Summer’s Bounty

One of my favorite parts about this time of year is all the delicious, locally grown produce. I am a big believer in supporting your local farmer and agriculture so I visit a farmer’s market at least once a week (now sometimes more as I am lucky enough to work a block away from two- one on Mondays in Pioneer Square and one on Wednesdays in the South Park Blocks) to buy some of my favorite produce. I especially love all of the seasonal berries! At the Monday market last week I ended up buying a half flat of mixed berries (6 pints) for only $12!! That was a great deal! I had strawberries, blueberries and raspberries. They were gone in a few days.     I am very happy to report that Eli loves all these tasty, sweet treats! He has eaten strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, cherries, peaches, and now sugar snap peas that I have brought home to him. I’m happy to finally see him break out of his banana and apple (no skin, of course) rut and try something new. I’m hoping these better than supermarket fruits and veggies will hardwire his brain at this young age into actually enjoying fresh, raw produce. So far I think it is working! He is more willing to try new things, in fact, he tried a kiwi for the first time the other day (which came from Costco and was grown in Chile, but still).

Pioneer Square Farmer's Market

The half flat of blueberries, strawberries and raspberries I bought.

Other items I find myself buying at the farmer’s market are locally made cheeses and meats, all of which are “grown” locally as well (as in the cows/goats/pigs/chickens/fish/buffalo are raised within the Pacific Northwest). Eli liked the special cumin and orange flavored salami/sausage I let him try (the hogs were fed those ingredients to make their meat taste like it!). It cracked me up because his picky father would not even try it and yet little Eli couldn’t get enough of it! He definitely likes his meat! LOL! This Wednesday I bought a very authentic chorizo andaluz (a spicy Spanish sausage/salami) and I am excited to see how he will like it.  

I am planning on taking Eli to the big Saturday farmer’s market (at PSU) with me this weekend so he can see and sample all the fruits and veggies himself. I think he will have a lot of fun seeing all the people and trying everything! Then we will probably go enjoy one of the fountains downtown before heading home for his nap.  

Eli sitting on a stump seat by a garden at the Edgefield- 6-6-10

This Sunday I will be babysitting my best friend Jessica’s two boys (Noah is 10 and Calvin is 4) while she and her husband shoot a wedding. I decided this morning to take all three boys to Blue Lake Regional Park not too far from our house to play in the water spray park. I will have to post some pictures of that next week, but I think it will be a blast! Even this mama will probably end up getting soaked!

Calvin and Eli in a shopping cart "car"- 5-21-10

(P.S.  Just in case anyone is wondering about the dates on the photo captions, I should state that I’ll be posting some older pictures of Eli since I haven’t blogged much this year and would still like to share some of the cutest ones.)

135 Words and Counting!!!

I have begun to compile a list of Eli’s 18-19 month old vocabulary, mainly for posterity and also to brag about what a little genius he is.  :)

Words with an * before them means he is not yet saying them, but knows the meaning of the word well.

A

airplane, again, agua (his first Spanish word!), app = apple

B

baby, boy, book, blue, ball, bubbles, ba-ba = bottle, Buhbuh/Bubba (his nickname), bed, bug, big, bus, belly, bird, bear, bunny, banana (usually says ‘nana), “baaah” (what a sheep says), bop (not sure why he says this, but he does frequently), beep (for cars), bum, blocks, bike, bath, bat, bar, blankie, blanket, bone, *bye-bye (he doesn’t say, but he does wave)

C

cup, car, cart, clock, cheese, cold, choo-choo (for train), coo-coo = cookie, cat (usually says “meow-meow,” though), *clap (knows how to)

D

Dada, Doc, dog, doggie, donkey, door, diape = diaper, “Don” = John (for his Uncle Johnny), down, *dance (he knows how to)

E

Eli (he’s said his name a few times when prompted!), eggy = egg, *eyes (knows what/where they are), *ears (knows what/where they are)

F

fork, frog, fish, *feet (knows what/where they are), *flower (knows what it is)

G

go, girl, gun, game, guitar (usually says ‘itar), Gramma = Grandma and Gra’pa = Grandpa (usually just says “Pa,” though), green (sounds like “geen”), garage, garbage, good

H

hot, happy, home, house, *hair (knows what/where it is), *hand (knows what/where they are), *horse (knows what it is and makes a horse noise), *hi (he doesn’t say it, but he does wave)

