Tim has had Eli much more this fall, at least since September. I began covering a maternity leave at the store I used to work at in October- so it has been Eli and Papa 2-3 days a week. Tim got the garage doors up, and some other work done on the barn. I made it home one day before dark and caught Eli playing with Papa in the garage.
He wants to help in everything we are doing :)
It amazes me how much this photo looks like one we have of Tim's niece, Lauren when she was that age!!
Here he is wearing Tim's big gel knee pads. We had to strap them on really tight to keep them up :)
Here he is backing his back hoe loader over a "road" he made from some scrap lumber. He is getting really good with the spacial relations, backing and driving his "heavy machinery."
Here he is designing and setting up roads.
I was amazed that day to see 2 school buses stopping each other on the road in front of our house. The one on the right is dropping of my niece and nephew. It got delayed by a fallen tree- so it came over the ridge just as the second bus was headed this way. Too funny out in the country!! There are only 2 buses that come this way :)
Eli was invited to a birthday party at the pumpkin patch. They had several places set up you could take pictures at. I love this one- thanks to Paula, my sister-in-law, for taking some pics of us together. Eli just asked me the other day where the pictures of me were? I told him I was behind the camera :)
He wasn't so sure what to think of the petting zoo they had set up. The quick jab touch was about all he felt comfortable with.
Then came pumpkin painting time. He did a great job painting. We ended up cooking his pumpkin the day before Thanksgiving. I was concerned I might not have enough for a pie.... hehe- I made 2 deep dish pumpkin pies, 2 pumpkin rolls and a batch of pumpkin chocolate chip cookies. Yummy!!
Look at the concentration as he painted away!!
This tube was tricky- it was actually quite smooth. We had difficulty climbing it- we did it several times with me coming behind Eli, giving him pushes when he started sliding backwards.
We went on a hayride around the farm. I am always amazed when you take the picture yourself without looking through the viewfinder and it actually turns out well.
Eli even got to sit up on the tractor after we got back from the hay ride. What a great day he had!! Thanks for including us in your celebration, Mozena's and happy birthday again to Logan!!
I mentioned exercising. Tim and I have been exercising- trying to get in shape- well, I'm trying and Tim is getting buff!! He's already lost over 20 pounds and built endurance and flexibility and strength that is amazing. I'm just trying. Anywho, Eli has been playing with our exercise bands. He put them on his feet, like I showed him. Then he decided he likes them like this- and calls them his firefighter suspenders.... Cracks us up!!
We put out our lights early this year, taking advantage of not freezing our buns or our fingers off. Here is a sweet picture of Eli handing Papa the light string. He is starting to catch the excitement we all share.
A little excitement, a lot of oneryness.....
I got some mouthwash at the store the other day. It is actually for children above 6- but Eli loves it. You put it in your mouth before brushing, swishing around for about 30 seconds, then spit out. It is a dye- bright blue. It colors plaque and food in the teeth. We have some flossers he loves, and we are finding how necessary they are, as he has several tight contacts already with his little teeth.
So the other day, as we were discussing getting ready for bed, it took us a second to determine that he was asking if he could use "wash mouth" before brushing his teeth. I am so delighted to see him starting such good habits so young- I'm sure his Grandpa will be thrilled- he drilled it into us as children. I don't think we were as easy in this regard as Eli has been- of course we didn't have wash mouth and cute little Plackers to remove plaque.....
We went to my cousin's wedding a couple of weekends ago- and he just had to have some sunglasses. So I let him wear the old pair I had in the car. He promptly fell asleep- why is it we love these sleeping pics so much?
Mom and Dad got some video of him singing Old McDonald- If I can get that, I'll post it here....
Between the wedding and the reception, we went to a McDonalds in Camden, OH. It was amazing!!! I can't believe it!! The play area was larger than the store. They had a little bit of everything. I wish I could have gotten some photos of Eli playing with his cousin, and then Tim climbing all over the jungle gym with Eli. At the reception, we sat down close to the back. He was a bit on the "I'm tired and if I sit I may fall asleep, so I'm going to run til I drop" kind of mood. They asked the father of the groom to say the prayer.
Eli promptly bows his head, fold his hands, says, "Thank you, Jelas, for the food. In Jesus name, amen."
He looks around- unfortunately, his prayer was much shorter than the formal prayer. We sat there for a few more seconds, and he looked at the couple to our left. "It's OK, " he said to them, tapping them on the arm. "You can open your eyes now. I'm done."
About a week before Thanksgiving, he woke up early and was yelling something to us from his bedroom. I went out to find out what was wrong.
Thanksgiving this year was fun. We celebrated with Tim's extended family on his Mom's side the Sunday before Thanksgiving and with Tim 's parents on Thanksgiving day. What a great time of year to remember all that we have to be thankful for. So many times it helps to put it into perspective.
"Mommy, can I open my gate and wake up now?" he asked, as he proceeded to open his gate and come on down the steps. So much for making sure we know where he is while we sleep.....We have left the gate up, so we can at least hear when he opens the gate....
Tim ordered some new boots the other day. They came while he was at work. Eli wanted to open Papa's "present." So, we did- and then he proceeded to try on Papa's new socks and boots. Here is the pic we sent to Papa so he could see his new boots.If you look at our tree in the background- you'll see the popcorn/cranberry garland. Eli and I worked on that the other day. I was pretty impressed. I gave him a sharp needle, and he did quite a bit by himself. He preferred the cranberries. They went on a lot easier than the popcorn. He kept putting his head in the pop corn bowl, grabbing a piece and eating it saying he was Baka... what great imaginations children have :)
