rockin' out

I have this cool toy that sings songs and counts and says the alphabet all in spanish. I like to carry it around with me and listen to it. Here I am sitting in the rocking chair listening to it. I have not yet figured out how to climb in the rocking chair all by myself but one of these days I will get there. It is still fun to go over and make the chair rock all the time. I like that it has a big white cushion on it. I plan to sit there next time I am eating avocado, because I think it would look great in green too.

Love, Elijah

peekaboo

I have finally mastered this whole peekaboo thing. This game is hilarious. I cover my eyes and mama says peekaboo and I uncover my eyes and she tickles me. The other day we played this game while we were shopping and I was sitting in the shopping cart. I laughed and laughed and laughed so hard that you could hear it many aisles away. Then when we left we got caught in the rain so mama put me in my raincoat and ran with me in the cart really fast to the car. We ran so fast that I didn't even know it was raining because I thought the running was so much fun!

Love, Elijah

my new favorite toy

This morning while mama was in the shower I was awfully quiet and she was wondering what I was up to. Whatever I was playing with was making some odd noises. When she opened the shower door she found me playing with my new favorite toy, the toilet plunger. I have been trying to get my hands on it for weeks because I think it is fascinating, but mama would always hide it from me. This morning I would pick it up and slam it down on the tile floor and it made really cool noises. Mama was thrilled that I found the dirtiest, most grossest thing in the bathroom to play with.

Love, Elijah

the park

We have had some great weather lately so I have had lots of trips to the park. I love the park. When mama put me down to walk I headed straight for the geese (who are bigger than I am) and then straight for the mound of dirt. Mama says I am such a little boy sometimes. I kept pointing at the playground but when we went over there I was not interested in going near it. My favorite thing is to walk on the dirt, then the path, then the grass, then the path, and then the grass again, then the path again. I go back and forth and back and forth. I also like to freak mama out and head for the lake.

Whenever mama thinks I am getting big she just has to look at the picture of me next to the tree and she will remember how little I still am.

Love, Elijah

rolling around

Lately I really enjoy laying on the floor. I like to just hang out there, usually on my tummy. Mama and dada think I am a little strange sometimes. Really I am just getting a new perspective on things. Also I get a good look at the carpet so that I can tell mama when she needs to vacuum. The vacuum is one of my favorite things now, I am really excited when it is time to get it out. I can't believe I was ever scared of it. Yesterday we were at the shoe store and there was a vacuum there too. I could not believe it, I was very excited. I make the sign for vacuum all the time and make mama open the door to the closet so I can see it. I can reach the door handle but can't figure out how to twist it so that it will open. One of these days I will figure it out and then I will get to open the closet whenever I want to.

Love, Elijah

snotty again

Just call me Snot Boy! Snot Boy to the rescue!

This weekend I was really snotty. Friday night it woke me up many times and I would cough and cry and only num-nums would soothe me. But today it's not so bad. I cut another molar so it might be related, but then again maybe not because the snot was really green this weekend. Anyway, it's barely there today so hopefully I will be snot-free soon. Saturday mama and dada had to chase me with a tissue all day but today only a couple times. I don't mind at all, I hold really still and let them wipe all that snot away. It is much better than getting it all over my mouth or fingers.

This weekend it was really nice outside so I went hiking with mama and dada even though I was sick. I love to walk around in the grass. Dada wore me in the backpack and I almost fell asleep there. Hope everyone else had a good weekend too.

Love, Elijah

sixteen months

These are some pictures that mama took of me for my sixteen month birthday last week. I was hanging out in the backyard, it is one of my favorite places.

Love, Elijah

signing

I have discovered that signing is a good way to let mama and dada know exactly what I want. The signs I know how to do are more, all done, num-nums, dada, mama, food, cracker, balloon, drink, vacuum, baby, o's, bath, night-night, blocks, book, please, phone, and light. There are other times that I am making signs but mama and dada can't figure out what sign I am doing. They can be quite slow sometimes.

Here are pictures of me making signs. The first one is more and the last two are all done.

Love, Elijah

snow

The last couple of weekends we have had snow. The first weekend it was just a dusting and it didn't stick. I went outside with dada to check it out. At one point my mitten came off and I discovered that snow is cold and it is wet. This was news to me. I also got to wear my first pair of shoes with hard soles on the bottom. I thought they were really cool cause they make noise when I walk. I stomped around in them a lot.

The next weekend it snowed like crazy. Dada fixed up the driveway so that we could ride the innertube down it. I really loved sliding down the driveway, it was lots of fun. I loved walking up and down the driveway. I didn't like walking in the deep snow because I kept falling over. Now the snow is pretty much gone. I can't wait for it to snow again so that I can ride down the driveway with dada.

Love, Elijah

kitty & me

The kitty has decided that I am not so bad after all. For a while all he did was hiss at me any time I went near him. But he has slowly warmed up to me. Sometimes he will even come over to me. He lets me pet him and even hit him sometimes until mama stops me. He has this cool toy with feathers on the end of it that I like to play with. I take it all over the house with me. He is ever hopeful that I will use it to play with him one day.