I

No “I” words yet…

J

Jordan (his babysitter’s 4 year old son & new friend- they hug good-bye!), Jason (he will say it when prompted or say “Jay,” but I don’t think he understands it is Dada’s name)

K

key, kiwi (I recently made him try one and also say it J)

L

Lisa (he will say it when prompted, but I’m not sure he understands it is Mama’s name)

M

Mama, Mark (Jason’s friend), more, milky, moon, “moo” (what a cow says), “meow” (what a cat says, also calls cats “meow-meows”), man, mail, monkey (he usually says variations, including monk and mo-mo), *mouth (he knows what/where it is)

N

Noah (my friend Jessica’s son…he will say “Noah” when he sees skateboards, scooters, swings, and pictures of blonde boys- LOL!), no (of course!), nigh-nigh = night-night, noodle (I love it when he says this!), nose (he says it and knows what/where it is)

O

“ooooo-ooooo” (what a monkey says), on, ope = open, one (I’m not sure if he understands the concept of “one” but he’s said it!)

P

poo-poo, pee-pee, potty, park, plant, plate, pants, penis, pizza, peach, phone, pocket

Q

No “Q” words yet…

R

“roar” (what a lion/tiger/bear says), “ribbet” (what a frog says), run

S

sock (usually is sounds more like “Doc”- LOL!), shoe, spoon, swing (usually says ‘wing), seat, sit, straw, stairs, step, *smell (he knows how to), *slide (he loves going down slides!)

T

truck, taco, toast (usually sounds more like “toa”), this, that, towel, tool, tee-pee (he currently has one in his play area), tree (usually sounds more like “tea”), *teeth (knows what/where they are)

U

up

V

“vvvrrroooommm!” (his sound for cars)

W

wa-wa = water, what, way, walk, wind (what he says for fans & air-conditioners), “woof” (what a dog says), wagon (usually says ‘agon), work, wet, wipe

X

No “X” words yet…

Y

yeah = yes, yo-yo (his Dada recently bought him one at a garage sale)

Z

No “Z” words yet…

Eli is such a smart boy!!! He is also putting words together to say phrases. Some frequently used combinations are:  that way, up stairs, baby up, baby down, big wa-wa, cold wa-wa, Dada/Mama wa-wa, baby milk, milk cup, car key, baby girl, this one, good dog, Doc bone, Doc go, blue sock, blue car, Dada car, Gramma house…and my personal favorite- happy baby.     He even put three words together the other day- “Mama no work”- which absolutely broke my heart! He said it on our way driving me into downtown to work, but he said it before we had even crossed the river! I thought it was pretty amazing he would recognize that’s where we were going already, but he does the same thing and will start saying “home!” before you can see our house.

It is so fun to watch him learn new words! He is always hungry to learn more and loves having me read him vocabulary picture books! He can basically repeat any word you say to him now too…so far he hasn’t said any bad words, but it is something Mama is worried about.

We’re baaaaack!

I have to greatly apologize to my faithful readers for the past five-almost-six months hiatus I have taken from this blog. Life has been busy and with Eli now walking, I pretty much have zero time at home to write posts. I do have hundreds of pictures that document what we have been up to, though, so I hope to cover the big moments in recaps soon. Several important events and changes have happened since I last wrote, most notably: Eli celebrated his first Thanksgiving, he went on his first airplane trip to southern California to visit my family for his first Christmas, he went to Disneyland for his time, Eli celebrated his first birthday and ate his first taste of cake, he had his first haircut, he started walking and is getting much better at talking, we bought a new house and moved across town, and last but not least, Eli finally had his kidney surgery to correct the UPJ obstruction in his left renal tube. So, as you can see, we have been rather busy in the last few months. I do want to get back into the swing of things, though, to help keep you all connected to Eli and our family.

Here are a few pictures to get you started:

Eli getting ready for his first ride with his Mama and Grandma at his first visit to Disneyland- December 23, 2009

Eli's first ride at Disneyland- the carousel in Fantasyland- December 23, 2009

Meeting Mickey Mouse! December 23, 2009

Of course I had to take my picture with Donald Duck when the Ducks made it to the Rose Bowl! GO DUCKS!- December 23, 2009

Eli was a happy little elf on his first Christmas- December 24, 2009

He was not a fan of the antique Santa! LOL! December 24, 2009

Eli turns one year old! January 6, 2010

Family picture on Eli's First Birthday (also showing his first haircut)- January 6, 2010

Eli at 15 months old, the day before his surgery- photo by Jessica Watson Photography- April 5, 2010

Life still feels like it is moving at a million miles per minute, but I hope to be better at staying in touch this way.    It’s good to be back!

