Happy Halloween!

We celebrated a lovely Halloween yesterday with my family. We dressed Eli up in his lion costume and Brandon went as an "Enginerd", and I dressed up as Ugly Betty (my favorite TV show). Brandon actually wore his nerd costume to work and fit right in ;-) No one could take him seriously all day because every time they tried to talk to him they would just start laughing. We are having some gorgeous weather, which made for a beautiful Halloween. We all went and ate at the fall fest at the church on our old street where all my Corman relatives go. Eli enjoyed all the people and costumes. Afterwards, we put Eli to bed and handed out candy. We never got to do this growing up because we lived out in the country, so it's a real treat for me. My brother was excited to do it too! We all sat out on the porch and Will held the candy bowl with his creepy mask on. A lot of kids were scared to take candy because they were afraid he was going to jump at them! So much fun! Eli cut his second bottom tooth yesterday, as well. Just one of the tiny bumps is out, so we're still in for it until the entire tooth is through. The runny nose was definitely from teething after all! While showing off for my parents, Eli discovered he can RUN while holding our fingers. He was sure to make sure everyone was watching and then would just take off! I can hardly keep up with him. We installed a large baby gate that has the small inner gate to walk through in the kitchen, so he won't fall off of the step. Later we'll put a small one on the stairs. Can't believe he's almost walking!

Guess what was in our chimney.....a pigeon. It committed suicide by trying to get out. Now we just need to seal it off, so we don't have any more critters coming in! We had bible study here last night. Eli had fun with all the kids and enjoyed showing off his almost walking skills. Everyone was amazed and thought it was hilarious how fast he goes! I swear he never stopped moving the entire time and then just crashed in his crib an hour past his bedtime. I thought maybe he would sleep good last night....not so much. He's stopped taking the pacifier in the night, and he won't fall asleep in your arms at all or when rocking so it's really complicating sleep training. He likes falling asleep with the paci, but not in the middle of the night. Don't ask me why! I think I'm just doomed to night nursing until he's weaned. Oh well. One good thing that should really help in weaning at a year is that he LOVES drinking out of a cup. At lunch every day I put a little milk in a sippy cup and he just thinks he's died and gone to heaven. He drinks really well out of a regular cup too. He can hold a regular cup or one with handles. I just help him tip it up. Should make transitioning easier. Here's some pictures of Eli with my friend Courtney and her dog Igor.

Lost and Found!

Yesterday was a trying day for me. Eli started acting really fussy and was up every hour last night congested. I'm praying to God it's from teething and not the start of a cold. Today he has a slight runny nose. We'll see. Somehow a gate we never use was opened yesterday (possibly by the people measuring the gas meter?) and Rica got out. I didn't notice for an hour because I was feeding Eli his lunch and putting him down for a nap. I went out searching for her, but after an hour I gave up exhausted. I think I drove every street in our area. I was upset all afternoon afraid she was going to get hit by a car. Brandon came home and decided to go out looking for her even though it had been 5 hours since she got out. I didn't think there was much hope of finding her and was just planning on waiting for someone to call after they found her. He wasn't gone very long before he brought her home! Guess where she was....our old street across from our old house playing with the neighbor's dogs! I purposely had looked there twice earlier in the day because I figured she'd be able to find our old street better than our new one. She ran to him so relieved the second she saw him. Let me tell you, she was VERY excited to be home! Today, I was trying to force Eli into sitting to play instead of draining every ounce of energy out of my body by wanting to constantly be walking and exploring when I heard scratching in our chimney and particles fall down into the fireplace. Something is up there. Maybe a raccoon? Who knows. Someone is supposed to come out this afternoon and try to get it out because Brandon couldn't see anything when he shined a flashlight up there. What else can go wrong? I did have a refreshing visit with a friend and her dog and a lovely walk with Eli since it finally warmed up a bit and smoothed my mood over. Through the weekend is supposed to be awesome weather and we'll be sure to be outside enjoying every second before Winter sets in! I'm dreading the time change that's coming....I have a feeling Eli is going to be wanting to go to bed at 6:30 and will be up at 4:30/5 until he gets adjusted. Yikes!

Steps

Last night Eli was actually taking 2 or 3 steps on his own (down in the basement on the carpet) before falling into our arms. I'm not sure if it really counts as his first steps or not? He loves walking between Brandon and I and switching to the other person's fingers half way. He enjoyed playing the djembe (drum) with Brandon, too. He is just a little firecracker! Very active. My mom said I'm getting a taste of what I was like as a baby....always on the go! I go to bed at 8:30 I'm so tired by the end of the day. I had to move the plant to another part of the house, so he's not trying to get to it every second of the day. Distraction is definitely key right now. In the picture with the hat, you can see his little tooth.

