My Little Goose

How come no one told me it is nearly impossible to take pictures of a 1 year old?  I chase after him with the camera just like I always have but instead of grinning like before Eli now thinks its a game to run away from me!  I can’t get this little boy to do anything I want.  He has come into his own and boy is he stubborn!  I don’t know where he gets that from?  Certainly not from his Mom or Dad. :)

With each passing age and stage I kept telling Milan how much more fun Eli is getting. Not that I didn’t think earlier stages were nice and all it’s just that Eli is truly fun now.  He has the funniest personality.  I call him my little goose all the time.  He is down right silly and makes the goofiest little faces when he is laughing and playing.  I wonder if this is a glimpse into his future?  I certainly hope he won’t be the class clown.  I don’t want to be the parent I used to have to call in for a conference to discuss the child’s silliness in school!

Kuma Nicole told me once that her favorite age is from 12-18 months.  At the time she told me this I just listened and said ok.  I couldn’t imagine what would make that age any better than other ages so I figured I’d find out eventually.  Eli is only 13 months and I already know what she was talking about!  There honestly can’t be anything cuter than a little boy toddling around the house carrying a cow and saying Moo.  Eli has been learning so many words.  It amazes me how quickly kids catch on to things.  You don’t realize the importance of every thing you say and do all day long. 

Eli’s top three words…  these three words are clear as day.  He also makes animal sounds for his different barn animals, he says Ahhh when you ask him to open his mouth, he of course says Mama and Tata nonstop, I think he says dog sometimes but it comes out dg without the vowel sound, and he says Nee-Na over and over but we have no clue what it means.

Ball, ball, ball, and did I mention ball?  If the object is round it is a ball and he wants to play with it (or throw it)!  I had a cantaloupe on the counter and finally had to hide it because Eli kept throwing fits wanting to play with it!  I dread the produce department in the grocery store because he sits in the cart yelling ball and pointing at everything thinking if he is loud enough I will let him play with something. 

Hi-eeeeee! Bye-eeeeee!  Eli is Mr. Friendly now that he has learned how to say hi and bye.  He adds the sweetest little eeeee sound to the end and it melts your heart.  Eli talks to everyone and anyone he sees.  Which is nice and all except there are times when I’m not interested in attracting the attention of the creepy door greeter at Walmart. 

No! Ah the classic no.  Everything is no even if it’s yes. 

So who knew being 1 was so much fun?

  Obsessed with the dishwasher! Eli comes running when he hears it open. He constantly tries to climb inside.  I finally gave in one day and let him climb up for some exploration. How else do we learn about the world other than to explore it? You gotta’ have some fun!

This child has 100 toys and like all kids he prefers to play with things that are not toys! Could there be anything more exciting than playing in a cardboard box? I think not! (BTW-that is one of Eli’s goose faces!)

Mama got Wii Fit for Christmas and Eli thinks it’s his- imagine that! I insist on trying to use it while he plays nearby and all he wants to do is pull the board out from under me and mess with the remote.  I get nothing accomplished.  I suppose chasing him around trying to the remote back counts as exercise.  It won’t be long before Eli will be taking over the Wii and I won’t get to use it all!

Most of Eli’s friends are boys so he is always playing with “boy toys'”- ya’ know trucks, cars, blocks etc. We went to a friend’s house who has a daughter and suddenly Eli discovered how much fun “girl toys” can be!  He was so obsessed with Ava’s vacuum that we borrowed it from her.  Eli has always loved the real vacuum and now he follows me around the house with his vacuum while I use the real one.  Someone please tell me why no one has invented a toy vacuum that actually works?  Can you imagine how clean my floors would be if this thing worked! (BTW- here is another goose face)

Another obsession… the remote.  We had an extra remote that didn’t work so I labeled it with an E and now it belongs to Eli.  He walks around the house carrying this thing all day long.  He points it at the TV and waits for it to work.  He also goes around banging the TV cabinet, the windows, doors and even Jack with it.  He has been “in trouble” a lot lately because of this!  He definitely knows what he is doing and knows I am going to take it from him if he bangs things.  So what does he do?  He runs from me with the thing and pretends he is going to bang something.  Then when I get close enough he takes off running and laughing.  It’s one of those moments when you want to laugh but don’t because all it does is encourage him!

