November 10, 2011

We went to Target today. We bought a bunch of decorations and paper goods for you birthday party. While we were paying, you looked at the kid checking us out and you gave him one of your sparkly smiles. As we walked away, I heard him tell the next lady in line, "...Well, that just made my day."

Sweetie, your smile makes peoples' days. Never forget that!

Happy 11 month!!!

I love you!

Love, Mom

November 4, 2011

I know...I suck. By the time you actually read this, you'll know that your mother is a bit of procrastinator...so give me a break, eh?

You are days away from being 11 months old. Oh, Eli...how the time does fly.

Let's go through the last 5 months and talk highlights:

• You flew on an airplane for the first time mid-June. We went to Utah to visit your great-grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins. You did GREAT on the plane and even greater in the Utah.





• You started crawling on August 15. Your aunt Monica is pretty much responsible, as it was she who showed you how to do it...moments later, there you were, on all fours crawling across the floor. You haven't stopped since!





• You still do not have any teeth! It's our family joke, whenever you're a little grumpy or having trouble sleeping through the night, to say, "Well, he must be teething!" Because you never are...Seriously, dude....where are your teeth?!





• The first word you understood was "dance". I say "dance" and boy, do you dance! For a while, we were watching old episodes of the TV show "Enterprise". The theme song to that show was your favorite! Here's a movie of you dancing to it:





• You love the back of things. When you get a new toy - or remote or cell phone or whatever - in your hands, one of the first things you do is turn it over. I'm trying to decide if this means you'll do something mechanical...though I'm still pushing for chef or first baseman.





• You LOVE sugar. Anything sweet - or carb-y...or, preferably, both. I try not to give you too much cake - mostly because it's the thing we have the most of in this house and I want your first REAL cake experience to be at your birthday party in a month. But cookies, ice cream, pancakes...Eli, you love sugar.





• You're still little - you had gotten sick a month ago and you were only 16 lbs 7 oz...that's really small for your age.





• Because of finances, dad had to get a 2nd job. It really sucks and we miss him a lot but it's really helping out financially. You still get to see him most days...but you miss him. You get SO excited when you see him. Or when you hear the front door open. Oh, he loves you so much, Eli.





• You hug me a lot lately - I'm not kidding, it makes me melt every time.





• You like looking out the upstairs windows. You stand there and just gaze out at the world.





• You LOVE electronics. Remotes, phones, cameras, my iPod...you get anything electronic in your hands and you won't let it go.





• For your first Halloween, you were a spider and I was your web...we rocked our costume somethin' fierce.





• I'm currently the Young Women's president. Since daddy works most nights, you come with me to my activities. The girls LOVE you...especially one girl named Chauntai. She's really taken with you, and you with her. She's kind of rough around the edges, so it's sweet to see how much she loves you. I love this calling - it's insanely time consuming...but I really love the girls. I can tell it's making me a better mother.

Eli, you are so much fun right now. When daddy comes home from work and I tell him about our day, it usually involves telling him how much fun we had. How much we laughed. Thank you for being so happy!

I love you so much, my little monkey!

Love, Mom