Snack time!

Most days in the afternoon I give Eli a little snack. It's mainly just for fun and to practice feeding himself. Sometimes I give him fruit, a teething biscuit, or the Gerber Puffs (these are sweet potato and melt in their mouths after a little gumming). It usually amounts of Eli trying to feed himself, but after getting the piece in his fist he ends up getting frustrated and throws it to the dog. I usually end up just putting one in his mouth. Today I finally saw the first glimpses of his "pincer grasp" developing. I've never appreciated being able to "pinch or pick up" objects with my thumb and finger until watching a baby without it. Until they develop it they just rake things into their fists with their fingers. Today Eli just finally figured it out! He fed himself 5 puffs by pinching them with his two fingers and putting them in his mouth (who knows how many were thrown to the dog). Yeah! He was very proud of himself and kept shouting in joy :-)

Friendship

We went to our friend's birthday party last night. They had a bonfire, which Eli thought was amazing. He's a typical boy! He growled and talked to the fire forever...we were all cracking up. Eli got to spend time with his friend Ethan. He's a little less than 6 months older, and such a sweet baby. Eli and Ethan had fun playing with balloons together, and then Eli was trying to steal his pacifier. Ethan was "petting" Eli's hair and head. It was so cute! He kept offering Eli his finger, and Eli thought it was a great game. I kept warning Ethan about Elijah's one tooth! At one point, Eli was holding Ethan's hand, and Ethan was hugging Eli. So precious! I can't wait to show them these pictures someday.

Very tired lion :-)

more and more walking...

Eli is still in obsessive standing and walking holding onto fingers mode! Every time I take his hands he walks as fast as he can to get to....THE PLANT. We have this large plant/tree in our living room. He can't reach the actual plant or leaves because it is tall, but he wants to hang onto the pot and play in the dirt. I think the plant is going to have to be moved. Today when I saw that's where he was headed I turned him the opposite direction and he threw a fit. Here we go people. He already starts to get mad when we leave the room or when he's being taken out of the bath to be dried off. In some ways it's kind of neat to see him becoming more independent, but I know that tantrums and fits are just around the corner. The other day I picked up some toddler books. My books only go up to a yearMy mom is in town visiting, so this morning we ate at our favorite breakfast place with my cousin Sam and brother. Later we're all going shopping. My mom can't believe how much he has changed in just the two weeks since she's seen him. He's developing quickly! Thanks for your prayers for Brandon's back. He stayed home from work for two days trying to recover, and finally today it is much better. I'm hoping to get some pictures of Eli in his costume today since it's supposed to warm up...we'll see!

Standing and cruising....

Eli is so obsessed with standing that is really hard for us to get him to sit at times. He loves to stand on his own holding on to whatever he can get his little hands on. He even lets go sometimes and is able to balance for a little bit. He always looks up at me smiling when he gets to walk holding onto our fingers and likes to dive into me to "wrestle" when he makes it to me. My back was hurting the other day from holding my hands/arms mid air spotting him all day. It's really hard to keep him from hurting himself. I have a feeling we're going to be dealing with a lot of bumps, cuts, and bruises here soon. If he figures out how to pull himself up to stuff it's ALL over! Rica is Eli's best friend in the world! She actually likes him and plays with him all the time. She even brings him her toys...it's so funny. I'm constantly kicking her nasty squirrels away from him before he can snatch them away. He's SO happy to see Rica every morning and army crawls after her all day long. She has totally surprised me as far as not reacting when he grabs her legs or face. Elijah will grab her leg and I of course give him the "be gentle" lecture and then Rica just stands there waiting for him to grab her again...so she must secretly like it. He swats at her face and she thinks it's a fun game. Don't worry, I'm always right there making sure nothing bad happens. My mom gave us this cute book that has a bunch of pictures of messy babies and clean babies. Eli likes to give them lots of kisses! Please pray for Brandon's back. He's having some bad pain today from his degenerative disc. It's not as bad as in the past, but still painful and frustrating for him.

Why I'm a Democrat....

