Random Thoughts

* Is it better to have Eli snot on my *ahem* chest? Or my butt? Because while changing my pants yesterday, I couldn't decide what was on the seat of my pants. Then I realized it was snot... So I ask: is it better to have it on my chest- more clearly visible and gross? Or on my butt- where no one should be looking anyway? But it could possibly draw a stranger's eye to that area and cause unwanted staring. :/

* A daily reminder of why I love children (often more than I love adults).... Every day on our 5 minute drive to work, we pass a train that is parked on the tracks. And EVERY DAY Eli gets really excited and exclaims: "Choo choo! Choo choo! Bye bye! Bye bye!" as he kicks his feet excitedly in his car seat. Now, I can not think of a single thing that I encounter on a daily basis that evokes that much excitement from me. Yes, I love every day that I get to spend with Eli. And my favorite part of the day is getting him up in the morning when he's happily crying "mama! mama!" and then smiles really big when I come in the room. But I certainly don't jump up and down with excitement every time this happens. If only we could keep that child-like enthusiasm for life as we grow.....

*Random funny statements from a 5 year-old: He is coloring at the table and starts writing some of his numbers. He writes a "5" and sings, "down and around, put a hat on top!" then turns to me and says, "that's a great song" :) Yes, yes it is.

Life Update

Seems like we've been busy around here lately, so I thought I'd just give a quick update.

* Aaron was in San Diego this week for work, so I went home to my parents' house and had a lovely time. It was very relaxing to actually have some downtime while home, instead of running around trying to see as many people as possible. Definitely a more low-key visit. Got to see family and church family, so it was nice.

* In honor of Aaron turning in his rough draft of his master's thesis (thank GOD it's done!), we're going to take a weekend trip next weekend to St. Louis. We haven't really taken any road trips as a family yet. And we wanted to stay relatively close since it's just for the weekend, so St. Louis seemed like the best option. We're excited!

* I went to the Renaissance Festival last weekend with my Emporia friends in honor of Sumre's bday. I hadn't been in years, so it was fun to go again. There were definitely some interesting parts to the day, seeing as how one of the performers picked me up (without my consent) to take a picture with me. I couldn't quite figure out how I was being the least obnoxious one, yet I was the one targeted... Oh well, it was pretty funny if I do say so myself.

* We've really been enjoying the fall weather lately, especially Aaron and Eli since they both seem to sweat at the slightest temperature increase. I'm really not exaggerating either. Eli starts sweating while running around our living room in the evening - when the thermostat's set at 71.... He's totally gonna hate that specific trait his daddy passed down to him as he gets older.

* I recently finished "Freedom", Oprah's latest book club selection. I was NOT a fan of the book, nor did I find it to be the "masterpiece" Oprah raved it to be. But I finished it, by God. All 562 pages of it. Never again will I blindly trust someone else's opinion and ignore my own hesitation when I read the inside cover of a book. I'm usually not into Oprah's selections either. But I figured how could you go wrong with such high praise? And I was really needing a new book..... Needless to say, next time I'll go with my gut and not make a hasty purchase again.

Animals

So I'm not really sure if Eli's latest accomplishment is impressive or not. Since I can't be in his classroom at school (bc he does NOT do well with me in there), I have no idea what the other children his age are capable of. That being said, I find this to be pretty impressive. Eli can correctly identify 57 animals from his books that we read.

Now I'm not being generous here and giving him ones that he's pointed at once or twice. These are the ones that he points to every single time when we ask him where it is. For example: we'll say "Eli where's the elephant?" and he'll point to it on a page where there are at least 5 or 6 other animals. Again, maybe this is normal for his age. But all the same, I'm proud of my little boy and his obsession for learning about animals.

For those of you who can't believe that any normal kid can name 57 animals, that there just aren't that many commonly known animals, allow me to list them for you...... cat, dog, cow, sheep, goat, horse, pig, piglet, chicken, chick, rooster, donkey, camel (he makes a hilarious spitting noise for this one), panda, koala, kangaroo, bear, seal, polar bear, dolphin (also funny sound effect), bird, butterfly, grasshopper, bee, ladybug, rabbit, mouse, guinea pig, goose, duck, turkey, giraffe, hippo, lion, elephant, zebra, cheetah, leopard (I'm sure he'd be able to distinguish between the two in side-to-side pics, but he knows both their names and recognizes them on the pages when asked to point to them), gorilla, monkey, rhino, crocodile, flamingo, owl, fox, penguin, tiger, snake, frog, seahorse, turtle, eagle, fish, mokey, and ????? I can't find the last couple (they're in other books that I don't have currently sitting next to me).

But I'm still proud of my little smartypants boy :) It's definitely proof that taking the time to read books with your child- no matter what age- is good for them!

