Food Breakthrough!

Okay, so I am completely behind in updating my blog! I have a bunch of fun Thanksgiving pictures to post and updates to write, but I have one quick post that I just have to put up right now. Elijah had not been doing super with solids and had basically gotten to the point where he was completely tight lipped when it came to feeding time. Then, on Thanksgiving day Ethan got him to eat most of a baby food container of sweet potatoes! Yesterday while I was at the gym Ethan fed him half a carton of peas. I was super impressed, so this morning I tried it myself. I tried to give him some pears, but he was not exactly opening the way Ethan claimed. I began to wonder if Daddy was eating those peas and sweet potatoes himself when I wasn't looking. :) But, just a little while ago we finally had a food breakthrough! Elijah was opening wide and basically pulling the spoon into his mouth or leaning forward to get the food. He has never really done this before for me! I was so excited. He polished off the rest of the peas and seemed ready for more, so I opened up a container of squash and he ate about half of that carton. I realize that eating is a normal part of life, but for us this was a big breakthrough. :) I am so proud of my little man for eating like a champ. Who would have thought that he would like peas, sweet potatoes, and squash more than peaches, bananas, and pears. :) That is Mama's healthy boy!


Above: Elijah with his empty carton of peas, ready for more!


Above: One more funny thing from today...Elijah is getting to where he is exploring like crazy. His favorite place to go is definitely to Boomerang's food bowl and stick his hands all in the dog's food and water. :) Today as I was folding laundry I watched him crawl between the sofa and loveseat. Suddenly I heard the radio start getting louder, then softer, and then really loud. Our little explorer discovered that the volume nob to the stereo was fun to play with and seemed to really catch Mom's attention. :) Oh the places you'll go..

On the Go...

Elijah is making rapid improvements in his crawling and climbing abilities! He is able to move across the room pretty quickly to get what he wants and loves to climb on things. Here are some recent pictures of our little man who is on the move!


Above: "Hmmm, what is this strange looking tower? Better go in for a closer look."


Above: Mommy~"This is wonderful, Elijah is interested in housework! Maybe I can start teaching him early..."


Above: "Housework?! I'm outta here!!"


Above: "You're not seriously going to make me vacuum, are you Mom?"


Above: "I can't even reach the handle. I mean really, who gives a 7 month old chores?"


Above: More exploring with our little mover. He is obsessed with going to the fireplace, maybe because he senses it is the one place I really don't want him to be. He likes to go over to the diaper caddy and push himself up to his knees or his feet making Mom nervous with the brick right beneath him, but this kid will not be stopped.


Above: Look at that mischievous face... :)


Above: Busted!


Above: Playing on top of Mommy's Bible Study notebook.


Above: I think it is so cute the way he stands on his feet with his little booty way up in the air.


Above: My handsome little man.


Above: This is the angle I seem to see most of these days...


Above: "Hmm...this looks like a fun place to crawl. Let's see if there is some way to climb up here on this chair."


Above: "Oh hey Mom! I was just trying to figure this out!"


Above: Now on to the exersaucer.


Above: And just a few more...these were taken in the morning in the "middle" of a diaper change.


Above: We had just taken off his PJs which you can see on the floor and were in the process of changing his diaper before getting him dressed, but he clearly didn't want to wait that long to go explore.


Above: "I don't need clothes to play, Mom. We can put the diaper on later...there is fun to be had!"


Above: And he's off! Clothes or not, there he goes...

Elijah's First Shreveport Trip

This past weekend, Ethan and I took Elijah to Shreveport for his first visit to Pops and Mamie's house. I meant to post these pictures right when we got back, but the week has flown by! We had a great visit with friends and family and it is always fun to get to go "home" for the weekend. We drove in on Friday and spent the evening visiting with Ethan's parents. On Saturday we met Ethan's good friend Patrick for lunch and really enjoyed a great meal and even better company. Saturday afternoon Ethan's family all came over to visit with Elijah. Nonie and Gimpa, Gimps and Gloria, Paula, Ethan's Great Aunt Dee, Mamie and Pops, and Jamie's friend Tania were all there and it was a special time to get to visit with one another and to spend time with the newest little Cislaghi family member. On Saturday night, Ethan and I had the treat of going out to dinner with just the two of us! We happened to be able to find a good sitter in Shreveport ;) (Jamie and Gary stayed with Elijah) and we escaped for a date night in honor of Ethan's 30th birthday! We went to a nice restaurant called Superior's Steakhouse and it was fantastic. We enjoyed getting to go out to dinner together without one of us rocking the little guy to sleep in his carrier. :) I was so thankful for the opportunity to get to share the evening with my wonderful husband and celebrate his birthday with him! Sunday morning we relaxed and just spent time with Ethan's parents until we loaded up and headed back around 1pm. It was a fun trip and we are already looking forward to our next trip in!


