Teething Ring

He fell asleep with this in his mouth and kept it in his mouth until he woke up. Teething again? Surely the rest of his teeth will be here sometime soon. 

All Grins

He's looking at me while I peek around the side of my camera. I don't think we'll ever have to do "say cheese!" with him. 

Elijah the Explorer

He's putting on his explorer hat to stay safe while he searches around this strange land known as home. His treasure map has a huge X on it. Now he needs to follow the path to find what's been hidden. Be safe, young traveler, be safe.

"The Kingdom of Heaven is like a treasure that a man discovered hidden in a field. In his excitement, he hid it again and sold everything he owned to get enough money to buy the field." ~Matthew 13:44

USA!

Elijah's wearing his gold medal to support Team USA! Of course, he's turned around watching some of the Olympic cycling. We liked seeing what people had drawn with chalk on the road that they were riding down.

Training Camp

Football season is back as the Chiefs go head to training camp. Elijah's wearing his red to support the home team. Loyalty is very important to our family. And did you notice this kid's face?? Silly boy.

Baby Sitting

He's just sitting in his toy bag. He thinks it's funny when we put the bag on our heads or his head. Well...he think it's funny if anything is on anyone's head. Usually I put blocks or socks on his head, and he laughs when Daddy wears a hat.

Baby Steps

Elijah is becoming a little braver and taking steps on his own.

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Dreaming Child

I wonder if he missed his afternoon nap...in bed early with no struggle. Yes, he usually sleeps like this with his face on his hands and on his belly. He recently started sleeping with a light blanket as well because the AC gets a little cold in the middle of the night. I wish he could tell me his little baby dreams about his toys, Cheerios, trying to walk, and Mommy and Daddy.

Paper Towel

To distract Elijah before it was dinner time, I gave him a paper towel. He ripped it into little strips and then tried to hold all the little strips. I let him play with it for about 10 minutes...then he tried to eat a little part of it even after I told him not to. It was fun while it lasted...but there's not going to be any choking on my watch.

Tiny Slide

Our lil' guy is finally getting big enough for this activity center that we got at one of his baby showers. It has a step, slide, baseball, bat, basketball, and hoop. Elijah can swing the bat and hit the ball...or floor or door or shelf or chair or toys. He (of course) tried to crawl down the slide after I showed him how to slide. It kind of bothers me that the basketball is smaller than the baseball...oh well.

The World

I bought my baby the world today. Good thing it only cost $1.

"God saw all that he had made, and it was very good. And there was evening, and there was morning - the sixth day." ~Genesis 1:31

Push and Spin

I'm teaching Elijah a little bit of cause and effect. When you push the big purple part on top of the toy, it makes all the colorful balls spin around the bottom. He managed to get them to spin about two times before he got distracted with some books.

Pink Block

It's official...Elijah can reach the top shelf. He decided to put this pink block on the top shelf which happened to knock a pair of sunglasses off the back. Oops!

Bonus pic! Because I like his expression here.

Cocoon

Elijah is busy getting ready for his Very Hungry Caterpillar birthday party. We sent out invitations so now we have to learn the book. He has a board book for the Favorite Words (think Strawberry, Apple, Leaf, Butterfly)...it's cute and he loves to read/play with it.

Eyelashes

Baby Elijah is standing at the couch playing with a burp rag waving it around. Look at how long his eyelashes are! He'll be a true heart breaker some day.

Belt

Not surprisingly, Elijah's favorite toys are non-toys. Look how excited he is to get to play with this belt. He flung it around for several minutes until Daddy decided that it was too dangerous to play with or chew on. It was fun while it lasted.

"May God be gracious to us and bless us and make his face shine upon us, that your ways may be known on earth, your salvation among all nations." ~ Psalms 67:1 & 2

Pancake

We gave Elijah a pancake since he's 11 months old today. He enjoyed ripping it apart then picking up all the little pieces and trying to shove them all in his mouth at once. All boy...all curious.