Belated Weekend Post

We had a great Labor Day weekend. Nothing too big and exciting, just some time with family and friends. We got some stuff done around the house; had some family time with the Andersons; and went to Deanna Rose with my good friend, Ali. She came up and visited on Sunday and we spent the holiday together - feeding goats (Eli loves those little guys!:) and enjoying the rest of the farmstead and all it has to offer. Here are just a couple pics from the outing.


We're finding that it's impossible to get a good picture of all 3 :P



Eli laughing after feeding a goat. He found this to be absolutely hilarious- after chasing the goats around the pen for about 5 minutes bc they were all distracted by other people feeding them.





Auntie Ali showing Eli the ponies! Too bad he's not old enough to go for a ride...




Sidenote: I should really start finding more places to take Eli around the KC area. He LOVES Deanna Rose, Monkey Bizness and the zoo, but I know there are tons of other options if we would just explore a little more...

Fun Times

We've had quite a few fun family outings lately. Last weekend we went to the KC Zoo. And earlier today we took Eli to Deanna Rose. He loved both and we had such a great time. His love for animals is infectious :) How can you not think that goats are cool when Eli's laughing hysterically at feeding them? Or running up to the fence and saying "HI!" to each and every one of them... Such a personality for a 17 month old. Anyhow, I thought I'd post a couple pictures from our adventures since I tend to take way too many pictures.

Busy Busy

Aaron and I have both been working a lot this week. I was filling in at work in the preschool room several days. And Aaron is apparently working with some short deadlines this week and has been at the office more than we'd all like him to be. But we're very much looking forward to the weekend and some quality time together. We might take a trip to the zoo tomorrow since it's FINALLY going to cool off a little. No more 100 degree weather- thank goodness!

Some highlights of the week:

*Ali came up and celebrated her birthday with us last night. Ross and Randy were here as well and we had a fun evening. Cheesecake Factory always puts a smile on my face :)

*I'm reminded why I love working with children when I'm with the preschool age. For example, we were talking about feelings this week. I took each kid aside one at a time and had them tell me what makes them happy and sad and wrote it down for their parents. Some of the funnier ones include: "I'm happy when I'm in a corn maze" "I'm happy when the rainbows don't disappear" "I'm happy when.... flowers!" The sad ones were, of course, less funny because the children were truly sad in these situations. One little boy actually told me that he's sad "when my mommy isn't so nice to me" :( If that isn't a reminder that our children are people too - and can tell other people what their mommy's and daddy's are like at home - I don't know what is! Definitely made me sad and made me give Eli some extra loving that night.

*Not-so-fun news is that Eli got bit twice by friends in daycare this week. It's obviously not the end of the world. And he initiated one of the incidents. But still not so fun for him.

*And finally, I forgot to post earlier that we went down to my parents' last Saturday for a birthday party and had a marvelous time. We took Eli to my grandparents' pool during the day and had lots of fun with Uncle Macey, cousin Brooke, and cousin Robin. We then had dinner in at Macey and Heather's house and it was delicious! All in all, very fun (albeit short) trip.

Accomplishments

As I was updating Eli's baby book this weekend, I realized that I haven't been quite as diligent about writing down some of the milestones as I should. I have all the big ones, of course. But who keeps track of their pregnancy? Or the first time he claps his hands together? Are parents really supposed to be able to fill out ALL of these "firsts"???

With that in mind, I figured I should document what he is currently (at 16 months) capable of doing. If you're not interested in what my kiddo can currently do, don't bother reading any further. This is honestly as much for me to look back on later when I can't remember he was like at this stage in life. (Also, keep in mind that I make no guarantees that he will perform any of these tricks for you, should you see him and ask him to. At home, he talks and performs on demand. In public, it's a crapshoot.)

*He can say multiple words: side = outside (his first real word), baw baw = ball, doggie, mama, daddy, dirty (as in, his diaper's dirty. he learned that one at daycare:), bye-bye, cracker, go!go!go! (said while running), uh-huh, hi, and I'm sure I'm forgetting some.

*He also can make a few animal noises. A dog says: woo, woo, woo. A lion says: roar! And a duck sort of quacks :) He can also point to and identify many animals. We still work on this a lot, but he's getting a lot of the basic objects and animals down.

*He can now - thanks to Daddy - give and blow kisses. It's done w/ a "mmmwa!" sound and is super cute. He'll also give you a hug if you ask him for one.

*He no longer thinks walking is all that cool. He runs EVERYWHERE.

*He LOVES the pool! Thank goodness he inherited my love of water, instead of Aaron's disdain for it.

*He also dances :) He loves music and stares at the tv when we have CMT videos on in the mornings. Aaron and I joke that he's already into blondes, because he tends to pay more attention when Carrie Underwood or Miranda Lambert is on.

*His little personality and sense of humor is developing more and more all the time. He's what I would describe as an easy-going, generally very happy kid. Loves new situations and people. Sometimes has to warm up to someone if they want to hold him. But he can't get enough of flirting with strangers in Target.