I know this is a strange blog, but I always feel, as a Christian, that I'm having to defend why I'm a Democrat. I always considered myself a Republican growing up, mainly because I lived in an extremely conservative town in an extremely conservative state...I didn't know any different. When I actually researched the parties, I realized the only thing I agreed with on the Republican side is the issue of abortion. I wish more Christians would join the democratic party because then we might be able to be influential on the issue of abortion. There are democrats who are pro-life, and so I am able to try and vote them in during the primaries. I don't necessarily vote along party lines. I try to vote for who I think would do the best job. Unfortunately last election I voted for Bush because I thought Kerry was scum, and considering Bush has done a horrible job I wish there had been a better candidate. Here is why I'm a democrat; all these views basically line up with the general party beliefs:

1. Minimum wage: I believe in a higher minimum wage, with regular increases
2. Renewable Energy/Oil: I believe in programs to develop more wind energy and "clean coal" programs and am against tax cuts/incentives for oil companies
3. Taxes/Health Care: I do not agree in tax cuts for the wealthy, and am for higher taxes to go towards more social services in helping the poor. I am for universal health care. I recognize the downfalls, but still support it.
4. Environment: I believe that God has given us this earth and we shouldn't trash and ruin his creation. I don't care whether you think Global Warming is real or not...the fact is we need to take care and preserve the environment. All the things that they think are contributing to global warming are bad anyway, so we need to find solutions and all do our part. I like this quote," "the climate crisis is not a political issue, it is a moral and spiritual challenge to all of humanity."
5. Reproductive Rights: Like I said, I am against abortion (pro-life)..BUT...I do not agree with the Republicans on contraceptive and sex education. I think an abstinence only education is completely unrealistic and will end up increasing abortions. I think abstinence should be taught as the best choice (the one I chose for myself), but that birth control should be readily available to those who are going to be sexually active anyway. I agree with the Democratic Party on the use of birth control, education, and adoption incentives to attempt to decrease abortions. I think Republicans have good intentions, but don't really intend to ever do much about it. I think they use it as a platform to gain votes.
6. Stem Cell Research: I am for Stem Cell Research of already discarded/donated embryos, but I am against cloning.
7. Iraq: I am against the war in Iraq (have been from the beginning...I made a protest sign in high school :-)). Of course, anyone will admit some good has come from it (Saddam out of power etc.) I generally am opposed to war unless it is the only option. I was not against going after Bin Laden, and think that should have been our main focus.
8. Torture: I am totally against torture. I think water boarding IS torture!
9. Gun Control: I am for gun control. I am not opposed to someone owning a gun, but think there should be much stricter requirements.
10. Education: I think that there should be low-cost, publicly funded, college education. It should be available to all students, and there should be a lot of assistance (Pell Grant...etc) available. Thanks to Bush I am paying off more student loans b/c he took away the Pell Grant after one year of college.
11. Death Penalty: I am against capital punishment. I don't think any of us have the right to take someone else's life...I think that should be for God to decide. Plus, it costs the taxpayer a lot more than the criminal just spending life in prison.

Eli loved playing with his Halloween costume this morning. He loved it in the stores too; that's one of the reasons we got it! It's just a little lion, but he thinks it's great fun. He thought it was funny when I put the hood over his head; it lasted two seconds before he pulled it off. Could be an interesting Halloween ;-) Believe it or not there is actually a chance of snow here Thursday. I can't believe it's almost the end of October already. Where has this year gone? I really am looking forward to the holiday season though.

Cruising....a little!

Eli's new favorite thing is to stand holding on to anything he can. He doesn't pull up yet but expects us to help him get to chairs, couches, bookshelves, etc. to hold on and have a blast. He thinks he's a big shot and always checks to make sure we're watching. He's getting really good at it to where I only sit there and "spot" him and make sure he doesn't kill himself. He has started cruising a little bit...meaning he'll walk while holding on to something for dear life. It's really neat to see him practicing walking. A lot of times he'll hold on with only one hand and still be able to keep his balance. He thinks it's great fun to hold on to my fingers and walk around. I think he's realized it's WAY quicker then army crawling. He really loves holding my fingers and then I say, "Come to Mama" and he walks as fast as he can and dives into my arms/chest. I'm trying to teach him to sit down when he starts to fall, but I have a feeling it's going to take a while! His little tooth came in more yesterday. In the morning, it was still just a tip out and by the end of the day a little more was peeking through. You can see it a lot better now. We spent all of Sunday hanging out with my brother. Eli loves to army crawl after his keys. Can you believe Eli is 8 months old this Friday? Time really does fly!

