5 1/2 months old update

Brandon is finally home! It was a long 5 days :-) I really missed having his help in the evenings. It's the only chance I get to have some "me" time. I had a great visit from Brandon's mom and she helped a lot in finishing up some of the packing. My mom couldn't stand it and came and saw Eli yesterday and spent the night. She was missing him too much to wait. Eli was happy to see Brandon and is loving having him home. Eli is doing new things all the time. He holds his books when you're reading them to him and touches the different textures in the touch and feel books. He LOVES books. I read him about a million a day. My mom brought him a messy baby/clean baby book and he loved looking and hitting the baby faces. He likes to play with anything and everything. His new favorites are water bottles and papers. When you take a drink he eyes it and tries to grab it totally fascinated. He rolls over from back to stomach, but still only wants to push forward when on his stomach. He blows spit bubbles all the time and sometimes chokes himself he gets so much spit going. Now that he's so busy, moving/squirming/jumping etc. we cherish his snuggle times when he gives you loving and lays his head on your shoulder. He even will lay his head on his stuffed cow that my sister and brother-in-law gave him and give it a "hug." He plays with his feet a lot. He's also discovered something else down there that isn't a foot ;-)

We are missing Brandon, but enjoying having Brandon's mom Donna here helping pack and take care of Eli! Donna packed our entire kitchen up the first evening she was here, so I am SO appreciative! Today we took Rica to get a haircut and got lunch and went to Babies R Us, so it was a fun and busy day. We've taken Eli on several walks and Rica's in heaven because Donna's been walking her constantly. Brandon is having a good time in Oshkosh, WI but missing us too. I realize these pictures are kind of blurry because Eli's always moving, but I still liked them! He's rolling from his back to stomach and is always on his side. He sleeps on his side now too. What a big boy ;-)

We're headed to my aunt's house for dinner tonight, so I'm looking forward to some loud conversations. Any of you who know my Corman side know that we are VERY loud when we get together. I'm surprised that all of our tables haven't been broken we pound so much when laughing. I love it. I soak it up. Our Thanksgivings and other get togethers are always full of loud laughter, talking, arguing, huge board games, football/basketball games, etc. When I go to people's houses and it's not a loud and crazy dinner it feels strange and somewhat boring. I can't comprehend not being close to my cousins. We're all good friends and have such a good time together. We always have! I love coming from a big family!

Eli has been showing frustration with his toys. He'll chew on them and then get mad that he's not getting anything in return. What a goof ball! One of these photos happened when Eli grabbed my camera, which I thought was funny. The other one he is blowing spit bubbles and it's dribbling down his cheek. He loves being bounced on my knees and I sing "Pop goes the weasel". Brandon is going out of town on Sunday for 5 days to work the huge airplane festival up at Oshkosh, WI. At least this year he is getting paid to go! My mother-in-law is coming to help me out while I continue packing since I won't have Brandon's help for a week. I think he's going to REALLY miss Eli, and I know Eli is going to miss him!

Happy Real Anniversary to Us!

So we celebrated our real 3rd anniversary yesterday. We went to one of our favorite restaurants, Pei Wei and had a tasty meal. My friend and cousin Ellen and her boyfriend brought us back cheesecake (from Cheesecake factory) all the way from Kansas City as a treat! It was awesome. We got all of our utilities and important services ready to be switched over on the 15th of August when we close, so that's a relief. Eli spent all day yesterday blowing raspberries. He had spit bubbles just running everywhere. It's his newest trick, and he thinks it's great fun!

Scooter

Eli has started scooting. Last night in front of both Brandon and I he scooted forward right off of the blanket! When he's on his stomach he pulls his knees forward and pushes off and moves a few inches :-) He's all over his crib when he's on his back, but we've never seen him actually move forward. Brandon was like, "He's crawling"...not quite! We watched an old home video recently when I was around 5 or 6 months and my dad kept calling me "scooter" because I was scooting around as well. He gets his legs kicking so fast when he's on his stomach that I think I'm going to be doomed when that actually turns into movement. At least we'll be in a new house where I can baby proof the second we move in and start from scratch. Eli also loves to play my keyboard. I just discovered it. He goes crazy and pounds the keys all excited. If Brandon and I are both there he is constantly showing off for the other person watching. He looks to make sure one of us is watching then pounds a few chords then stops to get some clapping or praise and goes on. This "show off" stage makes us laugh constantly!

I have a bunch of cute pictures of Eli I wanted to put on here. He's SO fun these days. He is definitely ready for solid foods, so in a month we will get started on that. He loves watching Brandon and I eat and drink. He tries to snatch everything we've got and lunges for things once in a while. He's fascinated by our silverware and cups. I had to put a funny picture on here. Don't worry we're not WT (that's my nice way of saying white trash) and not putting beer in his bottle (I can't even fathom that someone would do this...shame shame shame), but our neighbor wanted Brandon to try this certain beer and Eli thought holding the bottle was great fun. Last night Eli was so cute. During his baths he loves to lay and splash around, but now at the end Brandon has him sit up and lets him splash sitting up. Well he started looking back over his shoulder and Brandon yelled to me that he was looking for me so he could show off. I was off doing something, but he kept doing it so Brandon yelled for me to come. I got in there and he looked back and saw me, smiled really big, turned around and started splashing like crazy. Then, he would stop and look back to see if I was still there watching and do it again. Over and over again. It was SO cute. I guess it wasn't enough to just show off for Brandon. It had to be both of us. He can sit in his Bumbo seat too now. He's just a growing boy!