Sweeter than pumpkin pie!

Our little Eli is sweeter than pumpkin pie! He's one cute pumpkin head to toe too...and standing tall at just over 30 inches! October 24, 2009

Eli is holding his "Happy First Halloween" card from his Grandma Hoots. She kindly sent him the pumpkin hat and jammies too! Thank you, Grandma! He has been absolutely darling carrying it around with him for days.

This is Eli's pumpkin costume. He is getting ready for the car ride over to his Auntie Jessica's new house to do a photo shoot. Her darling pictures are coming soon!- October 24, 2009

If you would like to see the pictures Jessica took of Eli now, you can find them on her website- http://jessicawatsonphotography.com – or click the link I have on the right under Friends and Family Blogs. It should be the first or second blog posted on the main page. They are absolutely adorable!

Eli in his Duck costume from his Aunties Tasie & Heather- October 28, 2009

I don't have any orange pants for him to wear so I was hoping those tan cords would work for duck legs- October 28, 2009

Little Ducky Eli waving hi to his mama- October 28, 2009

I’ll be posting more new Halloween pictures after this weekend so be sure to check back in a few days!

New Accomplishments!

You can tell he is really proud of himself for pulling himself up that high off the floor- October 15, 2009

Eli likes books...especially destroying them at this stage. He stands on his tippy toes most of the time, but sometimes more flat footed- October 15, 2009

Eli has had done some more new milestones! He waves to people now! It is the cutest thing. He never waves to neither Jason or myself, but today he waved at some random grandma lady at Costco! And now he’s doing it a lot more. He still doesn’t quite have it down perfectly yet either, but it is very cute! He is so expressive already!

I have recently been dressing him in 18 month size clothing, which fits him for the most part. He didn’t have very many warmer 12 month size clothes, so I just tried it on him one day and realized it fit except for being too long in the legs. I’m hoping it will also last a while longer, but I doubt it at this rate he’s growing.

I recently tried something new that I read in the Parenting magazine when feeding Eli solids. It said that it actually stimulates a baby more and makes eating more interesting to feed a baby different flavors in a rapid succession. It seemed to me that theory is true because Eli opened his mouth each time without being prompted (he will also open his mouth if you say “open” to him) as if he was excited to see what what next. I’ve tried a few times now and it has worked, except for once when he just wasn’t that hungry. I try to give him different flavors and textures, such as: oatmeal (thick, lumpy and bland), green beans with rice (watery and bland), and chicken with apples (thick, smooth and sweeter); or turkey with peas and rice, apples and butternut squash, and oatmeal. I usually will try whatever it is he’s eating too to see what he’s getting. Most of it is gross, but I do like the applesauce and pears. I have to admit that the peas, green beans and cereals are the worst since there is no salt or butter or real flavor. Even Eli made a grossed out face the first time he ate peas!

I think Eli's face looks a lot like mine as a baby here- October 17, 2009

He likes to bite on the metal handle of the spoon- October 15, 2009

Eli’s other big accomplishment is that he successfully drank out of a cup for his first time! Looks like I’ll need to get some small, BPA-free plastic cups (and maybe a plastic bib- LOL!) to continue practicing this skill. They say a baby should be off the bottle by 12 months so I’m glad he is showing an interest in drinking the big people way.

Eli and I got to see some friends last night when we went over to celebrate Ashley’s 25th birthday (Ashley is my best friend Erin’s younger sister, but she is also like my little sister since I’ve known her since I was 12 and she was 9- she is also my brother John’s same age). Eli got to meet some of Ashley’s friends who I’ve known for many, many years too like Cherie, Meggan, and Amy. But most of all, Eli was happy to see his Auntie Erin! And his Auntie Ashley was so happy he came to her party that she let him play with her Blackberry- LOL!

Eli likes talking on the phone!- October 17, 2009

Eli loves his Auntie Erin!- October 17, 2009

Eli is such a flirt and ladies' man! The always beautiful Cherie and birthday girl Ashley were lovin' on Eli before I had to take him home- October 17, 2009

I will have some better Halloween pictures to post here soon, so please be sure to check back soon!

