Storm of the Century

Wednesday night I was watching the news after everyone had gone to bed and they were saying it looked like snow for Christmas Eve! Snow?! I thought, how exciting! And on Christmas Eve?! Even better. I haven't seen snow on the ground, let alone snow actually falling in years. Still, even though they said it was coming, I wouldn't believe it until I saw it. The wind had picked up while I was watching the news and I headed to bed wondering what the next day would bring.

I remember JR telling me goodbye in the morning as he headed in to work a shortened day, after all it was Christmas Eve. He wasn't quite sure what he was going to see when he opened the garage door at 5:30, but it didn't look too bad yet. He made it to work safe and sound. Around 6:30-7:00. I could hear the wind gusting and sleet hitting the window in the bedroom and the kitchen as I lay under the warm covers. I heard Eli on the monitor anyway so I got out of bed, grabbed him and we checked out what was going on. At that point there was just some sleet on the ground. Nothing to exciting, it was still slightly above freezing out there. We were watching Sesame Street when I looked out the window and saw a collection of white stuff on the roofs behind our house. Hmm, was it snowing yet? I looked outside and finally saw a few flakes mixed in with the sleet. This was around 8:30. Within a half hour the landscape had changed dramatically. Although, with all the wind blowing around, it seemed the neighbor was getting more snow then us, her yard was completely covered and we had a light dusting.

When Eli went down for his nap (around 11:00) I bundled up and went outside to snap a few pictures. The driveway was completely iced over so I had to be careful when I walked, especially when the wind blew (the wind was constant at 30mph and gusting over 50mph). I felt a little off balance. I only stayed out for a few minutes, it was sooo cold! JR called me and told me he was headed out in a little while. He was thinking to himself he better get out while he still can. Good thing he left when he did, there were news reports all over TV saying how many cars were starting to become stranded. He never went above 20 mph on the way home, and only fish tailed the car a little on the way into the neighborhood. There was a decent sized snow drift in our driveway though, and he got a little stuck, rocking the car back and forth in reverse and drive until he made it into the garage. He even stopped by the liquor store on the way home to pick up some wine for our Christmas dinner.

The rest of the day passed by, and we were continually amazed at the gusting winds and swirling snow. The reports on the news of stranded travelers were too familiar now, and I couldn't help but feel sorry for those who weren't going to be able to spend Christmas with their families.

After Eli fell asleep, we brought out the presents. I still had a few to wrap, and we wanted to put together the train table so he could wake up to it on Christmas morning. We crawled into bed shortly before midnight. It was a little hard to sleep with all the excitement. I feel asleep to the sound of the gusting winds outside our window.

Make a Smilebox slideshow

My baby's 14 months old! (warning...brag session)

Hard to imagine Eli was born fourteen months ago. I still remember the day like it was yesterday, although my memories can be a little foggy sometimes. I am still finding it incredibly amazing how much Eli has changed since he was a helpless, squirmy, little newborn...barely able to see. Week to week he learns something new, sometimes even day to day.

Even though he cannot say very much, his comprehension is amazing. I have taught him some kitchen safety. When the oven timer goes off, he runs to the kitchen and motions towards the oven. I grab my oven mitts, and tell him to sit down on the rug in front of the stove (which is a few feet away from the oven). He sits there while I take everything out of the oven and close the door, all the while I say how hot the oven is. Yesterday he was taking items out of the refrigerator because he wanted a snack. I told him I would get him some grapes but I wanted him to put the items away. He picked them up and put them back in the drawer. Then I told him to close the door so we could go sit down and eat. He closed the door and then clapped, he is so proud of himself sometimes! He even puts his shoes on the shoe rack when I ask him to, if he's not too busy.

He is starting to point towards all the babies and animals in the books we read and asking what they are. Well, not really asking, he says "Uh, Uh". He got a Little People Farm set for his birthday and he prances the little animals around on the ground. He will even pick up the horse and kind of neigh like I do. The other day I was cleaning him up in the high chair and saying what a little piggy he was. I put him down and he ran off to play. While I was doing the dishes a few minutes later he ran over to me holding his piggy from the Little People set! I couldn't believe it! He went all the way to the playroom, dug through the bucket that all the animals were in, and brought it to me. He's done that a few times since. Also when I am reading to him, it is clear that he has some of his books memorized. I am very animated when I read him a book, trying to make sounds when I can for animals, or pretending to eat, sneeze, etc. His Sesame Street books that have cookie monster in them, well I always pretend to eat a lot of cookies like he does. Eli anticipates this and starts doing it a few pages before we get to cookie monster. He also does this when he sees cookie monster on TV. It's so cute!

