one year old

Here are some more pictures mama took of me for when I turned one year old.

Love, Elijah

haircut

I recently had a haircut. It's a good thing because my hair was constantly in my eyes. Here are before and after pictures. This was not my first haircut, but it took off more hair than my other haircuts. Mama cut the front and the top and the sides by my ears. The back is nice and curly so we left it alone. My hair looks extra curly when it is wet. I am going to make my hair grow extra slow so that mama does not have to cut my hair again for awhile. I was tired of her coming after me with the scissors.

Love, Elijah

keyboard

I am determined to use the computer. I just want to press all of the buttons. The keyboard is fascinating. I love to bang on it because it makes great noises. I just have to figure out how to pull out the keyboard drawer and I will be all set.

Love, Elijah

the backdoor

The backdoor is one of my favorite places in the house. I love to stand at the backdoor and look outside. I love to bang on the door also, it is great fun. The best part about the backdoor is that Zig comes over to say hello. I get really excited when I see her because I have lots of things to tell her. And she has lots of things to tell me. I tell her all about the things that go on inside the house because she is no longer allowed inside the house. She tells me all about the things that happen outside. One day when I am big I am going to learn how to open the door all by myself and go outside to see her whenever I want to, which is all the time. In this picture it is raining like crazy. I do not yet understand rain, it is very strange stuff.

Love, Elijah

my carseat

Now that I am one-year-old I am allowed to face forward in my carseat. This is much better than facing backward because there is so much more to see. Mama and dada were going to leave me facing backward for awhile but I insisted on facing forward. I never knew how much mama and dada could see while they were in the car. It is very fascinating. It is also easier for mama to give me oatios and this of course is fabulous because I love oatios.

Now that I can face forward I am very helpful with other things like deciding where we should go. I love to help dada with the map.

Love, Elijah

pumpkin patch

I went to a pumpkin patch last month. Most of the time I was very unhappy there, but dada managed to get a couple pictures of me happy and even clapping. I was not very fond of the pumpkins, I mean what was the point of all that? It was a very long ride, I just fell asleep, and then they want me to sit amongst pumpkins that don't even taste good or make noises or anything? What fun is that?

Love, Elijah

big little boy

Mama and dada think I look like a little boy in this picture, instead of a baby. I don't understand because of course I am a little boy. I have not been a baby since I was really little, like before I was one-year-old. That was so long ago. I am now one-year-old, and I am very big. And I still love my swing.


Love, Elijah

shreds

I love to help mama shred paper. Whenever I hear the shredder I come crawling as fast as I can to help. The shredder makes very funny noises so I laugh when I hear it. The other day mama had lots of things to shred so I helped by pulling the shreds out of the garbage can. That way there was room for everything she wanted to shred. Then I inspected it all to make sure it was all shredded very well. I think I did my job very well.

Love, Elijah

yosemite

When I was in california I got to go to yosemite. There were lots of things there to look at. There were really big trees and waterfalls and lots of pretty things. My favorite part was crawling around in the dirt. I got really dirty all over my hands and knees. It was great fun.

I have lots of pictures from yosemite so I might show some more some time.

Love, Elijah

mama's makeup

Sometimes mama forgets that I can reach things on the bathroom counter. I was playing in the bathroom and it was awful quiet and mama found me with blush all over the place. There was blush smooshed into the carpet, my socks, the seat of my pants, and my face. (I tried it but it didn't taste that good.) I was just reaching for the eye shadow when she found me. Mama will have to be more careful in the future. It was fun to play with so I will be sure to try it again sometime.

I think the kitty would look nice with some lipstick in his fur...


Love, Elijah

happy halloween

Mama says I don't need a halloween costume because she is not going to let me eat candy anyway. So here is a picture of me pouting.

Happy Hallween to the rest of you that get to eat candy.

Love, Elijah

yardwork

This weekend I decided to help dada with the yardwork. Dada mowed the lawn and then I crawled around in the grass to make sure it was all cut to the right length. Next I inspected the blower to make sure it was gonna work right. Then I helped him put down the fertilizer. It was very exhausting work as you can see. It's a good thing that we did it because today it is raining like crazy. I can't wait until I am big so that I can run the lawn mower and the blower all by myself. Dada says he can't wait too.

Love, Elijah

growing boy

Last week I went to the doctor. I weigh 21 lbs, 7 oz. I am just over 30 inches tall. This means that I have grown ten inches since I was born! And gained 14 lbs in a year! I have grown lots and lots. This growing can be very hard work. But I have to keep at it if I ever want to do things like open doors all by myself. So I will eat lots and lots of food so that I can grow really big.

