9 months

My little guy is so big! I am so impressed by all the things he can do and his excitement about life in general. He crawls everywhere, cruises on any furniture he can find and generally gets around very effectively. We have had to baby proof everything under 3 feet, because nothing is safe anymore. Kleenex are his personal favorite, pulling them out of the box and tearing them up brings a look of sheer joy to his face. He is so thoughtful when he is playing with his toys and is really starting to play with them more than just eating them. Driving trucks and cars with Daddy is the best thing ever.

I swear, this was by far the most difficult photo shoot yet, it was crazy. I think I will try to do a post of the outtakes later.

This is Eli signing "more" so that we will keep singing "The Wheels on the Bus"

Wheels on the Bus sure is a great song!

Eli Likes: Kleenex and toilet paper, trucks, DADDY, chicken, scrambled eggs, his green whiffle ball, exploring, cruising, reaching things, the dishwasher, bath time, soda cans, balls, feeding himself, The Wheels on the Bus, tearing things

Eli Doesn't Like: being by himself, waiting for dinner, green vegetables, any finger food vegetables, getting PJs on after bath

9 month check up:

All was well at Eli's check up. His ears were finally infection free and Dr Powers thought he looked to be doing great. We discussed Eli's recent resistance to green vegetables and all the new table foods we could try. He hadn't put on much weight, but Dr. Powers isn't worried, he is just a tall and thin little guy, who is very active and therefore doesn't keep much weight on his bones yet.

Height: 29 3/4 inches (89%)

Weight: 19lb 7 oz (29%)

I told you he likes Kleenex.

Elijah's 1st Christmas

As noted already, our Christmas season was quite eventful, but even though Eli was sick during most of it, he still had a really great time and got some awesome gifts. We enjoyed seeing lots of family (all though the weather and sicknesses did prevent us from seeing everyone) and when he was well enough Eli was pretty friendly and enjoyed everyone.

I am going to post a few Christmas pictures, but there is so many of them that I am also going to make a Picasa web album of them and you check out the rest of them there.

He figured out wrapping paper pretty quickly.

Dan and I had a couple of his gifts already put together, so he could play right away!

Auntie KiKi got Eli a new book!

Eli certainly loves anything with wheels... little cars and trucks were a big hit this year.

Uncle Darren teaches Eli about puzzles.

Momentarily feeling great and oh so happy!

I love reading with this little smiler.

Happiness through all the sickness...presents will do that!

Good-bye December!

We have quite an eventful end to our year. Aside from typical holiday madness and rushing about, we have each been quite sick, especially Eli. As I write this I am hopeful that we are about to put this all behind us, but with how things have been going, I am not holding my breath.

Beginning on December 10th, Elijah has had/still has each of the following ailments:

- Double ear infections (treated now with 2 rounds of antibiotics)

- Sinus Infection

- Diarrhea

- Vomiting

- Runny Nose and Eyes

- Cough

- Diaper Rash/Infection

Dan and I have both had some of the cold and stomach issues as well, but not nearly as severely as Elijah. He has been a trooper most days and survived his first holiday season quite well for how sick he is/was.

He is considerably better right now, the cold symptoms are still lingering, but seem to get better each day. We are treating the diaper issues now with a Rx and are hopeful that will clear up soon. He has been eating some again, but is refusing all green vegetables, so it looks like I may have a battle ahead on that issue.

Because a sick baby just wouldn't have been interesting enough, my parents and siblings have all been sick as well, one of my uncles had surgery, a cousin got pretty sick while in town and yesterday a tornado ripped through my mom and dad's neighborhood. All are okay in the tornado and minimal damage was done at my parents, although many of their neighbors weren't so lucky.

Our break hasn't exactly been relaxing... but somehow still I am ready to go back to work. It is exhausting to be home 24/7 with a little guy who is so miserable and out of sorts. We all need to get back into good routines.

Sad sick eyes!