Walking wise, Eli is pretty much a pro. In fact he usually runs everywhere! I am teaching him to watch his step and step down from a curb, or step, or whatever. He has gotten pretty good over the last few months. I still have to hold his hand though.

When Eli has a stinky diaper, we'll shout "phew eww" and he'll run to his bedroom for a diaper change, screaming the whole way!

Words Eli says: Down, No, Meow, Moo and I think he might be getting the hang of yes?

He is also starting to give us more kisses and hugs when we ask, even kissing and hugging his stuffed animals. Another funny thing he does, is tickle his belly when his shirt is off. Or say for instance if my shirt comes up a little when I bend over, he'll come up behind my and tickle my back. That one gets me sometimes! He also tickles our feet.

JR said tonight at dinner, "His personality shows through more and more each day."

He tries to help me when I get him dressed. It has become less of a struggle to get him ready nowadays. Sometimes he'll run away, but for the most part he likes to help me. He holds out his arms, helps get his legs through the pants, and likes when I put his jacket on. He now says "Brrrr" when I get his jacket on since I'm always saying we need to put it on because it's so cold outside. He helps take his socks off at bath time and tries to help take his shirt off. What a big boy!

Well, next month will be his fifteen month check up and I suppose some shots :( I'll keep you updated!

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Eli's Transportation Transformation

Since Eli was born, he has always hated being in the car. When he was younger we always tried to speculate reasons why. Could he be car sick riding backwards? Was it because he couldn't see me? He hated the car seat? Being confined? Not sure.

I remember leaving to go to the store for the first time by myself with Eli when he was about two weeks old. I was partially terrified he was going to cry the whole time and everyone would be staring at me. While he cried for the first few minutes of the drive, I was so thankful that he slept for most of the shopping. I would have to say for the first month of his life he was a fussy baby, who did not sleep much. Maybe he was a good baby, but it was my inexperience.

My family was perplexed by his hatred for the car. "Most babies love riding in the car, that's how we would get you to sleep." Huh! Not this little guy. I would say for his first year of life, he probably only slept in the car a handful or two times in the car.

His discontent stopped me from traveling too far from home. I stopped going to my favorite store because it was too far (10 minutes away). Instead I went to the store a few blocks away. I just couldn't bare to hear him cry, I felt so awful. And trust me, I tried everything: mirror with little animals on that played music, music on the cd player, singing to him, toys, drinks, windows up, windows down, nada. Even making the drive to my mom's house 12 miles away was a daunting task. By the time I would get there, his face would be red, eyes puffy, cried the whole way there. As soon as I would take him out of the seat, all better!

Needless to say, I couldn't wait to turn him around in his new car seat! As soon as he turned one, I turned the car seat around. I was so excited for the possibility of joyous car rides. I know, I know. I was hoping for a miracle.

Here's a picture with Eli in his new car seat the day we got it!

At first the change was subtle. And it could have been a combination of things that changed. He was now able to eat cheerios, or other little snacks and this kept him pretty occupied. I didn't give him that stuff before because I couldn't see him eating, I was afraid of him choking. I also positioned the rear-view mirror so he could see me all the time. And then....it started. We would go out for errands and he would fall asleep in the car. Once, twice, three times, four times in a row! To some this might not be a big deal. To us, it was momentous! Now it's to the point that if we go out I can pretty much guarantee that he will take a nap. Even if he doesn't nap, his mood is so much better. It's really amazing.


The other day I was watching him in the mirror, he was eating his treat. He let out a huge yawn, eyes got a little droopy, opened back up, and then closed for good. That's it! As simple as that. It's as dramatic as turning on the light switch.