Love, Elijah

six teeth

You can't see them in this picture, but I now have six teeth. I have four on top and two on bottom. I am working on some more bottom teeth and some molars. This teething is hard work! I cut my sixth tooth the day before we went on an airplane. I am glad I did not cut it while we were on the airplane because the airplane was so much fun and it would have been awful to be hurting during the flight. I love the airplane. I can peek over the tops of the seats and people will smile at me. All sorts of people on the airplane tell me how cute I am and give me lots of smiles. I also love banging on the tray table. It makes a great noise.

Love, Elijah

zig is everywhere

I have recently discovered that Zig also lives outside the window in my room. I thought she only lived outside the back door but I was wrong. I was very excited to see her outside my room. I stood on my tippy-toes to see her and I gave her lots of big smiles through the window. One day when I get big I am going to open the window for her and sneak her into my room when mama and dada aren't looking.

Love, Elijah

at the beach

Last week I got to go to the beach for the first time. It was kind of cold and mama was not sure she wanted to let me crawl around. But I insisted and pretty soon she let me crawl around on the sand. She tried to keep me on the dry part but what fun is that? I headed straight for the wet sand everytime she put me down. Pretty soon I was covered in sand. I liked to squeeze the sand in my hand because it feels so funny. I even tasted it but it really wasn't all that good. Eventually I got wet from the ocean. I had lots of fun. I can't wait to go to the beach again.

Love, Elijah

i love housework

I love to help mama and dada around the house. When mama is putting clothes in the dryer I help hold the dryer open. I make sure that the bathroom cabinets are closed (this involves slamming them over and over many times in a row). I hold the dishwasher open when dada loads it. I make sure there is enough toilet paper in the bathroom (the only way to check this is to pull it all off the roll). I examine the vacuum thoroughly to make sure it is still there, but I stay away from it when it is on because it is very loud. I make sure the bathroom scale is working. I eat things off the kitchen floor so mama doesn't have to sweep as much. I make sure the bathroom counter is clean by pulling off everything I can reach.

All in all I think I am very helpful.

Love, Elijah

in the air

I love it when dada throws me up in the air. It is so much fun. Usually he does this several times in a row and in between I will laugh and laugh in anticipation. It is great fun. Dada throws me up really high and it makes mama nervous. But I love it. I always have the biggest smiles when we are done playing this game. I don't know why dada doesn't throw mama in the air. I am sure she would love it too because it is so much fun.

Love, Elijah

Pizza is yummy

For my birthday mama and dada let me eat pizza. It was really yummy. I liked the black olives the best. I thought they would be like cheerios but black, but I was wrong. I would put them in my mouth and squinch up my face because they taste so funny.

A couple days later I got to taste hamburger. It was sooooo good. I did not want to swallow it, I wanted to keep it in my mouth because it tasted so good. So I stuffed my cheeks full and then when it was time for num-nums I nearly choked.

Mmmm, mmmm good!

Love, Elijah

One Year Old

Happy Birthday to me.
Happy Birthday to me.
Happy Birthday to Elijah!
Happy Birthday to me.

Love, Elijah

One year ago

This is what I looked like one year ago today. It was getting very crowded in there. I kept trying to kick things out of the way but it wasn't working very well. I just kept growing and there was not much room left for me to move around. I had no idea what I was going to do. Then three days after this picture was taken I suddenly came into the world! Thank goodness cuz I was seriously considering just kicking my way out through mama's belly button.

Love, Elijah

Bathtime

Bathtime is one of my favorite things. I love my bath. If I hear the water running I crawl as fast as I can to the bathtub. If I am not allowed to get in the bath right away I cry. I love to pull up on the side of the tub which makes mama and dada nervous. I love to splash as hard as I can so that water goes everywhere. After my bath mama bundles me up in a towel and we go and find dada. Then I get to crawl around naked. I am so excited after my bath that I crawl around from room to room as fast as I can. I love to be naked and it takes both mama and dada to get a diaper on me. I don't know why I can't just go to bed naked.

Love, Elijah

Frank the Frog

Zig the Dog has a friend. His name is Frank and he is a frog. (Or a toad? I really don't know the difference.) Frank the Frog comes to visit Zig the Dog every night. Zig pushes him around with her nose and with her paw but Frank doesn't seem to mind. Sometimes Zig knocks him over onto his back. But he still comes to visit every night. He has been visiting all summer. I don't know where he will go in the winter. I am sure that Zig will be sad if he goes away. Maybe mama will let me keep him safe inside for Zig. Ha-ha. One day when I am big I will have all kinds of things like this. Frogs and lizards and snakes and spiders because they are all really cool. Watch out mama!

Love, Elijah

Camels are funny

This weekend when we were camping we went to a drive-thru zoo. I saw deer, zebra, elk, and buffalo. I wasn't too impressed until we got to the part where we could get out and walk around. We were allowed to feed some of the animals. I got to see lemurs, pot-bellied pigs, camels, goats, llamas, and kangaroos. I thought the pot-bellied pigs were funny because they make noises like dada when he belches. So I laughed. But my favorite part was the camels. They were really funny. I would touch their face and laugh and laugh. There were two of them. They were eating out of dada's hand. I think when I grow up I would like to have some camels because they are so funny.

