18 month appt.

Today was Eli's 18 month appt. Brandon was excited to realize that from now on he'll only have a check up once a year at his birthday. Crazy! My baby is a big boy! Eli did very well. It's getting easier and easier. He still cries when the doctor checks him over and when he gets his shots (today the flu shot and Hep), but less struggling. He actually enjoys playing in the waiting room and examining room and tries to show off for the doctor. She was impressed with all of his words and that he knows his shapes, colors, alphabet. She also commented again on what an amazing throwing arm he has. When she was bending all his limbs etc. she commented that he's got very strong muscles. No surprise...his day is full of 100% exercise :-). Here's the stats: Weight: 21/22 lbs (8%), Height: 30 3/4 inches (6%), and Head: 19 (50%). Overall, he's doing GREAT! He was glad to get a cat band-aid. We took him for broccoli soup at Panera afterwards as a treat. He was so proud of himself. Brandon and I have been secretly cracking up lately because if Eli gets mad at Rica or other kids (like they take his ball etc.) he says "DUH!" at them. It is hilarious. Sometimes Rica and Eli antagonize each other. She'll jump up on him and he'll try to hit her saying "DUH!". You can see it's just like two siblings would...trying to annoy each other.

Yesterday, we got 6 inches of rain. An inch an hour. What a MESS! Eli and I were stuck inside all day and we almost went insane. I couldn't drive anywhere because of the storm and flooded streets. It took all my creative juices to think up activities for us to do all day. I printed out a bunch of Halloween coloring pages/shapes and cut them out for Eli to color. As soon as it's appropriate to decorate for Halloween than we'll tape them to the windows all around the house. I've also been gathering Fall leaves already. Hoping to make some leaf window hangings with Eli one of these days! We always enjoyed doing this as kids. I always am thinking back on crafts/activities my mom did with us.

The only pregnancy symptom I've had so far is fatigue. I have a crash EVERY day at 7:30 a.m. It's the weirdest thing. I get up around 5:30 and at 7:30 every morning I can barely keep my eyes open. It's been rough. I've tried to eat a snack or drink a cup of decaf tea to give me a boost. I've FORCED myself to lay down at the beginning of Eli's nap for at least a 1/2 hour to sleep/rest and get some energy built up for the afternoon. It has really helped and keeps me going. I've had two pregnancy cravings so far. One is the exact same one I had with Eli. Mini-whole wheat bagels and cream cheese and yesterday I wanted a chocolate chip cookie so bad I thought I was going to die. I knew if I made some homeamade I'd eat the whole batch, so Brandon being the best husband in the world ran and got me 1 cookie after Eli went to sleep. He rocks!