Have you lost weight? Follow the pregnant lady

So that title probably sounds confusing. Today was quite a funny day. This morning, someone in my office mentioned that it looks like I've lost weight. That was so nice to hear and started the day off pretty well. Then this afternoon before a meeting I was headed to the bathroom and offered to show another gentleman the way to go and he said, "Of course, follow the pregnant lady." To which I replied that I was not pregnant and had a baby last year. About this time, the large gentleman proceeded to try to backpedal and extract his big ole foot from his big ole mouth. It's a good thing that I was feeling good today and not completely self conscious or he could have ruined my whole day. Now it's just a good story.

On that note, got my results from the bloodwork I had done last week and everything is perfectly normal - no anemia, diabetes, thyroid issues (crap - I was hoping for an excuse!) and my cholesterol was great. Yippee!

Helmet update - Week 3

Had an appointment today to check Eli's helmet. Today marked 3 weeks that he's been wearing it. First, I have to say, Eli screamed the entire way to UNC. He must have been so tired of riding in the car seat after trip this weekend (he also screamed the entire way home too). Once we got out of the truck, he was Mr. Happy and so good for the visit. They took some pictures and some measurements and the progress is amazing. When we started, there was 5/8" difference in the cross sectional measurements of his head. Today, it's only 5/16" - difference cut in half in just three weeks!! He is making such good progress and it's very visible when we take the helmet off. We go back in two more weeks to have it re-checked. No major adjustments today except shaved a bit off the ear piece where it seemed to be aggravating his ear.

The best news of the helmet saga arrived last night via email. Found out that our insurance is covering it 80/20 after the deductible. We're paying 1/6th of the total cost. Woo hoo!!

Off to a party

This past weekend, we went to Evia's parents' house for a few days so that we could attend her Grandmother's 80th birthday party. We left early Saturday morning and drove down. We hung out for a bit at the farm before leaving Eli with Grandma & Grandpa and heading out to dinner.

Sunday morning we went on a family hike. We did about an 1-1/2 hour hike. Eli took a nap during it and Belle was pooped out after. We went back to the farm to have some lunch and clean up before going to the party. Eli ate half a turkey sandwich and some goldfish for lunch. He's eating so much little boy food now, forget the baby stuff!! We showered, packed up the truck and headed to the party. Of course there was a lot of yummy food but the most important thing...there was lime punch. Yummmmm!! There were quite many family and friends there and it was nice to see them. It sometimes takes a special occasion to get everyone together. We're just all so busy these days. After the party, I started thinking about what life will be like when I'm 80. Just think of all the stories you'll have to tell.

Blowing bubbles with Grandma

Feeding the goat

I want to get in there and play

Property of Grandma

Cute pancake boy

Uncle Billy teaching Eli to text

Ready to hike with Mommy

Family self portrait in the woods

Two Great Grandmas - the one seated is birthday girl

Eli's first kiss (from Reese)

He ate what?!

Eli is an eating machine. We've been letting him try just about anything these days. In Asheville, it was pancake. Now we're letting him have snacks and lunch at school. I trust his teachers and they know what infants can and can't have so I told them that whatever he wants, he can try. So here's what he's had:

Tuesday - an ENTIRE NutraGrain bar that he loved. Had some chicken and peas (and home food) at lunch but didn't like the slimy-ness of peaches.

Wednesday - TWO Blueberry muffins, little bit of cheeseburger and green beans for lunch (along with home food) and then some crackers for afternoon snack.

So you can see, he continues to eat like a champ. Last night he actually slept ALL night with no pacifier. Guess we're feeding that belly enough so he sleeps well. =)

He's doing very well at school and they told me today that it won't be too long before he moves up to the older infant room. There's more to do over there and he likes it when he visits there now. I can not believe how fast he's growing!!

