From the Hood

Eli's Four Year Old Update

2012-01-14T12:56:00.004-05:00

Our Family Pictures

2012-01-14T12:51:00.013-05:00

These are a little late in posting, but were taken again this year (2011) by Steph Owens... this time at the Cummer. Here are a few... we think they turned out beautifully!

Fireman Eli, to the rescue!

2012-01-14T12:43:00.002-05:00

Eli has really enjoyed the fireman outfit that Aunt Cindy made for him....

We Wish You a Merry Christmas!

2011-12-24T23:12:00.002-05:00

and a Happy New Year!

Trick or Treat!

2011-10-31T22:50:00.007-04:00

There was much excitement for Halloween this year! Eli was really excited to visit the pumpkin patch to pick out a pumpkin (as evidenced by his silly expressions below... yo, this is the pumpkin hood and he has to look out for his peeps) and even more excited to toast and eat the seeds!

But nothing quite compared to actually getting to go trick or treating with Harper! The ferocious omnivore dino/dragon (he couldn't make his mind up) and lovely maiden fair eagerly dashed out to hit up as many houses as they could, styling their new candy corn inspired loot bags (thanks Purl Bee!)

He got to enjoy a little loot on the way....

But he really wanted to race back home so he could pass out some candy to other trick or treaters before bed time. Guess mom must be wearing off on him. He sternly ordered each trick or treater to help themselves to 'ONE' piece of candy from the basket...

Happy Halloween!

Vroom, vroom!

2011-05-08T22:15:00.003-04:00

Eli got to experience big boy toys this weekend at Uncle Shawn's. Uncle Shawn let him rev the throttle and honk the horn, but didn't let him take it for a spin around the block... maybe next time.

Happy Mother's Day!

Eli Gone Wild - Spring Break 2011

2011-05-01T22:08:00.006-04:00

Well, perhaps not exactly what you think, but it was a pretty awesome time! This was Eli's first spring break from school, and did he ever live it up!

On Friday, Eli and mom hit the road and headed to Marineland. It's not what mom remembered at all, but it has been a few years and changed ownership since then. Now Marineland is more research oriented. Eli enjoyed watching the dolphins swim from his under water viewing perch and very much enjoyed when one of the dolphins sprayed him with water. On the way home we found Bob's Bait and Tackle and picked up some worms for our garden. Eli also checked out the live shrimp and fiddler crabs.

On Saturday, we participated in the Riverkeeper/RAP river friendly yard tour. We biked around Riverside and Avondale and visited Victoria and Robert and Jake and Pam's yards, and then headed to Brooks, Jenny, Scotty and McRae's (aka Cha Cha's) to visit their chickens and rabbits. Eli even found an egg that was laid just for him!

On Sunday Eli found that the Easter Bunny had visited and hid eggs inside and out (and surprise, surprise, some actually had chocolate!). He really wanted to know how the Easter Bunny got inside without waking everyone up. We met Gayle and Harper later that morning at Ringhaver park for a walk in the woods and a picnic, then headed for Poppa and Nana's for more egg hunting fun.

On Monday Eli spent some quality time with Poppa and Nana so mom could focus on Odessa's front yard for a little while. Later that afternoon Eli and mom headed to Interlachen to visit Grandma and the dogs and enjoyed a game of indoor bowling. Buster was quite helpful in retrieving the bowling ball and only left a few bite marks. On the way home we hit up Charlie's Fishin Hole to get more worms for the garden and found an Eli sized paddle while we were there.

On Tuesday mom and Eli headed to the zoo with Adina and George. While we were there we met up with Dot and Lily and Sebastian's family (one of Eli's classmates) in the water park. Eli is enamored with Sebastian's mom Bettina. She's a doctor at Baptist. Try explaining what an OBGYN is to an over inquisitive 3 year old (why? why? why?).

On Wednesday, dad and Eli headed to Mandarin to spend some guy time with Poppa. He really loves it when the guys play trash man together!

On Thursday dad and Eli went to the library. Some of their finds were Bob the Builder and the Muppets Season 1 DVD's and books on vets and construction vehicles.

On Friday Eli and Poppa made soup. Eli was very particular about what was to be included in his soup, from the vegetables used to ensuring Poppa didn't use too much honey. Later that evening, we headed to Intuition for a slow food event. Eli was a little overwhelmed... there were a ton of people! But he enjoyed snacking on hors d'oeuvres from a few participating restaurants and even enjoyed escargot (minus the shell) on a cracker. He's pretty excited to tell people about eating it to see their reaction.

Eli went to yoga with mom on Saturday for the first time to participate in a kid's yoga workshop with Victoria at Ananda Kula. He was a little scared at first, but will hopefully be up for it again next weekend!

And the big finale was an Alvin Brown for Mayor rally at Memorial Park. The event was May One Day One and was organized, in part, by Wayne Wood. Here's a picture of Eli and Jimmy at the rally taken by Bill Yates:

Eli's Swimming!

2011-03-02T23:17:00.007-05:00

He insisted on a swimming cap, since the girl that has classes ahead of him has one (and very long hair) and she's able to swim with her face in the water.

Here's an earlier video of him 'bopping' Miss Melissa (his swim teacher) in an attempt to learn motor control.

Eli Celebrates Mom's Birthday Extravaganza Weekend

2011-03-02T22:31:00.005-05:00

Yes, you read correctly. Mom's Birthday. Extravaganza. Weekend.

We stayed the weekend at The Hammock House on the banks of the Wekiva River in Sorrento, Florida. There was plenty of wildlife, horses, tractors, chocolate cake (thanks Gayle!) and canoeing to aid in the celebration.

Here are a few pictures of Eli getting into the party mood... note the John Deere theme:

Happy Valentines Day, love Eli

2011-02-13T23:32:00.003-05:00

Eli's First Big Boy Haircut

2011-01-03T23:24:00.005-05:00

Eli got his first big boy haircut at King Street Barber & Style Shop, courtesy of Leslie, the day before his 3rd birthday. He was very brave and his new haircut makes him look so much older!

Christmas Lights and Luminaria

2010-12-23T00:24:00.004-05:00

Eli got to enjoy Christmas lights extraordinaire this Christmas! Grandma had us meet her in Bostwick. At first we weren't too sure, I mean, Bostwick is known for their blueberry festival, but Christmas lights? There were so many lights, we had a hard time taking it all in! Here's a post with a few details, and a few pictures:

The lights were fun, but the true highlight for Eli was Cain. He saw a barn when we got to the light show and asked Thomas (dressed as an elf) who lived in the barn. Thomas told him his neighbor's cows and horses. Eli really wanted to go see the cows and horses to tell them goodnight. After we saw all the lights and were headed back to the car, he wished them a goodnight in the barn, then started singing Rudolph. Cain (a beautiful brown and black, large horse) heard and headed toward the fence. I'm not sure knew what to expect, but Cain came right up to him and nuzzled his cheek. It was honestly one of the sweetest things I've ever seen. Jimmy didn't want to take a picture since he was afraid the flash would spook Cain.

Eli also enjoyed Luminaria this year, in style. He was very helpful in setting up the luminaries in his neighboorhood (we do the whole block with the help of Jerrod and Jeannie) and in keeping Harper warm in their ride:

Christmas Party, Office Style

2010-12-23T00:22:00.006-05:00

Eli really wonders why mom doesn't like going into the office more. I mean, they have a bounce house, juice boxes, snacks, coloring pages and crayons, Christmas themed rubber duckies, reindeer, an elf that does puppet shows and face paints and of course, SANTA! What more could you want?

Here are a few pictures with Santa. Eli was really enthralled with Santa's gloves.

I had to break it to Eli that all that was just for the children's Christmas party, not something there every week. I mean, if there was an elf that does a puppet show and face paints, who wouldn't want to go into the office everyday?

Birthday Tiger!

2010-12-18T22:59:00.007-05:00

We celebrated Eli's third birthday today with a some friends. He very much enjoyed having everyone over in his honor and was dressed as a birthday tiger (and later moonlighted as a doctor to celebrate!

Here are a few pictures from his Happy 3rd Birthday Party!

Thanks to everyone who was able to be a part of it!

Grrr, Halloween 2010

2010-10-31T23:09:00.004-04:00

Eli got the basic premise of Halloween down pat this year... grr and candy! His pal Harper came over and they hit houses up and down the street and got so much candy, he could barely carry his pumpkin home! Here are a few pictures of Halloween and fall events leading up to it to enjoy:

The pumpkin patch!

Spooktacular at the Jacksonville Zoo! Let's just say we picked the wrong night to go, somehow thinking that most people would be involved with Florida Georgia activities instead. Traffic to get there took about 45 minutes... from the 95 exit. The line to get in was crazy. Thankfully mom had purchased tickets in advance. Once it, even more craziness! When it was all said and done, it was fun, but if we go next year, it will not be toward the end.

And the big night... Eli chose to be a tiger vs a giraffe, so someone will inherit a really cute etsy giraffe costume! Here he is, picture smile and all, with Harper, puppy daddy, mom and his silly jack o'lantern!

Eli's 2.75 Year Old Update

2010-10-20T21:32:00.004-04:00

Yeah, I know. 2.75 years sounds a little weird and 2 3/4 sounds even weirder. Let's just say Eli's in that awkward place between 2 and 3.

Mom actually just realized she didn't add the picture border she normally does on the update... she had the cutest puzzle pictures picked out and everything. Oh well... there's the 3 year update coming soon enough!

Eli is really pretty amazing when it comes to puzzles. He has two floor puzzles he's a wiz at and has a few board puzzles he has pretty much memorized. When we go to the zoo now, it is not to see Quito the gorilla, it is to go the the Discovery Center so he can check out their puzzles. Seriously.

School has been a bit more enjoyable these days too, which is quite a relief. Eli has actually commented a few times now that he likes school, believe it or not! They apparently have puzzles there too, and a few that are kind of challenging. He comes home to tell tales of the puzzles he mastered that day.

He's also figured out a way to delay bed time. Each night, just before we put him down after reading a story, having some milk and brushing teeth, he suddenly remembers he has to do #2. We can't very well ignore his plea to sit on the potty, and in most cases, he produces, but it is pretty amazing how quickly his little mind has added it all up to equal postponing bed time... at least for a little while.

We've all been getting over a pretty nasty cold lately. Suffice it to say there was plenty of phlegm between the three of us.... Eli and dad still have a residual cough they are trying to shake. Eli's pretty excited though that out of it, he got to start getting gummy vitamins (it seems that's all they make kid's vitamins in these days) every morning. Guess that's something to look forward to.

