Goofing Around

Last night, Daddy was driving us to the camera store and Mommy decided to goof around. I held the camera up over the seat and just started shooting pictures. Eli kept saying, "Cheese," when he would see the camera pointed at him. I am sure this did not drive the car behind us crazy at all! It took a few tries, but I got some cute pics of our little cheeseball.





Tonight, we went to dinner with Grampy at the Ninety Nine. Eli drank all the water in his sippy cup and when I asked for more, they brought him some in a cute cup with a straw. He took to the straw right away (although sucking out the water and then opening your mouth is not a valid way to take a drink).

Grampy taught him to clink glasses and say, "Cheers!" It was so cute!

In this pic, he is trying to drink while simultaneously saying, "Cheese!" and making his scrunched up picture face:



He was soaking wet and covered in ketchup. When we took him out of the seat, his shorts were a mess. I had to clean up around him because he dropped so much. We sure could have used Reggie to clean up after him at the restaurant!

Zoo

Mommy and Daddy took Eli to the Stone Zoo on June 7 - apparently 4:30 in the afternoon's the time to go. All the animals were out and so close to us! We got some cool pics of the animals. Check out the yak, snow leopard, Mexican gray wolf, Markhor goats, and some monkeys:











I got a zoo membership, so when I had Jacob at the end of the week, I took both of them. It was a great day and Eli loves spending time with his cousin sooooo much! Look at these two:

Big Boy - 18 Month Check Up

Eli had his 18 month check up at the doctor today. He was such a big boy, walking in with Mama and holding her hand. As soon as we got into the exam room, all that changed and I had a kicking, screaming, strong little guy on my hands!

Little?



I have no idea how the nurse weighed him as he was flailing around so much, but he is up to 29 pounds, 4 ounces. That puts him in the 87th percentile for weight. He is not overweight, as the doctor made it clear to me that he is a robust, healthy boy!

Eli has so many words now and he seems to pick up new words daily. I can't believe how fast it is happening!

We don't go back to the doctor for 6 months now. I think I am going to start having separation anxiety for Dr. Nishiyama! Not to worry - I am sure our little bruiser will have us back there before December with something - here's hoping it is a cold or something small. I can only take so much!

I am so grateful for our healthy, happy little guy!!

Bumps and Bruises

Eli's Baba and Zada got him a chair and he LOVED it! He looks just like his Daddy, sitting in the chair with a remote in his hand.



As you can see, Eli has a small cut under his eye. He cornered a cat earlier that day and she finally had it with him. Score: Mama Cat - 1, Eli - 0.

After being such a good boy on his new chair, Eli realized when Baba left that he could also use this chair to climb. Eventually, he fell (let the record show this was not on Mama's watch - the offending party had been warned)! Score: Floor - 1, Eli - 0.

All I have to say is, man, this kid is a bleeder! He cut his top lip on his teeth and I could not believe how much blood there was. Thank goodness I had run into someone the month before whose son had done the same thing and I remembered him saying, "It bled so much for a few minutes and then it just stopped." I am getting really good at being calm with injuries!

Relay for Life 2010

On Saturday, we walked the Relay for Life as a part of the Teal Team in Mimi's memory. For those of you who don't know, Dave's mom (Mimi) passed away last June from ovarian cancer. Daddy was there for the whole Relay and Mommy could only spend a few hours there as she had to work all weekend. We squeezed in an hour with Eli before dropping him off for a sleepover with Mike, Sandy, and Sophia!

Eli, Mommy, and Daddy did a lap in our teal t-shirts. Teal is the color for Ovarian cancer.



The Teal Team had some handsome men!



Overall, between the two Teal Teams, Daddy thinks we raised over $5000 for the American Cancer Society!

Happy 3rd Birthday, Sophia!

We went to Sophia's Elmo party to celebrate her third birthday on Saturday. Eli loves Sophia and Elmo! He got to go in his first bounce house, meet Elmo, eat ice cream, and just run around and have fun.

Tell me this kid doesn't love Elmo!



He did some modeling for Daddy in the playhouse. Unfortunately, I don't know how to photoshop out runny noses.

The "Cheers with chalk" pose...



The "Hey, can I buy you a drink" pose.



The "Pucker Up!"



And at the end of the night, Eli sat down and had a beer with the guys!

What?

Am I not supposed to be in the box?



I was literally left the room for three minutes to feed the dog and give him some water. This is how I found Eli when I got back. I'm not quite sure how he managed it, but I am sure I will see this move in action soon!