Tree Farm

We woke up on Saturday morning and saw what a beautiful day it was outside. Since the weather in Oklahoma can change from one second to the next, we decided to take advantage of the nice weather and get our Christmas tree! Every year we debate about whether or not to get a real or fake tree. I think we finally decided that we are real tree people. Well, one of our concerns is the cats and if they decide to eat either tree, we'd rather they eat a real one. I just love when the house smells of pine at Christmas time.

Last year at this time, Eli was only two months old. In fact, JR and his buddy Mike went to get the tree on their own, since he had a truck. We didn't even get to help pick the tree out, not like Eli would have known what was going on anyhow. So, this year I was really excited to get our Christmas tree!

We waited for Eli to take his nap so he was well rested for the adventure. After a quick lunch we packed up and hit the road. It only took us about fifteen minutes to get there so that was a plus.

We were greeted by an employee right away and he began explaining the different types of trees there were and if we wanted to we could grab a saw and head out to the fields. But with a toddler in tow, there was no way we would be cutting down our own tree. We will save that for the professionals!


We started walking towards the fields and right away had a chance to take some photos. Eli was not interested in that however, haha! He gets into an open field and takes off! This boy loves his freedom. We pretty much already knew what tree we wanted when we walked into the place, so we were just walking around so Eli could explore. The trees were getting bigger as we walked farther onto the property. We only made it to the fourth field (the property is 50 acres) before we turned around.

Eli would find a leaf and put it on a tree. He was also drawn to every single rock that he saw and would pick it up. This always prompted me to say "Eli, don't put that in your mouth." Of course as soon as I would say this, he would put it to his lips. Silly boy.

It was a little hilly there, but he did really well walking up and down the hills. He fell a few times, but just brushed off his hands and kept on going. Towards the end he started getting a little wild, so I carried him back to where we picked out the tree. They loaded it up on top of the car, and off we went.

After we got home, JR took all the stuff down from the attic to decorate the tree. Eli thought it was really strange that there was a tree in the living room. He kept pointing at it and saying "Ah, ah." Which I guess means, "Why is there a tree in the living room, mom?" Eli and I had to go to the store in the meantime, so JR did the lights and the garland while we were gone. After we got back, we hung up the ornaments. We made sure to tell Eli right away that there was not to be any touching of the tree. He has done really well so far. It's only day 2.

On Sunday we woke up and hung the stockings. It's so exciting imagining how Christmas Day is going to go this year and in the future. I wonder if next year he'll understand who Santa is, or if he will be too young. Either way, I can't wait! I cleaned out his closet and playroom today in preparation for the new toys he'll be getting for Christmas. The playroom is looking a little bare now. It will be full again soon enough!

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Happy Thanksgiving

Our first Thanksgiving in Oklahoma, without the family. Thankfully we were invited to JR's boss' house so we wouldn't have to spend it alone. I was busy yesterday preparing the pierogies to bring over to dinner. Eli did really great entertaining himself while I was making them, but by the time I was done, I could tell he needed some one on one time. That's the thing, those pierogies are so good, but take way too long to make!

Eli has been teething the last few days so he didn't sleep very well last night. We were up for about two hours keeping each other company. Ha! Poor little guy.

I woke up this morning and the kitchen was a bit of a disaster from last night. The only thing I really had to get ready for dinner was make the Amish Friendship Bread and take a shower (I accomplished both tasks while Eli was napping!).

We headed over to their house around 2:30 with everything in tow, highchair included. It's so hard to hold a wiggling toddler on your lap and try feeding him dinner and eat yourself, so I have been bringing the highchair with when we go over to friends' house. It was great to see everyone. Even though Eli is getting older, he still changes his appearance every few weeks. Hair is longer, maybe another tooth or two, a little taller, etc. Everyone is always happy to see a baby. He still takes some time to warm up to everyone. I notice that he seems to do better with women than men. Who knows why?

It was tough to entertain him while dinner was being prepared. I brought some toys with but he didn't want anything to do with them. Not when there is new territory to explore. And this house was NOT babyproofed one bit! I was running around stopping him from grabbing picture frames, cords, ornaments, fingers in outlets, you name it. Glass candle jars sitting on the low shelves. Oh, even the oven door was hot! Ours doesn't get hot, must be something special about it. Ugh, it was exhausting. I was so tired of saying don't touch. But he did really good.

