Two years and Two months

He looks like an angel, doesn't he?

I love him so much and I'm so glad he is my son, but...he is driving me crazy!

Maybe it's the terrible twos, or his back molars cutting through, or an upset stomach, I'm not sure, but I do know my patience has definetly been tested the last couple of weeks.

Eli has become a BROKEN RECORD. He says the same things over and over and over- at least a hundred times in a row! Most of what he says starts with "I want...." It could be yogurt, milk, to hug mommy/papi, to watch train, snow boots, etc...
It really drives me crazy while we are in the car. The other night we were driving and I pointed out the moon- he loves to see the moon. Then I must have turned a different direction or a cloud covered the moon or something, but he couldn't see it anymore. Oh man, he continued to say "I want to see the moon" in a whiny voice a million times while I tried to explain what had happened. I tried to ignore him, but it was very challenging!

Meal times are another very hard time. He asks for everything he can think of at once (milk, juice, water, cereal, yogurt, raisan toast, soup, sandwich....) The worst is when we don't have something - like today we ran out of milk! Oh no! He just doesn't seem to understand I don't have any milk!

He has also begun throwing fits. When he is frustrated or doesn't get something he wants, he throws himself down and cries. It's not so bad, I have seen much worse temper tantrums in toddlers before, so I guess I'm lucky with that so far.

I will continue to try to be patient, but I hope this behavior passes sometime soon!

One great positive thing that happened today is that Eli pooped in the toliet. So far he has pooped once in the toliet and peed once too (that was severaly months ago). I don't really think this is the start of potty training yet, but it was still very exciting!

Christmas Parade (before Thanksgiving)

Last night we went to a Christmas parade and tree lighting at Southlands. It was coooold! We had fun being together as a family and seeing all the people. Eli liked seeing Santa Clause in a firetruck at the end of the parade and also a man dressed up as Frosty the Snowman. I liked standing by the fire pit and getting warm. Then we ate dinner at Chipotle. It was a great night out!

Home Teaching and Prayer

Cesar took Eli home teaching tonight. He was his little companion. When Cesar was finished giving the message he asked Eli if he would like to add anything and Eli said some jibber-jabber and then clearly said Jesus Christ! So cute. He also held Cesar's scripture case for him.
Plus, I got to spend a few minutes home alone! I rarely am ever home alone and it was nice. I listened to Christmas music, folded towels, did some dishes, and just enjoyed myself.

Eli said the prayer tonight before I put him to sleep. This is what I heard clearly:
Heavenly Father
Nursery, church, books, Papi, Mommy, baby
Jesus Christ
Amen.

I am looking forward to Thanksgiving on Thursday!
Happy Thanksgiving everyone. Count your blessings and be thankful for everything you have!

November 2009

I'm pregnant! We will be having a new baby boy around March 20th. I'm excited, but nervous as well. I'm feeling fine now, but for a couple of months at the very beginning I felt very tired, very moody, and had some nausea. Also, a lot of food just grossed me out and I wanted hot fresh french fries without salt!
I'm starting to show now and wearing almost exclusively pregnancy clothes. Many people are surprised when I tell them how far along I am (21 weeks) because they say they can't even tell. I was like that with Eli as well. I think I just have a lot of space in my abdomen for the little baby.
I have started to feel the baby move recently. It is a strange feeling.

Eli had his two year well-baby appointment today. He weighs 27 pounds (35%) and is 33.5 inches tall (25%). The doctor said he is a healthy pleasant little boy. He had one immunization today and didn't even cry! Actually this is his third shot in a little over a month (2 flu shots) and he didn't cry for any of them! Brave little boy!

Eli really liked Halloween and is already talking about Christmas! Eli would see witches, ghosts, or spiders and say "Halloween scary!" He loved to look at all the pumpkins and scarecrows outside of the grocery stores.
Now he is already excited about Christmas. He knows about Christmas trees and Santa Clause.
But, most importantly he does now about Baby Jesus too! He loves to pray and he thanks Heavenly Father for toys, fruit snacks, oranges, Mommy, Papi, Ivaras' house, etc. He says in the name of Jesus Christ amen. I love to hear him pray!

I am really excited about this holiday season. Two years ago Eli was just a couple of months old and I was pretty much a wreck with anxiety and baby blues, and found it very hard to enjoy myself during the holidays. One year ago we spent Christmas in Mexico and again I was kind of a mess with nervousness, missing my family, etc. Finally this year I'm ready to relax and just have fun with my family during this holiday season! Yeah!

Cesar spent all night at school last night. He had a big assignment due and worked all night. I missed him so much and wasn't able to sleep from midnight until 2:30. I'm so excited he is home now taking a nap and he doesn't have to work tomorrow! He has one more week of school, then a fall break Thanksgiving week! I'm so excited to spend more time with him- it has been a busy semester for him.