Doc Holliday wearing the barrel to Eli's St. Bernard puppy costume- October 17, 2009

Eli was not a happy puppy in his St. Bernard costume. Let's hope he does better next time, poor baby- October 17, 2009

Eli is now 9 months old!

Eli a day after he turned 9 months old. His cute bib (it is a yellow frog but you can't see the body here) was his gift from his Auntie Jessica's trip to Tokyo, Japan this summer- October 7, 2009

Eli turned 9 months old on October 6, 2009. And I know I’ve said this a million times already, but I still really can’t believe how quickly he is growing! We weighed him at home by weighing me first on my own and then weighing me again while holding him. He is approximately 24.5 lbs.! No wonder my back hurts so much! It is getting harder to carry him around with me everywhere when I’m home, but I still do it since I like having him be able to see what I’m doing and explain it to him. I think he likes it better too. He always protests when I put him down in his play area, high chair or crib to take care of house work. I can no longer “wear” him in the BabyBjorn since he now exceeds the maximum weight. I’ve put him in there to test it out and I think it could still work, although it might be kind of tight for him and it definitely hurts my back more than holding him without it since all the pressure is on my shoulders. I’d like to get another baby carrier, but this time a backpack style one that can hold up to 40 lbs. so it will last us much longer.

He tried to feed himself again. He likes getting messy!- October 7, 2009

I just bought some new finger foods to Eli to try yesterday and he seemed very excited about them. He has now tried organic oat O’s (Cherrios, but not the General Mills kind) and organic barley flour teething biscuits (I’m weary of starting him on wheat (and other foods for that matter) too soon and having him develop an allergy to it). Unfortunately, though, Eli discovered it is much more entertaining and enjoyable to give his newfound independent feeding foods to Doc instead of eat them himself. I can kind of understand why since the teething biscuit does look very similar to Doc’s dog bones (which Eli has also attempted to eat before). I also am now feeding him Earth’s Best Organic pureed foods that contain meat. Yes, the idea of pureed meat is kind of disgusting, but with only 4 teeth, he’s not yet ready to chew up little chunks of it. He also was not too into the mesh feeder thing I bought him (you put chunks of fresh fruit, meat, etc. in it and he can safely eat them by mashing it up with his gums in a mesh bag and sucking it out). Eli goes in to see his pediatrician next week on the 21^st so I will discuss his feedings with her. I kind of feel as though he’s been a bit stunted with eating solids since giving him a bottle is much easier on the go (and a lot less messy).

In his baseball jammies and playing with his bat- cute!- October 10, 2009

With the onset of autumn and how it stays dark so much later in the morning, I’ve been kind of confused as to why Eli has been waking up earlier in the mornings. He was waking up sometime between 6:30-7:00 am, but now he’s waking up from 6:00-6:30 am. He also usually wakes up during the middle of the night at least once and cries out to me. When I check on him, he will be standing up in the crib. I think he “sleep-crawls” and “sleep-stands” and then can’t get back to laying down on his own since he’s still “asleep.” Sometimes when I pick him up he will go right back to sleep in my arms, and then as soon as I even move as though I’m about to lay him down in the crib he can feel it and wakes up. Then he starts crying and crawling around again until I pick him up again and it’s the same thing. I’ve been so tired and frustrated by this that I’ve resorted to bring him back into the bed with us. He will stay asleep for much longer if I do that too. I think he just likes the warmth and security of being close to me. Jason has been afraid that he will roll over on top of him, whack him with his arm, or that Eli will crawl over one of us and fall out of the bed. I really don’t think that will happen since I keep an arm around or over him at all times and I don’t sleep as soundly with him there. Any little movement by him and I’m awake. Overall, I don’t feel like this is a problem (and I obviously really like snuggling with him while he’s asleep), but I am concerned about it being detrimental to Eli being able to sleep on his own. I guess that will be a whole new road for us to go down once we move and Eli has his own bedroom.