Eli's looking forward to Halloween. We're still not sure he understands what it is all about, but does get that he can dress up and visit around the neighborhood. There's even rumor that Harper may join him that evening.

Until the next 3.0 update... enjoy!

Eli's First Day of 'School'

2010-08-25T00:04:00.021-04:00

Eli started 'school' this week at Academie de Montessori in San Marco. Its been pretty smooth so far, only a few tears and whistful "I don't want to go to schools"... he went 1/2 days the first two days and 3/4 days the next two, leading up to full days (hopefully) starting next week.

Daddy and Dot took him to school on Tuesday, the first day. Here are a few pictures...

The Florida Aquarium!

2010-08-25T00:03:00.006-04:00

We decided to visit the Florida Aquarium in Tampa before Eli started school... much fun was had by one and all!

Eli enjoyed all there was to see, but especially liked the water park.... he really wanted Uncle Charlie to see this picture of him on the shark's back (Uncle Charlie recently caught a shark while fishing offshore in his kayak):

The water canon was also a big hit (yes, that's Eli to the far right!) because you could shoot the dry adults with water!

Eli also enjoyed staying in the hotel and bouncing back and forth between hotel rooms. He was pretty elated to push buttons on the microwave, safe and open and close the mini fridge.

Eli and Penny

2010-07-28T21:49:00.005-04:00

We visited the Morningside Living History Farm (see http://www.cityofgainesville.org/LinkClick.aspx?fileticket=wdWSe%2bPitOA%3d&tabid=182 for some details) in Gainesville this past Sunday and Eli fell in love.... with Penny.... the cow. So much so that he asked a few times if Penny could come home with us and share his pillow (surely the sign of true love to a 2 1/2 year old!). Here are a few pictures from our visit. Thanks to Uncle John for directing us around town!

Docious

2010-07-20T00:16:00.006-04:00

This is a portion of a word that Eli giggles about every time he hears it... it comes from

Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious

For those of you not in the know, it comes from Mary Poppins and is quite catchy... you might even find yourself tapping your foot and singing along after watching the following:

Eli hasn't seen this video yet, but we're sure he'll build it into his repetoire and will be singing it right along with 'Caught in a Trap' (i.e. Suspicous Minds by Elvis) and 'You Know?' (i.e. What's Going On by Marvin Gaye) soon...

'Duh and the Llama', part deux

2010-07-19T23:27:00.006-04:00

We headed up to North Carolina again this summer. Eli did so well on the trip up! He wore undies and didn't have any accidents (which is saying a lot for an 8 hr ride). He was so excited to get to see Silverado and the goats and Uncle Doug (we can officially call him that now) and Aunt Sandi!

Nana had the great suggestion of purchasing our own bag of grain, so we roamed the greater Vilas, NC country side in search of farm animals to feed and watch poop. What fun was had by all, especially some lucky farm animals that belonged to a friend of Sandi's, some of which we got pictures of last year too, so they're making a repeat show here on Eli's blog:

For those that noticed, yes, Duh outwitted the photographer. He got his points in with Eli though by demonstrating true farm equipment and not showing Eli the smallest bit of attention... yeah, right.

Thanks Aunt Sandi and Uncle Doug, we had a blast!

On the way home we stopped at the Sunflower Farm Festival in Madison, GA and caught up with Joe and Sarah and Cindy and Brittany. Eli had a ball in the petting zoo and corn box, not to mention the acres and acres of sunflowers! Here he is on a few tractors that were being displayed:

Eli's 2 1/2 Year Update

2010-07-19T23:00:00.006-04:00

Eli thought it was high time we started referring to his age in years, not months. After all, he's a little boy, not a 'teeny tiny baby' as he calls his mama.

Here's his 2 1/2 year update for all to enjoy. Yes, he really LOVES gloves. In fact, he and mom went to the hardware store this past weekend looking for home repair supplies and he insisted on going through the gardening section so he could check out their ladies glove selection. You never know when you might need a pair!

We're also sad to say that Jordan and Antigone are no longer with us. In Eli speak, they've gone to Tennessee. For those of you out there not in the know, 'Tennessee' became the euphemism for where you go when you are no longer of this earth when one of his goldfish, Eric, disappeared one day. In Eli's mind, Eric went to Tennessee (see ....ah...shee post below) to stay with the other fish in the aquarium. When we tried to explain about Antigone and Jordan, Eli summed it up pretty eloquently.... 'they're in Tennessee' and we can leave it at that. Farewell, we'll miss you always and love you dearly old friends.

Eli's Bear Necessities Groove

2010-04-28T20:51:00.009-04:00

OK, it has really been too long! Here's a little Eli video to get you back in the groove.

First, take a look at this since mom couldn't remember all the words to this oldie but goodie!

Then, take a look at Eli's 'Bear Necessities Groove'

Eli's 2nd Birthday Party

2010-01-06T21:40:00.020-05:00

Believe it or not, Eli is 2! He had a wonderful party attended by many friends and family near and dear to his heart. Here are a few pictures from his special day:

The only downer to Eli's party was Bonzo biting one of the party guests. Dad says that's it.. he's had the taste of human blood.

Our Family Pictures

2010-01-04T21:31:00.004-05:00

We had family pictures made just in time for Christmas presents... too bad mom didn't have an opportunity to update Eli's blog sooner...

Here is a sampling to a Dan Zane's tune, so be sure your volume is up! Stephanie did a wonderful job working with us on these and compiling them, so also check out her website to see her other work - http://www.stephowens.com

http://www.stephowens.com/genorafamily09/

Enjoy!

Injun or Native American Tweet?

2009-11-02T22:10:00.008-05:00

You decide. Eli had fun dressing up and visiting the neighbors. Toward the end I think he understood the concept though he couldn't quite get the 'Trick' out, just 'Tweet'. He did understand when people allowed him to grab handfuls of candy, though it all got recycled (minus mom and dad's handling fee) into what was given to our trick or treaters (of which there weren't many... sigh... such is life in the hood).

Here are a few pictures of Eli's first official 'tweet' Halloween:

....ah...shee

2009-11-02T20:28:00.012-05:00

For those of you not hip to Eli lingo, this is how Eli says 'Tennessee'.

We traveled to Chattanooga, Tennessee on Sunday to check out the big sights since dad is pretty envious of their riverfront effort.

Pappa graciously allowed us to use his minivan. With all of Eli's things in tow - pack and play, high chair, all the underwear he owns, diapers, various and sundry clothes and toiletries, oh and lets not forget the toys and books, we drove halfway on Sunday, thinking it a bit much to ask Eli to sit in the car seat for 8+ hours.

We stayed in Marietta, GA Sunday night in a Hilton courtesy of Hotwire. If you haven't checked it out yet, do. You can get great last minute deals on hotels. The hotel was very nice. Unfortunately there was a wedding reception, so around midnight, the attendees started stumbling down the hallway loud and drunk toward their rooms. Luckily only mom and dad were awaken and annoyed.

Monday morning we were on our way and stopped in Rome, GA (http://www.romega.us/) to visit Tom Centola. After determining there were way too many breakable things in Tom's house we took a tour of the yard and neighbor's koi pond. Eli very much enjoyed the gravel. Tom took us on a short tour of Rome and explained how Rome got it's name to Jimmy. We had lunch in a cool spot downtown called the Harvest Moon Cafe. Eli enjoyed the greeter outside.

After lunch we were headed to Chattanooga! First stop when we got there was to scope out how far the house we were staying in was from downtown. The house is in the Fort Wood historic district - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fort_Wood_Historic_District - close to downtown, but a little too far to walk with Eli and stroller in tow.

We cruised around downtown to get our bearings then headed out to explore on foot and found a wonderfully steep hill right on the river. And what do you know, someone left pieces of cardboard large enough to sit on and slide down the hill. Oh what fun was had!

The riverfront was pretty neat, but we only saw one side and didn't realize what was in store for us! We checked into our house to explore what we had in store. We knew from what we saw online it would be beautiful, but wow, how beautiful it was (and by the way is for sale... if you are interested check out http://chattanooga-tennessee.olx.com/858-oak-st-iid-46433882), so beautiful we decided to confine ourselves to the second floor and use the pocket doors to keep Eli safely away from the stairs. He did however find the pilot light in the gas logs in one of the 6 fireplaces and burned two of his fingers to the point they had blisters.

Tuesday morning we headed out to the '....ah...shee' aquarium (http://www.tnaqua.org/Home.aspx). It pretty much rained all day and was yucky but the aquarium had a lot to offer. We checked out the 'River Journey' side first and the concept was neat... follow a rain drop as it flows from the top of a mountain to form streams, swamps, lakes and rivers throughout the world. So we started at the top which featured otters! Eli really enjoyed this side, as did mom and dad. There was lots to see and touch and lots of giant catfish, sturgeon, turtles, a sea turtle (in the Gulf portion) and a special traveling sea horse exhibit that was neat.

After an afternoon nap we visited the Ocean Journey. At the top was a stingray and shark petting pond that mom enjoyed. Eli like the shark hand dryers a little more. Next were penguins! Not sure what got into Eli here, but he tore around a ramp in the penguin exhibit like a mad man running and shouting. Guess he had had a very restful nap! He wasn't so much into the larger fish, but really enjoyed 'hiding' in the caves that dotted the exhibit area and provided nice little niches to view the fish from. The jellies were really cool. We highy recommend it if you're in the area!

Wednesday we visited the Chattanooga Nature Center - http://www.chattanooganaturecenter.org/. It wasn't all mom thought it was cracked up to be but there was a really cool tree house and trails that were easy for Eli to walk on after the rain the previous day. He really enjoyed peeing in the woods.

After a nap we headed out to for a cupcake (from Chattanooga cupcakes of course) and to check out the other side of the river. There we found a lot of space to run and play, a water park, a vintage carousel and the Walnut Street pedestrian bridge, one of the longest pedestrian bridges in the world. We also made our way to the Chattanooga Choo Choo (which was a bit of a downer.... the beautiful historic train terminal was a Holiday Inn lobby). For dinner Wednesday night we checked out the Terminal Brewhouse - http://terminalbrewhouse.com/. Later we found the Greenlife grocery store and lived it up!

