Where's Daddy?!

Aaron and I have been SKYPE 'ing lately and let's just say, I am sooo glad for this technology! It allows Elijah to see daddy, even when he can't be near.
The cutest thing about it is, I will say to Elijah "Where's daddy?" and he will point right to the screen.  Both Aaron and I get a kick out of it.  Just a subtle reminder that he knows exactly who daddy is and he has not forgotten him!

LUVS

I got a few shipments in the other day and decided that Elijah would probably like playing in the big boxes.  I was correct!  He was crawling in and out of them and then I put him in the LUVS diaper box and pushed him all around the house.  He had such a blast; he was laughing the whole time!  Awwww the little things!

Curly Cue

I haven't had the opportunity to take many pictures of Elijah  these past few weeks, but I did snag a few of him right after his bath the other night.  His hair is getting SO curly!  I scrunch it in the bath tub to make it super curly.  This particular night it just dried that way!  How cute!  It's so nice to see that he is getting more hair. Someday he will actually have a full head of hair!

Happy 1st Birthday!

Ok, so I admit it, I did not take very many pictures of Elijah on his First birthday.  His Birthday party will be next month, when our schedules align a little better, but for now this will have to do.  I knew it would be necessary to document what exactly he looked like on his first birthday and I would be mad at myself later for not taking any pictures, so I did take a few.

ONE YEAR AGO TO THE DAY!

Here are some quick facts for his first birthday:

1. He has two, count them TWO teeth (that's not very many! haha)
2. He is cruising along the furniture quite well, but not quite ready to take those first few fateful steps (though, on several occasions he has stood on his own, more out of forgetfulness than a conscience decision)
3. He jabbers and says Ma, Da, Ba, Ny Ny Ny Ny (we think night night?), Ths (its a sound that is hard to spell hahah)
4. Clicks his tongue, smacks his lips
5. Will kiss you only when he wants to, never when you want him to
6. Can tell you he is hungry and that he is all done in sign language (we are working on please and thank you, and then that will be all, as we want to concentrate on his verbal skills)
7. He is a thinker and reserved, as well as cautious  (think Aaron, not me)
8. He LOVES balls (especially soccer balls- why? I don't know), his Giraffe, and banging on anything that makes music.  
9. He loves the piano, his little guitar (aka Ukalaile spelling?) and singing (at least we think that is what that noise is)
10. He LOVES Bath time
11. He is well behaved, has a contagious smile, is happy (most of the time) and is constantly drawing Comanding attention from others

He Does not like the following:

1. Baby Food Peas (but will eat the real thing)
2. REALLY loud noises (like mommy cheering for people)
3. When you tell him no (although he is getting better)

All in All, I say he is a pretty darn good 1 year old.  And we LOVE HIM SOOOOO MUCH!  

Thanks for hanging out and reading this blog for one year!  Here's too many more!

Easter... a week late.

I had meant to have this post up last week, just after Easter, but unfortunately, I just didn't get there. We had a nice 2nd Easter with Elijah....much, much better than his first Easter, at least for me (if you recall, last Easter I spent the day in the hospital- oh joy)!  We did not get to do everything I had wished, but maybe next year (and maybe an Easter egg hunt too?! we will see!)  We had a GREAT Brunch with Dad and Katie at Scott's in Walnut Creek and then a GREAT dinner with the De Mers family at their house.  Bob got really creative and turned the Turtle Sandbox that he got at a garage sale in to a ball pit for Elijah (and Elizabeth).  Elijah LOVED it!  He must have spent at least 30 minutes in there (and that's saying something).
Here are some pictures from Elijah's Second Easter!  And some pictures from last Easter, can you believe how big he has gotten?!

Last Easter (ok like three days later, but close enough)

AWWWW I can't believe how small he was!  Time just really flies!

Almost Walking

Today is 1 year and 1 day after Elijah was born!  We can't believe how fast the time has gone.  He went from this tiny BIG little baby to this ...well....big boy!
E and I celebrated his birthday quietly (?) with a lunch with Papa Mike (or just "mike" as dad says) and aunt Katie, a five minute nap on the way home and a crying fit for 1.5 hours because someone did NOT want to take a nap, because 5 minutes is good enough.
Let's just say that I retract my comment from my last post, and this time I did not "win".
But today was better and look what E did!

Ok so he didn't walk before his first birthday, like the Doctor predicted, and so far he has not walked (on his own), 1 day after his birthday, but this is getting pretty darn close, don't you think?!

Learning to Share

As Elijah gets more and more aware of his surroundings and what really is going, on one account he is doing really well (at least I can tell from this one instance).  Elijah (seen here with his cousin Elizabeth) is becoming a good "share-er".  Lizzie and Eli played really well together the other day, sharing the ball back and forth.  There was not too much "rough play", grabbing, and no screaming (wow!).  Hopefully this will carry through in to this next year of his life.  I have this funny feeling though, that we are going to have our battles over "sharing"....among other things.
He is definitely udnerstanding the word "no", and like a perfect  rebellious gentleman, looks at me and proceeds to do it again.  Let the battles begin.  Guess what?   I win!. (The Odds are never in his favor...mu-ha-ha-ha).

Elizabeth- 7 months

Remember....

Sleeping Baby

Mom, remember when I would fall asleep in the car when we hit Seaview Drive (0.1 mile from home), as if I figured the thrill of the ride was over and I wouldn't miss anything from that point on?  Well, we have another "close to home sleeper!"  This is the second time that Elijah has jabbered the entire car ride and when we hit some place near the Ferry Building (1 mile from home) suddenly the car falls silent and I pull in to the parking spot to be greeted by a sleeping baby.  I couldn't resist documenting this one!

Snacking.

Just some cute shots of Elijah eating his snacks.  Thought it would buy me some time until I can take some more pictures! haha!

Hunter at Heart

Just a couple of cute pictures I took of Elijah this past week. He LOVES pushing the laundry basket around, though he prefers it to be empty...as I learned while snapping these photos!

Something is wrong with this picture- Winter Hat, Long Sleeves....and NO pants! Oops!

Teething Halo and Lots of Laughs!

Elijah and I had a bit of fun with his teething ring tonight.  (he is getting a tooth after all.  A real, 100% genuine tooth....stay tuned for a picture when we can really see it!) Anyway, there is not much more to say, since this video shows all of our fun!