Getting into Daddy's wallet already- LOL! And standing like a big boy!- October 10, 2009

It seems to me that there is a baby boom going on right now. I’ve heard that during or after times of war, more babies are born to (consciously or unconsciously?) compensate for the population loss. It might just be that we’ve reached the age that all of our peers are settling down and having babies too. Well, whatever the reason for it, I like it! I know that more babies will mean a harder impact on the environment and our resources, but I can’t help but be happy to hear about more babies coming into this crazy world. I’d like to say congratulations to my cousin Dayna and her husband Brandon who are expecting their first child (it’s a boy!!) in the early spring (I think her due date is in March). I’d also like to say congratulations to my friend Amelia (who was watching Eli once a week for us during her pregnancy) and her husband Brandon on their second son, Asher, who was born a few weeks ago. I haven’t gotten to meet him yet, but I can’t wait to hold him and remember that tiny-newborn-baby-in-my-arms feeling! More congratulations go out to my friend Erin T. and her husband Dave on the birth of their first child just a week and a half ago, a beautiful baby girl named Reagan. I have many more friends from high school and college who have had babies this year and I’d love to have a little get-together to share stories, pictures and have our babies meet. I am also no longer going to have the youngest baby in my office as a coworker recently announced that she’s pregnant and due in April. It’s such an amazing, beautiful, intense and life changing experience that I’m very excited to see everyone else go through it too.

Eli posed for this picture with rice pancakes on his head while at dinner at Chang's Mongolian Grill. He is such a ham!- October 10, 2009

He's such a cutie pie here with his Auntie Tasie- October 10, 2009

Auntie Tasie loves Eli! Even if he fusses- October 10, 2009

Jason and I are still house hunting. We’ve started to look at older homes too, either that have been completely remodeled inside or that are on very large lots. We looked at a house last night that was built in 1909, but we mainly were interested in the size of the lot (a half acre!). We ultimately decided that our plan would not work with that house since it needed too much work to be livable when we would just end up tearing it down. Now I’ve opened myself up to moving even further away from Portland to areas like Troutdale, Estacada, Tualatin, Camas, and Ridgefield (those last two are in Washington). So, I guess we’ll keep looking and hope we find a slam dunk soon! Please contact me if you have any good leads on a newer or remodeled 3-4 bedroom, 2.1 bath detached single family house with a fenced backyard.

Looking like such a big boy standing up in his crib!- October 14, 2009

He was jumping up and down here- time to lower the crib mattress again!- October 14, 2009

It’s been a while!

Eli's cute surfer boy outfit from his Aunties Tasie and Heather- August 30, 2009

Wow, I can’t believe how fast September has gone by! My good intentions for keeping up on my blog have again lapsed…so has the cleaning around the house. Even though we’ve been parents for almost 9 months now, we still haven’t figured out a routine that works well for us in order to keep up on house cleaning. We’ve tried designating certain tasks to each one of us, but there is still always something more that needs to be done. Keeping up on dishes and laundry is about all we can manage with me working full-time at the law firm and Jason taking care of Eli plus trying to get his work done. So, when it comes to things like my blog, I kind of let it fall to the wayside.

We have been keeping busy with various things, more notably starting up our housing search again. We are encountering the same issues as last spring, though, with only being able to afford attached townhouses and condos or older detached homes in the outer Portland metro area. Portland has just become so expensive to live in as the city grows. As much as I don’t want to move further out, it is something I’m willing to consider at this point in order to have more space and rooms. I’d still like to move over to the eastside of town to be closer to my parents, but that side of town has pretty slim pickings for new developments. We are trying to cut costs across the board and are now considering selling the Audi A4 to get a more economical and hopefully roomy car…something like a Subaru or another family car. As much as we love the Audi, it gets poor gas mileage and not very spacious once you put a car seat, baby supplies, and a dog in it.

Eli and his other friend named Sawyer- this Sawyer's mama, Amelia (the sister of my best friend from college, Katie B.), has been babysitting Eli for us once a week, but now she just had her second child (another boy, named Asher!) so she's taking a break for a while to get adjusted to her new family addition- September 2, 2009

Eli apparently already likes playing with trucks and cars- September 2, 2009

He's doing his happy clapping!- September 2, 2009

Eli was having fun swinging at the park for his 8th month milestone- September 5, 2009

I couldn't decide which smile was cuter so I'm posting this one too...there are actually several more that are just as cute!- September 5, 2009

I thought this was a great shot!- September 5, 2009

Eli is 8 months old!- September 6, 2009

Eli continues to grow quickly and is the cutest, sweetest boy! He turned 8 months old on September 6, 2009 and will be 9 months old in a week! I really can’t believe how big he is now too! He is already wearing 12 month old size clothes and I have the 18 month old size clothes easily accessible. He now has 4 teeth- his two front top and two front bottom teeth. He is like a little beaver and loves to chomp on absolutely everything, especially my fingers. I’ve still let him do it at night when he’s holding my hand and trying to fall asleep, but those teeth are so sharp that I’ve been afraid he’ll draw blood. With his teething, he’s also more interested in eating solids and trying to feed him. Along with letting him experiment with feeding himself his oatmeal (a very messy experiment for mama) we started giving him some rice crackers as finger food.

