Twelve months

We'll actually it's more like ever since he's turned 11 months on. So we're talking - 12 and 13 month accomplishments.

Elijah talks, he talks to us, to himself, and other kids. He's quite the social man. As far as words go. It's really random and hit or miss. Sometimes I'm like, "did he just say his name?", or "did he really just repeat that?" Nothing is clear - It's all in Eli dialect. But I have the feeling he's going to go from Ni Ni (night night) to "Dear Mother, I'd like to go to bed now, please" overnight.

At Eli's dedication, both sets of parents commented on how unusual it was that Eli was helping dress himself. Really? I had no idea that that was cool. I guess it is. Way to go son, you put your pants on like everybody else, one chunky leg at a time.

He LOVES to play in his room, and if I'm not careful to wedge a washcloth in the door jamb he'll shut me out and him in (ugh, teenagers). He is so proud of his room, and rightly so. It's the first he's had. I'm working on theme-ing it up. But not quite sure as every room in our home needs a bit of Martha-ing. In his room, he'll pull books off the bottom book shelf and dig in his play tubs. He loves to show it off.

As far as awesome new baby tricks, he can show how old he is and point to his hair when asked. Of course, these are only family tricks and friends are RARELY privileged to witness these acts of brilliance. Yesterday at the grocery store, the cashier asked Eli how old he was. I encouraged him, but he just tucked his head into his shoulders and grinned. As I was buckling him into his carseat he proudly shot up his index finger. "Awesome buddy, but a little late."

He moved on from putting things in containers and now loves to stuff things in drawers. He can stack blocks on top of one another 4 high, unless he deems a horse, cow or giraffe is a more appropriate block topper.

He is just barely walking. He took a few shuffle steps last Sunday. And, I have to judge my distance from him very carefully - Too close and he falls into me, too far and he drops and crawls. I am excited for him to begin walking, but I would seriously be happy in this stage forever...or until he weighed 30 lbs...

Elijah had his 12 month well baby check and I got to thinking. He has yet to have a true sick visit. Yay for breastmilk! Though he did have 2 freaking terrifying ER visits, that I would have traded for infinity routine sick visits, oh well. guess we can't choose these things. Eli weighed in at 22 lbs. He got his 5th tooth. And, I'm still debating on whether or not to get him the MMR vaccine. Not because of the autism link, which has mostly been debunked, but because of the ingredients of this vaccine. Such a hard decision. Hopefully we'll feel good about it one way or the other by his 15 month visit. At this last visit, the nurse asked, "Is he making any animal sounds?" To which I replied, "Does roaring count?" Everything roars in our house. It's like it's in his little boy DNA.

It didn't take a trip to the doctor to diagnose Eli with a serious case of Daddy-itis. AKA, Daddy fanatisism, or Daddy Idol. It's known by many names at our house as it is a progressive disease and is ONLY getting worse by the day. From the time Rob gets home in the evening until he falls asleep singing Da Da da da Da Da da Da, Rob is the only one who can hold him. He wants to wear Rob's shoes, eat Rob's food, play with Rob's "toys" and touch anything Rob touches. Enjoy the pics below.

reading the paper just like daddy

Look at ME mom, I'm just like HIM

You would think the whole giving birth, tending every need or want would put me a little higher on Eli's list, but no. The little monkey plays favorites. I used to console myself with things like, "well, Rob's taller, that's why Eli wants him to hold him, or "well, Eli doesn't see Rob all day and that's why he's all over him." I've faced the facts and am now resigned to Elijah's preference. Little Rob is a daddy's boy and just like him in most every way. It's that way it should be for now. Hopefully, I'll get a year or two of being his favorite before he goes to school...maybe.

We've stopped nursing. He's now on straight up cow's milk. It was a hard transition for me emotionally, which I didn't expect. But I think Eli did pretty well with it all. He's a trooper.

In other big boy news, Elijah also has his own library card! ooooh.

We're slowly transitioning to 1 nap a day and more nights than not Eli sleeps through the night (YES!!!) though he still ends up in our bed fairly often. Bad habit yes, I know. But try telling that to sleepy 3am Danielle.

Lastly, Eli can give great hugs, complete with back pats. Mmmm, I love that boy!

Elijah's First Birthday

Another first, there are so many in my growing boy's world.


This was his cake.

And, it was the best child's cake ever. Thank you so much Leah! It was WONDERful and yummy. Sadly, this cake may have done her in and word on the street is she no longer does kids' cakes. Hopefully the trauma caused by creating the WonderPets cake will pass and she'll reconsider- we are going to need a year 2 cake, you know.

We so savvy-ily conned people into helping us move in by also throwing Eli's birthday on the same day. muhahah. Our invitations read: Come help us celebrate our boy's first. Everyone must carry in 1 thing from the P.O.D. Good thing the kid is so cute. It worked like a charm. Seriously though, it was a lot of fun to have good friends around us on a day where we were celebrating so much.

this pic included friends in our old and new small groups

simply precious

island full of clutter - kitchen full of friends

This was the first time Eli had really had sweets. Well, that I know of anyway.

Gee, mom. I don't know? Can I?

Well, maybe just a taste. If you insist. It is my birthday.


Don't let the face fool you.....

He had no problem digging in.

I should have known better than to give him an adult sized piece. I seriously wasn't thinking about it with everything that was going on. I looked over to check on how he was doing and he had put a serious hurting on that cake... He just kept eating and eating and before long looked really sick, but was still shoving cake in his mouth. He did circles around the island for the rest of the night laughing his head off. Before I put him down for the night he left a lovely puddle of blue icing throw up and spinach from the pizza in his new room.

Thank you God for my sweet little family

I must confess that Elijah's look of pure joy is for his daddy. I know this for sure, because it's how he ALWAYS looks at Rob. If you didn't know Rob hung the moon and stars. Our level of daddy idol is at an all time high - more on that later.

Happy Birthday Boy!

Welcome Back, Welcome Home

After 3 weeks without home internet and 1 week to get back in the swing of things, we have returned to the wonderful world of blogging.

What started this long absence?


We bought a HOUSE. We love our new home. I believe it is perfectly the best house for us... ever. I've even thought, if we ever move again (good luck trying to make me move again Rob Hartley), we'll copy the floor plan and build it ourselves.

(cheesing up in a great new home pic - this is Eli's Ricky Bobby windsuit that I love. It has a monster truck on the back and may be the 1 and only pic in it before he outgrows it :(

This home fits our personality, our values, and size. It feels great to finally feel home. And after 4 years of marriage, that is a good feeling. This time when I unpacked boxes, I unpacked them all, as it is the first time I knew in advance that we wouldn't be planning on moving in a year. crazy.

We closed on January 21st, yep Eli and our new home are exactly 1 year apart. We spent the morning in the realtors' office - not around the dining room table in our new home, which is where I always romantically pictured closings taking place. Everyone who helped us through the home buying process attended the closing - which made it really feel like a celebration. Our mortgage broker even brought cupcakes for Eli's birthday. At the closing, we also met the owner's daughter which was cool and since moving in we've met most of our neighbors. We feel really welcomed in the neighborhood - it's a tight community. And, we can't wait til spring - our home is on the dogwood trail and it's apparently a sight to behold when they all bloom.


(Not only is he the best realtor ever, Eli's love for him is enough to make Grandparents jealous!)