Thursday morning we got things packed up and started to head back home. On the way home we stopped in Resaca, GA at Little River Farms - http://www.littleriverfarms.com/pettingfarm.htm. Eli needed a llama fix since its been months since he's seen Duh or Silverado. Fortunately they had 3 here and a few bus loads of kids visiting... just what Eli needed! Mom and Eli enjoyed the llamas, miniature donkeys, the hedgehog, chinchilla, turkeys (say gooble gooble Mr Turkey), peacocks, goats, you name it, they had it!

Eli's 21 month Update

2009-10-13T22:58:00.006-04:00

Sorry for the delay in this... 22 months will be here before we know it! Here's Eli's 21 month update... click on the document below to make it larger to read comfortably:

Eli's Recent Events

2009-10-13T21:28:00.007-04:00

Here are Eli's recent happenings... enjoy!

Eli and Dot are going to Music Together classes! See http://www.musictogether.com/ for more details. This class is based on the fiddle and he's enjoying it oh so very much (and the fact that the church that hosts the classes have Eli sized toilets!).

He attended Uncle John's birthday picnic near the old fort in St Augustine (check out Uncle John's guns!)

Dad's birthday was a little low key this year... he is 41 and all, too much excitement might not be good :P We celebrated quietly at nana and papa's with dinner and cupcakes.

Since its been a blazing hot October, he's enjoyed cooling off with the hose at Dot's house and swinging on the front porch swing. We have to sneak the the hose since it wasn't Dot's day to water and it wasn't before 10A or after 4P. Shh, don't tell dad.

He's learning to walk backwards!

(and by the way, went to dentist for the first time and got an A-OK check up.... he was SUCH a good boy and didn't get upset at all to have people in his mouth)

He got to visit the pumpkin patch with Dre and lived it up!

Eli Visits the Zoo with Granma and Colors with Granpa!

2009-09-28T18:27:00.025-04:00

Eli got to visit the zoo with his granma and Dot and had a ball! Granma was a littled pooped after realizing just how big the zoo is now! Check out some of their fun!

Eli also got to spend an afternoon with his granpa coloring and generally showing off:

Check out the listening ears... the latest in high fashion for those toddlers that are 'with it' and they help him pay attention to boot!

Eli is 20 months!

2009-09-01T20:31:00.014-04:00

Well, OK technically 20 months and 7 days and he shows every day of it! He is quite the little boy tearing around the house, practicing jumping, kicking his legs in the air, throwing balls inside and imitating a gorilla, all to name just a few of his vast and various talents... oh, and did I mention he's sitting on the big potty?! We're giving it a try... sorry, no pictures of that below. Those are reserved as personal stock for when he's older and mom wants to truly embarass him!

Eli feeding the ducks at Riverside Park

Eli enjoying a surprise shower at Murray Hill Playground

Eli and Dre at Kids Campus

Eli at Riverside Park

Eli and Dre at Willowbranch Park

Eli and Cristiana at Willowbranch Park

Eli enjoying Crystal Springs Road Park

And for those of you wishing for a video, have we got a gem for you! Here's Eli actually on his 20 month birthday living it up in the front yard!

And here's a bonus of Eli enjoying the water (unexpectedly) at Murray Hill Playground:

A sad farewell to Amanda

2009-08-16T21:03:00.012-04:00

We bid Amanda a sad farewell last week. We will miss her dearly but understand the importance of her pursuing her education and wish her all the best!

Here are a few pictures of her and Eli's adventures together before saying 'see you later', since we will definitely see her around!

Amanda, Eli and Dot paid a visit to Sydney's grandparent's farm in Orange Park... there they saw peacocks and cows and goats and a pig, oh my! Here's Eli sneaking up....

He's actually trying to get a better look at the cows through the fence slats....

Here are Sydney and Eli at the farm and Eli and Holden enjoying the zoo (notice Eli eyeing Sydney's crocks and wondering if those come in his size):

And Eli and Sydney meandering down a dirt road

And here's Dot, who will be taking over adventures with Eli starting tomorrow so stay tuned!

Eli Sees, Eli Does!

2009-07-28T22:18:00.006-04:00

Ever hear that saying that children are blank slates, or something along those lines? Well have we got one for you! Here's a video of Eli impersonating Jordan, our geriatric, arthritic, stinky skinned, grumpy Florida Brown Dog:

Thankfully he didn't include Jordan's usual moans and groans that accompany said butt rubbing.

For the record (and those concerned), mom, dad, Bonzo, Antigone, Shiva and Juliette (Ju Ju to Eli) will be more careful in words and actions around Eli from now on, least he decide to imitate us too!

Uncle Charlie!

2009-07-23T20:16:00.006-04:00

I can't believe I forgot Charlie had sent us these pictures! Charlie and Allison were kind enough to invite us all over for dinner a few weeks ago. Allison's daughter Ellie was out of town for the weekend, but Allison allowed Eli to to play in Ellie's room. Eli got to play with the doll house, books, dolls, but most beloved of all, Ellie's dress up baskets! I never realized how much of a show off Eli really was until he came strutting out in a tiara, slides and a little fur lined jacket and loved every minute of it!

Allison own's Sheff's Everyday Gourmet. Check out her recipe for Cheddar Chive Biscuits - http://www.jacksonville.com/lifestyles/food/2009-04-09/story/get_a_little_adventurous_with_easter_side_dishes we had them with dinner and they were tasty.

Here are some pictures of Charlie, Eli and Jimmy. After dress up and dinner were over, Eli and Uncle Charlie did a few rounds of ring around the rosey, Charlie style:

The story of 'Duh and the Llama'

2009-07-17T22:15:00.013-04:00

We traveled to North Carolina last weekend to attend the MusicFest 'n Sugar Grove (see http://musicfestnsugargrove.org/). Little did we know what we had in store!

The drive up wasn't too bad.... we left Wednesday night and drove a little more than half the way and stayed in a nice Holiday Inn in Columbia, SC. Eli was a little freaked out by his new surroundings, but quickly adjusted the next morning when he realized they had a 'tt' and mom turned on Noggin.

He enjoyed Aunt Sandi's a great deal. When we were there last around Chrismas, he wasn't quite walking. This time around he was fully mobile and took complete advantage.

Uncle Doug took mom and Eli to visit the cashmere goats and Silverado, the llama. Silverado is responsible for protecting the goats and takes his job VERY seriously. Eli was absolutely SMITTEN with Silverado, and Doug by proxy since Silverado wouldn't come up to anyone else, and only to Doug when he was offering grain.

Eli wasn't very interested in the goats, but wasn't afraid at all when they all rushed in to get their share of the grain.

Pretty much the whole trip long there was no more mama. Mama became llama (or as best as Eli could pronounce it) and Duh (Doug) was Eli's new best friend. We took several trips down to see the llama and goats, and Eli enjoyed everyone!

Eli did go to MusicFest 'n Sugar Grove both Friday and Saturday... he really enjoyed the fact that there were a ton of other children running around! The first thing he did when we went Friday evening was run up to one poor hapless little boy and put his hands on his throat. I calmly explained that Eli was trying to tickle him and although the little boy looked terrified, he smiled weakly and said OK until Eli took his hands away and decided to chase down another victim.

Granma accompanied him at the festival for a little while Saturday while dad enjoyed the music and mom went to an auction. After a few hours of chasing Eli around, granma was worn out!

He even decided to adhere to what he thought was a llama practice, only to find out later it was closer to an Austrailian Shepherd.... herding. Here he is in action!

Eli also got to visit the cows up the road from Sandi and Doug. There were several calves, and it was very sweet when he saw one of the calves nursing and turned around to mama and made the sign for milk. He catches on quick (or now thinks his mom may a cow, we're not really sure)

He also got to see a few donkeys (standard and miniature!), burros, other goats, sheep and another llama, but he remains true to Silverado and can't wait to see him next time!

The ride home was pretty uneventful... we went half way again, this time staying in a Ramada Inn in Beaufort, SC. Not as nice as the hotel on the way up, but I guess sometimes you get lucky and sometimes not so lucky when booking your stay on Hotwire...

Thanks Aunt Sandi and Uncle Duh!

Task Master!

2009-07-17T22:00:00.011-04:00

Here he is vacuuming... we do have 1 long haired cat, two dogs and a mama that sheds like crazy... how do you think you keep wood floors clean?

Reading books to those that can't (OK, Uncle June (in Eli-ese) was reading 'The Wheels on the Bus' to Eli in an attempt to upstage Gampy D)

Paying homage to those we hold in high esteem (Buddha in the bamboo garden at Kanapaha Botanical Gardens in Gainesville - http://www.kanapaha.org/)

Picking 10 lbs of blueberries in heat and standing water with mosquitoes to make dad happy. OK, this trip near Gainesville was a little over a couple of pounds. A later trip for which we have no pictoral documentation yielded a little more than 10 lbs and Eli was extremely happy to help us eat blueberries right out of the bucket).

Making a nutritious and satisfying meal for those you love... OK, granma cooked the spaghetti here, but Eli obviously enjoyed it immensely!

Taking the family car out for a spin... ok, maybe that's a stretch, but here's Eli enjoying RAM (http://www.riversideartsmarket.com/) his way.

Giving friends tours of local attractions... (here are Eli and Holden at the zoo in the Asian exhibit. Funny enough, Holden was explaining to Eli how he was the grown up and Eli was the baby)...

But after a long day of chores, there's nothing more relaxing than kicking back and playing dress up:

Enjoying a little fun in the sand and sun

Catching up on all those library books before they become past due (Eli really enjoyed the Knut book to his left in this picture)

Enjoying a little liquid libation. What can we say... he likes his straws!

Sharing a smooze with Holden on the front porch

Enjoying the surf at Ponte Vedra with Amanda

And of course, wearing mom's shoes!

Well, now that he's walking, we might as well put him to work!

2009-06-03T20:27:00.010-04:00

And put him to work we did! First the lawn:

Then we made him clean the yard art, with his tongue none the less.

Then we made him go off in the wild exploring for exotic butterflies at the Natural History Museum in Gainesville. He really liked the museum because there were quite a few Eli sized things for him to get his hand on.... all except butterflies, though he tried a few times.

Then we made him model his new sunglasses (Julbos) and flip flops that Andy got him when he was a newborn.

Then we made him eat chocolate ice cream at the Florida Folk Festival. As you can see, he really didn't like that chore.

We also made him swing with Uncle John, just because Uncle John needed some special Eli attention.

Then we made him play on the jungle gym at Spring Park in Greencove.

Then we made him travel around the house in his backpack... he needs to start getting ready for school after all. Here he is taking a quick breather. He can't believe what a task master mom really is.

