Hey Baby, Hey Yo!

Eli is a giant flirt, and his flirting has taken off in all new directions. For a while now he has jokingly said (Hey baby, hey yo!), the "hey baby" is what his daddy says to momma when he wants to get my attention, and the "hey yo" is Eli's own genius invention (who knows where that came from).

Now usually Eli reserves "hey baby, Hey Yo" for momma when he wants to be a big joker, but recently he decided to test this phrase out on the unsuspecting women of Champaign-Urbana, IL. On a recent shopping trip to the mall (we call this special shopping, though it should be called insanity) I had loaded Eli into the double stroller and was getting set to get Nate set up when I hear Eli say "Hey baby, Hey yo" REALLY LOUDLY, proceeded by lots of female giggling and more "Hey baby, Hey Yo's". I looked up to see 20 something girls walking into the mall giggling and blowing kisses to my toddler. Thats right, my 2 year old son hit on college girls as they walked past the car. Picking up chicks at 2...we are big trouble when he is a teenager!

Boomer the attack baby!

Look at Nate's sweet little face! He is such a happy baby and is now a commando crawling master! He can also go from sitting up to crawling position and back to sitting again! When we go in to get him in the morning he is usually sitting up smiling at us these days! What a cutie!

Nate is SO good at commando crawling that he can pretty much get to anything or anyone he wants. Who he wants: Eli, what he wants: Anything Eli has! Nate has a pretty single minded determination to get what he wants and nothing can deter him from his goal! THat is some serious focus! He has acquired the nickname Boomer because when he gets frustrated or irritated or wants to make a point he starts boom, booming. Funny stuff!

The Elusive Buddy-Brother Shot

So, I am on a quest to capture a buddy-buddy moment from the boys. HA! So bear with the funny-shots of the boys that I capture on my journey! doesnt Nate look nervous? He should, Eli tried to shove him off the couch in the 3rd of these pictures...momma is a quick moving women when she has to be! But then he gave him big hugs and told him he loved him. Welcome to sibling love! No babies where injured in the making of these pictures!

Bruin Toddler

So this is my non-subtle message about where Eli (Nate too!) should attend school! Eli's is a Bruin at heart... a momma knows these things about her boy! Look at that face! Eli is such a gigantic ham and we never know what adventures he will get into at any given moment. He surprised us yesterday by randomly reciting his ABC's in the car! He is such a smartie! We are becoming more and more convinced that Eli is either going to be a comedien with a flair for dramatics or a dramatic musician with a flair for the ridiculous! He has such a fun sense of humor and constantly surpises us with his musical ways. I sang the chorus to "Tomorrow" from the movie "annie" 3 times and he sang it for me the 4th time. WOW!

Hanging Out With Daddy

Nate is a baby on a mission these days! He is getting to be such a tall, lanky guy. He is built just like his daddy (sam height and weight at birth too), but with his Pop Pop's face. Nate is a mover and a shaker these days! Just today he has adopted a new one armed pull and scooch that is as close to crawling without actually crawling as you can do. He looks like he is an army commando on a mission when he goes after a toy and he can move across a room in 2 seconds flat (so the body maybe daddy's but the speed is all momma). NAte also learned how to get from the crawling position back to sitting today...so we are almost there. He is almost 10 months old and we can hardly believe our tiny baby is going to be a year old so soon! How did that happen? Look at that sweet face of his. He and Eli are the loves of our lives.

The Adventures of E-I

Ta-Da! Here I am!

Naked Godzilla Toddler attempts to climb furniture before mommy can catch him!

Nice vacuuming outfit! Camo p-j pants, a Thomas the Train shirt and fuzzy bear slippers!

Eli, like most 2 years, doesnt always pronounce his l's so when you ask him what his name is he says "It's E-I". He is pretty serious about it too!

Eli is growing up so fast. He is more little boy/than baby boy these days and its all we can do to keep up with him. The boy is a tornado.

Whats new in Eli's world? Jumping! We have lift-off! Eli is a VERY big toddler and though he has had the jumping motion for a while, his feet never really left the ground. But watch out world Super-toddler can jump, and jump he does. Eli also is a big fan of taking off his clothes whenever possible. At playgroup today he starting giggling and looked a bit naughty and when he started walking his pants fell off (he had unsnapped and unzipped them). He did this twice! The best new thing in Eli's world is that our snuggly guy went from giving great hugs to giving super-duper strong guy hugs. He squeezes the breath right out of you with all the love he gives!

Eli is a very empathatic boy with a flare for the dramatic and he likes to let you know that he feels your pain. If you say your sick anywhere from 5 mintues to 3 hours later Eli will lean into and say "Eli not feeling well". If the mood strikes him, he will tell you "Eli's crying", and if you ask why he will say "cause I'm sad". This also plays out for happy, and mad. The best one is that if you get a boo-boo (cut on finger) he will tell you that he needs a "Hurt hug to make the pain go away)! We finally realized that he picks things up from books and from us to mold into his on little theatrical performances! He is such a funny boy and constantly keeps us laughing!

Brmmmmm, Brmmmmm, MOOOOOO!

Nate is a veritable Beat-box of sounds these days. In addition to Ma Ma (that means Me!!!!YEAH!!!), and Da Da, nate makes car brmmmm brmmm sounds like a pro. He also Moos like a cow every time we open the first page of "Moo Baa La, La, La" which is his favorite book. He is such a smartie!

Nate's favorite things right now: Bath, diced up green beans, sippy cups of anything he can spit out, Eli, Milo, and books.

Nate's least favorite thing: Being thwarted!!!This little man has a BIG temper when he doesnt get his way. He is so cute that he can get away with it, but we worry a bit for when NAte turns 2.