Zoolights 2009!

On Friday, we went to Zoolights at the Stone Zoo. While we waited for Mike and Sandy to come by after dinner, Dave "drove" Eli around in his Cozy Coupe. Eli LOVED it! Is it a part of men's DNA to hang an arm out the window, have a hand on the steering wheel, and smile at the ladies?



It was a perfect night for Zoolights - not too cold and not too crowded. We got to take a picture with some of Santa's reindeer.



When Eli is in his stroller, he is almost in a trance. But he is so freakin' cute! Plus, I think he was a little overwhelmed at first.



Once we got into Santa's Castle, Eli loved the lights. He kept pointing and smiling.



We finished the night with Eli's first ride on a carousel. I thought Dave pointed at the dog and said that it was stationary. It wasn't - it moved up and down. I was so afraid to let go of Eli even a little that I also crouched up and down for the whole ride. I thought Sandy, Dave, and Mike were going to pass out from laughing at me so hard. Whatever...my baby was safe...and I got a ridiculous workout!

Weighing In

We went to the doctor today with Eli. He is doing great. He is 30.5 inches tall (72nd percentile) and weighs 24 lbs., 11 oz(76th percentile, 88th percentile for his height). The doctor says he is doing great!

He is now ready to drink whole milk (cross your fingers that the cow's milk protein allergy is gone) and can eat egg whites. He had scrambled eggs and cheese for dinner! Well, we tried that for dinner. He ate about a third of it and decided he didn't like it, so we switched to the food that Eli loves the most - Cheerios. I swear, seeing the box makes him giddy.

First Birthday Party!

Eli had his first birthday party today. It was not big, but it filled our little house! Here is who came to celebrate Eli's special day:

Scott and Rhiannon, John and Cindy, Tom and Colin (who slept through the whole party), Mike and Sophia, Corinne and Andy, Joanna, Jeff, Emily, and Joel, Heather, Jacob, and Jillian and Rebecca, Jay, and Matt

Eli loved playing with Sophia.



John loves Cindy.



Emily, Jacob, Jillian and Sophia colored. Jacob's and Sophia's pictures are on the fridge!



Joel played up to the camera.



And there were cupcakes...so many cupcakes...



We learned our lesson at Eli's family party, though. He had a banana instead of a cupcake. We sang Happy Birthday!



Emily and Matt enjoyed their cupcakes!





After everyone left and Eli napped, we opened Eli's presents. Thanks everyone for his great gifts!

We played in his play yard. I can't believe how big he is and how fast the last year has gone by. I feel like we just came home with him and looked at each other with fear in our eyes, both of us thinking there was no way we could handle this. And look - we have a beautiful baby boy who we love more than anything else in the world!



We can't wait to see what this next year will bring!

Eli's First Birthday!

Eli turned one today, on Thanksgiving! I can't believe my litle baby is one already. It was such an emotional day for Mommy.

Sorry for all the pictures, but I can't stop myself and this is really two huge celebrations in one!

Daddy made a perfect turkey on his first try ever.



Eli's first Thanksgiving dinner - last year, we were in the hospital because he was born the night before Thanksgiving. This year, he ate turkey, sweet potatoes, carrots, stuffing, and he LOVED cranberry sauce.



Eli wore a bit of what he was eating. The piece of turkey fell off his forehead as I took this picture.



You can see he was showing us he was one! His other fingers got cut off, but I swear he was copying Auntie Heather!



Jacob had to stand guard at the kitchen door. Reggie, who is allergic to turkey, started to eat it off the table in the kitchen!



Then it was time for presents. Eli's first present was from his Auntie Heather, Uncle Joe, and Jacob and Jillian. It was a Cozy Coupe! He loved to explore it and Jacob and Jillian had fun playing in it with him.



We opened some more presents.





Baba, Zayda, Uncle Josh, and Stephanie came over and we sang and had some cake.







After cake, a bath was required! A very tired Eli opened some more presents and then went to bed. What a busy first birthday and Thanksgiving!

What is wrong with this picture?

Hint: My party POOPer husband thinks no one will be able to tell.

Bed Time Mischief

We let Eli explore his room after we change him into his PJ's. He loves playing with everything in the room and we have to be on our toes!

He gets into his toybox...



...and tries to open and close his dresser draws. We hold them closed so his little fingers don't get smashed. But he pulls and pulls anyway!



He used to be mesmerized by this dragonfly, but it is slowly losing it's hypnotic powers...maybe it needs batteries?

Am I funny, Daddy??

Eli kept hitting the buttons on his toy so the music would play, and looking over at Daddy with a big, open-mouth grin on his face. He looked like he was trying to make Daddy laugh!



He kept walking around the play yard and doing it over and over again. Our little entertainer! We really need to get our baby proofing finished. Someone is no longer satisfied with the play yard and wants to explore...