 

I received a text message yesterday from a friend asking me why I haven’t posted any new blogs in so long.  So here it is.  I used to think I’d get more done as Eli got older.  Ha! Now that is funny!  I get even less done now that he is all over the house!  I am going to try to do a better job getting posts up! 

Let it snow, Let it snow, Let it snow!

Eli got to see his very first white Christmas thanks to our trip to Chicago! We had such a great visit and were on the go nonstop (as usual!).  We basically needed to rent a truck to bring home all of his birthday and Christmas gifts!  Luckily my Mom and Dave will be driving down in January and delivering them to us.  It will be like celebrating Christmas all over again. 

Along with all of Eli’s wonderful new toys he also got his very first molar and his very first cold.  That molar brought on some long sleepless nights and the cold brought on lots of runny nose problems (a.k.a boogers!)  It is not fun trying to wipe a 1 year olds nose.  It wouldn’t be Christmas without the gift of giving.  Milan was kind enough to bring home that cold from his trip to Orlando.  He passed the cold on to me, Eli, my Mom, and Dave!  All of us are still trying to kick it! 

Well now that we have had some time to rest this week I am excited to post our pictures from the trip!  This was by far the best Christmas I have had since I myself was a child.  Having a child gives celebrating Christmas a whole new meaning.  Even though Eli didn’t understand any of it we did and it was wonderful.  I can’t wait till next year when he is 2 and will “get it” a little bit more.

I knew Pappy was up to something the weeks leading up to Christmas but I wasn’t exactly sure what the project was.  Here’s what we see as we pull into their driveway!  Pappy made Eli his very our reusable birthday sign made out of Christmas lights!  This is the coolest thing I have ever seen!  I know Eli couldn’t understand it this year but I totally look forward to the day when we pull into the driveway at Christmastime and Eli recognizes he’s at Pappy’s because he sees his sign waiting for him!  Thanks Pappy!

How cute is Eli’s birthday cake?  Thank you, Kuma Nicole.  It not only looked incredible but it tasted delicious too!  You are amazing!

 

        Hmm, what’s this thing?                            Oohhh, you want me to wear it?

           I don’t think so Mama!                                            All done!

Long gone are the days when Eli would willingly wear a hat!  It was worth a try!

Here are all of the kids at Eli’s party.  As you can see Eli is not exactly thrilled about this.  The crying basically sums up how he acted most of the time we were home.  He had a really hard time adjusting to all the new people and places.  It was so much fun for Milan and I to see all of the kids together.  If we were living at home Eli would spend all his play time with these kids.  We are going to do everything we can to make sure that the miles between Georgia and Chicago don’t get in the way of Eli building relationships with our families and friends at home.  Milan grew up with the parents of these kids and it was so much fun watching the next generation play together!  We miss and love all of you!!!! 

I hate to call this the tree at Macy’s but sadly that is what it is called now.  It is a Chicago tradition to go to Marshall Field’s to see the tree and the windows so we made sure Eli got to experience the tradition. 

I think this cake is so cool.  The bakery was able to take Eli’s invitation and put it on the cake.  Too cute!

Santa (a.k.a. Dave) stopped by my Mom’s house to deliver some gifts!  How appropriate since Grammy taught Eli to say “Ho Ho Ho” just like Santa does.  Of course Eli wouldn’t get on his lap but that’s ok at least he’s not crying!

                   More presents!  Oh boy!  Thank you Baba and Deda!

Eli & Grandpa have matching Mustangs! (Please Dad, don’t buy him a real one like yours for his 16th birthday!)

Milan took Eli out sledding in his parents backyard.  Eli LOVED it!  Mama watched from inside of course.  Then Baba came out to play too. 

 

Here are my boys in their Steelers gear!  It must be Sunday! 

It was so good to be “home”.  The more we make that drive the easier it gets.  Eli really did a good job staying happy this time.  When Eli is happy everyone is happy!  :)

Thank you everyone for all the birthday and Christmas gifts.  We greatly appreciate the generosity and love from all.  Eli is one lucky little guy.