Ferris wheel

I can't believe I forgot to mention the fact that Eli rode the ferris wheel at the Marion County Fair. What a brave boy!

Marion County Fair

Eli went to the Marion County Fair with Mama and Grandpa Jim on Friday. He climbed inside a fire truck (and through a tunnel next to the fire truck), a military tank, a Marion County sheriff's car and a Marion County command RV. He also rode on a train around the fair. He loved it!

Laundry

When Eli woke up from his nap, I asked him if he wanted to help me fold the laundry. He said, "yes" very confidently. And he actually did! I had three baskets full (yes, I realize that they have been sitting there since Sunday getting wrinkled, but Eli is 18-months-old, remember?). I dumped one on the bed and told Eli to put all of his clothes in the empty basket. He did! He searched out and found all of his own clothes and put them in the basket. OK, a few times he stopped to put my underwear on his head or his leg through the arm of Michael's shirt, but for the most part he really took to the task at hand. Ahh how I love the 15 minutes of productive play!

Row your boat

Check out the new video of Eli screaming for "Row your boat." Pretty funny stuff...but actually, he used to scream right after we would sing, "Row, row, row your boat." That was even funnier!

Today was pretty low-key. Eli helped me go grocery shopping. He said "hi" in his bright way to every person who went past us. He ate scones and cheese while he helped me shop. The only bad part is at the car, where he insists he puts the key in the lock. Which would be great, if he could actually put the key in the lock. Of course, when I "help" him, he throws a fit. So when we got back from shopping, I put him in the front seat with the keys while I took the groceries out of the truck. He spent a good 15 minutes trying to put the key in the ignition. Then he found the Purell and poured that all over the driver's seat. At least I got the groceries in the house!

While I picked blueberries and cherries this afternoon, Michael found Eli a big wheel sort of thing on Craigslist. It has a handle in the back for us to push him. It will get him used to pedals at the very least. Mostly, for now, he likes to get on and off of it.

I am hoping for more warm weather tomorrow so I can go to a spray fountain with Eli!

July 4th!

The fireworks still haven't started going off in our neighborhood and Eli is already asleep.... so he will miss the nighttime show this year, but he still went to a BBQ to celebrate. He even wore a party hat!

Oh, and the photo of the four boys -- Eli, Dixon, Oscar and Alex (from left to right) -- is an ongoing tradition. They were all born to Statesman Journal employees within 9 months of each other.

Boogers and batteries

This morning, while Michael was hanging out with him, Eli tried to stick a AA battery in his ear. Michael said," Eli, we don't stick batteries in our ears." Eli scowled at him, looked at the battery, and then pretended like he was sticking it up his butt.

Aside from working on his comic routine, Eli is working on saying new words. Tonight while I was rocking him and he was drinking his bottle, I said, "Oh you have a booger." And I wiped his nose. He then kept sticking his finger up my nose and saying, "boo-her." My favorite though is when he says, "juice." Her purses his lips as if he is going to kiss you and says, "ew-se." Tonight he was saying it, and I kept kissing him on the lips and he laughed and laughed.

Tur-tel

Yesterday, while walking to Bush Park, Eli found metal garden art shaped like a turtle. He picked it up and started taking it with us. I said, "Oh, you found a turtle. We can't take the turtle to the park with us. Can you put the turtle back?"

Then, he said "tur-tel." Which is his first complicated word.

But what's really funny is that this morning, Michael got Eli out of his crib and Eli kept saying, "buh-buh" (that means book) and Michael tried to get some books down from his shelf, but Eli said, "No, tur-tel" and pointed at his "Yertle the Turtle" book. Very cool that he can now tell us which book he wants to read :)

Being generous and a first sentence.

At dinner tonight, Eli was eating mac-n-cheese before Michael had any food on his plate. Michael said to Eli, "Eli gets to eat dinner but what will Daddy eat?" Eli pulled Michael's plate closer and put two fingerfuls of mac-n-cheese on his plate. Very very generous (but not TOO generous!)

In the bathtub, Eli found his reflection in the thing on the side of the tub that allows you to empty the drain. He kept looking in it and smiling and saying, "hi." Then I stuck my head close to his so he could see my reflection and Eli said, "Hi, Mama." I believe that is Eli's first sentence. That's pretty good given that he only says a handful of words: juice, hot, up, mama, dada, doow (dog), yes, and no.

18 months!

Eli had his 18 month check-up yesterday. He weighs 27.3 pounds and is 33 inches tall. He's in the 75th percentile for weight and height. He a strong, growing boy!

The doctor also checked out this rash he has all over his body. He got it on Saturday on his back and belly and it has since spread everywhere. His cheeks look bright red as if we slapped him really hard. He's got Fifth disease . It is super common and hasn't really bothered him. But today he was super cranky this morning and running a mild fever so we kept him home.

Given that he was sick, I went to some used toy stores and got him a few goodies to cheer him up. His favorite: a wooden fire engine with a ladder. I'm a sucker when it comes to sick babies....

Summertime

Eli loves the summer. How could you not when there's snow cones, ice cream, water fountains, festivals (including World Beat, which you see in the beginning), and the farmers' market?

Craziness...

Eli absolutely loves the water fountain at the library. We met Sarah and Elliot there on Monday and Eli was splashing and yelling and running in and out of the water. He also got me soaked! Oh, but the sweet photo of Michael and Eli is from the Strawberry Festival in Silverton on Father's Day. Eli couldn't wait to stick his feet in the creek. That kid loves the water!

A Minnesota adventure

Eli went to Minnesota for a week to celebrate his grandma's birthday and he had such adventures!

What Eli is up to

Eli loves to go "biking" with his Daddy, and he always pats the side of his head so that we know he knows he has to wear his helmet. He likes to help in the kitchen, especially when it means licking the whipped cream off the mixing blades. He still likes to put on our shoes, except now he can actually walk around in them. He says "uh-oh" about 85 times a day and it usually is because he did something on purpose, not accidentally. Example: Eli throws his hat on the floor. Uh-Oh.

A visit from Grandma and Grandpa

Yes, this is very late. Grandma Myra and Grandpa Harry came to visit in May and Eli had a great time with them. The highlight of the trip -- for Eli -- was the Keizer Iris Parade. Oh man, fire trucks and ambulances with their sirens on and even a helicopter overhead! A little boy's paradise! We also went to the farmer's market and to a winery, where Eli explored the grounds where Mardell used to live!

Don't cry over spilt ...beer?

Eli loves his Daddy's beer bottles. He loves to hold them and try to drink out of them. He must like the coldness or the smoothness of the glass. For whatever reason, ever since he was a wee-tot, he would point at Daddy's beer bottle and get a huge kick out of holding it. It wasn't until last night, however, that we realized that he understands the preciousness of the liquid inside.

Michael and Eli were playing with a huge rubber ball in the backyard. Michael was throwing it on top of our garage roof and letting it bounce around all over the yard. Eli was laughing and laughing.... until the ball bounced on the table and knocked Daddy's beer over. The beer spilled across the table and onto the floor and fizzed everywhere. And Eli just started bawling. In fact, I was in the kitchen and I thought that he had just gotten hit in the face with the ball.

A lion and sheep kiss

Yesterday, Eli was playing with his plastic sheep and lion. He was very intently having them "talk" to each other and Michael and I were having a blast watching him without taking part in his play. Then he put their lips together and made a kiss sound. It was adorable, and the first time he had ever done something like that.

I guess he doesn't realize that his plastic lion would actually tear that plastic sheep's throat out.