When it was all said and done we let him have a little rest in Harper's Hello Kitty playhouse,

before making him play at the splash park at the zoo with Holden and show off his summer abs he's been working so hard on...

Though we don't have pictures as evidence, we also make him put dirty clothes in the hamper (he also likes to take his clean wipes, one by one, and place them in the hamper, just to mess with mom) and vaccuum the house.

Harper decided Eli needed a little break and decided to share her swing with him... for a little while at least, until he started man handling her.

I tell you, Eli's got it pretty rough. Next on the list, rubbing mom's feet!

Eli's 16 Months and Walking!

2009-04-26T22:22:00.008-04:00

Believe it or not, he's walking all by himself! Granted, he's been walking for a few months now when it suited him, cruising around the coffee table, going from chair to chair, pushing his walker wagon down the sidewalk, but now, he's walking all by himself! Game on, dad! :)

Since we haven't been as diligent lately in posting notes and pictures, here are a few since last we updated everyone on Eli's progress.

Eli's quite the social butterfly! He loves to hug and kiss on other children, much to their shock and awe. He attended the Green Expo, the Riverside Arts Market (RAM) and a farewell to Jennifer at Down to Earth Farms (his CSA - see http://www.jacksonville.com/tu-online/stories/110308/lif_350415269.shtml for more details about the farm) this weekend. Here's Eli enjoying the strawberries from his own front yard that he loves to pick and eat by himself. Notice the new sign recently added, courtesy of Victoria. Eli's an urbfarmer!

This is a picture of Eli and his new friend Sydney enjoying the zoo and Harry, the new baby jaguar...

He loves his new bed that Gampy made for him. In fact, we joke that he camped out in it for a few days. In all honesty, he does spend much more time in his bedroom than he ever did before and loves to sit in the cab and look at books or blow kisses - literally- on the window.

He's had a lot of fun in his new turtle pool courtesy of Victoria (thank you).

He can imitate the dogs, cat, a lion, a cow, the train and has come up with a new logo for mom and dad - mommydada and loves being pimped out for St Johns Riverkeeper... see him below modeling the new spring line, the envy of toddlers everywhere:

We'll shoot some more video that's more accurate of his walking capabilities, but here's a taste of what's in store from when he first really started getting around by himself without any props... check out the Robot Walk:

Mom's Birthday Extravaganza Weekend

2009-04-26T22:09:00.006-04:00

Eli spent mom's birthday extravaganza weekend this year at Indian Springs State Park in Georgia. We had a lovely cabin that Eli thoroughly enjoyed exploring and got to spend some quailty time with Uncle Joe, though it was colder than all get out... seriously!

Never one to let tradition die, dad maintained the annual tradition and treated mom to a dinner of mixed veggies and chicken and dumplings from the local Dollar General... no, Eli did not sample them this year.

Won't you be my valentine?

2009-02-09T21:48:00.007-05:00

Y, Eli

It seems like it has been forever!

2009-02-09T20:45:00.007-05:00

And looking at the last post to Eli's blog, it has been! Wow, where has time gone? Since the last post, before his ONE YEAR birthday, its a different ball game!

Eli is still pulling up on things, with much more grace than he had in months past. He's even got a bit of a daredevil streak. He likes to go no hands for a second or two. He's starting to crawl on his tippie toes with his behind high up in the air. He likes to peek out the front door... the only problem is that he's also decided to take a taste or two of the door which is scary in a house as old as ours.

He has amazing dexterity, or so his dad claims. To be honest, he does have really good fine motor skills and loves to pick the lint or cat hair off the throw rug and proudly present it to you.

Eli's starting to sleep through the night! For the past few nights (and hopefully this won't jinx it, considering it is mom's turn to put him down should he wake up), he's slept from 8P to 6:45A relatively soundly. Once he wakes though he is immediately signing for a bottle of milk.

Oh, and he's signing! Just a few key signs, but it helps him communicate what he wants - food, milk, his own version of more. Amanda is focusing on please and thank you now. Next I think will be poopy or new diaper though its pretty obvious now when that is needed. He's starting to eat by himself with utensils. Amanda is a little braver than mom and dad with the runny stuff, but he LOVES to mix raisins into his yogurt in the morning then eat with his spoon, kind of, as his 13 month picture to the left demonstrates. He doesn't always make it right in.

He has a few words - mama, dada, uh oh, meow and quack are pretty clear. He'll kind of say Amanda, imitates spaghetti o's(as in uh oh spaghetti o's), imitates the dogs barking, kind of calls for the dogs and Antigone by name. Mom and Amanda heard him say thank you once, but we're still working on it.

Eli loves to wave hello and bye bye. He'll kind of blow kisses - more like hold his hand to his mouth and get it nice and slobbery. He does love to give big open mouth kisses though.

Eli's started to exhibit attachment to stuffed animals. He has a tiger from Victoria and a beaver from Nina that have been in his crib for forever, and just last week, he started wanting to carry them around with him and will motion for them. He'll even growl like a lion for a reaction.

Eli had his first bout with a stomach bug. Not fun for dad or Amanda, since dad's back seat and Amanda's hair received the brunt of his wretching. The actual vomiting only lasted a few hours or so, but it was a pretty scary time considering he's never had anything like that. The next day he was back in action for a belated birthday picnic with Harper, Brian and Gayle. Too bad Eli ended up sharing his bug with the Rice family.

Transportation these days is a backpack mom wears (a Becco Baby Carrier for all the baby wearers out there), a stroller (which Bonzo prefers so he can ride underneath when he gets tired), his Radio Flyer car or his gi-normous wagon (again, favorite of Bonzo's), or dad's shoulder's in a pinch. He likes to crawl up and down the sidewalk out front, but has a tendency to try to eat dirt and mulch.

He's still pretty much eating anything you put in front of him. Green beans and veggie dogs are favorites, but he also likes munching on peeled apple slices, LOVES raisins and dried blueberries, likes fish sticks and chicken pieces. Sweet potatoe is acceptable now too, especially if it has OJ and maple syrup to sweeten it. He tried kale for the first time... I'm not sure it was a huge hit. He loves to eat out, especially at the Fox for breakfast so he can be a voyuer like mom. He still likes to share his food with Jordan, though mom and dad are trying to stop that habit.

He loves to sneak a peek of mom in the shower (over the shower rod, since dad can lift him), likes to take showers with his dad and will submit to a bath once a week or so (he likes to do his part to conserve water). He loves to play with his ducks, pirate figures and the shampoo bottle in the bath, but doesn't like getting water in his face too much.

He still hasn't had a haircut! His hair is pretty long when it is wet, but as it dries, it gets pretty curly in the back.

Here are a few pictures of Eli from the last couple of months:

The big '#1' birthday party - all the kids marvel over the plastic toy. Eli with Uncle Shawn, the plastic toy offender.

Eli at Sandi and Doug's in Vilas, NC. Eli's with Dusty (a neighbor's cow that had a calf just for Eli to see!) and with Lydia, one of Sandi's cashmere goats (betcha didn't know cashmere came from a goat!)

Eli peeking out the front door:

Eli wearing his oh so trendy hat Aunt Sandi knitted. Doug liked to call it his Hail Hitler hat.

Eli watching President Obama's inauguration. Mom and dad don't typically let him watch tv, but in this instance, made an exception.

Dad and Eli at Hontoon Island.... we really wanted to go to Blue Springs to see the manatees, but there were already too many people in the park, so we went to Hontoon Island instead and almost spent the night (sans food and diapers) since we got lost on the trail. Mental note to self... ALWAYS get a map, no matter how much dad trusts his instincts.

Eli practicing with a spoon...

And grandpa reliving the poopy diaper experience first hand:

Eli vs Santa

2008-12-19T22:26:00.004-05:00

Eli got to meet Santa for the first time, at a children's holiday party at mom's office. He didn't seem to scared by Santa, just kind of weirded out by his beard. He LOVED the fact that all the other kids flocked to Santa since he had a front row seat and could play voyuer!

Eli's First Christmas in Avondale

2008-12-19T22:21:00.003-05:00

We're sure this will be a family tradition, if nothing, then because mom loves to go, but Eli had a grand time! He hadn't seen so many kids running loose in one place before. His head kept swiveling from side to side because he was afraid he would miss something! He really liked the view from Gampy's shoulders... he could see for miles:

Eli's Trip to the St Augustine Amphitheater's Winter Wonderlan

2008-12-19T22:04:00.005-05:00

Let me tell you.... Eli had a blast, though he was a little disappointed the ice slide was closed for repairs and they didn't have ice skates in his size. Check out http://www.staugamphitheatre.com/winterwonderland/ for all the details.

He was amazed by the elf village... everything was his size!

He absolutely LOVED the carriage ride! Romeo and Juliet are his favorite horses now!

And he loved getting to spend quality time with his granma and granpa!

For all those Eli fans out there, here's an update!

2008-12-19T21:17:00.009-05:00

Eli is starting to pull up and partially stand, believe it or not! His dad keeps shouting to take his legs out, but mom and Amanda like encouraging him to walk and mature.

Here are some pictures of things he likes to do in a day:

He likes to start off the day with a nice piece of toast, preferably cranberry and raisin swirl with a little butter. He likes to share, especially with Jordan, and Jordan LOVES to like the butter from his fingers.

He likes to ease into the day with a little toy playing. Notice the teeth... he's up to seven! Oh, and the Burro Bag in the background. Eli is all about being at the height of indie fashion, that's why he's working on perfecting his rat tail.

He wants to stress how important sunlight is! A little bit each day keeps your complexion looking bright and sunny...

It is also important to stimulate your mind with a good book or sign language flash cards (mom is determined he will be tri-lingual in English, Sign and Spanish):

It is important to get exercise each and every day, even if it's a crawl around the living room practicing fish lips:

It is also important to engage your mind. Eli likes checking out the paper each night to find out what happened in the world:

And most importantly, keep those you love close...

Eli is Cat Angling!

2008-11-18T18:34:00.003-05:00

Watch the video and you too will become a believer! Shiva was gracious enough to participate in this production.

Eli's Crawling!

2008-11-17T21:33:00.011-05:00

...and smiling, and laughing, and swinging, and sticking his tongue out too! Well a couple of weeks ago, Eli began a new chapter in his life, one of mobility. Mom and Dad can't just leave the room anymore and expect Eli to be in the same place as when we left. Eli has now got wheels, or should I say "knees"? The whole ballgame has changed, and we may not have much time to adjust before he is vertical. He's is starting to pull himself up on tables and chairs. Wish us luck!

