Trick or Treating at the Office

While we didn't officially go trick or treating around the neighborhood with Elijah this year (since he is too young to eat the candy anyway), we did dress him up and take him to Ethan's office. Deloitte has a trick or treat for all the kids, so we put Elijah in his cow costume and joined in the festivities. We had a fun time and took a few pictures of the cutest little cow around.


Above: "We finally get to go see Daddy at the office and you expect me to wear this?"


Above: "Are you sure all the other kids will be wearing costumes? Why aren't you wearing one?"


Above: "Alright, if you're sure, then let's go. Can I just ride here instead of getting in my carseat?"


Above: At the office, Elijah is all smiles when he sees his Daddy! It was "wear your Ranger's shirt" day, so Ethan is showing his support.


Above: Check out the little tail...I love it! :)


Above: Elijah is offered some candy and goes for it. How could one resist all of those bright and colorful wrappers?


Above: "Is this what I am supposed to do with it?"


Above: Our cute little cow sitting on the cabinet.


Above: He came up with a Twix. Good pick kiddo, those are Mommy's favorite too!


Above: Don't worry, we left the wrapper on...and I think he enjoyed it just as much!


Above: You can see Elijah's little trick or treat basket he has with him. He got this precious monogrammed pumpkin from Ethan's aunt Paula, aka, Lolly. It is adorable, Paula, thank you for the thoughtful gift...we will use it for many years to come!


Above: Elijah thinks the pumpkin is awefully tasty too! I wound up carrying it for him a little bit later and found the green strap to be very wet for some strange reason. ;)


Above: Sitting in the cauldron for a photo op.


Above: And there you have it, our sweet little cow really milked this costume for all its worth. Sorry Ethan, I couldn't resist. :)

Morning "Nap" Time

Elijah has taught himself another new trick...standing up in his crib! He did this the other day for the first time, but Ethan lowered his bed and he had not done it again since this past weekend. Today, however, he stood all the way up again and this time I caught it on camera.

Elijah is getting so much more mobile. He goes from his hands and knees to sitting very "fluently" now. It seems like he got this move down quickly. I went to my weekly Bible study on Tuesday and the women who take care of him in the nursery asked me excitedly when I picked him up, "did you know he can sit up by himself?" I said I definitely knew, since this is all he wants to do during nap time now. :) It did make me realize that he was not even doing that the week before, and now is sitting up all the time. As far as crawling, he is rocking constantly and starting to move his hands and feet, but these movements are not coordinated yet enough to be called crawling. He can move across the floor to get what he wants, but he will get on his hands an knees, move his hands a few steps, scoot onto his tummy, and then start the process over again. He kind of looks like an inch worm at this point. :) I'm sure he will be taking off soon, ready or not!

While I am most impressed with all of Elijah's new tricks, from sitting, to rocking, to standing, I would appreciate it if he would cease from practicing these tricks during naptime. As you can see, this picture was taken during Elijah's morning "nap," but he is clearly not napping. Hopefully these tricks will become old hat soon and he will stop practicing and go to sleep. :)

As of Late

Here is what we've been up too lately!

Sitting Up:
Elijah has now figured out how to go from his tummy to sitting by himself! The first time he did this was in his crib after waking up from a nap. I heard him stirring and was about to go get him, but then it seemed really quiet for a few minutes. I checked the video monitor to see if he had fallen back asleep and saw him sitting up in his crib! Shocked, I grabbed my camera and went in his room. He was just smiling away, so happy that he figured out how to sit up by himself. :) I didn't see him do this again for a few days, but then lately he has sat up by himself multiple times. This kid is just getting more and more mobile each day!

Above: Elijah sitting up in his crib


Above: Smiling because Mommy sure seems excited about something! :)

Rocking:
Elijah is rocking back and forth on his hands and knees like crazy! It is his favorite new trick and surely he will be crawling any day now. Here are a few shots of our kiddo rocking like a champ!


Above: He is really getting up on those hands and feet!


Above: Concentrating very hard...


Above: He throws in a few yoga moves every so often. Nothing like a good downward dog stretch.

Above: "Watch out world, here I come!"


Above: Action shot


Above: Going for those cables. "Boy would it be fun to put those cords in my mouth!" We better get to baby-proofing soon!


Above: A quick smile for Mommy


Above: I just love the outfit, especially his striped maroon pants!


