18 month check up

Today was Dr. visit day! I loved this one though because no shots were involved. It did kind of freak me out though because his next visit is his 2 year. We went ahead and scheduled it and I remember thinking, "oh my gosh... by his 2 year we will have another baby!" AAGGHHH!! (sigh) Surely we can do that, right?! :)

He remains on the growth plan he has from the beginning! He's 29 pounds and 34 inches tall! A big boy!! 

I love going to those appointments because I always feel some sense of accomplishment because he always can do all the things on those checklists. He's a healthy happy baby... well... not a baby (waaahhh!!) but toddler. Gosh. He is incredible. 

This stage is really fun though because he knows how to make me laugh. He's totally picked up on all the things that I think are funny so he spends plenty of time trying to entertain me! haha.. I love it!

In other news... have I mentioned that my dad is in Boston? My mom and sister are in Spain with my brother, and will be returning to London tomorrow. Wes is gone. And I am here... Now I, like most people I think, am definitely not meant to spend that much time alone. Eli definitely fills the time, but part of my love language is to have quality time socially. Going days and days without someone hugging me or rubbing my back or anything like that basically sucks the life out of me. I start feeling sad and depressed like. I not only want and crave some serious friend/family time, I truly need it. That's the worst thing about this point of the summer. People are busy, people are gone... it's just hard. 

I had a slight emotional breakdown this weekend. :) I'm just not one of those people who enjoys this much time without hanging out for a substantial amount of time. After this week is over we'll get to have a family vacation which I am just aching for. Three days of nothing but people!!! I cannot wait. 

Tonight Meredith is coming over to stay (thank you Jesus!!) and tomorrow we're taking a day trip to Athens to visit Rachel and Ellie! (Eli's betrothed) Other things are happening this week so I've pretty much filled up my week. And I get to do it all with Eli, which I also love because he is so great and makes things so much fun!

Grease 2 is on. I must go watch!

Spitting out apple

Eli's newest clear word is "apple". He talks all the time with tons of words I may or may not understand. But this morning apple was crystal clear! So, he wants to "eat" the apple, and I say that loosely because what he really wants to do is chew it up, spit it out, and get another piece. Gross. 

I have evidence of his wonderful word and the spitting of the apple in this video. Enjoy! :)

Eli is back to his awesome schedule now... paci included. He takes a great nap, sleeps from 7:00 pm to almost 8:00 am and it's great. I will definitely wait to deal with that until Wes gets home for good.

In baby #2 news, I'm feeling that sweet baby move several times a day and I LOVE it! Such an incredible feeling... 

Ahhhh the paci...

***new update***  It's nap time. It's been an hour and he wouldn't sleep. So... I caved. I'm too weak! Plus Wes justified my actions by saying to wait until he is home so we can do this together and not put it all on me. I love my husband. :)

***update*** So Eli woke up at 4:47 crying "mama!" I let him cry for about 3 minutes and decided to go in there. I knew that he probably woke up, couldn't find his paci, and wasn't sure how to go back to sleep. 

I tell him to lay back down, he does, and I stand by him for about 15 minutes. He is definitely not asleep. He's rolling around, kicking his legs, clapping... haha... things like that. 

Long story short, I leave, he cries for 10 minutes, go back in, sit for about 5, he's still playing around. I put him in my bed for 10 more minutes, he turns it into a jungle gym, I put him back in bed with a blanket and a teddy bear (5:58 am), and he goes back to sleep until 7:47. (sigh...) I guess that's not too bad for the official night 1 without the paci, right??

Here is the an old picture of Eli when we would let him have his paci at any moment.

For the past several months he could only have his paci at nap time and at bedtime. Which was completely fine because he really didn't want it the other times anyway.

So this past Sunday when we went with Wes to camp I had made a list of everything I needed to take. (I love making lists!!) So after I made my all inclusive list a little son of mine got ahold of it... I tried to keep my eyes on it but it disappeared. (Eli's newest word is "trash" so many things that we need end up in the trash now...). And on that list was the paci, so without the list I totally forgot it!

Now, obviously we were prepared for Eli's sleeping to be a little crazy since he wasn't in his own bed, but eventually he did go to sleep... without the paci. Perfect!