Alright, we are terrible parents

2008-11-04T21:34:00.008-05:00

It's been so long since we've updated Eli's blog, and he's reminded us of it, in his own little way, daily.

So where to begin? Eli's crawling now (kind of)... he's still not racing across the floor (whew says dad). He's trying to pull himself up on things. He likes to go in the 'tripod' position (up on his tippie toes with one hand in the air and one anchored on the floor). He likes to smack his lips and make growling noises (seriously, it's hilarious). He is eating so much food (pretty much whatever you put in front of him). He's still breastfeeding. As a result of both of these actions, has almost adult like poo (and dad is designated poo scraper). He enjoys frozen teething biscuits a lot and tends to make a big mess. He has become a political activist (as evidenced by the pictures below). He LOVES his new bike trailer. He had a lot of fun picking out his Halloween pumpkin, but didn't enjoy Halloween quite as much as we thought he would, since there weren't many trick or treaters. He loves visiting the animals at the zoo. He really loves Amanda, his nanny. He was exhausted after early voting and has the sticker to prove it. He loves doing whipped cream hits. He loves to have his own leash when we walk the dogs. He is quite the ladies man and flirts shamelessly. He likes feeding himself puffs. He loves his baby blue, velour Nike warm up suit. He is REALLY hoping Obama wins tonight (he went to see him Monday morning).

Here are some pictures since we last updated his blog:

And for those who braved through all the pictures, he's a video of Eli enjoying the 'big boy' swing:

Eli's Growing So Much!

2008-09-14T21:23:00.004-04:00

For those of you out there that read about Eli as much as you can, we're sorry! Mom and dad's lives have been a bit hectic lately and they've neglected to keep Eli's site updated.

Believe it or not, Eli's got four upper teeth! The two newest started pushing through last Friday. We can't see any new bottom teeth yet, but have a feeling more are on the way. His dad's a little worried he might keep the space between his top teeth. His grandpa joked and called him Bucky Beaver when he spent quality time with him during last weekend's Jaguar's game.

Eli's becoming MUCH more aware of his surroundings. He takes time to watch and study everything. He still likes to orally examine everything (i.e. likes to put it in his mouth) and is still getting on his hand and knees and rocking a bit, so we think it's only a matter of time before he takes off! Mom got him some 'baby legs' (http://www.babylegs.net/) to protect his legs from the hardwood floots. Let's just hope they'll fit over his chubby legs in the upcoming months! He's also eating a lot more 'food', though most of it doesn't require a lot of chewing.

Eli and mom have had what I guess you could call challenge matches recently. With his new teeth, he's taken to biting (and drawing blood in a few cases) when nursing (yes, he's still nursing), likes to pinch and pull out hand fulls of hair. Mom's polled a few other nursing moms to find out what they did to combat the biting, so hopefully a few tried and true methods will help curb Eli's need to chomp down.

Here are a few picture of Eli over the past few weeks...

Eli and Holden at Kid's Campus. We won't go into the cloth diaper scandal, but suffice it to say, the City of Jacksonville isn't environmentally concerned and thinks everyone should wear plastic.

Eli, dad and granma on St Augustine Beach. We stayed part of Labor Day weekend in what was supposed to be a four star hotel. I'm not sure what rating scale they were using, so we'll just say that Eli really enjoyed the beach and we'll leave it at that.

Eli's first Artwalk in downtown Jacksonville! He got to check out quite a bit, but I think the highlight was this Packard...

Eli's first visit (with mom and dad in tow at least) to the bar at Burrito Gallery. He LOVES the ginger teryaki tofu and guacamole there and just had to check out the bar with dad.

Eli Rides Out Tropical Storm Fay

2008-08-25T20:22:00.008-04:00

Eli weathered (no pun intended) his first tropical disturbance - Tropical Storm Fay. The news certainly sensationalized it a bit more than necessary, but there was a lot to clean up this past weekend.... the Lakewood house has a small hole in the roof over the garage and the carport was damaged. The Riverside house has a yucky mess of muck in the backyard (and even yuckier under the house) and we had to replace a water swelled shed door, but all in all, down limbs from all the wind and standing water from all the rain, not too bad.

Eli enjoyed the first part of the storm.... who wouldn't! Lots of wind in your face as you swing on the front porch. That suddenly turned nasty as the wind kicked up and the rain literally pelted the front porch. We just moved the party inside! Eli got to watch the Olympics. He and dad are kind of partial to women's beach volleyball and they can't understand why the US track teams couldn't pass the battons.

Eli has three teeth now! Two on top (so he kind of looks like Bugs Bunny since they are spaced out a bit) and a sharp one on the bottom right. He's been very fussy lately and doesn't want to take naps. Afterall, he could miss something! He's also rocking if you put him on his hands and knees before he goes flat onto the ground.

Here's some video of Eli eating some mediterranean tofu scramble (yes, he likes tofu) during the storm. Sorry for the angle. Mom always forgets we don't have video editing software.

Here are a few pictures we've collected over the last few weeks:

Eli sampling this year's Georgia peach crop. I'm not sure peaches were a huge hit.

Carrots were the next week's food and as you can tell, Eli was a little concerned by the color they might turn his poop.

Enjoying outside before the big storm hit.

Yes, they make me lift this huge ball as part of my workout.... I've got the pipes to prove it!

Eli modeling one of Anomaly's t shirts.

Family Picture Time!

2008-08-03T23:00:00.005-04:00

Here are a few images from our family picture shoot with Molly:

Wow, look who's sitting up on his own!

2008-08-03T22:04:00.010-04:00

We know it's been a while, but we wanted Eli to be able to perfect sitting up on his own before we posted any new pictures or video. And what a job he's done!

He's had a busy couple of weeks. He went to his first political event, an Obama organizational event. He spent some quality time with his Granpa and Great Grandma Crain arguing about President Bush (Eli maintains he has hurt our country; his great grandma believes differently). He's been busy mowing the lawn at the Lakewood house on the weekends. He's been trying new foods... avocado most recently, next on the list, peaches (but only if they are from Georgia per dad). He likes to gnaw on apples and celery an awful lot. He's been hanging out with Holden and learning new things. He's been swimming at Epping with Amanda. He got to sit in a high chair out for breakfast for the first time. He's been working on two top teeth (yes, believe it or not, they look like they're close to coming in!) He and granma got to read a book together. He's starting to clap! And he's got a new routine. We still haven't figured out what it's supposed to be.... an imitation of a motorcycle or Eli just showing off his pipes (i.e. biceps). And, most importantly, sitting up on his own (with a pillow behind in case he gets tired and falls back).

Eli and Dad on the porch swing

2008-07-20T13:30:00.002-04:00

Eli's Week

2008-07-20T13:21:00.005-04:00

Eli and Amanda had a lot of adventures this week! They went to MOSH, the zoo and swimming in Ponte Vedra (dad said no comments about RWH since those are Eli's peeps now).

Here are a few pictures from his visit to the zoo with Amanda, Holden, Allison and Jackson:

Week Three.... Squash!

2008-07-20T13:03:00.003-04:00

This week's food was squash... yellow and green. It didn't go over all so very well either, though one night dad did mix in a little spaghetti sauce to liven it up a little and Eli seemed at least a little receptive.

We're thinking next week's food might be something exciting like banana....

We're sorry!

2008-07-13T23:04:00.005-04:00

Everyone's been a little under the weather in the house.... nasty congestion, lots of coughing and yuckiness, which is why there aren't many new pictures. Dad even went to the doctor!

Eli's new nanny, Amanda, started this past week too! Eli had a fun week of walks in the stroller and sling, a jaunt to the library with Holden (Amanda's nephew), a visit to MOSH and swimming at Epping!

Here's a video we shot on the 4th of July, shortly before the nastiness settled in. Mom is swatting a mosquito that was sucking dad's blood toward the end of the video, though dad contends it was a different story (i.e. that she's sick of hearing about big oil, which she is). There have been a lot of mosquitos recently because of all the downpours we've had, so we have to be very careful with Eli outside.

ENJOY!

Thanks Joe and Sarah!

2008-07-13T22:55:00.006-04:00

Eli really enjoyed his presents! His grandparents dropped them off before their trip to visit Sandi:

He REALLY enjoyed unwrapping!

And decided to immediately to try out his new presents. Don't worry... it's German made, no fear of lead.

Week Two... Applesauce!

2008-07-13T22:34:00.004-04:00

Applesauce didn't go over much better than sweet potatoes did, well, maybe a little better. Eli's still pretty set on breastmilk being the way to go and isn't sure why we're trying to change that. Take a look for yourself:

And in this one, he looks so much like his dad did as a baby it's a little uncanny....

Dad and I have decided squash will be next... not sure if it will be green or yellow. Too bad ours didn't take off out front or Eli could be eating home grown squash!

Week One of Foods... Sweet Potatoes!

2008-06-29T21:47:00.006-04:00

We decided sweet potatoes would be Eli's first taste of 'real food', though he's still getting breastmilk. Dr. Cerron said to give him one food once a day for the first few days of the week (to test for allergies), then twice a day for the last few days of the week, then start a new food the following week. Once no allergies have been confirmed, we can mix foods.

We cooked a sweet potatoe in the microwave for a bit to soften it up, then stored it overnight in the refrigerator. Saturday morning, the skin came off and the sweet potatoe went into the food processor to become sweet potatoe mash for Eli.

I'm not so sure sweet potatoe was what he thought it would be, and I'm not sure if it was the texture or the actual taste, but it didn't take too much of it for him to crinkle up his nose. Jordan happily finished what was left and is looking forward to his new somewhat symbiotic relationship with Eli and food.

We're thinking next week may be apples or bananas... stayed tuned for week two of Eli's forays into food!

Eli's Six Month Well Baby Check

2008-06-28T12:23:00.005-04:00

Eli had his 6 month well baby check on Friday with Dr. Cerron. He's 17lbs, 9oz (50th percentile), 27 in long (75th percentile) and his head is 44 1/2 in around (75th percentile).

He also got the go ahead to start foods... yum!

Here's a shot of him before he stayed with Odessa on Thursday evening, so mom and dad could go see Emmylou Harris.

He started out a little shy... he wasn't sure that turquoise went with the yellow all so very well.

Then started digging it a bit, it looks pretty good and I make it look that much better!