Eli's cool new trick

Today when I picked Eli up from school, his teachers were so excited to show me his new trick. When I walked in the classroom, he was holding on to one of the toys, standing up and reaching for other toys on the bookshelf. He wants to stand and hold on to anything he can at school. Doesn't want to sit down any more - he wants to try to get everything. And in their words, he's getting brave! (Good thing we've got the helmet now.)

We have been working with him at home holding his hands and letting him walk. He doesn't seem to care much for crawling - and by that I mean not at all! Tonight he really surprised us by taking a few steps on his own with the walk behind toy. Tim and I were so excited, we just let him keep doing it! We tried to keep the toy from pushing away from him but he did really great. Some pictures of our fun.

Look at me

Wow....I can make it move!

Taking a rest break

Standing at my learning table

Brought to you by the number 8

Today's post is brought to you by the number 8 - Eli is 8 months old today!

So what do we have to show for 8 months? Hmmmm...

Unofficially: 22.4 pounds and 30.5 inches

4 teeth - 2 top, 2 bottom

Lots of outgrown clothes

Lots of toys around the house

Many hours of missed sleep by Mom and Dad

Four million pictures taken by Mom =)

The cutest happiest little boy in the world.

We're so lucky.

So how did we spend Eli's 8 month birthday? Nothing too big. Breakfast at home, a 4-mile walk with Mommy, errands at Brier Creek and then Eli spent an hour or so with our neighbor Amy while Tim & I went on a bike ride. It has been over a year and a half since I've been on my road bike so it was nice to get out again. Tonight, dinner, bath and bed. The glamorous life of an 8 month old!

Yum, my first time eating toast

Happy 8 months sweet boy!

Eli the Social Butterfly

Whew, Eli is down to sleep after a very busy weekend thus far. Last night Eli's school had their Spring Fling carnival. Pony rides, two bouncey houses, lots of painting and game stations, bake sale and hot dogs. We stopped by for a bit. I know next year Eli will know more about what's going on and want to play everything!

This morning we ran some errands - grocery and BJ's - and then came home for a family bike ride. I wanted to pull Eli in the trailer so it would be a good workout for me. We did about 7 miles around the neighborhoods. Eli slept through most of it!

Tonight we had some of our new parent friends and their babies over for a cookout. We had 5 couples and 5 babies - 3 boys, 2 girls. It was much louder in the house than the last time we had everyone over. The babies aren't so much "babies" any more and are trying to get around, get into things and just make noise playing and jabbering. The funniest moment of the night was when Lexi yelled at all the boys and made them cry. She's not taking crap off anybody!! We all managed to fit some food in while keeping the little ones in control. The parents had fun too playing Guitar Hero. It was fun to play and let loose a little. Who says parents can't have fun?!

We're so glad our friends came over today. Hope everyone has a great rest of the weekend. Who knows what's ahead tomorrow - we'll just have to see!

Family photo - school spring fling

Eli the pooped out boy

Kiddie play time

Jacque and Elizabeth

Eli's new ride

Lexi giving it a whirl

Mommy and Eli

Kevin & Carol playing Guitar Hero

Moms gone wild - Guitar Heroes!!

Mom's Report from Charleston

Hi everyone. Here I am in Charleston for work meetings. It feels very weird being away from Tim & Eli. I left yesterday morning around 7:30am and will get home late tomorrow afternoon - that's two whole nights away!! I thought I'd catch up on sleep but they had us booked last night until 10:30pm. Today we started with a 6:30am breakfast and I'm supposed to be on a team building excursion right now. The one I signed up for is Shopping in Downtown Charleston - oh yeah, we're staying on Isle of Palms so you have to take a shuttle over. It was either that or golf or fishing - neither really my style. But what I've really done is escape to get some work done in my room (and say hello to everyone here) before our dinner and speaker tonight. Busy busy!!

