Pool time with Daddy

This morning Daddy came to swim class. So fun to have him in the pool with us!

Happy Birthday Belle

Today is Belle's 12th birthday - hard to believe she's that old.

Happy Birthday to our first baby.

A big birthday treat

12 years spoiled!

Congrats Dean & Sheila

A big congrats out to our friends Dean and Sheila - proud parents of a baby girl, Amanda Lily. She was born at about 12:30am today, weighing in under 7-1/2 pounds, a little over 19" long and the most precious head of hair. She seemed so tiny to me when I held her; Eli was never that small outside of my body. Mom and baby looked so great today when I visited and a big kudos to Sheila who had been in labor since Sunday. We're so happy for them as they join us in the crazy parenthood journey.

Pajama Day

Today was Pajama Day at school. I was so excited because I dressed Eli in his flannel pj pants. Don't you wish we could go to work once a month in our pjs?

Where does the weekend go?

Whew...how does it always happen? The weekends go by in a blur. We had a good one here and hope you did too!

Evia's Mom came into town Friday afternoon and spent the night, giving her some time with Eli and giving Tim and I a little break. We were able to go out to dinner and just hang out a bit Friday night. Saturday morning Eli and I had AquaMoms and we were glad to have Grandma join us. After hanging at home for a bit doing chores, Tim and I went to see 'Fool's Gold'. It was pretty good and was a very nice break from everything. Once we got home, it was time to give Eli a test ride in his new bike trailer. After reading some stuff about shaking babies up in the trailers, we've decided to wait a bit longer before going to Umstead but we are going to cruise the neighborhood with him and do paved greenways. Saturday night we just hung around home and that was nice.

Today was picture day - we had Eli's 6 month photos taken. And he was such a cute ham for the camera!! We had no trouble picking out tons of pictures to purchase - get ready Grandparents, they'll be here in less than two weeks. After photos, we went to REI to look at backpack hikers. We have one from Tim's brother & sister-in-law but it doesn't fit us well and we've been having trouble adjusting it so we decided to use part of our dividend to get another one. The sales guy told us it was the 4th one of that style he had sold today - and we were there at 1:30pm!! Guess everyone was waiting on their dividends to go shopping. This afternoon Eli and I went on a 5 mile walk while Tim went for a bike ride. Then dinner, bath, now Eli's in bed.....and Mom & Dad are probably not too far behind. Got to re-set and get ready for tomorrow.

So, now you know why I ask where the weekend went. We had so much fun and are very thankful to my Mom for coming to visit. Looking forward to next weekend when we set clocks forward - woo hoo, bring on the daylight! Here's wishing you a wonderful week ahead. :-)

Thanks for coming to see me!

AquaMom & Baby

Eli's underwater swim

Tired little swimming boy

Napping with Grandma

Trying to make way for upstairs teeth

Strapped in and ready for a test ride

1st trailer ride - Eli loved it!

My new backpack seat

Reaching for Momma

I am so silly giddy tonight. Eli reached out for Momma - REALLY reached out with meaning to come to me. Tim was holding him on the couch and I walked over and held out my arms to pick him up and he reached out to me to be picked up. It's the little things make you feel so loved!!

Eli's got (more) wheels

Today was a very exciting day - REI dividend day! Tim & I have been waiting for dividends to come out so we could get a bike trailer to take Eli on rides with us. When they arrived today, I stopped at REI on the way home and picked up Eli's newest set of wheels - a Burley solo trailer. We're looking forward to rides around the neighborhood and on smooth surfaces. We hope to test ride it this weekend. Let the fun begin!!

Eli's new trick

So this morning, Eli FINALLY decided to show Mommy that he could roll over. 7:04am, he did it for me. I was so surprised as we had heard that he did it at school once but it hadn't been repeated. Tim came in the room about a half hour later and Eli kept rolling over for him too. He rolled over several times today, showing off for Uncle Billy as well. That was a highlight of our weekend!

Here are some more pictures of our weekend.

Eli standing at the couch

Hanging with Belle

Love my Uncle Billy

Aren't we cute?

Uncle Billy and Puppy Jim

This is Uncle Billy

This is Puppy Jim

Evia's brother, Billy, came to visit us this weekend. It was so great to see him and watch him and Eli play. The last time Billy came up, Eli was only a few weeks old so he was much more interactive this time. We had a very busy weekend. Friday night we went out to eat and Eli had his first dinner out. Sweet potatoes, squash and applesauce at the restaurant. He also sat in a restaurant high chair for the first time. Saturday, we did water class - fun as always! - and went to the mall. The weather wasn't that great so it was a good day to bum around. We went to Build a Bear and made Eli a new friend. Since Eli's nickname is 'Bubba Jim', it was only fitting that his doggie be called 'Puppy Jim'. Last night we went to Red Robin for an early dinner and came home to play. Today was a lazy kind of day and we just hung out and played. Next posting will tell you all about Eli's new trick!

Finding Puppy's heart

Fluff him up - breathing life into Puppy

Air bath - got to look good

Creating his birth certificate - 17" long, 10 ounces

Daddy, Eli & Puppy Jim, the newest family member

Mid-year report card

Today was Eli's 6 month visit to the doctor - time for the mid-year check. He was such a good boy during the doctor visit. All the normal stuff - weight, length, checking him out - and he got 2 shots and one oral vaccine. He was such a brave little boy and got 2 Scooby Doo band-aids to show Daddy. Here are the stats:

Weight - 19 pounds, 3.4 oz - 75th percentile
Length - 28-1/4" - 95th percentile
Head Circ - 44.2cm - 50th-75th percentile

So far he's tracking to be a big boy! We also talked about issues from his 4 month visit - flatness of the head and his eczema. Good news, the eczema is doing great with our twice daily lotion treatments. Bad news, the head flatness hasn't improved as well as they would like to see. Eli's doctor gave me the name of a specialist at UNC to contact. We will go see him and his team and they will develop a strategy for Eli. It could involve a helmet, either at night or all day. And, believe it or not, we're ok with that. We would rather Eli get help now while his head is still molding than miss a window of opportunity to help it. Tim reminded me tonight that Eli did have a quick entrance into the world so the skull issues could be more than just how he lays to sleep at night. The stretching exercises we have been doing definitely improved his range of motion but we need more than that.

We did get the go ahead to add a 3rd feeding of solids each day. Plus we can start adding more variety to his diet. Time to make some more baby food!

Report card for Mommy & Daddy - we're still figuring this whole thing out but so far, we're doing pretty darn good. Tim and Evia - Tag Team Champions of the World! We've had our moments but overall we're all healthy and happy - so lucky and blessed. =)