Then the pressure set in (Seriously! When's the last time you wore a sweat band around your head... they can hurt!)
Then he decided he was done with it. This wasn't the right look for him at all.

It's Eli's Birthday!

2008-06-24T19:45:00.001-04:00

Six month birthday that is, and boy was it a blowout! Dad can speak from experience on this one, since it was his turn to change the dirty diaper this evening.

Eli's day started off wonderfully.... who doesn't like to sleep in a little late on their birthday?

It ended with a long walk to dinner and home.... which Eli loves because he got to spend it with his two favorite people... Happy Birthday, Eli!

Here are a few pictures from Eli's low key weekend. He's ramping up for this coming one, after his 6month checkup on Friday. Now that he's six months old and all, there's so much more mischief to get into...

The Super Stupendous Father's Day Weekend

2008-06-15T22:09:00.000-04:00

Eli is so excited, his first Father's Day Weekend!

We spent part of the weekend doing serious research. We're going to get chickens, well, after we clear it with the neighbors, so Eli got to visit Jim Draper's this weekend to meet his girls and was pretty intrigued as you can see.

Jim's are Ameraucanas and their eggs come in shades of blue, green and brown. See http://www.mypetchicken.com/Ameraucana-B5.aspx. Jim also recommended the following site if you're considering chickens - http://www.fowlvisions.com/

Eli went to see his grandpa in Interlachen early Sunday morning to take a dip in his new pool. When Eli got in, the water was a little too cold for his liking, no matter how Granpa tried to spin it. He even tried bribing mom with a kiss to get out of the cold water.... it worked.

Granpa is his new hero though.... he killed a pygmy rattlesnake on the carport near the pool just before Eli go to Interlachen.

Eli packed up and headed back to Jacksonville with mom, dad, Jordan and Bonzo in tow for dessert with Gampy and granma. Eli loved wearing seersucker for his gampy! Now if he could just get Gampy to make him a mint julep with that Evan Willams he got from mom and dad, he'd be set!

Dad got in on the photographic fun and posed with Eli and gampy for this 'multi-generational' shot.

Happy Birthday Uncle Shawn and Roser!

2008-06-09T22:03:00.000-04:00

Granpa got a little quality time with Eli.... until he got fussy that is. Notice Eli (not Granpa) is wearing a big boy button up shirt!

Eli got to enjoy the heat of the Japanese hibachi and shrill noises from sharp knives.

Eli's Weekend Full of Wild and Crazy Women!

2008-06-09T21:38:00.001-04:00

OK, there were four women, one of which is technically 10 months older than him (Harper still counts as an older woman, right?!), one of which was his granma and one of which was his mom....

Eli got to spend some quality time with Lisa on Saturday after a visit to the Beach's Farmer's Market so dad could check it all out. We're pretty sure the feeling was mutual... Lisa commented it had been a while since she had had that much action!

Sunday night, Eli got a little smooch time with Harper:

We've saved the one where he actually turned to her and latched on.... it might come in handy later in his life as bribery! Everyone enjoyed great company and food (thanks Brian and Gayle!)... especially the blueberries Harper picked!

Eli's A Superstar!

2008-06-04T21:52:00.000-04:00

Here are a few photographs of Eli courtesy of Molly, Eli's nanny, who does photography professionally (and will be doing a family portrait soon!) .... check out Molly's website at http://www.suitcaseinhand.ifp3.com/

Eli 4 months

Eli 3 months

Eli's Super Fantastic Weekend!

2008-06-01T22:06:00.000-04:00

Eli had a Super Fantastic Weekend this weekend!

It all started out with a little naked tummy time in the front yard on a super fantastic quilt that Brynne made for him! He really enjoys the patterns and wanted to give her a shout out to say thank you!

Eli's also started drinking out of a glass. Mom and dad were both pretty surprised that he's showed interest, I mean, considering where his food typically comes from and all, but he seems to have mastered it well enough.

Saturday morning he tried to sleep in, but mom wouldn't leave his crack alone... it really is pretty funny that he's growing out of his prefolds so quickly.

He, mom and dad headed out to run errands. First stop was to visit volunteers cleaning up at the Haskell Company. Eli got to hang out on the yacht and nap for a bit. Next stop was to visit Bertha.... it had been a while since she had seen him and she was surprised at how big he had grown!

Next stops were to buy clothes since he's quickly growing out of those he has.... he wanted to model the shirt Aunt Sandi had bought for him when he was still in utero. It seemed awfully small when she gave it to mom and dad.... now seems awfully small since he's quickly growing out of it! Eli's already wearing 6-9 month clothes!

Gampy and grandma came over Saturday night to hang out with Eli. Mom and dad headed out to see the First Coast Chorus 2008 Spring Concert - The River Runs Through Us where mom won a raffled zoo membership for the family! Eli was so excited so we decided the next day to head to the zoo!

What a morning it was! Eli had seen animals before.... he has his own zoo of kitties, doggies, fish and squirrels at home, but a ray petting bay and actual giraffes?! He really was beside himself.

Now if he could just figure out how to get the real giraffe into his mouth....

Eli's Inaugural Memorial Day Weekend

2008-05-26T21:44:00.001-04:00

Eli had a lot of firsts this weekend... he took his first nap with his grandma Crain, he went to the Florida Folk Festival in White Springs, he skipped a whole afternoon nap, he took the baby jogger out for a spin, he slept in until 8:30A and he got busted by Johnny Law for illegal activities.

His weekend started in Interlachen (Florida, that is) at his granma and grandpa Crain's. He loaded up bright and early Saturday morning for the 1.5 or so hour drive there with Jordan, Bonzo, mom and dad. He slept most the way there and missed out on much of the scenery. Dad was pretty afraid the first time mom took him to Interlachen to meet her parents.... after a drive down the bumpy dirt road to get to there, dad was sure mom had plans to leave him out in the woods.

Eli woke up on the ride down the dirt road out to grandma and grandpa's. Grandpa and the dogs (Joy, Brenna, Bridget and Brandy) were there to greet him... grandma was asleep since she had worked all Friday night.

Eli took a long nap with his grandma... mom and dad checked on him a few times to make sure he was actually sleeping since he was out so long. I think we probably woke grandma.

He missed watching Heavy - The History of Metal. Dad really wanted to share his love of Eddie (http://www.maiden-world.com/articles/history-of-eddie.html) and recollections of concert shirts of yesteryear with him. Instead, Eli got to watch the last of 'National Treasure' on the biggest, loudest big screen TV ever (keep in mind his TV is 19" and he's caught a glimpse or two of it). Needless to say, he was pretty engrossed.

The next day, he loaded up with granma and gampy Orth, mom and dad and headed to White Springs to Stephen Foster State Park for the 56th Annual Florida Folk Festival (http://www.floridastateparks.org/folkfest/). If you've never heard dad describe it, ask him about it. He's convinced it's the greatest thing since sliced bread. Eli seemed to have a good time and even found himself singing along with grandma's help:

Eli had a good time, though the corna (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corna) really didn't fit in this crowd like it would have the day before. Somehow we doubt Ronnie James Dio was on the musician list in White Springs...

He had such a good time that he didn't take his afternoon nap, even though Gampy tried pretty hard to convince him to on a pallet under the shade of trees near the main stage. It doesn't take much for gampy to drift off to sleep. Eli had to keep peeking to see what was going on around him.

Since he wouldn't nap on the pallet, mom and dad walked him around the festival and took him to meet the livestock. This year's festival theme was cattle ranching. He really enjoyed sitting on Bessie, though he wished he could have tossed the lasoe a time or two at the cracker horse or cows. The cows in the pictureo on the right are about the same age as Eli, though thankfully, he's not quite a big.

Eli got to meet the Sims and Dolly Day at the festival.... dad's told him alot about them so he was happy to finally put a name with a face.

He also got to swim in the Suwannee... illegally. Not sure why, but DEP kept coming around telling people they couldn't swim in the Suwannee. Eli got a chance to dip a two or two, splashed dad and loved every minute of it!

The trip home was peaceful... Eli slept most of the way though Uncle John (who rode with us back to Jacksonville) was warned that if Eli started getting upset, he would need to sing.

Monday was a day to recover... for Eli at least so he could get prepared for this week's adventures!

Eli rocks Tybee Island

2008-05-19T22:09:00.001-04:00

Eli paid a visit to Tybee Island this past weekend to meet Joe and Sarah Coleman. Dad went to junior high and college with Joe so Eli was eagerly anticipating a few stories about dad from Uncle Joe. Joe currently works for a Mercedes dealership, though everyone is eagerly awaiting his transition to Farmer Joe. Sarah founded Huie Design, an environmental sign design firm and also scours the country for antiques. We're still waiting for the third addition to the Huie-Coleman family to make it to the Huie Design website - http://www.huiedesign.com/index.html, no matter how many different types of canine Joe is convinced she is.

Eli was bummed he missed the annual Beach Bum parade that took place Friday night. He really wanted to join in the water gun fight and float parade but wasn't sure he was quite big enough to hold up the water cannon and didn't want to test the liquid holding capacity of his Bummis.

The car ride up was a good one... grandma and Gampy Orth came along for the ride, to keep Eli company and to see Joe and Sarah. There was a little feeding emergency on the way up in the van, but nothing mom couldn't handle by carefully balancing over Eli to nurse him, bracing herself should the vehicle come to an abrupt stop so no one would get an eyeful.

Gampy, Joe, mom and dad went out for lunch Saturday afternoon.... Sarah stayed back at the house sick (so sick in fact, we all wondered if Joe was making up the fact that she wasn't there since we didn't see her until brunch on Sunday) and grandma hung out with Eli for a nap enjoying the volleyball tournament music. Mom learned many a new thing from Joe about dad over a few adult beverages that afternoon. She also learned Gampy's aim isn't all it's cracked up to be.

Mom, dad and Joe took Eli on a walking tour of a portion of Tybee Island. He got to see a few of the Tybee Turtles (see http://www.tybeearts.org/TTT/TurtleCatalog.htm, similar to what Jacksonville did with jaguars and manatees) and got to see the beach for the first time. Beach signs indicated bacteria levels were 'acceptable' so mom and dad thought it best if Eli saved his first dip in the ocean for a safer time. He did however enjoy playing lifeguard for a little while.

Dinner Saturday night was late, but at a Tybee Island favorite - The Crab Shack (http://www.thecrabshack.com/) - 'where the elite eat in their bare feet' (their phrase.... we're not quite that clever). Grandma and mom were a little bothered by people poking the baby alligators with cane poles that were intended to allow them (the gators, not the people) to eat meat off the prongs on the end. Eli was more interested in sleeping after a busy day.

