10 months

In the last month...

-Eli is pulling up and cruising more. He even has stood without holding on to anything- although once he realizes he's doing it, he falls. 

-He has started crawling correctly most of the time. He goes back to his old ways occasionally.

-Eli loves smiling at strangers. Recently he has started burying his head into me when they smile back- like he's bashful. It is pretty sweet. 

-This month he started giving momma kisses. Open-mouthed of course. I love it! He also fake coughs when we said "does Eli have a big cough?"

-He has had his first bottle of formula. Now he has one every night before he goes to bed. We haven't had any issues with this so far. 

-Eli has started eating more table food- mostly steamed veggies, fruit and bread. I think he is starting to not like baby food as much because he likes to feed himself. Maybe he will be an independent little guy?

-Eli has gone to a few cold football games (Uncle Josh's team, Tabor Homecoming, & cousin Drew's flag football)

-The Lynch boys (and their parents) came to visit us and Eli had a great time playing with the boys. He loves his new turtle toy that they picked out for him.

-Eli had his first flying experience! We flew to Colorado on his 10 month birthday to visit Uncle Eric and Aunt Megan. After figuring out how long it would take us to make it to Colorado and how many work days that would include, we decided to fly to save a few days. Eli did really well on both flights and seemed to enjoy looking and smiling at all the people around him the most.

-Eli likes: playing in his room (he will for 20 minutes by himself sometimes), bath time with daddy, toys that sing, bouncing (sometimes while he's cruising), kisses, being tickled  going on walks (when it's not windy), eating, crinkling paper, playing with cups and trying to drink out of them, smiling at strangers and just smiling in general, remotes, making noises with his tongue, shaking his head no (he doesn't know what he's saying he just likes feeling dizzy apparently , and making a cute scrunched face while breathing hard through his nose.  

We have such a sweet boy and love him more and more everyday. How is that even possible?

On his 10 month birthday.

Leaning against the wall.

Nom nom nom

This is what most of the pictures I took looked like. I would sit him somewhere and then he would start crawling to me.

In this video, Eli crawls correctly- this was one of the first days he tried it out.

Eli at bath time. So cute!

First Bottle of Formula

He didn't act like he knew there was any difference. I started giving him formula for his night time feeding. So far- so good!

Friends

Eli has been able to spend time with some friends of late, and so it warrants a blog post just for these little dandies. Enjoy!

Hanging out with (first cousin once removed) Shelby in the wagon at Great Grandma and Grandpa Willems' house. Of course Aunt Estey was a good sport to give them a ride. 

Shelby and Eli

Grace and Eli (3 1/2 months apart in age). Grace is Cody and Misty's daughter- Brent and I went to Tabor with them and Cody & Brent were also classmates through middle and high school.

Pretty Grace

I went and watched these cuties for a few hours the other day. Eli, Tynlee, Kyson and Megan- all first cousins.

Eli and Tynlee- they are two months & one week apart. I love this picture. I tried to get one of them both smiling. Tynlee was hamming it up, but Eli wouldn't cooperate. Oh well, it's still cute. 

Football

In the last week and a half, Eli has been to 3 football games. His first was Uncle Josh's 7th grade team. We only made it to one quarter, but that was probably enough for Eli. Second, we went to Tabor Homecoming where the Bluejays won! Lastly, we went to see cousin Drew's flag football game. Drew (aka Spiderman) had 2 touchdowns! His Aunt Cindy thought he was the best one on the team. All three games were quite chilly, so Eli looks almost the exact same in all the pictures- hat, mittens, jacket, blanket...but is his hat not adorable?!? 

@ Uncle Josh's game

Uncle Josh is the coach on the right.

@ Tabor Homecoming

Meggie- finishing up her Oreo from supper @ Drew's game.

Drew is the one in the blue shirt with black pants. He's ready to get some flags! 

Tyler's ready for his turn in a few years!

I guess I forgot to get a picture of Eli at this game, but you get the idea. :)