Love, Elijah

waiting for dada

Every night mama tells me that dada is coming home and I get very excited and run to the door to see him. I make the sign for dada by touching the side of my head (either side will do). If dada does not come through the door right away I get very impatient because I have been stuck with mama all day and I really need to see dada bad. When he comes in I get very excited and do a little jig and give him a big hug.

Love, Elijah

sling baby

one month, four months, six months, twelve months, fifteen months

treasures

I love to bring mama and dada treasures that I find around the house. So far today I have brought mama a banana peel, a block, my firetruck shoes, my chicken puppet that sings songs, a picture frame, the cat's toy, my yellow plastic bucket, an unopened box of cat litter bags, mama's lipstick, three dvds, my phone, and a dried up piece of toast I found on the couch. Mama was not asking me for any of these things but I know she was very glad to have all of them. Of course these treasures are all in addition to the numerous books that I have brought to her to read to me today.

Mama and dada are always very excited by my gifts and they say thank you and I know they appreciate them very much so I always offer them with a big smile on my face and my arm outstretched as far as I can make it.

Love, Elijah

getting better

Yesterday my rash got worse, it was all over my legs and arms and face. But today it is going away and hopefully it will be gone in a day or two. I was pretty grumpy yesterday too, today has been a lot better.

Yesterday I was helping mama with her makeup. My job was to take her lipsticks one by one over to the bed. I would take one over to the bed, then take another one, then bring the first one back to the bathroom drawer. I busied myself with this task until mama said it was time to go. I surprised her by going into the living room and getting my jacket and bringing it to her in the bathroom. She had just been telling me that I would need my jacket if we were going to go so I don't know why she was so surprised. She took me to the park and it was the first time that I didn't want to get in the swing. Why swing when there are so many things to walk around and look at? I had very much fun and was very mad when mama made me leave.

Love, Elijah

roseola

This morning mama took off my pjs and discovered I had a rash on my tummy and my back, so off to the doctor we went. Mama and dada were afraid it was a reaction to my medicine, but the doctor said it was probably roseola. I am happy and the rash doesn't bother me, so I am doing okay.

While we were waiting for the doctor I heard a baby crying and I didn't understand what the noise was so we went over to see and found a really tiny baby crying. Mama told me that it was a baby and showed me the sign for baby. Then later I heard the baby again and mama was all surprised when I made the sign for baby. Mama does not understand why I pick up some signs so easily and yet still refuse to do the sign for num-nums even though she has shown me a thousand times. The truth is I just like to keep mama guessing, I can't make everything easy for her!

Love, Elijah

my first fever

Friday night in the middle of the night I came down with my first fever. Mama was always worried that I would have a fever and she would not be able to tell, but she knew right away. I woke up to nurse and was really warm. My temperature was almost 102. Mama and dada took off my pajamas and let me keep sleeping. They kept taking my temperature and it stayed the same. The next day I was happily playing even though I had a fever. I wasn't that interested in eating but I had lots of water and lots of num-nums and an extra nap. That night I got cranky so they gave me some tylenol and my fever dropped and I was happy again. But later that night and the next day my fever crept back up. I was still happily playing so mama and dada let me hang out with my fever and eventually it broke and now my temperature is normal.

My first fever also led to my first diarrhea but I will spare you the details. Dada was the lucky one who got to change my first ever diarrhea diaper. He was very thrilled, especially since I was in one of my cloth diapers so he got to clean it all up. Don't worry, I saved one for mama too.

Mama was worried because I am already on antibiotics for my ear infection and I already had a snotty nose and then I had a fever on top of it all! The good news is that my snotty nose seems to have gone away with my fever. What a weekend!

Love, Elijah

my favorite books

Here is a picture of my favorite books. I make mama and dada read these books to me many times a day. Mama really gets to enjoy them because I can get her to read them to me all day long. My very favoritist book is the ladybug book, you can see me reading it below. (I don't know what happened to my sleeve but I figured out how to take my arm out of it.) I was mad because mama was taking pictures of me instead of reading me the book. Yesterday mama took me to the bookstore and I discovered that they have my book too. So I made mama read me the book at the bookstore.

Sometimes I find my favorite books in the strangest places like underneath the couch or hiding behind all of my other books. I don't know how this happens. It's like someone is hiding them from me. I don't know why because they are really good books and I must have them read to me at least ten times a day. Each. Everyday. Many times in a row.

Love, Elijah

bad mama

I went to the doctor for a checkup yesterday. The doctor told mama I have an ear infection. It is a bad one and now I am taking medicine to make it all better. The doctor said that on a scale of one to ten it is an eight. I tried to tell mama that my ear hurt but between the snotty nose and the cutting two molars she just didn't get it.

I weigh 23 lbs 10 oz and I'm 32 inches tall. I got a shot and I didn't even flinch. Then I walked with mama all the way to the pharmacy on the other side of the building. I am very big.

Love, Elijah