He was trying to grab chunks of oatmeal with his hands and put it in his mouth...I don't think much got in there- September 15, 2009

Eli was excited to get to feed himself some broken up rice cracker pieces- October 2, 2009

Here is a shot of Eli standing when he first started doing it, and of course he always goes straight for what he shouldn't have!- September 5, 2009

Eli has pretty much mastered standing up and getting back down, as long as he is holding onto something for support. He is even beginning to walk a little bit as he holds onto the side of the couch, side of the crib, baby gate or window sill (basically whatever stays put that he can get his little hands onto). Well, maybe walking is not the appropriate word- I would say it is more like side-stepping as though he were rock climbing- he carefully moves one foot over and then slides his arm over and then the other foot. There have been a couple of times that he’s somehow gotten stuck with his legs split so far apart that he can’t get down to the ground without falling, and he will just stand there and cry. Eli is also a super fast crawler now. I think it kind of freaks Doc out to see a little person down on all fours scrambling around at his level. It’s like he doesn’t know what to do- he wants to chase Eli and play, but he also knows that he might get in trouble for doing so if his playmate suddenly bursts into tears. Jason and I don’t think it will be long before Eli is walking. I definitely expect it before his first birthday.

And on that note, Eli has also now fallen twice due to his lack of fear/knowledge of gravity and bumped his head which left a mark. He quit crying less than a minute or so after I scooped him up and comforted him, so I was never worried that he was ever seriously hurt (although I did still call his doctor to ask about concussions). Each time it happened was under my supervision so of course I felt like a horrible mother and had to battle my way up out of a couple days long depression. Even though both times I was right there beside him, he just moved so quickly that it happened right as I was moving to grab him. I just wasn’t fast enough and felt terrible that he had gotten hurt needlessly. I had to get past feeling like a bad mom and move on with life, though, since Eli didn’t seem to even realize he had gotten hurt and he needs his happy, loving mama to be there for him. And as I’ve heard from many other mothers, this is a common happening. Babies move, and consequently, they fall or bump their head or smash their finger. A parent or caregiver cannot physically be hovering over them every second of every day to try to prevent accidents like that. And boys, it seems, are generally proponents of rough and tumble sort of play so I’m sure there will be more boo-boos coming Eli’s way as he gets older.

Showing Mama his bat- September 27, 2009

We moved "Babyland" from the living room to the sunny kitchen nook area- September 27, 2009

He will stand and look out the window- September 27, 2009

We also did a little bit of rearranging and moved “Babyland” from our living room into the kitchen nook/sun room. We put down one of those alphabet puzzle foam floor mats so Eli has some cushion on the tile floor for his knees and in case he falls. We no longer have a dining table or formal place to eat, but Eli has a better play area. The sacrifices that parents make! LOL! It probably won’t affect us too much, though, since we have been putting off dinner until after Eli is asleep and then eating while watching our recorded tv shows. Sometimes we don’t eat until after 9 pm, and I’m reminded of my time studying abroad in Spain and how we would eat dinner late over there. The difference is that now we eat while watching tv before passing out on the couch during the middle of a show instead of eating for fuel before going out to discos and bars until 5-6 am.  That’s quite a difference! Now that Eli is starting to eat more solid foods, I’d like to have us all eat as a family (but now without a kitchen table, I’m not sure how that will happen). The main issue standing in our way is with me not getting home until 6 pm or later and then needing to immediately jump in and feed Eli. There just isn’t the time, nor do either of us really have the energy, to then prepare a meal from scratch. What we need is a personal chef…and a maid…then again, who doesn’t?!

Eli attended his first birthday party when his "cousin" Calvin turned 4 years old! Cal's big brother Noah loves Eli!- September 13, 2009

This was Eli's first trip to Toys'R'Us- September 26, 2009

He was having a lot of fun with his Mama and Dada!- September 26, 2009

Eli had fun "driving" a little car around the aisles, even if it was a pink princess car!- September 26, 2009

This bouncy horse is one of Daddy's garage sale finds- September 23, 2009

Sunday, Busy Sunday….and latest test results!

