Eli's 1-Year Picture

I finally scheduled an appointment to get Eli's official 1-year picture taken. He was miraculously free of bumps and bruises, and while it took a LONG time for him to warm up to our very lukewarm photographer (we were at Picture People), another photographer came over to get him to smile and it worked! This boy is always on the move, so it was a little tricky keeping him on the backdrop...

Party for Ben's 30th and Eli's 1st Birthdays

I decided to throw a party for both Ben and Eli since they were celebrating big birthdays this year - Ben's 30th and Eli's 1st. Well, when I put the invite list together, I didn't really think we would get a good majority of attendees since Saturdays in the springtime are so busy... but we did! Including babies, children, and adults, there were 89 people at our party at the park (not hard to do considering many families had at least one child and many with two or three).

I was a little nuts at the end trying to get everything together, but it was a success thanks to help from my Mom who made 53 (?) cupcakes and Gram who made two large Texas sheet cakes. Friends brought chips, veggies, dip, salsas, fruit, etc. for people to munch on. Some of our friends going to Kellogg b-school came from an activity and brought the leftover ribs and cornbread, which was a nice addition! I spent six hours on Friday night baking chocolate chip cookies (167 in total) for party favors for each family, and then we had small bottles of bubbles for each child.

Below: 1) On the way to the park, Eli loved having a car full of balloons. 2) Gram setting up the candles, that we later couldn't get to stay lit because of the wind. 3) The table of sweets! 4) My dad and Eli. 5 and 6) Eli with me and Ben. He was in good spirits through most of the party, which I was so thankful for. 7) Sarah C. and Kelly, who brought the ribs and cornbread - yum! 8) Eli with some of his favorite people, Sharon, Maggie, and Ivy. 9) The snack table.

Below: 1) Geoff the Cubs fan talking with Brett and James. Yeah for another Cubs win yesterday! 2) Saralyn holding Will, talking with Davey. 3) Keenan, Rebekeh, Cami, and various kids. 4) Khania and her mom, and Katrina and Macy. 5) Rachael and Nathan, Sarah and Jenn. 6) Katie and Tommy with kids at the drinking fountain. 7) Mark, Mike and Steve. 8) The Ryans. 9) Kids playing at the park.

Below: 1) Drew playing catch. 2) Tommy again at the water fountain (it was a popular spot for the kids). 3) Drew at the fountain. 4) George at the fountain. 5) Sharon helping Eli try out the fishing booth. 6) Caroline holding sparkly shoes. 7) Eli chugging water. 8) Me trying to light the candles (unsuccessfully). 9) Getting ready to sing happy birthday.

Below: 1) Still trying to light the candles, with help from Kelly and Gram. 2) The crowd. 3) More of the crowd. 4) We eventually just had Eli try to blow out a match since the candles weren't staying lit. 5-9) Feeding Eli and Ben cupcakes.

Below: 1) Eli being snuggly. 2) Gram passing out cake and cupcakes. 3) The group enjoying sweets. 4-6) Happy Eli. 7-9) Eli not as sure about this party (the last one is with my mom).

Below: 1) Gram with baby Isaiah and Alice. 2) Sarah, Davey, Carrie and baby Jacob. 3) Heather with baby Tabitha. 4) The Paxton family riding bikes back home (they rode 5 miles+ round trip to come to the party!). 5) Eli playing with Ben and my parents. 6) Caroline blowing bubbles. 7 and 8) Eli with my dad and Alex. 9) Jenn holding Isaiah.

Below: Eli had fun with my mom finding sticks and walking along the path to the playground.

Below: Opening gifts at home. Eli got such a fun variety of things, ranging from sand toys from my parents, an Ikea sheepskin rug that he LOVED and kept rolling around on (video to come soon - it's hilarious), a cute sand bucket with bubbles and fun things, a fun fishing bath toy, a darling Evanston hoodie, and three books - Noisy Jungle, Tails, and Gallop (all great books!). Ben received a purple African shirt from our friend Alice (she made the shirt, including dyeing it) who is here as a refugee from Liberia/Sierra Leone.