Tim's mom came up yesterday to help him out and be an extra hand with Eli. We've had to re-figure Eli out with the helmet so the guessing game has been tough. I felt really bad about leaving the boys UNTIL Tim called me at 6am this morning to tell me that Eli was still sleeping and had slept through the night. (I think Tim got more sleep than I did last night!!) When I talked to Tim last night, they had had a good evening and Eli went to bed fairly well. Hmmmmm.....why won't Eli do that when I'm home? Is it me? I'm really glad that Eli is doing well for Tim and his mom. I'm sending my happy thoughts and love to them for another great night.

And Millie Mom, thanks for taking care of the boys. I KNOW Tim could do it by himself but it's so much easier having someone there if you need them.

Helmet update

Today Eli had his 1st follow up appointment at UNC to check his helmet. He slept in it Saturday and Sunday nights and doesn't really seem to mind it now. I think he feels weird with it off. Over the past 3 weeks, his head has grown by 1/8". With just a week of the helmet on, that growth is in the area we needed it. They did pictures and measurements this morning and compared them to 3 weeks ago when his mold was made. They said his progress was great and that he just needed to keep growing. I have finally realized that the helmet does not actually change his head as it is right now by forcing it to move, it guides his growth to round it out. We go back in two weeks to do more measurements and check. As his head grows, they will continue to mold the helmet - even made a few tweaks today. His sleeping hasn't been that great the past week. We're not sure if it's helmet related or he wasn't feeling well. We hope that tonight after a regular day, it will be better. Wish us luck!

Weekend getaway

This past weekend, we escaped to the mountains of NC staying in a great cabin just east of Asheville. It was Eli's first mountain trip! We left Friday morning and got there mid afternoon. Eli & I hung out while Tim and our friend Mike went on a bike ride. Friday night dinner, Eli did great at LoneStar. We were out past his bedtime but he was a trooper. Had a really nice lady talk to me and tell me that her son wore a helmet for a year and that it worked well for her (they waited until he was almost a year old to start - glad we started earlier!). Saturday, Eli & I went to the mall to meet my parents while Tim & Mike went on another bike ride. Late that afternoon we met Mike's parents for dinner. It was so great to see them; it had been a while. Saturday were some more firsts for Eli. His first real tub bath and his first full night in the helmet. Whew, it was a rough one. Eli was up quite a bit and not too happy but we think it had more to do with temperature than the helmet. It's harder for us dressing him now because the helmet makes him warmer than normal so we think we underdressed him that night and he was cold. Sunday we did family breakfast and Eli got his own pancake. He ate almost the whole thing! Then it was a quick nap while we packed the car and then we went to the Folk Art Center and Mast General Store. It was so nice to just get away and hang out. Tim & I definitely needed a break from home chores and regular life plus it was nice to take Eli for the first time. Enjoy our pictures.

Sophie's Hideaway - our cabin

Hanging in the grass

Rolling around the mall with Grandpa - never thought I'd see the day!!

Grandma and Grandpa

Rocking on the porch with Daddy

First real tub bath

Sleeping in my helmet Saturday night

Family walk - Blue Ridge Parkway over us

Mom and her boy at the Folk Art Center

Hanging with Daddy

2 on, 1 off, rinse, repeat

Oops, wrong thing there! Got confused with bath time.

Today was our 2 hours on, 1 hour off day for Eli's helmet. Our day started off a little rough when Eli decided waking time was 4:30am. He was wide awake and would not go back to sleep for either Tim or I. He did pretty well at home with the helmet on and the day seemed to be going well until I got a call from his school around 2:30pm that he was running a low grade fever and just not having a good day. So I picked him up around 3:30pm and I swear, the boy just wanted to come home! He was in pretty good spirits and we played. He even took about an hour nap in his helmet in my arms. Helmet came off for the night about an hour ago and Tim is putting him to bed. We hope he'll sleep much better tonight and not get our day going quite so early.

Tomorrow.....4 hours on, 1 hour off.
(I know this is everything and more you all wanted to know about helmets!!)