Love, Elijah

Camping is fun- continued

More things I learned while camping...

6. If you hold all your poops in the whole time you are camping, when you get back you can have many poopy diapers in a row. And they will be really stinky. This is great because mama uses cloth diapers at home and she has to see the poopy diapers up close and personal. Much better than those sposies where she doesn't have to hardly look at the poop at all. I believe mama should definitely know my poops intimately.

7. If I fall asleep in the car while we are camping I am allowed to stay in my carseat. Normally I am rudely awoken and taken in the house. But when we are camping I can keep sleeping in my seat.

8. Dada works very hard on his campfires and they are really nice and keep us very warm. Did I say that already?

9. Chicken cooked while camping tastes better than chicken cooked at home.

10. Camels are funny. (more on that tomorrow!)

Love, Elijah

Camping is fun

This weekend I went camping for the very first time. I got to sit in front of the campfire, sleep in a tent, and play on the ground. I have decided that camping is lots of fun.

Things I learned while camping this weekend:

1. Rocks are fun to put in your mouth but not necessarily fun to chew on.

2. If you shake the box of teddy puffs really hard the box will open and it will spill all over the place, and you can get to many of the treats before mama can clean it up.

3. Num-nums are especially nice when it is cold. The milk keeps me warm on the inside and the snuggling keeps me warm on the outside. But it can be hard to get to the num-nums if mama is wearing four layers of clothes.

4. Dada works very hard on his campfires. They are quite nice and keep us very warm.

5. When it is cold mama will make me wear lots of clothes, but if I scream really loud she will not make me wear a hat or a hood. It looks like long sleeves are not negotiable, so it will be a very long winter.

Eating is fun

I love to eat. It is especially fun when mama forgets to put a bib on me because then I am sure to make a big mess. I insist on feeding myself. No way do I like for anyone to feed me, it is much more satisfying to put food in my mouth all by myself. Never mind that much of it ends up falling into my lap instead of going into my mouth. Eating is lots of fun. One of my favorite foods is sweet potato. I could eat a whole sweet potato if mama would let me. My next favorite thing is toast. In this picture mama tried to feed me yogurt so I turned my head and ended up with it all over my face. I don't know why she tries to feed me, like I said I must feed myself. If I could only figure out how to work the spoon.

Love, Elijah

On Wednesday my mama goes to bible study and leaves me in the nursery. I have decided to nominate her for the meanest mom award or maybe the how dare you abandon me award. She leaves me with Miss A. I like Miss A, but she is not my mama. So I cry. But in a few seconds I forget what I am crying about because Miss A lets me sit on her lap and feeds me oatios and lets me watch veggietales. I do not have veggietales at home, it is really cool. Yesterday there was another baby crying and so Miss A put me down and I screamed and screamed. Then mama appeared out of nowhere. Can you believe she was there the whole time? Just outside the door. And then she left me again. Finally I took a nap. When I woke up mama was there.

Definitely the how dare you abandon me award.

This picture is from when we went out to lunch. I was eating oatios there too. I can not believe how many places have oatios. They are everywhere I go.

Love, Elijah

Stale snacks

When I eat in my highchair I love to drop food over the side. I used to do it so that I could see what it looked like on the floor. But now I have a much better reason. I drop pieces on the floor and then if mama forgets to clean it up I have a snack all ready for me. I wake up from my nap, head straight for my highchair and munch away! It's a good thing the dog is not inside or she would steal all my snacks.

Love, Elijah

My name is ahdah

Today I was in front of the mirror with mama and she said "Look, it's Elijah!"

So I concentrated very hard and said "lahjah!"

And mama gasped. She said "That's right, buddy! Elijah!"

So I said "ijah!"

"Elijah!"

"idah!"

"Elijah!"

"ahdah!"

I don't know what the big deal is. I have only heard my name every single day since I was born. And that was a very long time ago. And I have to hear all of the silly songs that mama and dada sing to me with my name in them. Of course I can say my name! Ahdah!!!!

Love, Ahdah

Num-nums.

I must say that num-nums are the bestest most fabulous thing on earth. I love my num-nums. When I am hungry or scared or tired or need a snack or when I get hurt I have my num-nums.

Num-nums always make everything all better.

Love, Elijah

Pulling up

I am very good at pulling up. I like to pull up wherever I can. That's me over there by the window. You can hardly see me because of all the toys.

Sometimes I will stand up and then do a little dancing. I bounce up and down and shake my bum. Then I plop to the floor and off I go to find the next thing to pull up on.

Love, Elijah