Uncle Joe got Eli a coconut monkey head!! It also happens to double as an ultra cool drink holder (which Joe demonstrates in the picture below) and coin bank. We're not sure, but we think Eli may be terrified of it and wishing instead that Uncle Joe bought him a cool pair of kicks since he kept marveling that Eli didn't wear shoes.

Saturday night faded into Sunday morning... Mom and dad got to sleep in a little late since Gampy and grandma took Eli over when he woke bright eyed and bushy early tailed Sunday morning ready for a new round of adventures. Another short car ride brought everyone to downtown Savannah for lunch at a fun spot - Soho South Cafe - http://www.sohosouthcafe.com/. Eli enjoyed taking a tour of the resturant and checking out all the artwork and book collections.

We bid farewell to Joe and Sarah (they had to drive back to Madison) and all took a little walking tour of downtown Savannah before packing back into the car for the ride home.

Eli enjoyed the luscious scent of of diesel mixed with breastmilk, sun screening from Gampy's brightly checked shirt, and got to hear what he thought would be a never ending chorus from mom, dad, Gampy and grandma of songs they thought they knew (really dad, do you put an ear in in 'The Hokey Pokey'?) to keep him happy on the way home. Stay tuned for details on the upcoming pilot of the Gampy Dickweed show!

The Mother's Day Weekend Extravaganza!

2008-05-12T21:01:00.000-04:00

I tell you what.... Eli knows how to treat his mom right! He allowed her to change dirty diapers, breastfeed, wipe drool and regurgitated milk from his face, snuggle next to him at night and carry him in the sling all weekend long!

The first annual Mother's Day Weekend Extravaganza was great! Dad made mom breakfast on both Saturday and Sunday! On Saturday morning, Eli packed up the car and headed to Maggie's Herb Farm (http://www.florida-secrets.com/Florida_Gardens/Maggies.htm) with mom and dad in tow for their annual herb festival. Eli loves Maggie's! He got a few different herbs and butterfly plants for the yard, but mostly liked the people watching.

Eli napped on the way home with mom and dad... dad was due for a haircut and mom had to get good and drunk for it to turn out right (if you don't know about this joke, ask dad).

The afternoon and evening was spent at a Riverkeeper membership event at JU. Dad sure can talk about that river! Eli got to see a lot of people he hasn't seen in a little while and got to meet many more. He also got to go on his first boat ride... a tour on a river taxi from JU to the north end of Exchange Island. It was very windy, but the ride was smooth enough for Eli to nap on the way back to JU.

On Sunday, mom, dad and Eli went to Riverside Presbyterian for yet another Riverkeeper discussion. Dad was speaking to an Sunday school class. Eli tried to stay engaged, but he's heard it all before so he and mom ducked out for a quick snack followed by a reading of favorite nursery rhymes/lullabies in the church's children's library. Eli now knows all the right words to 'The Farmer in the Dell'.

Dad actually let mom mow the yard for Mother's Day! Seriously, she likes doing it. Dad did agree to refinish the floors, repaint the walls, fix the fireplace, clean the oven and fridge, put windows in on the backporch, hang doors, re-roof the house (and replace the rafters), scrape and repaint the exterior of the house, remove the chainlink fence and install a cute, decorative wood panel fence, and clean up the backyard. Unfortunately, the only things he got to were cleaning up the house and installing Eli's ultra cool baby hammock on the front porch. There are other weekends dad can do all those other things... this weekend, mom wanted the hammock so Eli could chill and enjoy the outdoors while she works in the yard.

Mom did get to enjoy an adult beverage after all the yard work, and Eli got to talk to the flag waving in the tornado force winds (no lie!) Dad got a little rest too after getting sweaty hanging Eli's hammock.

Eli wished he could have spent the whole weekend naked on a blanket in the yard. If he hasn't mentioned it yet, he LOVES to be naked outside!

And right up there with being naked is snuggling with lamby for a nap, thanks to Patty (Neil's sister). Eli loves his lamby!

The weekend was capped off with dinner and dessert and grandma and grandpa Orth's... Uncle John was there for Eli to entertain with his random squeals and giggles.

Eli's Four Month Well Check

2008-04-25T22:17:00.001-04:00

Eli's four month well check went good! He's 14lbs, 15 oz (that's right, just under 15 lbs!) and 26 in long. He's in the 75th percentile for height (he's going to be a towering giant like his mom... not!), 50th percentile for weight and 60th for his head.

He also got a Prevnar shot today... we're still going with the one shot a visit methodology. So far, so good, no reactions.

Tummy time was his assigned homework, so mom and dad have been focusing a little more on getting him on his stomach more often.

After a leisurely stroll around the neighborhood with the dogs, he spent the afternoon on a cloth pallet in the backyard naked... just the way he likes to spend his Friday evenings gearing up for the weekend!

Happy Post Earth Day and Eli's Visit with his Great Grandma

2008-04-23T18:42:00.001-04:00

Eli's was excited about Earth Day! So excited he and dad had to experience the great outdoors in a new way:

And, he's so excited about keeping his poopy diapers out of the landfill that he's quickly growing out of his prefolds:

Eli also got to visit with his Great Grandma Crain this past weekend.... they watched a Braves game.

We Apologize

2008-04-19T08:35:00.000-04:00

It's been a while since Eli's posted to hi blog and he's sorry.... here are some images from the past few weeks...

Eli and his dad... Eli's wearing his shirt from Tom and Chris:

Aunt Sandi paid Eli a visit! She didn't get to hold him long though before granma grabbed him and lulled him to sleep:

Eli and his dad had some quality time on the front porch in the rocking chair.... by the way, his daddy rocks (no pun intended) and Eli looks pretty awesome in his new monkey pants!

The previous weekend was spent searching for something Eli could chew on (he's teething you know) that his dad and mom wouldn't feel guilty about giving him. Nothing with Bisphenol A (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bisphenol_A) or phthalates (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phthalate). The result of the exhaustive online search? Sophie the Giraffe and Chan Pie Gnon Soother. See http://www.vulli-toys.com/pagesfr/grp.php for more details. Sophie's been around since 1961 and is made of natural rubber and food quality paint. Eli is still trying to figure out how to get her whole body in his mouth... here's to Sophie power!

We've saved the best for last! A video of Eli:

Eli's so proud of his pop!

2008-04-01T22:37:00.001-04:00

Eli's pretty proud of his dad! There's a Q&A interview with his dad in the April edition of 'Branches', part of the Resident Community News and a picture of dad, mom and Eli in front of the house in the garden on the front cover.

See it online at http://www.residentnews.net/Issues/April/B%20ROAM%20April.pdf and read the article!

Dad was interviewed and asked questions about what he does to conserve water. Eli's a little relieved that dad didn't mention cutting out his bath time (he LOVES splashing in the tub) or making him scoop the water out of the tub after bath time to water plants.

Dad revealed his dirty little Tuesday and Wednesday night habit in the article... you'll have to read it to find out!

Eli at the Infinger Family Reunion

2008-03-30T22:49:00.000-04:00

Eli packed up bright and early Saturday morning for his road trip to South Carolina to go to the Infinger family reunion. He's never been to a family reunion, so he wasn't quite sure what to expect, but was glad dad got roped into going (mom owes dad big).

The day started off around 6:15A or so when grandma called to say she would be in town soon. Grandma had worked the night before from 8P-5A and came straight to Jacksonville when she got off work. Eli was ready, mom and dad packed plenty of diapers so everyone loaded up in the car with mom driving, dad in the passenger seat and grandma in the back with Eli.

The usual trip to South Carolina takes maybe 4 hours or so each way, this trip, took 5.25 hours or so each way. We stopped along the way as dad needed to pee and Eli needed to nurse or have a diaper change. His first stop was near Pooler, GA at a McDonald's:

Traffic was horrible on 95! Guess it was Spring Breakers heading home, but 95 was almost bumper to bumper from just outside Savannah until mom decided to take a detour near Yemasse to get to 17A.

Next stop was Walterboro. Eli got to nurse at a Citgo there and stare at the pig billboard:
After a few more stops, we made it to St Thomas Episcopal Church, http://www.stthomasofsc.com/, in North Charleston, SC just off E Montague Avenue near Park Cirle. The azaleas and dogwoods were in full bloom!

We got there a little late, but just in time for grace before lunch. And boy what a spread! Eli had never seen so much food or deserts in his life! He was a little full though, having just nursed in the nursery. He really liked the murals that were painted on the nursery walls. A lot for one little boy to take in!

Eli got to visit with great-great aunts and uncles, his Great Uncle Danny, cousin Lisa and her children, cousins Addison and Charley, Great Aunt Jackie and Rick, Great Uncle Gene, and especially Great-great Grandpa Buster:

Great-great Aunt Nancy did a really good job organizing the reunion and having it hosted at her church.

The ride home was a little training for poor Eli. He slept for a good way initially, but after a while, grew weary of riding in his car seat and started to cry. After several stops to nurse and check for a dirty diaper (which eventually came in the Huddle House parking lot somewhere between Savannah and Brunswick), Eli finally fell alseep. Mom and dad think grandma might have been finger feeding him Mountain Dew....

After a long, weary day and the longest car trip EVER, Eli returned safe and sound to his house and went to bed around 9:45P. Grandma headed back to Interlachen. She still had to work the whole night!
He enjoyed the Infinger family reunion, but he's glad they're only once a year or so.

Eli's Second Vaccination

2008-03-27T22:59:00.000-04:00

Eli is 13lbs, 8oz! He got his second vaccination today; it was for Hib.

Haemophilus influenzae type b (Hib) is a bacterium that infects the lining of the brain, causing meningitis. Meningitis is caused by several different bacteria. However, before the Hib vaccine, Hib was by far the most common cause of meningitis.

He did really well, considering he's congested from all the pollen. Dad was there to hold him after his shot. Dad swears the only reason mom made a big deal about him coming to the appointment was so he could hold Eli for his shot. Mom firmly denies the charge.

Eli's grandparents also paid a visit this evening... grandpa wanted to make sure the Gator outfit he got for Eli wasn't lost:

Dad's coming up with a clever way of explaining the disappearance of the Gator outfit since grandpa bought size 24months.

Grandma's getting geared up for the big Infinger family reunion this Saturday in South Carolina. Dad's so excited to go, he can hardly contain himself.

