Just a taste...

As of this past Thursday, Eli can now bring his feet to his mouth. So, during most diaper changes, I now see something like this...




Love this little guy!

Keepin' Busy!

Eli had a lot going on this past weekend. Here are just a few things he was up to...

Wore his first pair of jeans! (Mommy thought he looked very handsome!)


Helped his buddy Dash celebrate his 1st birthday. Sorry, no pictures from the actual party because I was holding Eli the entire time. He had a blast, but was completely exhausted and crashed-out in the car afterwards.



On Saturday evening, Eli tried-out his high-chair for the very first time to partake in his first taste of rice cereal. He actually liked the cereal and ate the entire bowl of it (there wasn't very much and it was pretty-much liquid in consistency) and got mad at the end when there wasn't any left! I have a feeling our little guy is going to be a big eater like his daddy!







On Sunday morning, Eli was all cleaned-up ready to head to church. This was his 2nd Sunday in the infant nursery. However, he didn't do as well in there this time. When you drop-off your children, you leave a number for the nursery to put up on the screens during the service if your child is not doing so great. Well, unfortunately, our number flashed up on the screen about half-way through the sermon. I proceeded to get up and go on my "walk of shame" in front of about 3 sections of people sitting in the sanctuary. (Funny thing is that I used to joke around with Mark about the numbers when they flashed-up on the screen...number 1234, you child is going berserk...not so funny anymore!) Well, as I got closer to the nursery, I could hear Elijah's frantic crying, which he rarely ever does. After a few minutes in my arms, he was back to his normal smiley self. Go figure! Needless to say, Mark spent the latter part of yet another church service by himself. Hopefully he'll do better next week!




Eli finished-up his weekend with a quick visit from his Grandpa and Gram (Mark's parents). They treated us to a yummy early dinner at a local restaurant. Since the weather was gorgeous, we were able to eat on the outdoor patio. Eli showed-off for his grandparents and we had a nice time catching-up.




So, that was Eli's weekend. Just a few things going on around here! ;-)

5 Months Old!

Elijah continues to grow and change everyday and his 5th month did not disappoint! Here are a few things he's up to now...

* No new weight/height stats this month--he'll go back to the pediatrician for his 6-month check-up on March 17th, so we'll know that info then

* He's wearing size 3-6 month clothes all of the time now. Sometimes the sleeves or pant-legs are a little long for him with certain brands, but that's easily fixed with a little rolling-up!

* He is wearing size 1-2 diapers (since we had bought a huge box of them at Sam's) but once they are all used, we will be transitioning to size 2's.

* Sleeping continues to go very well. Eli will typically take 3 naps during the day and sleep from 8-7:30ish in the morning. No complaints here!


* Eli LOVES to roll from his back to his belly ALL THE TIME! However, the problem comes when he wants to get off his belly. Both Mark and I have seen him roll from belly to back many times before, but lately he always seems to get "beached" and gets pretty frustrated if left like that for an extended period of time. Just today, he actually rolled back to his back after being on his belly, so hopefully this won't be a problem for him too much longer.

* He is now able to bounce around in his Jump-A-Roo, that was given to him for Christmas. In the beginning, we would have to put a book under him to be able to reach the floor, but now he can reach all on his own. Guess he's growing some more!

* Eli continues to be increasingly vocal. His newest thing is to start screeching really loudly at the randomest times. He's been known to startle quite a few people with this new ability.

* He is actually playing with his toys now, even reaching-out to grab certain ones that he wants nearby. It's fun to see him more alert and anxious to explore the world around him.

* The smiles are coming more and more each day. It completely melts our hearts every time he flashes that big gummy grin of his!

* Speaking of gums, Eli is most definitely teething now. EVERYTHING goes straight to his mouth for inspection and the drooling has increased. He really likes to chew on ice cubes in his mesh teether. No teeth visible yet, but that's fine with me! I kind of like that he's still toothless, because he seems more like a baby to me without them. Silly, I know.

* Eli's experienced quite a bit of snow in the past month. He even went on his very first sled ride with Daddy! Hopefully, next year he'll enjoy the snow a little more than he did this year.

*Last weekend, Mark and I put him in our church's infant nursery for the 1st time. We used to be able to take him into the church service with us, where he would sleep most of the time, but those days are long gone. After spending the previous 2 Sundays either in the "Nursing Mom's Room" or the "Crying Room" during most of the service (leaving poor Mark by himself), I decided it was time to take that next step. The nursery workers said he did great and he was even asleep in one of their arms when we came to pick him up afterwards...go figure!

* The poop-saga continued this month, but we are figuring out ways to keep him more "regular." Eli's been drinking a few ounces of prune juice most days of the week to help keep things moving. Poor kid would sometimes go 2 weeks without a bowel movement! Our pediatrician did not seem overly concerned, since he's nursing, but it bothered Mark and I big time. I will spare all of the details, but let's just say the prune juice is doing its job...sometimes a little too well. But, at least our little guy is "going" more regularly now.

* His personality is coming out more and more each day. Mark and I love how excited he gets to see us, and he's beginning to respond more to silly noises, faces, and actions with tons of giggles and squeals. We can't get enough of our little guy!

Elijah's 5th month has been awesome! I can't believe the next update post will be his 6-month one! It seems like only yesterday, people were telling me at his birth to just wait until he was 6-months, that the fun changes would really start happening. Now, that time is almost here! One word...wow!

Road Trip!

Last weekend, Eli and I headed up to Virginia for a friend's baby shower that had been rescheduled due to all of the recent snowstorms. Unfortunately, the weather was HORRIBLE during the entire drive to my parent's house. Amazing how different it is to drive in such nastiness when you know there is precious cargo sitting in the backseat! However, we had a fun surprise when we finally arrived. My sister, Erin, was going to fly into Norfolk (she had spent the previous weeks in Honduras) and spend the weekend hanging-out with us! Eli LOVES his Aunt Erin!

Mom watched Eli on Saturday, while I went to Casey's shower. She is due to have a baby girl at the beginning of March and we can't wait to meet her! Ironically, it snowed again that afternoon, but the shower did go on and it was so much fun! I loved seeing all of the sweet girly baby stuff!










On Sunday, Eli and I surprised my grandmother with a visit. Her reaction when we walked into her room was priceless. Wish I had gotten it on film! We also spent the day visiting with one of my childhood friends, Rachel. Eli loved "talking" and giggling with her. I'm so glad they were able to finally meet!





Elijah and I missed Mark a LOT, but we had so much fun spending time with all of our family and friends. Can't wait for our next visit!

Better Late Than Never

I've been meaning to post the results from Elijah's 4-Month Well-Baby check-up for some time. Eli smiled, shrieked, and babbled his way through most of the appointment. Oh, and he also spat-up on Mark a few times in the process. Ha! As of Monday, January 25th, Eli weighed 13 pounds 2 ounces and measured 24 inches. He's definitely on the smaller size (pretty crazy since he was such a BIG baby), but our pediatrician said he's still moving up the growth curve, so she's not too worried about it. I must admit, I'm still a little uneasy about his smaller size (he had lost a little over a pound when we first had brought him home from the hospital), but constantly remind myself that God is ultimately in control of the situation. The appointment also brought with it the dreaded 4-month immunizations. Thankfully, the nurse was awesome yet again and it was over with very little crying involved. Overall, everything developmentally looked great and we won't have to go back to the pediatrician until his 6-month check-up. Wow, my baby is growing-up so fast!


Eli's battle wounds...




Finding your feet makes things much better!




No amount of shots can get this guy down!




Doctor visits are exhausting!