We enjoyed a beautiful Fall day yesterday and spent every second of Eli's naps outside gardening. They finished our sprinkler system, so we were able to work on all the stuff we've been waiting to do. We pulled out the ground cover in the backyard by the goldfish pond and planted grass, and transplanted the ground cover to the front. Since Eli will probably be walking next Spring or Summer we wanted to have one area he could play in since our yard is full of flowers. Luckily, at the end of our street is the Art Museum, which has HUGE grassy fields all around it for playing on! Then, of course we have the school playground a couple blocks away and the park. They tore up the front flowers pretty bad, so I'm going to have to fill in some areas there, as well.

Eli's tooth hasn't come in any more. It's just staying with the tip sticking out...poor little guy. He isn't crying about it, but does have moments where I can tell it's uncomfortable. He sucks on his lower lip and feels it with his tongue a lot and is constantly sucking on fingers/thumb and toys. Eli loves to give kisses, and he's discovered that the baby in the mirror likes giving/getting kisses too. It's adorable! Whether he's sitting, standing, or on his stomach he gets to our giant mirror and gently tenderly kisses himself in the mirror. His face is so precious. When he kisses us he kind of attacks our faces, but not the baby. He just gently kisses his reflection. He still loves to play ball and rolls it back to us. Brandon started this new thing where he makes a little sled out of the baby bath tub and pulls Eli around on it. He loves it! Here's some pictures of the new activity. I started Eli on Turkey yesterday. He loved it! Now that he's 8 months, I thought I'd introduce him to some meat. He loved the pumpkin I gave him the other day. I tried the teething biscuits and he always just takes a couple knaws and throws it to the dog ;-) Rica stands by the high chair waiting patiently every time he's in it.

P.S.: WHOEVER STOLE THE PUMPKIN OFF OF OUR PORCH. PLEASE RETURN IT AND YOU WILL NOT BE PROSECUTED!

All I want for Christmas...

Eli had an interesting day yesterday. He was pretty good for the most part, but did have quite a few moments of whining and having to be constantly entertained. He's discovered with teething that he can scream DADA at the top of his lungs if he's mad, bored, or not feeling good. As Brandon left for work this morning, he started screaming DADA...actually appropriate for once! If we leave the room he starts crying now. As long as there is someone with him he's fine (it doesn't have to be us). I took him on a long walk yesterday all bundled up. The sun finally came out after days of rain! Eli slept really well for the first time since his tooth broke through. It must have been the first time I've actually gotten into a deep sleep because I kept waking up sweating and panicked from bad dreams. Tonight we're going out to dinner to celebrate my cousin's birthday. I'm looking forward to being with my family! Here's a picture of Eli at his friend Ethan's birthday party!

Good-bye sleep training!

We have an important announcement, which is blowing sleep training out the window! Eli cut his first tooth last night!!!!! It is his bottom right tooth. It has just broken the surface and you can see the little jagged top. He has woken up a lot the past couple nights, and we thought it was just because I was trying to nurse him less and just give him the pacifier more. Every time we start trying to work on sleeping through the night....something ALWAYS happens :-) Oh well! Poor little guy. It looks painful!

Family and Rock'n'Roll

We had a wonderful weekend up in Minneapolis. Eli was extremely happy to see my sister, who he hasn't seen since August, and just soaked up all the attention of having both grandmas there, an uncle and a grandpa! My mom cooked amazing meals and desserts. She totally spoiled us rotten. It was wonderful! I was really worried on Friday because my throat was sore. Last time I got sick I lost my voice. I was worried about our concert on Saturday, but miracle of miracles I woke up Saturday without it! Saturday was God Stock in Salina. It started at 3 and went until 10:00 with six bands. The weather was gorgeous and Eli was SO good, considering we were there for like 5 hours!!! The show went really well and afterwards we went to our favorite Chinese restaurant for supper. Elijah really liked playing on the play equipment in the mall. He thought he was a big boy! Eli showed off a lot for everyone, and said "da da" a lot. I've been working on "mama", and finally the past couple days I at least heard a "ma". Eli enjoyed playing with all of our old baby toys that my mom had saved. We used my old walker as a high chair, and it worked perfectly.