All in all, it was a really fun day! Thanks to everyone who came and celebrated with us.

Eli the Tipsy Toddler

Eli is going through a bumps and bruises stage - he toddles around everywhere, but still biffs it about one in five times. It makes for an interesting day - I watch him walk around and usually hold my breath, hoping he's not going to fall on a sharp corner or step on a block in his way. On Sunday he had a huge bump on his eyebrow from falling and hitting the side of the tub (not while taking a bath, but being in there while I was brushing my teeth). Today his teeth somehow cut his lip when he fell down at some point. I would like to get his 1-year picture taken soon, but he keeps banging up his face, so I wait another day.

Here he is early this morning, carrying the balloon around from his birthday that is still floating more than a week later:

And speaking of his birthday, here is a picture from last week when we had lunch at Walker Brother's Pancake House - pecan wafles and crispy hashbrowns are my favorite - yum yum yum! Eli loves his snack catcher as shown below - it makes him such an independent snacker, which I love.

Behind us are these old ladies who were very sweet to Eli while we were there - he was feeling social that day and walked over to say hi to them.

Fun Birthday Package

Yesterday a birthday package for Eli arrived from my Aunt Babz and cousins Michael and Sarah. He was very excited to open more presents, and gifts from Aunt Babz are always extra special! There was a beautiful card and the gifts were wrapped in fun frog birthday paper.

In the package: the Beatles "1" CD and a matching Beatles "1" onesie!

I think he's a fan of the Beatles.
Here he is in the fun onesie. (We've had a hard day today, so I wasn't very successful in getting a really happy shot of Eli in this, but maybe the next time he wears it...) I thought this gift was so thoughtful and creative. Thank you so much!!
On a side note... we have had a crazy 24 hrs. It involves our piece of junk, 94 Altima, that Ben and Steve drove for 4 1/2 hours to go fishing in the North Woods of Wisconsin. More details to come, but it involves the car breaking down in the middle of nowhere and a stranger coming to their aid! (The story isn't over yet, so I don't know the ending! :)

Five Percent

We had Eli's 1-year checkup yesterday. He is 50% in height and head size, but 5 percent in weight, coming in at 19 lbs, 7 oz.

I always thought he seemed so chubby! His doctor said it's probably because he's so active and mobile now and he isn't worried about it. At Eli's last appointment, he was in the 25-50 percentile, and before that was always in the 50th.

Eli's 1st Birthday, Part 2

Eli really enjoyed his birthday!

My parents came over and he opened their gifts. He loves carrying clothes on hangers and was excited about the books and flashcards too. We went over to the park and played for a while.
He took great naps today (which was good, considering he was up at 5:30 this morning :), so he was in a really happy mood.
We had dinner at the Cheesecake Factory and ended the evening with a brownie sundae. Eli has never had so much sugar in his life (let alone chocolate and whip cream!!) so he went to town. It was really cute. And the waitress kept bringing him plates of bananas throughout our dinner, which he would devour in seconds.
Happy Birthday Eli! We love you so much. Here are some of Eli's tricks at one year:

• He walks everywhere and tries to run a little
• He loves to say duck, dog, tick tock, da da, (s)arah, hi
• He still has a love of grapes, turkey, bananas, bread, and peas (and goldfish crackers and baby puffs too)
• He's very cuddly and loves to toddle over to one of us and jump in our arms
• We kiss his squishy cheeks nonstop and he doesn't seem to mind :)
• He loves stuffed animals and usually chews on the nose of whatever animal it is
• He likes to dance and he loves music
• He likes to open cupboards and explore new spaces - he's becoming more independent with exploring on his own
• He is usually pretty social in public places like church, restaurants, shopping, etc.
• He loves watching other children
• He likes to point at things or people
• He has a book (Where is Baby's Belly Button?) that has the cover picture also inside the book - when we get to that page, he flips back to the cover, showing that he sees they are the same
• He loves electronics and cords - anything related to the computer, cell phones, t.v., remotes, cameras, camcorder, etc.