Sailing!

For the 4^th of July weekend, Elijah went for his first sailboat ride, on Grandma Amanda's boat! We headed up on Saturday morning, hitting horrendous traffic on the way to Canada (the boat is in Sarnia, just on the other side of the BlueWater Bridge at Port Huron). We finally made it though, and Grandma met us with Elijah's "boat coat" - his life jacket. We weren't sure how he was going to react to being in the marina or on the boat, so we were a little protective at first.

Well, it turns out that 1.) Sailboats are basically childproof for kids Eli's age and 2.) Eli's Viking heritage on Jon's side and Dutch heritage on the other basically ensured that Elijah loves being on boats! He took right to it, and found his sea legs quickly.

Elijah was the perfect age for a stay on the boat, which was a nice surprise. The benches in the cockpit are too high for Eli to climb on to yet, so when the drop boards preventing him from accessing the ladder to the cabin were in Elijah could have free reign to crawl and walk around the cockpit and explore. Which he loved! And everything below deck in a sailboat is constructed so it does not easily open, for times when the boat is heeled over or in rough weather - which meant that the sailboat was baby-proofed already and Eli couldn't get in to anything he shouldn't! Eli just loved exploring and checking everything out.

When we actually went sailing Eli had to have on his lifejacket, which he wasn't that pleased about - mostly because it was quite hot. Still, he handled it all in stride and didn't really complain. All in all we spent three days and two nights on the boat, and loved every minute of it! As a bonus, Jon's Aunt Cheryl and cousin Leah were up for two days, and we got to spend some nice family time with them as well. Based on this weekend, I predict more fun times sailing in Eli's future!

Fun in the Sun

Thursday afternoon I set up Eli's little pool on a sheet on the deck (it was really hot to walk on for some reason), along with a little water play table for him, and we headed outside to play in the sun! Elijah couldn't decide whether to play in the pool or standing up at the water table apparatus, so I moved the table so it was partially in the pool. That was a big hit with Eli! He kept walking around the table, climbing in and out of the pool, and also putting his blocks from the pool to the table, back to the pool, back to the table, repeat, repeat, repeat. He had such a good time, and loved splashing around outside! It's nice to be home with him and have the opportunity to enjoy the summer weather together. Sure beats being stuck in an office while Elijah's in daycare!

Rocket Man

Yesterday Eli figured out how to actually get on and off the “Retro Rocket” toy he got for his birthday! He had tried before, but would always end up either on the floor or frustrated calling for help. Well, Elijah and I were in the master bedroom putting away clothes yesterday and he was pushing the rocket around and then stopped and tried to get his leg over the side a few times, with no luck. But then he finally did it! A few tries at getting off and he got that down as well. He further expanded his skills by learning how to climb on and off his riding fire truck too. Of course, once he's safely seated he still can’t go anywhere but backwards on either one, but he loves climbing on and off!

I'm on it! Yay!

Look Mom, no hands!

Can You Send Me to Bed Without Dinner? Please?

The last two days Elijah has only taken one long nap, in the morning, and been up the rest of the day. He runs out of steam around 6 pm though, which is right when we eat dinner. So we’ve eaten dinner the last two nights and then taken him straight from the dinner table to bedtime. Last night he ate a little dinner, then put his head down for a rest, and then finished his meal laying down in his highchair! The little bean fell asleep right away when we brought him upstairs, and slept all night. We tuckered him out!

I'm so tired, Dad, I can't keep my head up any longer!

I'm tired, but still a little hungry,
so I'll just finish my dinner lying down.

Since Our Last Update . . .

Here’s what Elijah’s been up to in the last week, since we last posted:

We went to eat lunch with Dad, Grandma, and Uncle Jeremy at Grandma and Jeremy’s offices in Ann Arbor. We ate outside (until it started raining) then Eli went inside and had a chance to play with fun electronic devices!

We went to a Tastefully Simple party at Grandma Amanda’s house, and got to play with our step-cousin, baby Alexis, who is 5 weeks older than us! We climbed the stairs, played together, and had fun. Though Elijah wasn’t so sure about having to share his Grandma with another baby. Elijah and Mom stayed overnight on Friday night, and then Elijah stayed with Grandma Saturday and part of Sunday too while Mom joined Dad, Grandpa Bob, and Uncle Jeremy at home to seal the deck (home maintenance, yippee!).

Elijah discovered his belly button! And Mom’s belly button. And Dad’s belly button too. He thinks its great fun to lift up his shirt and poke at his tummy now, with a big smile on his face. What a cutie-pie!