More Christmas

There was more than Christmas presents in DeFuniak. Every time Eli visits, he gets to experience more (and care more about it). He picked up pecans with Grandad.

He LOVED spending time outside with the dog.

He explored the "black forest", which used to be the grove of red cedars for Christmas trees, but has long since overgrown its usefulness. Now it just looks cool.

And... Eli tried his first Satsuma. The face he is making is usually reserved for things he really likes, even though it doesn't look like it.

Baby's First Christmas

Eli's a little to large for most "Baby's First Christmas" clothes, so Mom made him some Christmas pajama pants to wear on Christmas morning. He donned them as he opened his Christmas presents eventually, even though he was more interested in everyone else's. The table was a hit, though.

Eli's stocking included some Eli-sized bananas. He was very interested in them.

Grandad though Eli might like to bite off the banana himself instead of having it cut for him.

Eli agreed. He ate the whole thing that way.

Merry Christmas from Eli and the Jumping Penguin

The Ups and Downs of Autumn

So, now that it's almost winter, it's starting to feel like fall here in Orlando. Anyone who complains that we don't have seasons in Florida doesn't do their own yard work. Well, mow-every-week season changed to mow-every-two weeks season, and now it's on to raking season. We spent most of one morning raking up 18 bags of leaves, and Eli helped.

Autumn has a downside too. Eli got a cold that wouldn't let go, and eventually had to go the the doctor. They had us use a nebulizer three times a day for a week. He had another checkup today and got the all clear. For all of his illness and treatments, he was such a trooper and stayed in a good mood most of the time.

Thanksgiving

Yes, it's been a week since Thanksgiving, but by now you shouldn't expect me to be on time with these posts. Eli Spent Thanksgiving in DeFuniak with BOTH sets of Grandparents, Aunt Deanna, Uncle Josh and Aunt Sarah, and lots of other fun people.

Those other fun people included Eli's second cousins Max and Mia. They played very well with Eli as he tried to fit in with the big kids.

Aunt Deanna entertained Eli with the Piano.

Eli entertained himself with Tic Tacs. His breath was minty fresh.


Dad got some rest while Eli was swarmed with attention from grandparents, aunts, and uncles. Kind of...

Eli witnessed his first Cane Grinding. He was clearly impressed.

He also got his first Christmas present. It was a package of Ornaments, so he was allowed to open it early.

It took about 10 minutes, and a slight bit of help, but he got into it eventually. Christmas is going to be fun.

Stand up!

Dad thinks he's pretty smart. He puts things that I want, like the remote control, out of my reach. Well dad, you're gonna have to try harder now.

Hi, Just because I haven't had as many posts lately doesn't mean I stopped being cute, see?

I had some pictures left over from the last month, but in all of mom and dad's travels, they haven't gotten them posted. They're very tired.

Here's a couple left from DeFuniak. I helped pick up pecans.

Mom wanted to take me to a Pumpkin patch, but this is as close as I got. I figure it's better, because there are some pumpkins, some corn, squash, sugar cane, and some weird bumpy things.

peekaboo

Eli loves to open things: drawers, cabinets, doors, whatever. He's now figured out that he can use the door to hide. Until he shuts the door too hard and can't open it, he loves this.

Games

Pretty soon after he started crawling, Eli and Mom started chasing each other. Usually this happens a couple of minutes before bed when Eli is on his second wind and Mom sees the light at the end of the tunnel.

Halloween

Eli enjoyed some warmer weather this weekend in South Florida. It was actually kind of cool in Orlando last week.

Babies love Halloween, and by babies I mean parents of babies. Luke doesn't seem to be too afraid of the predators on his left and right, but I guess dragons and lions aren't natural enemies of dalmatians.

Halloween was the second biggest event this weekend. Eli got to hang out with Aunt Kristy and lots of other gator fans for the big game.

I don't think Michelle meant for this picture to turn out the way it did, but just look at the score, the reaction of the gator players, and Eli's face. Eli doesn't have any Georgia fan cousins to be polite toward.

We're going to the Fair!

To anyone who has ever lived in Alachua County and heard the county fair jingle used there, I apologize for reminding you of it. Anyway, my class reunion was this weekend, and Eli got to go with me to visit the grandparents and see the other sights of DeFuniak. It turns out, in addition to my class reunion and homecoming, the Walton County Fair was in full swing. Grandad wanted to take Eli to see the lights and the animals (and to show his grandson off to whoever happened to be there that he knew).

Eli got to see all kinds of animals. There were rabbits, chickens, sheep, alpacas, mules, cows, horses, pigeons, and goats.

Eli is not really scared of anything or anyone. Even a very large horse.

Or sheep.

He even got to ride a sheep.

He wasn't afraid of the pigs either, but we decided not to let him ride one. I'm not sure if that's a food dish or a water dish, but.... um, eww.

Who needs toys?

On Saturday, while Liam was visiting, Dad had to mow the lawn. Eli loves to sit and look out the window, and this time he got to share with his cousin.

PJ time

Liam and Eli are both early risers. They had a lot of fun on Saturday morning playing in Eli's room.