shapely shoulders

See here for a quick-15 minute shoulder workout. I did that last night and am feeling it this morning. Love that!

12 months

{October 2, 2011}

I did a horrible job at writing down and keeping track of what Eli has been up to during the month of September---his 12th month. 

he loves to go outside! we had a few picnics in the backyard that one week it was actually cool. sometimes in the evening we'll let him walk around on the sidewalk and play in the front yard grass. he absolutely loves it! 

some new words he learned: light (lie), dog (dah), bird (bur), bat (bah). he first said dog when we went to ashleys house and he saw their dog. Up until that point he must have thought patch was a cat...? ;)

since then he acknowledges patch as a dog. he knows and looks at those things around the house when i ask him where they are. (light, dog, bird, bat <---halloween decor)

he's such a good sleeper. he goes to bed between 7-7:30, sometimes wakes up once crying. we just give him a binky and he goes back to sleep. then nurses around 4 or 5. if he doesn't wake up then i'll nurse him at 5 when i get up to work out. he'll then sleep until 7 or 7:15. i know people say "never wake a sleeping baby" BUT if it's past 7:15 and he's still asleep i will wake him up so he's ready for his 9:00 nap....and in turn making him ready for his pm nap. his first nap he does down around 9. it's typically a 2 hour nap, but he surprised me and slept 2hr 20 minute- 2hr 45 minutes about 10 times that month. he usually goes down for his pm nap 2.5-3 hours after he wakes up from his morning nap. that's nap is typically 1.5 hours long. Quite a few days he nixed that pm nap altogether. I'd put him down like usual and he'd be quiet for a while then start gabbing away! I usually work during nap times so as long as he was playfully talking, I just left him in there so I could get my work done. 

I didn't do so great this month with EC. Partly because he has been so discrete when he goes. I haven't been catching him in the act like I used to. Another reason is he has found a new potty time. He'll go in his crib. Either in the morning before he gets up, or after I lay him down for his pm. Which sometimes coincided with those days he didn't have a pm nap....I'd go in to try and lay him back down only to notice he needed a change. 

he still loves the same foods as before. he likes quinoa more than last month.

he loves drinking from a straw and doesn't care too much for his sippy.

loves dancing to this song.

is crazy at church! he's all over the place during the sacrament meeting. it took a few times of sitting in the first pew to realize we can't do that. all he wants is to get off the bench and climb up the stairs. sitting in the middle though, he likes to crawl under the pews or slip in between the pew and the wall to visit the families in front or behind us. same goes for sunday school. and relief society? fuhgetaboutit! since eli doesn't need to nurse at church anymore, jackson will take him to ym with him. unless he's teaching. otherwise i roam the halls or let him play in the mother's lounge :) having my mom in the ward helps, too. she likes talking him out to walk the halls.

11 months

{9-2-11}

August 3, 2011- September 1, 2011:

Eli took a 3 hour and 10 minute nap on his 10 month birthday! That was the longest nap ever...besides maybe when he was a newborn. I happened to go into work that day while Aunt Steph "watched" him. Not much watching though as he slept the whole time I was gone.

Took his first steps on 8/3/11! 10 months and 1 day old. He took them to Aunt Steph! After he did it we tried to see if he'd do it again. He was holding onto the computer chair and full on pivoted and took a step!
He also learned how to make kissy faces after watching jackson and i. (ewww!)

2 days later he took 5 steps to daddy! he doesn't walk to me. not sure how that should make me feel..... ;)

8/5/11 as eli was eating breakfast in his highchair i was talking to him. i said dada. he said dada. i said mama. he said mama. i clapped. he clapped. i did kissy face, he did kissy face. it was so cute to see him watch and copy what i did. This day he walked like 6 steps to daddy!

He took swimming lessons this month 3x a week for 3 weeks. He did okay. He didn't love it. He fussed and whined almost throughout the entire 10 minutes. He did well floating on his back and quickly learned all he was taught. Now to keep it up so next year he likes it better.

8/28/11 learned how to suck from a straw.

8/29/11- took 29 steps in a row without falling!

Sleeps much better at night! He goes down somewhere between 7:15-7:45pm and sleep about 10 hours before he wakes up to eat or i wake him up to eat (to avoid exploding! tmi?) he then sleeps until somewhere in the 7am hour, depending on when he went down the night before. He goes down for his am nap 2 hours after he wakes up and sleeps 1.5-2 hours. He goes down again for an afternoon nap around 1:30-2 and sleeps 1.5-2 hours again. Sometimes he just plays and talks in his crib for 30+ minutes. If it's later in the day I'll just get him out so he doesn't have a super late nap that is going to effect his bedtime. I think he went on only one nap a day 2 or 3 times this month. He does surprisingly well and is a happy guy without that afternoon nap. However, mama still likes that extra time to get stuff done.