We came home right as the rain and cold started. Today the high is 50...it sure feels cold! I'm not looking forward to having to bundle Eli up wherever we go. Yesterday the gate got left open and Rica got out. I didn't realize it for about 20 minutes. I panicked, bundled Eli and myself up, jumped in the car, and headed off in the rain to look for her. After about 10 minutes, I saw what looked like a wet rat running down the sidewalk a couple streets over. She was happy to see me because I had brought a piece of cheese to catch her ;-) I'm just so glad she didn't get hit by a car. My cousin Angela came over to see Eli and stayed and watched a movie. It's really hard to keep Eli busy enough to stay in one room for that long, but we still got to see the majority of the movie. I can finally get back to sleep training since Eli is over his cold. I keep having to wait until he's well to work on it. Last night I tried giving him a little cereal before bed to see if he would sleep better. He did sleep 4 hours before waking up. I know it's sad when I think that's good! When he was 3 months old he slept through the night for about a month, but since then it's been horrible. He goes to sleep on his own at night without rocking/nursing etc., so that's not the problem. He just wakes up a lot but won't go back to sleep. Pray for us :-) We're just trying to recover from traveling and stay warm!

Tomorrow we're headed for Minneapolis. Our band is playing at a festival called Godstock 2008. We're playing at 4:00 p.m. on Saturday in Oakdale Park, Salina. Brandon's mom is coming up from Dallas to spend the weekend up with us, and my brother and sister are coming up too! It will be a fun family weekend. Today Eli actually stayed up on his hands and knees when I set him on the floor...twice! Maybe he's going to move to actual crawling instead of army crawling. We are in the process of having a sprinkler system put in. It's going to make taking care of all the beautiful flowers in our yard so much easier! Tonight I have to make Eli some pumpkin and finish up packing! That's about it! Here's Eli's 7 month pictures. Isn't he adorable?

Happy Birthday Will!

Today is my brother's 20th birthday (he'll always be my baby brother though)! My parents couldn't stand not being with him on his birthday and were missing Eli so much they came down to celebrate and spend time with Eli. It was a fun day. We took Will to lunch at a nice Japanese Steakhouse, and Mom and I went glasses shopping. My parents babysat Eli tonight while we had band practice. I guess Eli had a blast relishing in all the attention. When we came home he was having a good time splashing in the sink. He didn't even care that we were home :-) Eli started growling again yesterday. He had stopped and was doing more babbling and saying ''da da", but now he's decided to go back to growling...sheesh! He thinks he's big stuff when he stands holding on to chairs, the couch, or some of his toys. He makes sure everyone is watching. For the first time yesterday he whimpered when Brandon left for work. It made Brandon feel good. He misses his daddy. Monday, I went to see a chick flick (The Women) with my cousin Ellen and Brandon babysat. He took Eli to Petsmart to see the animals. Eli loved watching the fish and the guinea pigs. I haven't gone to a movie in months, so it was great! We gave Eli the Gerber Sweet Potato Puffs for the first time broken up in pieces. He really likes them and does chew them up really good. The only other food we can get him to sometimes attempt to feed himself are banana slices. Overall, he's eating really well! I feel good because he does like my homemade baby food better than the store bought...score!

Fruit Update

We have an exciting new fruit update. I introduced Papaya to Eli tonight and he LOVED it! He scarfed down everything I gave him and then went on to eat a ton of banana. At least we have two fruits that he likes! We figured out he doesn't care if we mix some applesauce into his squash, but will not eat it plain. Also, he will take a couple bites of pear but doesn't act like he's enjoying it. What a funny kid!

So much better!!!!

Eli's cold has gotten better REALLY fast! Today he doesn't have a runny nose at all...compared to the pictures yesterday...that's quite a feat. You can see the difference today. I'm still tired from trying to recover from major lack of sleep the last couple of nights, but we're all encouraged! We had band practice this morning and my brother Will came with us to babysit Eli. I went to check on them during a break in our practice and I peeked in and both of them were asleep on the couch. It was so cute! I was glad he slept the whole time and didn't wear Will out! Brandon is all excited because he's been playing ball with Eli. He rolls the ball to Eli who catches it and throws it back (well sort of...you never know where it's going to go)! Today he creeped/army crawled from the living room across the dining room to get to Brandon who was laying by the kitchen! I think it was the farthest he's ever gone. He's getting faster and faster. He plays this game with Eli where Eli crawls and attacks Brandon while he's laying on the floor. It's so cute, and Eli laughs and laughs. Our friend still wanted us to come to her son's first birthday since Eli was feeling so much better. Eli had fun playing with all the new toys and watching all the kids. This evening Eli started creeping across the nursery, and I couldn't figure out what he was so excited about. I realized what he was after when he started biting my sock...I know it's gross...but it was so cute I had to take a picture before stopping it :-)