Your nose is running, better go catch it!

Straight off, I feel obligated to mention that Eli's popped collar in the first picture was mommy's doing. It captured the spirit of his attitude at the moment, channeling Travolta in Saturday Night Fever. Eli really started walking around on his own a few weeks ago but now he's really got it down. He can actually start running but that usually won't last long. He's still no Baryshnikov but he's really good at keeping his balance when you swear he's about to fall. I don't stress nearly as much watching him toddle around as I did a couple weeks ago. Don't get me wrong, the kid falls all the time but he's learned how to fall without all the damage. His biggest obstacle is the collection of toys on the floor. They are the reason he falls most of the time...he will trip over something that he didn't notice.

I know for a fact that I have had to deal with Eli's worst poo. My sister was at the house and was witness to it. Saturday night, Rebecca got the trump card when Eli puked in his crib. I was out at the time so she had to deal with it herself. The picture above is the aftermath of it, which she documented so I would know just how bad it was. The picture does not do it justice at all. What you don't get to see is Eli, his disgusting and putrid clothing, the bath mat from the cleanup process or the vomit covered blankets. Yes, this is probably too much information but I'm including it to show just how much mommy loves her little boy and that I acknowledge her messy Eli trump card for the time being.

Eli is still pretty sick and his nose has been running like a faucet. He detests having his nose wiped so you can imagine was a chore that has been. Last night it looked like he might finally be getting over it. Even though he's been under the weather the last couple of weeks, he seems to be showing more and more personality every day. He also is getting more blatant about testing boundaries. He will walk over to a cabinet or something that we tell him not to mess with and reach out for it. Most of the time he will stop short of it and turn to look at us to gauge our reaction. It's hard not to burst out laughing when he does it but we must be strong!

For Eli's first Halloween I wanted to do a cool Jack-o-lantern. I settled on Frankenstein's monster. Since he and Eli share the same walking style right now it seemed fairly appropriate. I'll try to get pics up of Eli's Halloween costume after the weekend.