The Cislaghi's: Summer Fun!

This summer has been packed with tons of fun for me and Eli! We have been going to the pool, getting together with lots of friends, fingerpainting...you name it. I am so thankful for this special time to spend with my little man. Eli is getting to such a great stage (although I always think that no matter how old he is!) and we love seeing all the ways that he continues to grow and develop.

Here are a few recent changes that we have noticed:
It seems that Eli's language has just exploded lately. Within that past month or so, he went from saying a bunch of words and a few phrases to basically speaking in sentences and paragraphs. He can verbalize pretty much anything that he wants or needs and continues to amaze us in his speech. It seems that daily he will start saying something that he has never said before, and a lot of times the things that he says just crack us up. I am starting to hear my own expressions or Ethan's coming out of Eli's mouth, which is always funny. He has started saying, "Oh my!" I couldn't figure out at first why he was saying that, until I later heard Ethan saying "Oh my!". :) Like father, like son. The other day after church we were talking to him and asking, "how was church?" He looked right back at us and said, "It was very good!" :) While I could tell a million little "Eli said..." stories, I will summarize by saying that he is talking more than ever (unless of course we are trying to get him to talk around family) and we love the excitement of waiting to see what kind of silly things are going to come out of his mouth next.

Eli's imagination is continuing to grow. I tend to be very imaginative with him when we are playing, and it is fun to see him start coming up with his own creative thoughts. He likes to stand behind our trash can, which would be about counter height for him, and pretend that he is selling ice cream. Not the most sanitary place to play, but pretty funny. He also has a made up word that he finds to be hilarious at all times. His made up word is "oggies." He will throw it in to songs, books, or just casual conversation and then crack up at the use of it. What a silly boy...we have no idea who he could have gotten that from!

He is also continuing to grow in his independence. He has a stool that he got from him great aunt Marchjo and it is one of his new favorite objects. All through the day, if I am doing something out of his reach, like cooking, washing dishes, putting on makeup, etc, he will say "I'll go get my stool!" and will go and get it so he can join in on my level. I think he loves it because he can now reach and participate without always having to rely on mommy. It is also a lot of fun to stand up on and jump off of, too. Leave it to boys...

Finally, he is getting into the "watch this, mama!" phase. He is constantly saying "look at me, mama" (or dada) to attract our attention. He will then make up some sort of silly trick or performance, we will clap and cheer, and he gets a happy little smirk of satisfaction on his face. The other day while we were eating dinner, he told us that he wanted to "go and get the basketball goal and shoot it and then mommy and daddy will clap." :) A typical first born, I'm sure, but this kiddo loves having mommy and daddy's undivided attention as much as he can get it!

We are so blessed by these sweet times together and do not take them for granted. We praise God for His extravagant favor and abundance in our lives and honor Him as our good and worthy King from whom all blessings flow.

And now for the pictures...brace yourself, there are a bunch! :)

Mr. Cool

Eli has been into wearing his "shades" lately, as Eli calls them.

Swinging at the park

What could be better than one pair of shades...two pair!

Again, Eli's idea here. :)

The library is doing a summer reading program where they get prizes after hitting certain reading targets. Eli has been doing this and the shades on his head are one of his prizes. Super cool, Elijah!

Rainman

Collecting leaves in his bucket

Here comes the rain!!

All suited up

Eli went outside and was singing "Itsy Bitsy Spider" (because it talks about rain). Rain is so much fun when you are 2!

Down by the Cool of the Pool

Turkey Sandwich, watermelon, chips, and a cookie by the pool...

...it doesn't get much better than that on a hot summer's day!

Love the watermelon juice running down his chest. What a sticky mess! Time to hop back in the water. :)

Air Guitar

On the weekend following the 4th of July, we went to Tyler for a get-together with Ethan's side of the family. I am sad to say that this is my only picture! Nothing like a little air guitar in the car to pass the time.

Father's Day

For Father's Day, Eli made Daddy this special book of pictures of just the two of them over the last year. Here is Eli giving Daddy his special book.

This is one of Eli's favorite new books. He calls it the "Eli Dada book." It makes me realize that I need to actually print up more pictures because he loves to look at them!

Fingerpainting

First time fingerpainting. Daddy's old undershirt was the perfect smock

Painting later turned into playing with the water...how could one resist!

Masterpiece complete, mission accomplished!

"My Stool"

Eli on his stool

Also makes a nice bench

The Ark and the Park

Sprinting!

Riding the duck singing "Old Macdonald"

Oh so serious ladder climber

Swinging like a monkey. He will usually say "e-e, o-o" when swinging like this :)

Other Random Pics

Tried and true Eli favorite...golfing at Dicks!

Fixing his hair in the mirror like Mommy

Looking good!!

Wearing his Cars watch from Nonie, Gimpa, Gimps and Gloria!

Preparing for the balance beam...olympics 2024 here we come!

Webcam Superstar

All of the rest of these pictures are pictures of Eli watching himself on the computer live via the webcam. This is something he used to LOVE to do, but our webcam has been broken for a while. My parents just sent us a new one and we had a tech savvy friend come and fix it for us (thank you Ty!!). Needless to say, the appeal of watching himself in the webcam has not worn off with time! I know that these are a bunch of pictures, but I thought they were just too cute not to post. The series of pictures below are Eli's reaction to watching himself live on the "tv."