He actually ate some turkey! A little pierogies, stuffing, and I brought some yogurt for him, the infamous standby.

We played a little bit longer, but I could tell he was running out of steam at around 6:30. We started packing up everything and hit the road. Poor baby was so tired he cried the whole way home. Thankfully they only live about 8 miles away, so we didn't have to drive far. When we got inside, every little thing he didn't get was setting him off into a crying frenzy, so he was done! Like a turkey! I gave him some meds before bed (for his teeth) and he was out in 10 minutes.

Overall, a great day!
Happy Thanksgiving!

Eli's First Cold

Snot, snot, and more snot. I knew it had to happen sooner or later, poor baby has a cold. The only symptom he has is a runny/stuffy nose, mostly runny. I guess I have to say it's made the weaning a little easier, since he can't breathe when he nurses. I have tried a few times. He sucks, sucks, sucks, then gasps for air. Sucks, sucks, sucks, gasp, gasp. And then he gets frustrated and gives up. Poor little guy. I am so glad this didn't happen when he was younger and only nursing!

I have been using a saline mist to help with the loosening. It's really great because he actually laughs when I squirt it up his nose. Can't ask for a better reaction than that, right? What's really funny is when he gets playing and he's got the snot bubble blowing in and out! Aww, I just can't wait for this cold to be over. It's been a week already and it's still hanging on. I might call the doctor if I don't see any improvement by Tuesday.

Needless to say since he has been sick we didn't do any activities this week. On Wednesday I needed to head out to the post office but I was waiting for him to take his nap. This little guy woke up at 6:30 that morning and still hadn't slept by 3:00 that afternoon! And he wasn't even cranky! So at around 2:30 I decided we'll just head over anyway and stop at the park after. Maybe that would tire him out enough and he would pass out on the way home. Well, my plan backfired! He passed out on the way to the post office. When I got there, the line was really long and there was no way I was going to wake up Eli so I turned around and went home.

Second time this week he changed our plans by falling asleep in the car, we were on our way to dinner. We hadn't been to Texas Roadhouse in a while so we were going to check it out. About 5 minutes away he fell asleep in the car, there was no way we were going to wake him up and risk a cranky baby at dinner. So we went to Sonic instead, sat in the car and ate dinner while he slept. It was a peaceful dinner at least!

Eli and I also went to the mall this week. I have to say it really surprises me (and makes me incredibly angry) at how difficult it is to navigate through the stores with these strollers! I mean, even the childrens' stores where you KNOW there are going to be people with strollers! Incredible! So we were at the mall and I gave Eli a snack. Well, I think because of his cold/congestion he's been having a difficult time chewing or swallowing, I'm not sure. He took his first bite (I told him to chew carefully like I do for almost every bite, he gets a little excited sometimes and just tries to swallow items whole) and as soon as I said that, he starts gagging and turning red and then he throws up! There were two ladies right there looking at me, and one said "Oh, maybe it went down the wrong way". I tried explaining to her that he does this on a normal basis (I think we are up to 5 or 6 intentional vomit sessions now). But she was convinced otherwise. Oh well. So I cleaned him up really fast and gave him another kind of snack. That was our trip to the mall.

"Naw"

This word does not mean what you think it means. To Eli, it means "No." I tried to do everything in my power to use other words besides no when correcting him.
Words such as: Don't touch, Not for Eli, Yucky, Dangerous, Stop! Eli, followed by don't do that, etc. Anything to prevent this word from becoming his favorite.

So, a few days ago, I was getting him dressed and asked him if I could get his shirt on. He said something that sounded kinda like the word no. I didn't really pay too much attention at the time, but thought to myself "Hmm, did he just say no?". So I made it a point to ask him to do something he didn't want to do to see if he would say it again. Sure enough, he did. Huh?!

Last night I told JR, I swear I think Eli is telling me no when he doesn't want to do something. JR was very skeptical.