Eating:
From his initial food enthusiasm, Elijah has taken a turn for the worse when it comes to eating solids. He has decided that he is not so excited about food anymore and pretty much tries to avoid whatever foods Mom tries to put in his mouth. Lately we have tried carrots (which he did NOT like), green beans (which he did okay with after a whole lot of coaxing from mom) and sweet potatoes (which he refused at first but later ate them pretty well). I can "get down" little bits of food, but it takes a while and a little "trickeration" on Mom's part. I will use the old "give him a toy to stick in his mouth and then quickly shove the food in instead" trick. It is only a matter of time before he will catch on to this. :) Anyway, we are making progress, but his favorite food at this point is still most definitely milk.


Above: "You expect me to like that stuff?"


Above: "The most fun part is making a big mess!"


Above: "Okay, I ate my green beans. Am I released?"


Above: Sweet Potatoes!


Above: "Hey, these are not THAT bad."


Above: Here go the carrots.


Above: "Gross!"


Above: "Why does Mom insist on putting disgusting stuff in my mouth?!"


Above: Carrot Mustache


Above: Carrots, carrots everywhere!


Above: And through all that, he survived and even came out with a smile. :)


Chewing:
Call it teething, or just a 6 month old that has to stick everything in his mouth...but this kid is a chewing machine. He loves to chew and drool on whatever he can get his hands (or maybe I should say mouth) on!


Above: Elijah chewing on his book


Above: While Eli does not to open his mouth for his food, he loves to chew on his toys in his high chair. He is also getting surprisingly good at throwing. I will strap him in the chair, turn around to get the food, and within about 10 seconds all 5 toys that were on his tray will then be on the floor. What a silly kiddo.

Playing with Friends:
We have had a few social outings lately. This past weekend, Jamie and Gary (aka, Mamie and Pops) were staying at Amber and Erics on their way back from Colorado. We went over to the Venter's household and had a fun time hanging out with the gang. Elijah enjoyed having the unending entertainment of his cousins and the comforting cuddle of his Mamie.


Above: Eli and Mamie. You can see Elijah doing the tired eye rub, but there is no way with Mamie and everyone else around that this kiddo is going to sleep.


Above: The entertainers...Eli and Mamie with his older cousins Asher and Emory.


Above: Good smile Asher! Eli, we will have to work on you. :)


Above: The boys! Abram did not want to get too close. :)

This afternoon, I went over to Chione's house for a playdate. Laura, Chione, and I got together with all the kiddos and ate lunch. It was good to sit and visit and much appreciated Mommy time, even if we do pass it off as a playdate for the kids. :)

Above: Elijah and McKamy sitting in bumbo seats in the window sill. While McKamy was a good little girl, Elijah did not last long in the bumbo chair because he wanted to "go". I am starting to get the impression that he is going to be a boy's boy, always wanting to play and move. :) He wound up moving to the exersaucer while we ate lunch.


Above: Elijah's favorite toy of McKamy's! They had the great idea of giving her an old keyboard to play with. Elijah always wants to bang on our keyboard if he is close enough, but he usually winds up sending someone a weird message or erasing some important file that I needed to keep. :) This seems to be a great alternative and I may dig in the closet to see if I can find an old keyboard for Elijah to have all to himself!

Cheering for the Rangers:
While most of the Ranger's Games are on past Elijah's bed time, we have continually dressed our little man up in Ranger's garb to show his support nonetheless! Here are a few of our little Ranger's fan. Go Rangers!!


Above: Let's go Rangers!


Above: We won our first post season series!


Above: We beat the Yankees to become the American League Champions!


Above: And now it's onto the World Series!


Above: Elijah's got his game face on.


Above: Watch out Giants, here we come!


Just being Me:
Other than that, Elijah continues to babble away, and though he is not speaking any identifiable words at this point, he has become quite the chatterbox. :) He continues to win our hearts more and more each day.

Elijah is the sweetest and most wonderful blessing that I could ever ask for (except for my wonderful husband, of course). :) It is truly amazing how love grows. Similar to in a marriage, you truly think that you love someone as much as you possibly can, and yet it continues to grow with each moment, each day, each experience. Our little son is so precious to Ethan and to me. He is our treasure and we truly give thanks to the LORD for entrusting us with this child. And at the same time, we entrust him right back to the LORD, his Creator, his Savior, and his eternal Father. What a good and awesome God we serve. All glory and honor is His alone. Hard to believe that as much as we love this little child, that God loves us even more. We are his treasure, his little children that he loves with all of his heart. Thank you, Lord, for you unending, unsurpassable love for us. We truly want to know you deeper, Jesus.


Above: I will never get enough of that face! Little kid laughter is the sweetest noise in the whole world!


Above: His outfit says "I love Mom and Dad." Yes, we dress him in outfits that affirm us as parents to make us feel good about ourselves. :)


Above: More laughter...music to my ears. It makes me smile even now. :)


Above: Elijah in his Halloween bib and outfit.


Above: My silly boy


Above: We love you so much little buddy!