Dad also wanted props on being the photographer for many of the pictures on Eli's blog. He does a great job, but he's got easy subject matter! Here are a few cute ones from Easter:

The duckie socks are courtesy of Matt and Melissa. The Easter onesie was from Lisa and Emma Hughes.

A few new Eli pictures, courtesy of Molly

2008-03-22T22:54:00.001-04:00

Eli's Pre Easter Bash!

2008-03-22T22:06:00.000-04:00

Eli had a little get together today. He wanted more material for his blog and figured a nice, quiet (especially since he didn't want the neighbors to complain about the noise) get together of family and friends would hit the spot.

Seen in attendance were Lisa and Emma, Julia, James, Laurie and Pat, Molly and Brynne, Grandma and Grandpa, Lisa, Andy and Belle, David and Kelly, Amy, Jason, Lola, Cooper and George and Jim.

Emma, Julia, James and Lola colored butterflies with crayons, markers and water colors. Molly showed them how to make paper flowers. The party really started when the bunny ear hats were donned by one and all.

Here are a few shots from his Easter extravaganza:

Eli's had a busy week!

2008-03-21T21:56:00.000-04:00

Eli's had a busy week this week!

He went to Boone Park with Molly and Victoria.

He got to go to a surprise luau birthday party for Doris and Fran, courtesy of Betsy on Wednesday night. Forrest absolutely adored Eli. We're waiting on incriminating pictures from Roger.

He's got a new book courtesy of Lynda that dad and mom have been reading to him. You can tell he absolutely loves it because it's all about him! You can read the words on the page.

He got to go to the zoo with Molly, Danielle and Victoria.

He's been out in the yard with Jordan, Bonzo and Mr Jimmy quite a bit since the weather has been nice to model his 'Cuter than dog' onesie from Nina.... you decide whether its true or not.

He got to hang out with his grandma Friday afternoon while his grandpa and mom went to pick up windows for the back porch. Mom was also a little excited because she got to hold a baby raccoon. No photos though. Dad said we couldn't bring Pastrami (the raccoon) home.

He's looking forward to his spring party tomorrow....

YERT Day 235, 236: FL: Jacksonville. Timucuan Preserve and St. Johns Riverkeeper

2008-03-13T23:31:00.000-04:00

YERT (Your Environmental Road Trip) is a year-long eco-expedition through all 50 United States.

YERT paid a visit to interview dad about concerns over water withdrawals from the St Johns River. Ben and Dan interviewed and filmed dad, Julie and mom talked baby stuff since Julie is expecting too.

Check out the link to their blog to see a picture of me in front of the river:

http://blog.yert.com/2008/02/28/day-235-236-fl-jacksonville-timucuan-preserve-and-st-johns-riverkeepers/

Eli's got a new song

2008-03-13T23:22:00.000-04:00

He was a little tired of the 'Little Eli' song his dad wrote for him, and getting a little weary of hearing 'The Itsy Bitsy Spider' or 'You are my Sunshine' from mom, so he was happy when Fran and Betsy paid a visit this past weekend and sang 'Eli's Coming' by Three Dog Night (originally by Laura Nyro) to him.

Here are the lyrics:
Eli's comin'
Eli's comin' (Eli's a-comin')
Well you better hide your heart, your loving heart
Eli's a-comin' and the cards say... a broken heart

Eli's comin', hide your heart, girl
Eli's comin', hide your heart, girl
Girl, Eli's a-comin', you better hide
Girl, Eli's a-comin', you better hide
Girl, Eli's a-comin', you better hide
Girl, Eli's comin', hide your heart, girl (hide it)
You better, better hide your heart
Eli's comin', better walk

Walk but you'll never get away
No, you'll never get away from the burnin' a-heartache
I walked to Apollo by the bay
Everywhere I go though, Eli's a-comin' (she walked but she never gotaway)
Eli's a-comin' (she walked but she never got away)
Eli's a-comin' and he's comin' to git ya (she walked but... she walkedbut...)
Get down on your knees (she walked but she never got away)

Eli's comin' (hide it, hide it, hide it)
Girl, Eli's a-comin', you better hide
Girl, Eli's a-comin', you better hide
Girl, Eli's a-comin', you better hide
Girl, Eli's comin', hide your heart, girl (hide it)
You better, better hide your heart
Eli's comin', better walk

Walk but you'll never get away
No, you'll never get away from the burnin' a-heartache
I walked to Apollo by the bay
Everywhere I go though, Eli's a-comin' (she walked but she'll never getaway)
Eli's a-comin' (she walked but she'll never get away)
Eli's a-comin' and he's comin' to git ya (she walked but... she walkedbut...)
Get down on your knees (she walked but she'll never get away)
Get down on your knees

No-no, no-no
Lord, I said no-no, no-no, no-no

(hide it) She can
(hide it) hide it
(hide it) You better
(hide it) Somebody
(hide it) You got t'
(hide it) Oh, my
(hide it) Oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh

http://www.threedognight.com/l_eli.html

Life in the Hood

2008-03-13T23:02:00.000-04:00

You know it's hard out here for a baby....especially when there's graffitti in the hood
But it's comforting to know, that our commander in charge
Is there to fight the power

To make the hood safe for all babies

Eli's Wild and Crazy Friday Night

2008-03-08T08:44:00.001-05:00

This was Eli's first week of mom working. The first week was hard, for mom at least. Eli on the other hand had a week full of adventures.

Eli, Molly and Victoria had lots of adventures this week. They went to the mall to shop for Victoria's glasses (and we understand she picked out some pretty stylish red ones) then had ice cream and played in the indoor playground area, went to MOSH (http://www.themosh.org/) and spent time on the hippo mat.

After a week of adventures, Eli was ready to extend the fun into Friday night, especially because it had been a dreary, rainy Friday. He and mom played for a while on his 'Tiny Love' play mat (courtesy of Michelle):

Eli loves to kick his legs and swing his arms! Jordan apparently thought Eli was hiding a treat and tried to nose under him to find it... he was a little surprised when Eli kicked him. Bonzo was on patrol to make sure nothing happened to his baby. Eli, Jordan and Bonzo... three wild and crazy guys! Notice Bonzo and Jordan's festive, matching St Patrick's Day scarfs!

As the week faded, so did Eli and mom.

Looking forward to more adventures this weekend!

Eli's Weekend

2008-03-02T15:37:00.000-05:00

Was pretty low key... hanging around the house with mom and dad doing house and yard work (and Eli got to lie around bottomless outside... he LOVES to be an exhibitionist).

He went for Indian food Saturday night with Brian, Gayle and Harper. He liked the Channa Masala alot and wished he could have enjoyed a Mango Lassi like Harper did.

Sunday evening he joined the UrbFarmers at the House on Cherry Street for a meeting. His contribution was Collards, Golden Raisin, and Almond Saute using collards from our garden.

Sunday more housework. Mom and dad cleaned Eli's room a bit (he's still a little young for that responsibility) and then Eli and dad got to hang out in the back yard to enjoy the sunshine and birds singing. Dad swears he saw a grosbeak, but Eli thinks it might have been a house finch. Whatever it was, it sang a lot.

Here are a few pictures of Eli's weekend:

Eli goes to Maggie's

2008-02-28T17:21:00.001-05:00

Eli made his first of many trek's to Maggie's Herb Farm on SR13 today along with Molly (his nanny) and Victoria:

Mom is fitting in a few last things before returning to work on Monday. On tap for tomorrow is a trek to PV Soap to pick up some oils. Stayed tuned for Eli's first soap making experience!

Genora's Birthday Extravaganza

2008-02-27T18:30:00.000-05:00

And Eli had a ball! He got to try out his jungle themed bouncy seat at his grandparents and LOVED it!

He also got to try out the desk his granpa got for him.... looks like he's got a little more growing before he can really use it.

Everyone got a little cake and ice cream:

He spent some quality time with Antigone this afternoon, recovering from last night's festivities resting in the late afternoon sun:

A few of Eli's Views

2008-02-25T21:00:00.001-05:00

In his room

Eli's Day Today

2008-02-25T20:42:00.001-05:00

Must be nice just to hang around with your pals all day...

Eli's First Overnight Trip Away from Home

2008-02-25T20:11:00.000-05:00

Eli had his first overnight trip away from home Friday. We drove to Fanning Springs (between Gainesville and the Gulf) for Genora's birthday extravaganza.

Jimmy started a custom to take Genora away to a state park or hiking for her birthday when they started dating. Thus far, they've been to Torreya State Park, Wakulla Springs and Stephen Foster State Park. Genora thought it only right to continue the custom and include Eli.

We headed out to Fanning Springs early Friday afternoon. Along the way we stopped at Satchel's Pizza in Gainesville

http://www.satchelspizza.com

Eli's heard so much about where Uncle John works

and about how amazed Jimmy is that Steve (Satchel) has been so successful with a pizza place in a business park in Gainesville. He LOVED his tour of Lightning Salvage, especially the wind chimes, and surrounding sites (like the green house).

We got to Fanning Springs later that afternoon and hiked about 1/3 mile from the cabin to the spring head. Along the way we saw several native trees and palms, buckeyes, butterweed and lots of birds and squirrels.

Eli saw his first manatee at the spring, well, kind of... he was asleep. The butterweed was in full bloom in the wetlands around the spring and it looked very pretty against the bright green of new growth on the cypress and other trees.

We headed back to the cabin and enjoyed the traditional chicken and dumplings with veg-all from the Dollar Store (dad will explain to Eli later why he treats mom so well). Eli got to lay in the middle of the living room floor on a pallet stark naked after a shower with Jimmy...he LOVES being naked! Jimmy and Genora had fun later that evening with a tick check. Ever find a seed tick (or any tick for that matter) on you?! It's frightening and will make you search frantically to make sure there are no more.

The next morning, we packed up and headed to Manatee Springs to check things out. The spring head there was much larger and the spring run out to the Suwannee was beautiful! We saw 6 manatees and some stained, dingy underwear on our way along the spring run.

Eli even got to ride a manatee... well, kind of:

Welcome to our blog!

2008-02-25T16:15:00.000-05:00

We've put this together to keep track of the special and mundane aspects of our day to day lives and how it's changed since Eli came into our world two short months ago. Seems like he's been here with us so much longer than that, and I guess technically he was, though still in utero.

It's really hard to believe Eli's already 2 months old! He had his two month well baby check up today... he's already 12lbs, 1oz and 23 inches long! Go breast milk!