This past Sunday was very busy for little Eli. He went all over town with Mama visiting friends and family. The only afternoon naps he got were short ones in the car, but he was still a delightfully happy boy at each place.

First, I took him over to visit Erin, Ryann (Erin’s older sister), Alex (Ryann’s husband), Sawyer (Ryann & Alex’s daughter), Jan (Erin & Ryann’s mom) and Doris (Jan’s mother, their grandmother). Like I said in a previous post, Sawyer is just 4 days younger than Eli, and Erin and I have already decided they will get married one day. This will be the last time Eli gets to see Sawyer for a while since the Morales family had to fly back to Washington, DC where they live.

Here are some pictures of them playing:

Sawyer Morales has her own photo blog which her Auntie Erin keeps adding new pictures to- August 23, 2009

They first come face-to-face- August 23, 2009

You can't tell in this picture, but Eli is looking at himself in a mirror which happens to also be one of Sawyer's favorite past-times- August 23, 2009

That green rattle Sawyer is sucking on is actually one part of a pair of Eli's maracas that were given to me by Erin way before either baby existed...so I had to let Sawyer have one for herself- August 23, 2009

This is just a funny, cute picture- August 23, 2009

We left after about an hour and a half of playing around on the floor with Sawyer, and then after a half hour drive to Laurelhurst Park in SE Portland, Eli was getting to see his Auntie Jessica and cousins Noah and Calvin. He went swinging for his second time too. They couldn’t believe how much he had grown, and how he is developing his speech and trying to stand and move around on his own. Noah thought he was super cute. Calvin was more interested in playing on the play structure with kids more around his own age and older.

Eli was cozy in his stroller when we first got to the park- August 23, 2009

This time he was actually swinging when I took the picture so he looks a lot more awkward kind of leaning back- August 23, 2009

Eli is making a "b-b-b-b" sound here and Jessica thought it was pretty funny- August 23, 2009

This picture cracks me up because Eli looks like an old man here....he is making more "buh" sounds- August 23, 2009

The next stop of the day was at Red Robin in Wilsonville to meet up with my family to celebrate my Dad’s birthday- Happy Birthday, Dad/Grandpa!! Eli always loves the tons of attention he gets from his second cousins, Great-Aunt Patti, Great-Grandparents, Uncle Johnny, and Grandma and Grandpa. He sat in the restaurant high chair again and ate his oatmeal with us.

Eli loves his big family!- August 23, 2009

He knows what to do when he sees a camera now!- August 23, 2009

On Monday, August 24, 2009 (Jason’s and my First Wedding Anniversary), we had an appointment with the urologist to get Eli’s kidney test results back. Luckily, it was good news. The left kidney hasn’t changed. It is still enlarged with fluid due to the blockage and is processing slower than the right kidney, but it is still functioning normally. This is good because even though it hasn’t gone away, it hasn’t gotten any worse and put the kidney in danger of failing, in which case he would want to operate on Eli. Now he will let us wait another 6 months before doing the same tests over again. We are thinking good thoughts and hoping Eli falls into the 50% category where it goes away on its own. The most important thing is that Eli is growing and developing normally (if not rather quickly) and is very healthy otherwise.

Holy Swinging Piggie Knees, Batman!

Such a cute, happy boy!- August 22, 2009

Auntie Katie gave Eli this super cute jumper with padded pig faces on the knees- August 22, 2009

What an adorable laugh!- August 22, 2009

Eli had a visit with his Aunties Katie and Meghan today. The last time Katie saw him he was only a few days old so she couldn’t believe how big he is compared to last time. And this was Meghan’s first time meeting him.

Lately Eli has been anticipating the camera flash and squints his eyes, like in this picture with my best friend, "Auntie" Katie- August 22, 2009

Then he realized it wasn't that bad and went back to looking cute- August 22, 2009

Eli has basically returned to normal after the anesthesia now. He has been a little more cranky and wasn’t eating normally (he was eating less), but that seems to be gone. He has been sleeping through the night and waking up between 5 am and 7 am. Well, I should say most nights. He will rarely throw in a wake-up call at 2-4 am. I forgot to mention in the last post that Eli weighed in at over 21.5 lbs/9.9 kg! The nurse was astonished at how much he had grown since the last test on March 30, 2009.