Train Party

We gave Eli a train party for his second birthday. Two of his friends (and their moms), two of his cousins, two aunts, two parents, and his grandma were there. It was a good time!

Cake designed by Cesar (he is so creative)
We ate lunch,

danced,

played a train game,

and opened presents.

Eli is Two

Eli Amani born October 10, 2007

Family photo on Eli's first birthday, 2008

Eli's second birthday, 2009

It's fun having a two year old. He is so sweet, funny, smart, nice...and.... demanding, frustrating, and sometimes fussy.

Eli has changed a ton in these two years, and I have too. I've had some very challenging times being a mom, but feel it is all worth it. I love being a mom!

Feet

I've heard many parents talk about how they buy a pair of shoes for their kid and a couple of months later they've grown out of them. Well, that is not the case for Eli...yet. Eli has been wearing the same pair of shoes for an entire year now! His feet just don't seem to grow very quickly.
Also, I have only really cut his toenails once in his two years of life. They don't grow either!

Autumn

HAPPY AUTUMN! WE WISH YOU A GREAT SEASON.

Staycation

We had a good summer. Between Cesar's summer session and Fall semester we took a Staycation! We thought about going to Salt Lake for a vacation, but ultimately decided to just stay home and do things around Denver. We had a fun time and even spent the night at my parent's house one night when they were out of town.

We went to the Wildlife Experience in Parker. I had been there a long time ago and wasn't very impressed, but this time it was much improved. We also saw an Imax film while we were there. This was Eli's first movie in the theatre. He sat on my lap the whole time and liked the movie about the Corral Reef.

We ate lunch outside and walked around the nature walk. It was a good time.

We also went to Tiny Town in Morrison. Eli liked all the little houses, school, shops, churches, etc. We rode the train too. Eli got very scared when the trian whistled. He screamed! Finally he settled down and enjoyed the ride a little bit. Cesar and I liked the ride. (We took pictures with our other camera, and I'm not sure how to get them on the computer, maybe later.)

We ate out a few times which is always nice on vacation. We went to Rosie's for breakfast, and Sonic for dinner one night. We ate outside at Sonic and then played on the grass after we ate. Eli had a great time running under Cesar's legs. He just giggled and giggled. There was an older couple eating outside too and they thought Eli was so cute! After all that exercise we got ice cream cones!

We had a great Staycation and spent great quality time together as a family!

Eli's Third Haircut

Cesar cut Eli's hair Friday. Eli did very well while Cesar used the scissors and razor. Eli looked very concerned and a little scared, but he stayed pretty still. He was really bothered by the hair that fell on his arms or legs. (I hate that too). I guess we should have put a cape on him. There was so much hair on the floor after the cut. Eli had so much hair and so many curls, but now he looks like a much older boy. He is almost 2! Wow.

Water World

In July we went to Water World. My entire family (parents, siblings and their families) all went. It was a fun time!

We went on a couple of family water slides, spent time in the kid pool, and wave pool. Eli did a great job considering we stayed there all day! (10 a.m. -6 p.m.)

Cousin Camp 2009

My parents are great grandparents. Each summer they put on a cousin camp in their backyard for all the gradkids. There are 15 kids! Eli is the youngest. I helped out this year as camp counselor, although Eli and I slept inside instead of outside in a tent. Maybe next year Eli will try the tent. My mom planned a lot of fun games and activities.

My dad mowed a nature path that was kind of like a maze. All the kids liked this activity and went around the path several times.
Here is Eli with his camp T-shirt making the trek:

Eli with many of his girl cousins:

Eli with Amelia and Naomi:

This was one of the crafty activities that was planned. We beaded necklaces and also decorated treasure boxes. Here is Jacqueline helping Eli.

It was fun and all the kids loved it! I don't think they got much sleep outside in the tents, but Eli and I slept well inside!

Garden of the Gods

Our family went to Garden of the Gods in June. It was a great morning and fun to be out in nature. It was a chilly day with a little bit of rain, but it all worked out fine. Cesar carried Eli in the backpack for a while, but he really just wanted to walk around on his own.

4th of July

Eli likes to eat pickles- so do I.

Our 4th of July weekend was great! Friday night Cesar and I had a date (thanks mom for babysitting). We went to City Park and listened to the Colorado Symphony Orchestra give a great performance. I loved the patriotic music and watching all the people. It was super relaxing and there was great weather. Then we went downtouwn and ate at the Cheesecake Factory. We ate outside and enjoyed watching all the people, horse carriages, and pedicabs pass by. The food was great and the dessert was even better! I love going on dates with Cesar!

