rough week

Well, it's been a rough week. Eliot is in the throes of teething. This time it's the dreaded back teeth - the bicuspids. He has been chewing on everything - his toys, his hands, his friends... We can tell when his Motrin is about to wear off because he nosedives from perfect angel to cantankerous troll in a matter of minutes. Then back up again, as his next fix starts to kick in. Even in the middle of the night he awakens at the stroke of one o'clock - six hours from his last dose. We have to go in, re-medicate him and rock him back to sleep. These back teeth are particularly brutal. But we have seen one of them poke it's little head up through the gum, so hopefully he'll be feeling better soon.

chicken

Tonight we had leftover Chinese for dinner. Eliot had chicken with vegetables. He ate all of his veggies, but was having some trouble with the chicken. So I put a piece on his spoon and sternly said, "Eliot, eat your chicken." He smiled broadly and said, "BOK BOK BOK!" All I could do was concede that, yes, that is in fact what a chicken says. I didn't even know he knew that - it was a new one on me!

hanging with Tracey

A couple of weeks ago, Eliot got to spend the afternoon and evening with Tracey and Sonya while we went to my sister's graduation. They went to Tracey's parents' house for dinner, where word has it he ate his weight in potato salad. He made fast friends with Michael, Tracey's nephew. They enjoyed reading lots of books together. Later they went to a block party and danced the night away. Eliot made lots of new friends and came home very happy and very spoiled. But they got some good pictures - look at them here.

Juno visits!

Eliot's cousin Juno came to visit us tonight. He brought his mom, Rachelle, and his grandmother, Aunt Eunice, also. We enjoyed visiting with all three of them, but Juno was definitely the highlight of the evening! He is such a happy baby! He smiled the entire time he was here. Eliot loved showing him all of his toys and playing in the floor. Juno would start making a random baby noise and Eliot would imitate. Then they'd get going together in unison. That was amazing! I just can't believe how happy and content Juno was. It's hard to believe it's only been a couple of months since Eliot was that age. We get to see them again on Saturday at Grandmother's house. We can't wait! Check out pictures here.

Independent

As we all know, Eliot has an independent streak (don't know where that came from!). He insists on walking by himself wherever we go - no being held for him, no sir. He also refuses to hold hands when we walk. Of course, I try to enforce the rule, particularly when we are walking through the parking lot. This morning when we got to school he did his usual wet noodle routine so I'd let him walk by himself from the car to the school. When I grabbed his hand he sat square down in the middle of the parking lot - no screaming, no fussing, just plain civil disobedience. So I let go of his hand and he stood up. Again, I tried to hold his hand, and again, civil disobedience. I let go and he got up once again. This time he was onto me though. As I reached down he shoved his hands into his armpits and hugged his arms real close into his chest. Then he suddenly turned into a little basketball player evading my capture. He ducked down low and skirted around my back. I spun in a circle (like an idiot) trying to catch him. He broke free and made a bee-line for the front door. I caught up with him and scooped him up. His next maneuver was to lay his body parallel to the ground and scream - a classic. When we got inside and I put him down he was fine again. Then as we walked down the hall I went to tuck his shirt back in to his overalls. Deftly putting two and two together, he assumed that I was going back for his hand. And here we go again - he sits squarely on the floor, looking me straight in the eye. I let him walk by himself down the hallway, but every time he caught me looking at him, he sat on the floor until I turned around.

it's all about him

Eliot's new word is "me". He points to his chest vigorously with both little hands and says, "me. me. me." So we've taken to singing the last line of the ABC song - "Next time won't you sing with... MEEEE!" just to watch him point to himself and sing "MEEEEE".

it's just juice

On Mother's Day afternoon, Brian made me a Bloody Mary. It's one of my favorite drinks, and I don't get one very often. Brian makes a very good Bloody Mary; there's practically a salad hanging out of the top. Eliot was enthralled with my beverage, so we decided to give him one (very watered down and very non-alcoholic, so nobody panic!) He drank half of the drink but he really liked the celery. He would dip his celery stalk, complete with leaves, into the tomato juice and then gnaw the end until it was stringy. He gnawed the celery stick to a nub, carrying it around the house for an hour. That's my boy!

yikes!

Eliot has learned a dreaded new word - "No". Tonight Brian was trying to help him with something and Eliot pushed his hands away screaming, "No! No! No! No!" There was absolutely no doubt that he didn't want any help. Here we go...

Mother's Day

Today was my second Mother's Day. I have spent the day appreciating how lucky I am to be a daughter, a granddaughter, and a mother. I can't remember what life was like before my beautiful, special son was born. He's a true gift and enhances my life every single day.

The day started with Brian and Eliot waking me up with a huge smile, a big hug, chocolate and cards - I knew already it'd be a good day. Eliot must've been saving his money since he was born, cause he gave me a very generous gift certificate to Old Navy. He knows his mommy pretty well. Then, the best gift a mom ever got! Brian and Eliot went downstairs and I got to SLEEP IN! Then we met Deenie at The Highland Coffee House for brunch. There was a very pleasant guitarist playing outside, where we ate - it was a BEAUTIFUL day! Eliot made friends with everyone around us, danced to the music, and ate his weight in fruit - Deenie's fruit, that is (thank you, Deenie for letting him eat half your breakfast!!).

The rest of the day was a relaxing day at home. We spent some time out on the deck since it was such a beautiful day. We read books, played with blocks, threw the ball... really, lots of fun! And for dinner - Loco's Delivery! No cooking for me! A Mother's Day dream come true!

Cinco de Mayo

The Haddins invited us to Los Amigos last night to celebrate Cinco de Mayo! We had a great time! The Lampheres were there, too. Eliot ate his weight in refried beans, and smeared the rest all over his face. He also ate half of my burrito, many chips and a lime. Steph posted pictures, too, as seen here and here.

new photos

I posted a bunch of new photos on the gallery today. There are a couple of pictures of Eliot enjoying circle time at school. They sing songs, read books, blow bubbles... just have some fun together as a group.

Eliot can't be held back. Every day he'll go to the front door and bang it, saying, "byeeeee!" We go outside a lot. Here are a couple of pictures of him enjoying the Springtime. I know these pictures look a lot more like fall, but our yard is shady and the grass has not turned green yet. =)

Plus, as an added bonus here are some miscellaneous pictures of Eliot being silly.