Hat Weather

It's definitely cold in Chicago. Tonight the low is 26 degrees. BRR!!! That hasn't stopped Eli from wanting to play outside every chance that he gets. We're now enjoying the fun task of bundling up every time we go outside... (and this is just minimal bundling up - I'm not really excited about the boots and gloves aspect to winter that is just around the corner)

I took these pictures on Friday, when Eli was sporting the dog hat my mom knit for him.

I love leaf pictures! Our front yard was full of leaves and Ben finally raked most of them on Saturday. I'm sure we'll have another load of leaves on our lawn in a day or so.
Whenever we walk from the garage to the house, Eli spots the balls out in the back yard and says the word over and over again... "Ball? Ball? Ball?" while I try to rush us inside because I either A) Have to go to the bathroom, since I currently need to go once/hour or B) I'm starving and feel like I'm going to pass out if I don't eat something soon or C) We're overdue with Eli's lunchtime/nap and I don't want to miss the window of time where he'll cooperate on either one.

Sometimes I give in and we play for a while first, like this time on Friday.

We had just taken a long walk with the stroller... I was freezing and felt guilty that Eli wasn't wearing gloves, because it was really cold. He didn't care that his hands felt like icicles. We probably stayed outside for another 20 minutes before I carried him in as he kicked and hit me, screaming because he did NOT want to go inside.

I know he would play outside all day if I let him. Sorry Eli, your mom isn't as tough as you in this weather!!

Eli's Babysitter Instructions

Tonight Ben and I actually went out. On a date. Without Eli. (It's been a few months - I realize that's shocking for some people, but we have seriously been so busy since moving that there has been no time) We ate at one of our favorite Italian restaurants in the suburbs (Francesca's North) and wandered around a nearby Crate and Barrel, trying to decide what furniture we would like to eventually put in our empty living room. We found one sofa we think we like - the Cameron. I like couches with three cushions versus two (who wants to sit in the middle on the crack??), we like the sueded microfiber, and that the back is one piece, rather than big pillows because it seems a little more formal. We're still not sure what style of chairs we'll put with it on either side. Let me know if you have any ideas/favorites! (We're not super formal people, so it won't be a living room you can't touch - we just want it to look nice)

We ended our exciting date at the bookstore, where I looked at baby name books and Ben wandered around looking at outdoorsy books. We still have no solid name possibilities for this baby - 11 weeks to go... sorry child! We'll hopefully figure one out soon.

This is a rambling sort of post. But I thought it would be fun to share my obsessive compulsive, oh-so-detailed list of bedtime instructions for Eli at 17 months that we left for our wonderful babysitter - we think she's the best! After reading this, you may think it's over the top, and that's okay. I'm including this mainly for my benefit, because I think it will be fun to look back and see how things are the same/different later on.

Bedtime Routine…

Eli usually goes to bed around 7:30 p.m., depending on how tired he seems. I would start the bedtime process around 7.

1. Brush teeth – Eli’s yellow toothbrush and paste is on the bathroom sink.
   
2. Change his diaper (and he always needs more diaper rash cream because he has a sensitive bum) and put on pj’s (dirty clothes go in the hamper next to the changing table)
   
3. Read a few books – he loves picking them out from the bookshelf and bringing them to you (we usually read in the rocking chair or sitting on the floor)
   
4. We also say a prayer, so if you’d like, you can say one with him. He knows to fold his arms when you say it’s time for a prayer.
   
5. Sing a song (like You Are My Sunshine or Twinkle Twinkle Little Star) and put him in the crib with his frog and dog and I usually cover him with the green blanket and say, “Snug as a bug in a rug!”
   
6. Please turn on the sound machine (on the bookshelf). Turn off the light and close the door behind you. Please do the latch lock so the door will stay closed (this old door does not stay closed otherwise).

And since this post is all over the place, I have one more funny thing to share - this morning we went to a play (Little Red Riding Hood) with our neighbors and afterwards had lunch together. Our next door neighbor randomly asked me, "Do you go to church all day on Sunday?" I smiled and said no, but it's about three hours long. He said he was curious since we never get our Sunday newspaper off of the lawn until pretty late in the day. I thought that was a funny observation!

Eli is 17 Months

Eli is 17 months old today. He is a fun-loving, sweet little boy who amazes us each day with the things he is learning and understanding.

A few of his latest words include: haircut, Sydney (name of Amber's little girl), and others that aren't coming to mind right now, but I'll add later as I remember them today. His first two-word phrase - "I see" because I seem to say that a lot when someone is telling me something. He loves copying it and says, "I see, I see" over and over...

He's working on his independence - trying to put his shoes on (which often leads to frustration), taking his bib off when he's done eating, insisting on using a spoon or fork when he eats, and usually having an opinion about which direction he wants to go (not caring if it's where we need to be going...). Eli loves to imitate what we say and do - and loves sweeping, playing with the measuring cups/spoons in the kitchen, pulling a stool up to the counter so he can help when I'm cooking.

Eli is really curious about how things work. He loves pretending to work on Ben's exercise bike with a set of keys (he'll put them in the screws). He likes fitting things inside of each other.

He loves playing outside and climbing up slides, but usually needs our help with that. He loves bubbles, balls, and balloons.
He loves playing peek-a-boo and hiding games.

He's not the wildest boy that I've ever seen, but definitely has a lot of energy and determination and can be very busy. I'm thankful that he usually behaves okay in restaurants or public places, though he definitely gets tired and restless after three hours of church each Sunday. He is not afraid to voice when he's frustrated, tired, or wanting something out of his reach. We love this little guy so much!