Where to start? Our trip down to Plano was a little rough. We thought Eli would sleep the whole way (he did sleep about half) but he woke up a lot crying and had gas issues which just added to the situation. Crying makes me tense and on edge, so I didn't want to risk it on the way home. We left right before his afternoon nap at 3 and it was perfect. He took his nap, then was awake playing with me and reading books for 3 hours with a couple stops to run around/nurse in between until he went to sleep at his normal bedtime and slept the last 2 hours. Much less stress on the way home...a blessing! I did get extremely car sick, but right when I didn't think I could take it any more he went to sleep for the night. Thank you God.
We had a beautiful Christmas and wonderful week with Brandon's family. His grandparents and aunt were there from Hot Springs, AR and his brother was back from Prescott, AZ so the whole family was there. We mainly spent time just being with family, but we did have a few outings. We went to Christmas Eve service, the mall play place a couple times, I went to see Marley and Me with Brandon's mom (we both had read the book), and Brandon went out for Sushi and a movie with his brothers and dad, went for walks, Brandon took Eli to the park, etc. The weather was glorious. There was one day it was 75. It was strange to come back to snow on the ground at our house. Eli adjusted extremely well to the new surroundings. I was able to keep him on his normal schedule the entire time, which helped. He learned everyone's names the very first day. He is so smart about names. I just repeat someone's name multiple times and I can quiz him on everyone and he will look to them when I say their name or look for them until he finds them. It really amazes me because I am horrible about names. He enjoyed their 3 big dogs. He actually did say "do(g)" several times when we would prompt him, as well as "pa" for Papa, and "boo(k)". He even said "All done!" copying Brandon. That was a first. He only copied it one time and hasn't since. We enjoyed a Christmas feast and had fun with Brandon's brothers Lance and Blake and his grandpa as he taught us how to play many different kinds of poker. I love playing cards and miss it terribly. My favorite game growing up was triple solitaire with my mom and sister. I never remember to play it when they are around!
Eli is definitely at the stage where EVERYTHING goes in his mouth. It doesn't matter if it's dog hair, a piece of dirt, crumbs, lint, fuzz, etc. It goes straight in the mouth. I have to keep my floors extremely clean and sweep everything every single day to keep him from eating strange things. He's more and more ready to feed himself (obviously). I realized in Dallas that he could eat chunks of green beans instead of mashed. I think my baby food making days are coming to a close. It's kind of sad, but will be fun to just chop instead of puree/mash and let him feed himself. He loves shredded cheese. The way he eats it just cracks me up. He grabs it and stuffs it in his mouth as fast as he can before he drops it. It goes everywhere. Rica enjoys all the droppings.
We left a day early and came home a day early, which was a good choice because Eli is sick. He started coughing Sunday and is still coughing today. Twice I've taken him in a steamy bathroom because he was having trouble coughing today. He doesn't cough that much, though. Usually his colds start with a runny nose, so this is something new to me. I was kind of depressed this morning because I had been so excited for Brandon to actually have some more time off for us to spend as a family to do some fun things, and now Eli is sick. Oh well, at least he's here to help me! I guess God was just providing me a helpmate during the sickness. Eli doesn't act too miserable yet, and I've broken out the steamer/vapor plug in/chest rub etc. I'm praying for a quick recovery and that we'll be spared sickness too.
I went and held my cousin Megan's baby Luke today. I had forgotten how small newborns are! I can't believe Eli used to be even smaller than he is. Crazy! I was holding him thinking...I thought this was hard (although Eli was a REALLY good newborn who never cried, but I was sleep deprived)?? What was I smoking? He doesn't even move or do much of anything. I did enjoy the sweet snuggle and newborn sounds.
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