Generations Day

For Mother's Day this year, Elijah and I gave my mom a coupon for Generations Day which is a day for 3 generations (baby, mommy, grandma). We planned a trip to Zona Rosa that would include yummy dessert, fun play, and a gift.

This is at Barnes and Noble...Elijah played with trains. We bought him a few books.

Grandma bought Elijah 2 T-shirts for the Olympics. USA! USA! USA! Thank you!

We changed into our swimwear to play in the fountains. After several minutes, Elijah decided that he loved these strange blasts of water.

A little more shopping and a bottle led to this worn out kid to missing Yogurtini. Nap time was good though.

Grab and Throw

If a block gets too close to my baby, he must grab it and throw it as soon as possible. All we have to do now is get him to throw them in a basket...that's called cleaning! And he already cleans the kitchen floor by picking up the smallest crumbs and trying to consume them.

On the Floor

Love his smile while he's having fun with Daddy (seems to always get me the best shots). Yes, he's upside down with his chin tipped up to look at me. And you can see his shiny pearly whites (all both of them - haha). 

First Steps

Elijah's learning how to walk. He really likes being able to move on his own and he doesn't seem to mind falling a lot. Once he finds his balance, he'll be running.

Climbing and Giving

Playtime with Daddy tonight! Elijah loves climbing, climbing on the couch, climbing the stairs, climbing on chairs, climbing on shelves, and climbing on us...over us. As the video shows, he also knows how to listen. Watch as he climbs and listens to Daddy.

Free Standing

The amazing Elijah can stand all on his own for a little while. Congrats buddy-do!

Life is Good

"There is a time for everything,

and a season for every activity under heaven:

a time to be born and a time to die,

a time to plant and a time to uproot,

a time to kill and a time to heal,

a time to tear down and a time to build,

a time to weep and a time to laugh,

a time to mourn and a time to dance,

a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them,

a time to embrace and a time to refrain,

a time to search and a time to give up,

a time to keep and a time to throw away,

a time to tear and a time to mend,

a time to be silent and a time to speak,

a time to love and a time to hate,

a time for war and a time for peace."

~ Ecclesiastes 3:1-8

Wedding Photo Booth

My friend from work got married this weekend. They did a photo booth for the guest book and for a party favor. The 2nd picture came too fast - surprise! But we did pretty well on the 1st and 3rd. Congrats to the happy couple!

ABC Video

At bedtime we like to watch a few YouTube videos of lullaby/kid songs. The ABC song is one of Elijah's favorites. You may need to turn your volume all the way up to hear the music.

Exhausted

It's the day after the 4th of July...aka the 5th of July. We were very worn out from yesterday. After waking up in the morning, we fell asleep on the couch (Daddy took that picture). Then Elijah napped for an hour in the morning and another hour long nap in the afternoon. After his afternoon nap, he sat beside me just watching TV until he fell asleep sitting up. He slept for another hour. Later in the car he slept for another half hour. (That's about 3.75 hours of napping.)

It's bedtime now...this should be fun.

First 4th of July

Although our celebration town wouldn't let us shoot off any fireworks due to the dry grass creating a fire hazard, we were still able to go outside and wave around a little flag. Our time outside was early in the morning and short because it was already so hot. Elijah enjoyed eating the grass and flag more than waving it. He's still a patriotic cutie! God bless America!

Tall Steps

My baby is so tall. He is so close to really walking...he took 2 falling steps from Daddy to Mommy today. I bet he could do 3 steps. He still gets frustrated when he can't walk from one place (like the couch) to another (like the shelves). You can do it, Elijah! 

Dinner Laughs

As we were waiting for dinner to be ready, Daddy was entertaining Elijah by being Moose Dad. I think Elijah forgot that he was hungry for a couple minutes. Also - we love this bib. It's easy to wipe down and has a pocket for catching all the food that's dropped.

Omaha Present

While we were in Omaha, we stopped at a store called LeWonderment. It is a specialty store for kid and pet toys and has only been opened for two weeks. We bought Elijah a photo book where we can put pictures of friends and family so he can learn about everyone we know. Now I just need to take (or print off) some more pictures.