1 on, 1 off, repeat til bed

Today was Eli's first day in the helmet and the schedule was one hour on his head, one hour off. This was repeated all day and he didn't have to wear it during naps or bed. The teachers at his school were so helpful and more than willing to help us with it. I did a little tally and I think he wore it about 6-1/2 hours today. At school they said he would be a little mad for the first 15 minutes but he would get over it and be his happy self. He did well tonight and actually wore it for about an hour and a half after I got home.

Tomorrow - 2 hours on, 1 hour off.

Now making his fashion debut.....

Eli with his designer helmet!!! You probably can't really tell from the pictures but we got a sailboat pattern. It was toned down a bit more than some of the patterns and we thought it fit with his beachy room and Tim's beach roots. Today wasn't too bad. The orthotist that we are working with at UNC is so sweet and good with Eli. She brought his helmet in and fit it on him, made some marks and took it back to cut it to where he needed it - they arrive a little oversized in terms of coverage. She had to do that a few times and Eli was a trooper during the whole thing. That was amazing since he had been awake since 11:30am (he stayed awake until just a few minutes ago crashing in his crib; we think he's out for the night). So she got the fit right and went over our instructions. The break-in period for him will be five days. Day 1: 1 hour on, 1 hour off throughout the day - not on during naps or bed. Then the wearing period gradually gets longer to where he wears it 23 hours a day by Day 5. The helmet is very light and we think (HOPE!!) he will adapt quickly. We also got the cleaning / maintenance instructions and off we went. We put it on him tonight for about 40 minutes before he just got so darn fussy. I think he got pretty hot with the helmet on as his little head was sweaty - thus the reason for the break in period. Wish us luck this week!

He likes it...

He likes it not.....

He likes it......MAYBE!

Eli's Helmet Eve

Today was our last full day of no-helmet. We go to UNC tomorrow to finish the fitting for Eli's helmet and he'll start his 4 month journey to a more rounded head. We had a decent weekend - nothing too exciting. Took Eli to the bike shop and New Balance store yesterday - Tim & I both got new shoes. Last night I volunteered for the Umstead 100 - this was my 8th year in a row. I ran the 50-mile version one year and then decided that volunteering was much more fun! Tim & Eli had some quality time while I was out there. Today we just puttered around the house. Eli's tummy hasn't seemed right. He isn't eating as much as usual and is sleeping very well. I worry that he's got a bug. Today he drank about half as much formula as normal and didn't seem to eat as much food either. I think he's losing interest in the bottle which means we'd better get the sippy cup training down pat!! We also went on a family walk (with a few minor jogging moments) to try out our new shoes.

Tonight when I was putting Eli to bed, I had a moment thinking about this helmet journey. I was snuggled with him and didn't want to put him to bed. I love being able to hug him and kiss his little head - the helmet will make that more difficult. We'll also have to be very careful with the head butts!! I know in my heart that it's what we need to do but I'm a little sad. He'll have to wear the helmet 23 hours a day so you can best bet that I'll be getting my snuggles and head kisses in during that one no-helmet hour. We'll be sure to post pictures tomorrow evening. Wish us luck!

School pictures

Eli's school had pictures made the middle of March. Even though we had some made just before that, I couldn't resist. He looks like such a big boy!!

Disclaimer: Once again, I'm breaking rules and scanning in professional photography - don't try this at home. I don't feel so bad because I AM buying some of the pictures.

What does cute look like?

These are pretty darn cute to me!

You give me fever

Got the call yesterday afternoon from Eli's school that he had a fever. It was over 100 so we had to pick him up. He's out today as well because the kids have to be fever-free for 24 hours before they can come back. Tim stayed home yesterday afternoon with him and Eli is with our neighbor Amy this morning until I can get home. We hate to see him with a fever. I think right now it's due to his 2nd top tooth. His poor little gum is swollen and that tooth is giving him a fit. In the midst of it all, Eli continues to be super happy boy and smile away. How lucky we are. =)