On Saturday we went to the Cherry Creek Arts Festival as a family. Eli did really well sitting in the stroller (lately he has hated being in the stroller). We enjoyed walking around and glancing at the art. We saw a guy scuplting a block of ice into a swan. Then we went to the main stage and listened to music while eating our picnic lunch. Eli of course danced to the music and was so cute! At one point Eli and another young boy went to the front of the lawn right by the stage and started dancing. I heard several people comment about how cute they were. It was a lot of fun!

Sunday after church we were invited to lunch at a family's house from our ward that had just blessed their baby. It was nice to socialize and relax outside. In the evening we went to my parent's house and had dinner. My mom made a jello dessert that looked like the American Flag and we also ate apple pie- a very american dessert. Eli's cousins are very good with playing and taking care of him when we are at my parent's house. I know Eli loves all his cousins!

Cesar's Birthday

On Father's Day we celebrated Cesar's birthday at my parents house with our favorite strawberry dessert! My parent's gave Cesar a BBQ grill. We used it the other weekend and had great tasting hamburgers. It was fun and a learning experience since neither of us had really BBQ'ed by ourselves before. We managed to not set anything on fire. There was a lot of smoke though.

On his actual birthday his mom and her foster kids came over for dinner and banana dessert (another favorite).

We have really been enjoying our extra family time this summer. Cesar is just taking two classes during the summer and working three days. Next semester will be a different story though- I think he will have school or work every day.

Things that Eli does

Eli has been growing up and changing so much lately. I just wanted to write down stuff so I can read it in the future and remember. (He is 1 year and 8 months.)

-He counts from 8-13. I often count the stairs with him when we go up and down and he sometimes says 2, but usually starts at 8! At the library today he saw the number eight and said "eight". I was suprised that he knew that.

- He says please when he really wants something.

- He is still a great sleeper! He never wakes up at night and often has a three hour nap.

- We bought him a potty the other day and he sometimes sits on it, but usually with his diaper on.

- He knows and likes Elmo. I knew he liked Sesame Street, but didn't know he loved Elmo. Today at the library he saw an Elmo book and said "Elmo" and loved looking at the book. We checked it out and he loves it at home too.

- He gives kisses sometimes when we ask and when he feels like it.

- He puts his hands together when we pray and starts talking so softly and nicely. He sometimes says "Amen".

- In sacrament meeting he waves his hand like he is conducting the music when we sing. He also lip sings when we listen to music.

- He loves to dance and has good rhythm.

- He loves playing with his toy cars. He says "cars, trucks, and cycles" for motorcycles. He can play with his cars for a long time. He loves to look at the wheels and park the cars in a row.

- He loves looking at books. Sometimes when I'm reading to him, he tells me to shhhh, so he can read to me! He jibber jabbers and sometimes says a real word or too. When I get out of the shower sometimes he has gone through most of the books on the shelf and they are all layed out around him on the carpet.

- He knows how to close the doors at home, but can not open them yet.

- He loves fruit- strawberries, grapes, blueberries, oranges, apples...

- He has sooo much energy.

- He likes going to nursery at church.

- He has never really liked taking a bath. He doesn't cry or anything, but he just doesn't love it. He usually brings a couple of toys in the bathroom and when I put them in the bath water he doesn't like it. He would rather I just hold the toys for him and he picks one to play with at a time.

- When he eats cheerios and has two floating in milk on his spoon, he says "eyes".

- He loves the book "Black Beauty" and kisses the horse on the last page.

- He loves his cousin Ivaras and says his name over and over when I tell him that we are going over to his house. He has started to say grandma too.

- He never cries when I leave.

Swimming Fun

Eli had so much fun swimming when we went the other day. It was a challenge to keep him in our arms because he just wanted to jump out. He loves watching the older kids swim too. I think we will be spending a lot of time at the pool this summer!

Second Hair Cut

Before

During
After

3 Dates in 1 Week

Cesar and I had three dates last week. This is pretty unheard- we actually usually only have one or two a month.

#1 Tuesday night double date with Mark and Tiffany. We went to a nice restaurant and bowling downtown. It was a lot of fun. We had fun watching the Nuggets game at the bowling alley, talking, walking in perfect weather down 16th Street, and more. Thanks to M & T for the invite and using some of their gift card on us and thanks to my mom for babysitting Eli!

#2 Saturday morning breakfast at Dozens. We had yummy omelets, potatoes, and toast and great conversation. I really like going out for breakfast and Dozens is a great restaurant. Thanks to Valerie for taking care of Eli!

#3 Saturday afternoon massage! We went to the Denver School of Massage and got massages for $12.50. It's a great price. We both had really good massages and felt so good afterwards. I had been wanting a massage since before Eli was born and finally got one! Thanks to Sandra for babysitting Eli.

Timber!

Two trees were cut down in front of our house. I don't know why, but we were sad about it. One of the trees was actually the tree where Cesar taught Eli how to say "arbol". It was interesting to see it all happen and very loud.

Here is Cesar and Eli's reaction.