21 Months!

Aaahhh!!  We're getting closer and closer to two years old!!  Eli is still just as cute and as funny as can be!

As I've mentioned in past posts, Eli has started receiving speech therapy.  He's had three hour-long sessions so far, and his therapist comes right to our house.  We both really like her, and Eli has made great strides in his speech!  During their sessions they sit on the floor and she pulls out one cool toy at a time and they play together.  The whole time she's always adding words and sounds to what they're doing, makes great eye contact, and really gets him talking!  After our first appointment she wanted me to teach him the signs for "all done" and "more."  That night he was fluent in them and using them all the time!  Now he also SAYS the word "more" as he signs!  He's saying all kinds of words, such as: hi, bye, uh-oh, no, yeah, car, woah, hello, mop, garage, peek-a-boo, go-go-go, goal!, ball, etc.  He chatters away all day long in what sounds like a very cute, high-pitched foreign language.  : )

Pulling around his toy wagon.  It's usually empty, but sometimes he'll put something in it.--

Eli has quite the fascination with my curling iron.  He's always loved anything with a cord, but I think he especially likes this item because he sees Mama use it, and of course likes to pretend to curl his hair, too.  : )

The problem now is that he's figured out how to plug these cords in!  He LOVES to pull out the curling iron (or any item with a cord), run over to a plug-in and stick it in.  I quickly had to put a stop to this "fun" game when he also learned how to then turn the curling iron ON.  Ouch!

We are lucky in that the school bus stops right in front of our house to pick up kids.  Since Eli is super-crazy about anything with wheels, school buses are pretty darn cool.  Every morning he excitedly waits by the window as he hears the school bus on its way.  Pretty weird to think he'll be getting on that school bus in a few short years!

A funny thing that Eli likes to do is spin around until he gets dizzy.  Here's a cute video--

This little cutie just loves to act like Mom!  I wear this hat whenever we go to splash parks, and Eli loves when he gets to wear it around the house.  

Add the purse and he's ready to go!  : )

Eli had his first dentist appointment a few weeks ago.  It went great!  We were the first and only appointment that morning, so while I had my check-up the other dental hygienists played with Eli, spraying the air blower on him, watching Elmo, and giving him a new toothbrush.  He quickly went to work on those teeth (one of his favorite pasttimes).  He was perfect for the dentist and just enjoyed sitting in the big chair and checking out all the fun gadgets.  His teeth look good and we were advised to give up the paci (which we're working on).

We attend our church playgroup every week.  One day I was asked to baby-sit a little girl from our playgroup.  She's a year older than Eli, but the same size!  The kids had lots of fun playing together at home and at the playground!

Eli's been able to shake his head "no" for a long time, but it wasn't until recently that he started nodding "yes." He has the cutest nod, making his head go way up and down.  It's fun when you add that he says "yeah" now, because when you ask him a question he'll start his big nod and then say "yeah!"  Love it.

One of his new favorite skills is pouring.  He loves to pour whatever he has from one bowl to another, and so on.  His favorite thing to pour is water.  He'll have out a bunch of my mixing bowls, pots, and pans, and he'll hand me a measuring cup for me to fill with water.  He dumps the water into one of the bowls, and then pours it from one to another and back again.  As you can imagine, this activity gets pretty messy with A LOT of spilled water.  But how can I say no to something he loves so much?  He also likes to pour things like cheerios, or just whatever I give him.  In this video he's pouring balls into his stacking cups.  Eli has amazing concentration and will do the same activity for a long time before moving on with something else.

Eli's favorite toys are probably a toss-up between cars and his play food/utensils.  We spend a good part of every day with those two things.  He loves to cook up some interesting concoctions!  : )

One thing that Eli loves about our new house is that the lights are turned on and off by remotes.  He quickly learned how to use the remote and is usually the one in charge of it.  : )

We picked up this toy vacuum at a garage sale for $2!  Such a fun toy for Eli, and he's such a good vacuumer!  If only it actually worked!  : )  Eli's always been terrified of our vacuum, and getting this toy one has helped him to not be so scared.

Daddy and Eli love to play ball together!

Eli loves to help me make the bed because I usually shake the sheets over his head as he bursts into giggles.  Here it is on video--

Eli and I go to different parks at least a couple times a week.  There's so many where we live!  I take him to the library for story time once a week, and then we go to this park which is right next to it.  Eli loves to ride in the car!

He's gotten so much braver on steps!  Until recently he would never go down steps.  He would just stand there and put his arms up for me to lift him down.  But now, even though he's still extremely cautious, he'll go down steps!  It's such a big accomplishment for him.

Here are a couple pictures from Eli's stay with David's parents while we were downtown last weekend.

Eli and Grandpa H. having fun at the playground--

With cousins Ethan and Caeley.  From seeing those huge grins on his face it's obvious that he had a ball!

In this last video, Eli shows off another favorite pasttime--going into a room, closing the door, saying "bye," and knocking on it until you say "Who's there?" and he can pop out.

You may have noticed Eli trying to get in the trashcan at the end of the video.  He is very interested in that thing, and absolutely loves it when I give him trash to throw away.  Thankfully we have a lock on it so he can't open it by himself (yet)!

What a funny kid.  He always gives us something to laugh about.  : )