After Katie and Meghan had to go, I took Eli and Doc up to the Bridlemile Elementary School park which is just up the hill from us. Jason had the car and Eli’s Chicco stroller was in the truck so I took the lime green umbrella stroller that Katie also gave Eli. It worked pretty well, but the handles don’t go high enough so I have to kind of bend over or stretch my arms out. Doc did not make the walk easy on us and kept changing sides of the stroller he was walking on so then the leash would get tangled in it.

Getting ready to leave the house- August 22, 2009

While at the school park I decided that Eli finally has enough core muscle strength to hold himself up in one of those baby seat swings. It was his first time on a real playground swing and he really liked it after he got over the beginning apprehension.

Eli's first time on a playground swing- August 22, 2009

Doc was tied to the tree right behind Eli so I was keeping an eye on him too. Of course when another dog came walking by, Doc got all excited and ran around him getting their leashes tangled together. Then Doc got mad and snarled at the other dog so I felt a little bad, but the owner was more apologetic to me since I was holding Eli and couldn’t use both hands to pull the dogs apart.

Jason and my first wedding anniversary is coming up on Monday, August 24, 2009. I’m not sure if we are doing anything special since I have to work and then we have an appointment with the urologist to get Eli’s test results. Maybe next weekend, though. We are getting the vacation itch pretty bad, but I can’t really take any extra time off work so we are thinking maybe we’ll got to the beach for the weekend.

It went well…

This morning was Eli’s kidney tests, an ultrasound and a lasik renal scan, to check on the output of his kidneys to see how the left one, with the blockage in the renal tube connecting the kidneys and bladder, is performing. It is more of a cautionary test to make sure his left kidney is not getting worse. This is his second round of tests and having the previous experience made this time not as bad or stressful. Eli actually didn’t fuss too much when he didn’t get milk. We were able to give him clear fluids until 9:30 am, not 7:30 like I had previously thought. I made sure to give him some right before we left the house. He was looking around at all the other children in the waiting room so he was pretty entertained. The hardest part this time was how we had to hold his squirmy little body down for the ultrasound. He had to lay on his stomach and he was not happy about that at all, so Jason had to hold his arms and I had to hold his legs to keep him from crawling away. We both felt so bad about it, like we were hurting him by how he cried, but it had to be done. After he realized we weren’t letting go, he started to calm down and would stare at the computer screen the tech was using.

We didn’t have to wait forever for the anesthesiologist like last time which we appreciated. I entertained Eli while we waited with a Cat Fancy magazine showing him all the different kitties and making meow sounds for each one. LOL! He seemed to like the nurse and dr. and didn’t get worried when I passed him over to them, and then he was gone down a hallway.

Jason and I left the hospital which is over in NoPo (North Portland) not far from the Rose Garden Arena, and ended up at the Rebuilding Center on Mississippi Ave. looking for something Jason needed for one of the rental houses. They didn’t have it, so we went to the Habitat for Humanity ReStore under the Morrison Bridge in SE and found exactly what he needed. The problem was we couldn’t fit it in the car and we had to hurry back to the hospital to get Eli. Jason is hoping to go back with a friend’s truck later today.

We got back to the hospital and Eli was not out yet. We waited around for about 15-20 min. and then we started to get antsy that something had gone wrong. We went over by the Pediatric Recovery rooms and thought we could hear Eli crying. We tried to call on the phone in the hallway to find out where he was, but they were no help. Finally, Jason stuck his head into the recovery room with an open door and saw the anesthesiologist who welcomed us in. It was Eli crying. He still had the IV tubing taped in and was very groggy. He calmed down for a second when I spoke to him as if he knew it was me, but then the pain and fear came back. He drank 4 oz. of 5% glucose water that the nurse gave us since we had to wait to see if he would throw up from the anesthesia before feeding him anything heavier than clear fluids. They said they gave him lots of fluids via the IV too so he should be hydrated on this hot day.

He is sleeping right now, since we were able to successfully transfer him from being asleep in his car seat to being asleep in his swing. He will probably wake up once his hungry belly gets too grumbly.

Here is Eli's new car seat, a Graco My Ride 65. I liked it since it has tested side impact protection and cup holders- August 16, 2009