Above: Ethan and Elijah in Shreveport, Ethan's hometown


Above: I love this picture of Eli and Daddy...so sweet!


Above: "Mom, it is my first trip into Shreveport and I don't even get two matching socks?!"


Above: "Seriously Dad, I only have like 3 pair of socks...how do you mismatch them at this point?"


Above: "I guess there are just some things I will never understand."


Above: Jamie gave Elijah a little dump trick that came with this red ball. Eli loves it and will go crawl to it now if I put it on the floor across from him.


Above: Eli sitting in Nonie's lap


Above: Great picture of Nonie! Elijah is not exactly in a smiley mood here, as you will see in the next few pictures. :)


Above: Going in for a closer look at Nonie. He was very interested in her necklace so we had to move that out of his reach.


Above: Elijah and Lolly


Above: Eli and Mamie with Dee in the background. He is just getting happier and happier. :)


Above: "Wait, who is holding me again? Oh, hi Mamie!"


Above: Gloria is entertaining Elijah while Mommy holds him for a while.


Above: Gloria, Eli, and Ethan


Above: Elijah with the Great Grandmothers! If he only knew he was in the company of the professionals here he wouldn't have wanted to come back to us rookies. :)


Above: Playtime on the floor with Daddy


Above: Elijah is wearing his first pair of jeans and I just love them!


Above: The birthday boy turns the big 3-0! Happy birthday to my wonderful husband, I love you with all of my heart and look forward to many, many more birthdays together!


Above: Ethan and I at Superior's Steakhouse. This dessert was DELICIOUS! It was bread pudding made with Southern Maid donuts, topped with vanilla ice cream. Mmmm! And as good as the dessert was, the best part was sharing it with my wonderful hubby! (I know, I know...but it's true). :)


Above: Pops and Eli on Sunday morning, hanging out in their PJs.


Above: Mr. Dog was VERY jealous! :)


Above: It was so cute, Eli sat there and just stared at his Pops for probably 5 minutes. He was probably thinking, "Who is this guy who looks so much like my daddy?" We'll explain it to you later, kiddo. :)

Elijah in Action

Ready or not, this kiddo is on the go! Elijah officially started crawling today! He has been rocking and scooting along for the past few weeks and today he finally put all of the moving pieces together. Right after getting him up from a nap and feeding him, I set him on the floor for a minute as is our normal routine. I looked down and saw him on his hands and knees, but instead of rocking as usual he started moving across the floor! Leave it to Elijah to go straight for the glass piggy bank that was in a reachable place. (Note to self, move breakable glass piggy bank out of 7 month old's reach.) I was surprised and started cheering him on. Of course I did not have my camera or video camera, so I took him downstairs to see if he would repeat it for the video camera, and he did! I realize that he will be crawling for many months to come, but the first time is exciting. :) I am proud of our little guy for making it to such a big milestone...we officially have a crawler on our hands!

In other things, he continues to be active and mobile. He is pulling up in his crib like crazy, which continues to be bad for naps but exciting nonetheless. Today I took out the pack and play to let him nap in there since it didn't have railings to help him pull up with. He is also starting to climb on things outside of his crib too. What a boy...the adventures are only just beginning! Here are a some pictures of our little man in action.



Above: Smiling at Mommy while standing in his crib


Above: Now I understand how all of those teeth marks got there! (We borrowed the crib from Michael and Jenny and there were teeth marks on this rail from Dylan and Katelyn. Now I know why.) :)


Above: Side view of Eli standing up


Above: Sooo happy to be taking pictures instead of napping!


Above: Action shot of Elijah pulling up in his crib


Above: Eli's new outfit from Target. It has a fleece shirt and pants and says "Daddy says I'm the best." Very cozy for the cooler temperatures.


Above: "This wood floor is slippery!"


Above: Focused.


Above: Learning how to crawl is tiring work!


Above: Elijah spends most of his floor time on his tummy, rocking, scooting, and most recently crawling. He usually doesn't willingly lay on his back unless I am changing his diaper, and even then it is not always very "willingly."


Above: What a handsome face. He looks so GQ in this picture with that little smirk.


Above: Our little elf is getting tired. Who doesn't need to rest their neck every now and then?


Above: Elijah LOVES to jump in his jumper!


Above: Elijah wearing his first pair of shoes! Now that those feet are finally being put to use our little guy can start to break in his cute kicks.


Above: He's ready to go!


Above: Eli must have a super strong core because this kid can hold himself in a plank for quite a while.


Above: Going for the stairs.


Above: Incentive to keep my floors clean!


Above: "You don't have to clean the floor, Mommy. I actually think it tastes kind of good."


Above: Better start baby proofing...he will be headed up those stairs before long!