All day today I have been asking Eli questions. Can I put your shirt on? Naw! Can Mommy put your shoes on? Naw! Can Mommy have a kiss? Naw! A hug? Naw! I am not kidding! So JR gets home from work tonight and asks Eli to come over to give him a hug. Eli says "Naw" and plops down on the floor. My eyes lit up and I said "That is Eli's no!". Still a little skeptical, he asked him again "Naw!" This is so funny as I'm writing this. JR was a little surprised I think.

When I think about it, it's amazing this is the next word he chooses to use. The only other things he says is Dada and Mama (he doesn't call us dada or mama but he babbles these phases all the time) and his first word I believe was "Meow". He says it every time he sees a cat. Charlie and Jade especially. He says it if he sees them in a book. He also says it when he sees my license plate (I have a cat and dog on my license plate for the Humane Society, AZ plates still). It's hilarious! He has also started to get the hang of saying "Moo". He even points to the cow on his little milk container, and tries to say it.

Well, maybe more words will follow and this one will only be a favorite for a few days. I hope.

My first posting!

I have never written a blog before, but I wanted to have a sorta daily reminder of life with a toddler. I want to be able to remember all the little details of the day to day. Funny things he did, or we did to crack each other up. It's just so precious I don't want to forget anything!

Today started out as a normal day. What's normal you ask? Eli woke up at 7:00, we came in the living room and I turned on Sesame Street. He has just started to like this show, like TV for that matter. This gives me roughly an hour to wake myself up, make a cup of coffee, make my toast and share some with Eli, and just wake up. Like I said.

After the show, I ask him if he wants cereal. He runs to the pantry. I usually mix the oatmeal with either applesauce and cinnamon, or some yogurt. He usually gets some fresh strawberries or bananas or both. Today I soaked some graham crackers in some milk and then put them on his tray table, gobbled them up! He even says Mmmm, as he is eating! I laugh every time!

Other times he says Mmmm:
*When I have the oven on, he stands at the window and points to whatever is in there and says Mmmm
*When I am standing at the stove cooking
*He was carrying around an unopened can of diet coke today, pretending he was drinking it, and saying Mmmm.
I am sure there are other times, but I can't remember right now...:)

Here's a few pictures of him saying mmm as he's eating!



So after breakfast we get cleaned up, changed out of jammies, brush teeth/hair, and then jet off to wherever we need to be, or just hang out at home. It generally takes us 30 minutes for both of us to get ready if neither of us needs a bath/shower. This includes gathering up a drink for me and him, at least one snack for him and me, a pacifier for him, a few toys, my phone, my wallet,etc. I have a big, huge, bag that always weighs as much as Eli.

Today I wanted to get my oil changed. Eli fell asleep in the car on the way there. He got to sleep a little longer because I passed the street I needed to go down by a few miles (that's one way). They couldn't change my oil so we ended up going to the park instead. We went on the swings for a little while. I started playing a game with him on the swings, pretending he was hitting me when he would swing forward, or kissing his face when he would get close enough. He was cracking up! A baby's laughter is the best sound in the whole world. I could listen to that all day. We went down the slides a few times, he was on my lap. One time I hit his head (woops!) on the top before we went down. He didn't even seem to notice.

Naps are becoming very interesting with him. Today he hardly slept for an hour total. Needless to say he was pretty cranky most the day and cried a lot. He has already started to throw fits like when it is time to get him dressed, he actually runs away from me! He goes behind the rocking chair, or goes in the corner by his crib! Yes, he just turned 13 months. I can't believe he does this already. Then later that day, I was trying to cheer him up so we were going to play outside. I needed him to sit on my lap so I could get his shoes on, and he got mad and whacked me on the side of face with his head (not on purpose, he was thrashing about). This caused me to yell out (cause it hurt!) and he got scared and started crying louder! Gesh!

Dinner time was hilarious. He was pretending to feed me with his spoon, and I was making all these disgusting faces (well it was a little disgusting...the spoon had cottage cheese, sloppy joes, applesauce, and ketchup remnents on it) and he was laughing so hard, which had me laughing so hard, and JR! We did this for about 15 minutes and then I gave up.

Then time for bath, brush teeth, jammies, storytime, and off to dreamland!

I don't think all of my posts will be this long. It's just my first one so I have to make it count! Goodnight!