We are home and I decided that we'll just keep on going without the paci. As soon as I laid him in bed for his nap, his hand went straight to his side and he started feeling around for his paci. It wasn't there. I told him "goodnight" and left the room. I did have to go back in since he started screaming and crying. I just told him to lay down, rubbed his back, and asleep he went. Tonight was the basically the same story. So...

Let it be known... the paci is gone! I'm going to stick to it (ahem... you too Wes :) 18 months is plenty of paci time, right?

My nose is a little too awesome

So tonight was the night Eli and I planned to leave camp and drive home. Remember... I loathe I-35 and driving that far with Eli alone during the day. Wes and I get everything packed up, loaded in the car (thanks band for helping out!) and we left after we listened to them play for awhile... around 8:00. 

We're an hour past Eli's bed time, which who knows when that even is since he slept for 4 hours today!!!! But, I knew he'd get tired eventually... my plan in action! So, we'd been driving for about 20 minutes and he starts crying and saying "down! down! down!" and I start thinking... oh no... is he not tired? He already wants out of the car?? Well then his face gets really red and obviously he is having a little poopy action. No problem! Let's get this over with now while it's daylight still! We pull over at a nice little Wendy's, change the diaper, get back in the car, on the road. Eli is doing great!

The sun goes down, Eli starts getting really tired and is getting a little fussy. He starts saying "dadda! night night! dadda! night night!" which is crazy sweet since he's obviously thinking about Wes but so sad because I know he already misses him! I sing him a few of his favorite songs, tell him I love him, and put my hand on his leg. As soon as our skin meets his eyelids drop and he's out!

Not too long after that I could swear that I still smell that poopy diaper! I keep running the thoughts through my head: I clean him off. I threw it away. I washed my hands. I washed his hands. WHERE IS THAT SMELL COMING FROM? I truly had myself convinced that I must be by these ninja cow pastures that were smelling up all of Texas! 

Every once in awhile I would smell my hand. My arm. My shirt. Nothing. All clean. 

We arrived home, Eli is completely knocked out sleeping, and I smell it even stronger. He had another poopy diaper! And I made him sit in it! For like 2 hours!!! No wonder he was having trouble sleeping! uggghhhh...... I quickly got him out, changed his diaper, told him I was sorry like a million times, and put him to bed. (all while he was sleeping I might add) I love that kid. 

Home sweet home. :)

A day of frustration

Today was one of those days where everything I tried with Eli failed. We're at camp with Wes and so of course Eli's sleeping patterns are who knows where and he is pushing every possible limit. Eli really needed to take his 11:00 or 12:00 nap... and the time was about 2:30. He was out of control. Crying, screaming, nose running, tears flowing... the works. Finally he laid down by me and I thought we were going to have a breakthrough! Then he decides to stick his fingers down his throat over and over again and made himself throw up... all over him... all over the sheets... and all over my shoulder... awesome. I was so mad. I didn't know what to do. I got him up, cleaned us off, he starts crying. Again.

I keep thinking, who is this child?? My child isn't like this! He takes his naps. He hardly ever cries. He barely screams. Who are you?? Oh. Wait. You're an 18 month old who woke up at 6:00 am and haven't had a nap all day. Ohhh... that's who you are.

Wes gets back, we load Eli in the car and before we're off the campus he is asleep. sigh...

After the nap he was a whole new person! Still not completely back to his charming little self but much better. We went to the beginning of the evening service, he rocked out on the drums (thanks Jason!), and flirted with basically everyone and then it was time to get him to bed. 

As soon as we pulled up to the apartment I hear a train. I thought, YES! This will be so fun! I hurried and yanked him out of the car, sat on the curb, and watched my beautiful son's eyes light up as the train went by. My eyes filled with tears. All of the annoyance, the frustration, the impatience that I had been feeling all day just melted away. God, thank you. Thank you so much for my son. 

We came inside, got our pjs on, played around a little, turned off the lights, and I laid down on the mattress. I told myself I didn't care what he did, in a good way. When he was ready, he could lay down and go to sleep. What did Eli do? He came right in, laid down, and went to sleep. I love him so much.

And, I'm 17 weeks pregnant today! I'm definitely feeling those sweet little baby flutters! No name ideas yet, no guesses as to what I'm having... but lots of love for this little bundle growing! We have our next appointment on July 8 where we'll have our sonogram and find out what sex our baby is! I cannot wait!