Uh-oh! What happened?

Eli said his first sentence this week! He's put together things before like "Up, please" but this past week he started saying, "Uh-oh, what happened?" It is so darn funny to hear and makes me laugh every time. He is usually sporting the facial expression in the above photo, like he really is concerned and wants to know. I guess he got so used to hearing people ask him what happened every time he said "Uh-oh" that it stuck. He is talking constantly now and while he knows a ton of words that you can make out there are just as many that have me clueless. Then there is also the random word that he will use that we have no idea how he learned it. Never a dull moment. He used to go right to sleep when we would put him down at night but now he lays awake for 30 or 40 minutes talking and singing to himself.

Separation Anxiety

The title of this entry is a trifle misleading. The separation anxiety is not actually coming from Eli's end, it's coming from ours! This week our daycare is closed for a summer vacation so we have the grandparents pulling Eli duty. Rebecca and I are having to go a week without seeing him. It's tough! We know he's having a blast... Grandma Deedee took him down to Pamlico where he got to watch big, loud machines construct a new bulkhead and pier. He's fascinated by things like that and loves studying how things work. Such a curious little guy. Today he switches over to my parents at the farm, where he loves to sit and honk the horn in the little blue truck. We have been missing him like crazy and it seems so weird to roll out of bed in the morning, get dressed, and just go to work. Don't get me wrong, it's nice not to have to do all the little chores like preparing lunches or bottles but I can't wait to see him. Just a couple more days!

We have been trying to use this time to our advantage and get a lot of work done on our house. Our addition of the garage as livable space is going well and should be drywalled this afternoon. The intent was to get the outside of the house painted during this week since Rebecca and I are both free to do it but the constant rain has drowned out that plan. We have done a large chunk but like everything else with the renovation it will just take a little longer than we thought.

Jumping bean

Our little boy has turned into a jumping bean. Now that he's discovered how to do it, there seems to be no end to the joy he gets out of it. It's still not the most graceful thing to look at and lots of times he ends up on the ground but he's having fun anyway. Every morning he writhes around in the crib playfully, throwing his blankets around and not wanting me to take him out. Eventually he'll get to his feet, hold on to the railing and start jumping like a little wild man. Anything cushy like a mattress or couch cushion gets an almost immediate "I must stand on this and jump" response. Gotta curb that (especially on the couch) or he's going to have some spectacular injuries. This must have been what Evel Knievel was like as a child. There's a popular phrase, "He's all boy." Now we really know what that means.

Ou-tie!

(Eli summons something great and terrible from the deep)

Eli does not like being inside the house. He spends a good part of his inside time standing beside the door, pointing at it, and saying 'ou-tie.' (outside) That's all well and good, except for the fact that the outside of our house is a construction war-zone due to us adding on the garage as livable space. New parents can totally identify with how your assessment of your surroundings change once you have a little one. At one time you might have walked into the room and thought to yourself, 'oh, what a charming table' or 'love that bookshelf.' Now all I do is danger assessment. 'Where are the stairs?' 'That table is sharp, he'll definitely run into that.' Half of our front yard is like that right now; boards and nails everywhere, holes, rocks, and power tools. Yikes. Guess we will have to make more trips to the park.

We are going to the zoo this weekend so I'll be sure to put up some photos from that soon.

It's Pamlico-time again!

When April rolls around and the sun starts to show itself with some regularity, you can bet that our family is thinking of heading down to Pamlico.  We knew vacations to the river would be interesting this year because both Eli and his cousin Jack would be able to walk.  The first installment of 'crazy little boy fest 09' went off with flying colors.  The weather was absolutely perfect and the boys really enjoyed themselves as you can see from the picture above.  They really get along well and have a ton of fun playing together.  Eli had a little spot of a fever on the way down there but he kicked that right away.  I'm glad they like it down there because they'll be going back quite a few times from now until September.  It's such a cool thing to be able to vacation at a place that has been in the family for many years.  Rebecca and her sisters grew up going there and now a new generation gets to have that too.  Viva la Pamlico!

The last straw

Today was another first for Eli.  Every time one of us brings home some sort of take out or fast food Eli is all over it.  He likes to go after our drinks and today I had a large water in a cup with a straw so I decided to let him go for it.  After just a couple minutes of coaching he got the hang of it.  He would get a little water through the straw, pause, and break into a wide grin of accomplishment afterward.  That cycle got repeated dozens of times and the excitement never wore off for him.  I don't think he's ever had that much water during the day.  We changed a lot of diapers and I shudder to think what his pamper will be like in the morning.  Anyone with a toddler will tell you how great it is to find something new that occupies their attention even for a little while.  Today that something new was the straw.  Long live the straw.

The Not-so-well-mannered Eli

So much for the well-mannered little boy.  Our daycare provider has used words such as "turkey" and "stinker" to describe him this week.  He's "that" kid at daycare right now; the one doing the pushing and shoving, the one wielding the word "no" like Excalibur.  He will grow out of this, right?  RIGHT?!  He does like to have fun though.  Check out that flying high-five in the picture.  

The renovations on our house have started and there is dirt and digging going on all over the place.  All Eli wants to do is go outside all the time and now his favorite stoop on the house has been demolished.  Luckily for us, he has developed an interest in the garden hose so we have a distraction.

The weather's turn toward Spring is great for us.  With Eli getting more active physically, being able to go to the park around the corner to let him burn his energy climbing and sliding is a treat.  Each time he comes down the slide he waits until he's at the bottom to say "WEEEE!"  It's a little like that delay between listening to Woody Durham while watching the Heels game on TV but it's quite funny.