that Eli can hold his head up fine he never lays it on our shoulders anymore. It's kind of sad. I love his new sense of exploration, and he's so much more fun. Now, it makes it really precious and special when he's tired or in a snuggly mood and lays or cuddles his head into our necks or shoulders. His smiles make my day. He has different smiles for different feelings. He smiles when he wakes up from his naps and sometimes in the middle of the night when he wakes up he'll give me this smile like "I dare you to smile back." Open mouth smiles, side smiles, full smiles I love them all!

We went to Target last night. I hadn't been there since Eli was born, and I've been missing it terribly :-) I know it's sad. Eli loved looking around at everything and is always so good! I forgot to mention the other day....when we were coming home from church...guess who was driving out of our neighborhood???? Tracy Byrd. I know it's the weirdest thing. It was his huge bus and trailer with his picture on it. The only thing we could think of is that he stayed at the Castle Inn. It's this old Scottish castle built in 1888 they turned into a fancy bed and breakfast. I can't think of any other reason he would be on our street. I opened an e-mail account for Eli so we can send him letters that he can read when he is older. I'll open it every so often to keep it active. His e-mail is elijah.james.judson@hotmail.com Today during tummy time (which lasted 20 minutes might I add) Eli got his leg swinging so much I thought he was going to roll over. I doubt that's going to happen anytime soon, but it was the first time I even saw something close. Another thing Eli started is gumming his pacifier. Instead of sucking on it he chews on it with his gums. Sometimes he thinks it's funny, which makes us laugh.

Yummy hands!

Eli has started really sucking on his fist now. Last weekend when my parents were here he just started sucking on it a lot. It's so cute. We were laughing because we were out on this gorgeous walk and we look back to see if he's enjoying the scenery and there he is staring at his hand and then sucking on it. He brings his toys to his mouth now too. He's learned that his mouth can be used for exploration. He loves his play mat and bouncy seat. The second I put him under his play mat he starts smiling at this star that lights up and plays music and kicks and bats at the toys. I rotate the toys hanging on his bouncy seat, and he likes to hit them as well. He's doing great on tummy time. Most days he'll stay happy playing on his stomach for 15 minute stretches as long as he discovers his hand, looks in his mirror, or watches this toy we have where balls pop up and down. He's done great on bed time. We do his bath at the same time every night and I think that has helped. He's asleep between 9:20-10:00 every night. We're loving that! I can hardly believe I'm putting away most 0-3 and 3 month clothes. The only onesies that fit him are the 3-6 month, and I noticed that his 3 month rompers are getting small too. Crazy how fast he grows!

Thank God for family and paletas!

We had a fun weekend with my family! We took several walks and enjoyed eating coconut paletas (Mexican popsicles) at the park. We flew Brandon's glider, and had several great flights. Last night I had a girls night out with my mom and sister. We saw the broadway show Moving Out. It's all Billy Joel music with amazing dancing and choreography. We loved it! My dad and Brandon babysat and had a good time. Grumpa introduced Elijah to James Brown and Mississippi Blues. They didn't have any problems and he was great for them. Today Brandon and I led worship at church, and it was so nice having my family there to take care of him while we were singing. It made things a lot easier on me. Brandon's cousin Justin Simpson was just stationed here at McConnell Airforce base, so he joined us for church and lunch. We had a great time visiting and look forward to having someone from Brandon's family living here in Wichita! While Brandon and I took naps, my parents stripped Eli down and let him go naked on a blanket, which of course he loved. He eventually peed on the blanket though! Everyone got to see his great cooing skills this weekend. He's gotten SO vocal. It's so cute. He loves "talking" to you when you get right up close to him. Brandon was walking around with Eli and they saw the president fly over in a black hawk. He was speaking at Greensburg today.