A bunny, a roo, and two little beans too.

Monday, June 08, 2009

Wind!

Ever since Matea was little she has loved to be outside, and loved the wind. It doesn't take her breath away or anything, she just gets a big smile and opens her mouth, and usually sticks out her tongue.

For example . . .

Well, we have an allergen removing unit in Eli and Matea's room that I usually keep on level 1 or 2 to help with Matea's suspected allergies. A few weeks ago Eli discovered that putting the machine on 4 puts out A LOT of wind. One night before bedtime Eli wanted to show Matea the wind. She LOVED it! Eli would turn the unit off and then back on to 4 and Matea would squeal when the wind hit her face. Eli would talk in to the unit and his voice would sound funny, another big hit with both of them. And Matea would open her mouth wide and try to catch the air in her mouth. It was so cute! And don't worry, Grandmas and Grandpas, there are no moving parts anywhere near the grates, so even if they stuck their hands through (which they couldn't) they would not be able to touch anything. :) Eli and Matea played in the wind for probably 15 minutes together. It was adorable!

Catching the wind with my mouth!

I love playing in the wind with my brother!

And here's a video, I think . . . I can never get these videos right, but I'm giving it a shot. :)

Friday, June 05, 2009

Solo steps!

Matea had a big milestone this week as well - she took her first solo steps! She loves walking holding our hands, and last week I convinced her that walking holding only one hand was great (and now she doesn't want to hold my other hand). But she hadn't really done any steps on her own. She would just freeze up when you let go of her hand and then screech at you and fall backwards.

Yesterday though (June 4 for the baby book), she seemed really steady when I was walking with her, so I simply let go of her hand. And she kept going! She took about 7 steps and then fell sideways. But she knew she had done something different. She squealed and had a huge grin!

The second solo attempt didn't go quite as well - she took a few steps and then fell sideways again but my hand slipped grabbing her and she took a header in to the wall. Ouch. She cried but it didn't deter her. When Jon came home we spent a while just having her walk back and forth between us. Matea knows she's doing something cool though. She almost shakes she's so excited and then takes three or four super-quick steps with absolutely no balance, and ends by flinging herself headlong at you. It's an adorable, if not an effective, way to walk. If she'd slow down she'd have it but she's just too excited. She knows she's walking all by herself, and she likes it!! :)

4 year stats!

Eli had his 4 year old doctor's appointment today and everything looks great! Eli is now 42 and a half inches (90th percentile) and 39 pounds (75th percentile). For comparison, at 4 years old Jon was 43 inches tall and 43 pounds (what a chunk, hehe). So it looks like Eli is still very similar to Jon. Still long and lean!

A few days ago Eli fell at the park and cut his lip so the doctor checked that as well. Turns out his tooth did go through his lip and the pushed in tissue is now hanging on the inside of his lip (ick I know). If it doesn't come off by itself in the next week then we get a return trip to the doctor's to snip and cauterize the hole. Since no 4 year old I know would like to be cauterized I'm praying that Eli's spare tissue falls off of its own accord this week! We did get a course of antibiotics since the lip was looking a little plump and red and the doctor said it was at high risk for infection.

We also found out that Eli can move to a booster seat in the car! Technically it's supposed to be 40 pounds but the doctor said that with Eli's height he'll be just fine. So I'm looking forward to that.

All in all the doctor thought Eli was growing great and looking good, plus no shots, so we had a great visit!

Edit: I forgot to mention that at the end of the visit when Eli got to pick a prize he picked out a pink bracelet, which I thought was odd. Until he came back to Matea and handed it to her! :) He said he picked out a jewelry for Matea because he knew she would like it. Awww. The doctor let him pick out another prize and a sticker and he proceeded to pick stickers for Lexi and Tori and not for himself. The doctor was surprised at his thoughtfulness and insisted that Eli actually get a prize as well. What a generous 4 year old. Mommy's proud. :)

Thursday, June 04, 2009

Eli's Mario Cake!

Eli requested a Mario themed birthday cake this year, and at first I thought there was no way I could figure that out. Then I got some inspiration from examples on-line and thought I could pull it off for him. Jon sketched out what Mario things should be on each level and then I translated them to the cake. We bought the figures on e-Bay, shipped all the way from Hong Kong (!!), and they were still pretty cheap. Eli got to decide the placement of all the figures once the cake was assembled, with only moderate direction from Mommy. :) All in all I think the cake turned out really well. Elijah LOVED LOVED LOVED it, so that was what really mattered. I love you my little Mario-loving four year old!

Mommy and Eli posing with the finished creation! Eli's so happy!

The "front" of the cake, with Mario, Luigi, and Peach.

I love the fire flower, and the way the hills turned out.

The 4 coming out of the pipe was a last minute addition which I really liked.

Eli loved his name on the coins and the pirranha flower.

Jon sketched the layout similar to the original Mario game . . . so those are the steps heading to Bowser's castle.

Happy Mommy, all finished! It was worth it, and really fun to make too!

Eli's Birthday Party!

This year, Eli's main birthday party was held at Grandpa Bob and Grandma's Sherry's house, in their new finished basement, aka "the party room." We stopped at the outlet mall on the way over to pick up balloons and a special giant balloon for Eli - which he chose to be a princess castle. It was his birthday, so we didn't try too hard to talk him in to the Thomas balloon or Lightening McQueen. The princess castle really was the coolest one anyway. :)

We really had an awesome day and had so much fun. The weather was great, so the kids got to play outside together, and Eli got so many really fun presents, that's he's going to be busy for a long time! No talk of being bored - he's got tons of new things to play with. From golf sets to new games, train duplos and new Thomas bridges and signals, to a knight's outfit and superhero cape and a brand new bicycle. Elijah was spoiled rotten once again (a family tradition, hehe). :)

After present opening and eating we coerced Eli in to blowing out the candles on his cake (he really didn't want to, he wanted to keep on playing, but it was getting late). Eli requested a Mario cake for this year, and I had a lot of fun making it. The day was much too short though, and before you knew it it was time for everyone to go home. Eli had the "best birthday party I've ever had, Mommy," so I think it was a success!

A "hockey" set! (That's what Eli has been calling golf)

Puppy bingo (or you could just snuggle the puppies as you go to sleep too.)

Lexi and Tori drew some pictures for Eli. He didn't know what to do with them but I do - in to the keepsake book they go. :)

Matea took an instant dislike to the big green koosh ball and screamed whenever it came near her.

An over the track signal - "This is just what I've been wanting!"

A bike! (That he saw on accident several weeks ago, and then spotted under the blanket in the car too, so I was surprised that he was excited at all when he saw it!)