he's always been so much fun and each stage is always my favorite, but really right now he is SO much fun! he's playful, he's good about playing by himself- or with patch or carter. unless he's tired he really isn't clingy on me anymore. he's gotten so much better about letting other people hold and play with him. for a while he just wanted me, but it's been nice to not worry about that while my mom or sister watches him.

i suddenly switched up his feedings. he now eats just before he goes to sleep, and also still when he wakes up (if he wants). he gets super distracted so i have to feed him in his room with the lights off. and forget about it at church- if i'm lucky enough to get the mothers room to myself he'll usually eat, but just last week he ate before his morning nap at 9. we were ready to leave for church at 11:15 but he was still asleep, so we woke him up to go. he wasn't interested in eating once we got to church and then we were asked to help in the nursery and he was having too much fun playing to care about eating-well, he did have a few snacks. then nursed once we got home at almost 3. wow, i ramble, huh?! my point is that he's going longer between feedings.

new foods: he still loves oatbran with banana and cinnamon. and black beans. pinto beans are a favorite, too. he'll grab a handful of them and shove them into his mouth. he's had quinoa- but he doesn't love it. the texture is still a little weird for him. he also tried sunflower seed butter on some bread, which he seemed to like. he prefers toast to bread. he loves banana soft serve.

10 months 8.2.11

Every month seems to fly by faster than the one before!

Here's a look at July- Eli's 9th month:

He's crawling more and more on his hands and knees. Although, he still scoots around sometimes.

He likes loves dog food. I can't leave my bedroom door open for too long before he's hauling hiney to get to those salty treats. I chase him but that seems to make him go even faster. Upon reaching the food, he grabs a big handful and immediately stuffs it in his mouth. I think he really only wants it because we always tell him "no". Surely it can't be good!

He is very brave and lets go of the furniture to balance on his own. After a few seconds he slowly makes his way to the ground in a squat position.

He still is styling the front top and bottom 2 teeth. I can see some more getting ready to make their debut on the top.

His longest nap this month was 3 hours. He did wake up a few times but I just gave him his binky and patted his bum and he kept going back to sleep. It was wonderful for me since I was pooped from a long run that morning and taking a nap myself.

He still wakes up at night to nurse. I'm not sure that he really needs it. It's just that I know the fastest way for him to fall back asleep- and me, too- is to feed him. So I do. Some nights are better than others in that he will only wake up once- or I will wake him up (if it's a running day I want to feed him before I go if he hasn't eaten during the night so that he wont wake up while I'm gone) A few times he woke up 4/5 times. I'm blaming it on his teeth.

He eats 'real' food everyday. His favorite is still oat bran mixed with banana and cinnamon. He eats black beans and does really well with picking them up one by one. He also likes pretzels, rice cakes, pita chips, frozen banana, mashed potatoes, watermelon, brown rice puff cereal. Pretty much anything we eat, he gets to try.

He had his 9 month visit this month. He measured 30.5" and weighed in at 17lbs 4 oz. Exactly 9" and 9lbs bigger than his birth height/weight.

I tried bringing back dairy into my diet to see how he handles it after being off for a few months. It's still causing a rash on his back, so I'll stay away from it for now. I don't miss it, but if I do crave something, luckily there are enough vegan substitutes out there to keep me satisfied.

His new favorite thing to do is smack patch. He just whacks him on the head with his palm over and over with the biggest open mouth, dimpled grin I've ever seen. Patch takes it like a champ and just sits there, though after a few minutes he walks away, but Eli just follows him.

I'm not sure to count this, but he took a step to daddy. It was more like he way on his way falling to the ground from standing and took a step before he hit the floor.

We love you sweet boy!
xoxo

Elimination Communication

Eli might disown me someday when he finds out I put this on the internet. Seriously, gone are the days of embarrassing your child with photo albums. Now we plaster it all over the internet! Sorry babe.

With Eli eating more solid foods, he is becoming more consistent with the disposal of it. Evenings are his time of choice. This was video was taken a few days ago. Don't mind how messy my babe is. He was eating a rice cake and I didn't bother taking it from him before I took him to the potty. I know, food in the bathroom is icky.

It's pretty easy to know when he's working on a little surprise. He goes quiet then begins making soft grunting noises. That's my cue to immediately stop what I am doing, rip his diaper off and sit him on the potty seat to do his thing. We think it's pretty darn cute to see such a lil' guy on a big ol' toilet, and it sure beats having to change a poopy diaper!

dessert

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this little combo has quickly become my favorite dessert. due to eli's dairy "sensitivity" i had to get creative with getting my daily chocolate fix in. this is perfect and so tasty! the natural sweetness from the prunes masks the bitterness of the unsweetened chocolate and they are the perfect pair! all i do i put one of each in my mouth and i'm on my way to chocolate heaven ;)

it's a date

Jackson's work has recently moved offices and he is now only 4 miles away versus 17! That means lunch dates with daddy!