Eli eats!

As I mentioned before, Eli tried his first taste of cereal on our trip to Buffalo.  His pediatrician told us to start cereal at 3 months and fruits and veggies at 4 months.  

Every Mom I talk to about this is shocked.  Apparently, from what I hear and what I read, no one starts solids that early. 

I'm not exactly sure why Eli's pediatrician wanted him to start so early.  Could be because he was little (and is still under the 25th percentile for weight, despite being at about the 75th percentile for height).  But he said to start spoon feeding him at 3 months.  He specifically wanted him eating it with a spoon and NOT adding the rice cereal to the bottle (as a few other Moms suggested to me).  Practice maybe?  

"What's this stuff?"

"Yummy"

So far, we don't feed Eli the rice cereal everyday.  He's pretty happy with his formula (10 times a day!).  We usually feed him every other night.  We have him sit in his high chair (which reclines back, because he can't sit up straight yet!) while we eat dinner and then I try to spoon in a bit of cereal.  I would say he really only eats a tablespoon or so!  He mainly licks at it and spits a bit out and makes funny faces at me!  But he enjoys it, so I am happy to do it.  For now, I think it is more of a fun activity for Eli than any sort of meal, but that's OK.  We're going to stick with the cereal a few more weeks and then move on to some veggies!

Eli is 3 months old!

My little man's been around for 3 months now!

3 months old
March 24, 2012

3 months old
March 24, 2012

3 months old
March 24, 2012

Height=??
Weight=??
(We have another doctor's appointment after he turns 4 months old and will have updates then)

Eli's life at 3 months:

• Eating: Eli still eats like a champ!  He is still on an every-two-hours during the day feeding schedule, downing about 4 or 5 ounces each time.  He is still eating about 40 ounces (or more) every day and we switched him from "newborn" formula to "gentle" formula (which really has helped with frequency of gassy issues!).  Eli has also had a taste of cereal -- his pediatrician wanted us to start him on cereal at 3 months.  At 2 months 2 weeks, he had a tiny taste of it and every other night or so, we have tried again with the rice cereal.  So far, he doesn't hate it, but I think he is still learning what to do with non-liquid food on a spoon!
• Sleeping:  Eli is also pretty great with sleeping!  Just after his 2-month mark, Eli SLEPT THROUGH THE NIGHT!  Yay!!  From about 10:30pm until about 6am!  He did this for a few days and then we traveled to Buffalo and he switched back to a 4am feeding, but that is still pretty great (in our opinion).  So, he now generally goes into his crib around 10:30pm gets up to eat once sometime between 3:30am and 5am and then sleeps again until 7am or 8am.  
• LIKES:
• Eating
• Sleeping
• "Sitting" up
• Eli loves to be held in a full sitting position or being placed on the couch sitting next to us.  He also sits up in his high chair now (which is one of those fancy ones that he actually reclines a bit in) and in the "big boy" stroller (i.e., his stroller without the car seat in it).  He is not even close to sitting on his own, but he really likes this upright position.
• Blanket teddy/pooh/frog
• These are those toys that are stuffed animals with a stuffed head, but a fuzzy and satin blanket instead of a body.  Eli's best buddy Katie bought him the teddy and pooh and the frog are from his "girlfriends" Ally and Mckenzie.  I forgot to bring teddy with us to Buffalo, and, thankfully, Ally and Kenzie let us borrow pooh!  I felt like such a bad mommy, because Eli just LOVES snuggling with his teddy as he takes his nap!
• His IKEA changing table
• Still his favorite place to hang out!
• Bath time
• Especially with his fish towel. 
• His Binkies
• Especially at nap time.  Luckily, we don't have to rely on this too much at night.
• TV
• I feel a bit guilty about it, but Eli has discovered the television.  We've had it on his whole life, but he realized that it was on around 2-months-old.  You can see that he actually watches the movement on the TV and he seems to really like it! We try to limit his exposure, but he usually falls asleep after 20 minutes or so anyway!
• DISLIKES:
• Waiting for food
• Tummy time
• He only likes this if we trick him into it. 
• New this month!
• Eating cereal and being in his high chair
• Watching TV
• Laughing!
• Eli just started laughing and it is THE cutest sound in the entire world! 

And Eli's outtakes!

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Celebrating Mommy's favorite holiday (wearing green & drinking beer yay!)!

Thanks Grandma for the Kiss Me I'm Irish tie shirt and Thanks to the Feeney family for the I'm your lucky charm shirt! Adorable!

Shuffled off to Buffalo!

Eli's first trip away from home, was to visit Buffalo! 

Amazingly, he was a champ during the whole drive.  We stopped after about 3 hours (so Ryan and I could get us some diet cherry limeade from Sonic in Binghamton!) and experienced our first diaper change in the car (why have I never paid attention to which bathrooms have changing tables?).  We then went another two hours and met everyone in Rochester at the Buffalo Bandits game.

Eli was very excited about his first lacrosse game with his Aunt Kelly and Uncle Steve and Cori, as well as meeting a bunch of his "cousins" and "uncles"!  The Bandits lost, but we all had fun!

Eli in his Bandit's bib at his first game!

"Cousins" Emma and McKenzie

Eli with Daddy and "cousin" Ally!

Aunt Kelly, Eli, and Uncle Steve at the first
of many Buffalo Bandits games!

 After the fun game, we all went out to dinner.  There were 13 of us, including all the high chairs, so the restaurant workers were smart enough to give us our own little loft area.  After we survived dinner, we headed over to Uncle Billy's and Aunt Kimmy's to hang out for the night.  It was fun for the kids to play and hang out with my girls (and Ryan had fun with the boys!)!

I am so excited the kids got along so well!  Mckenzie and Emma (both 1-year-old) looked at him and smiled and didn't flip out when their respective mothers held him (a win in my book!) and Ally (3-years-old) just adored him!  Wanting to hold him the whole time and calling him her "E-Y"!  Adorable!  Good thing the girls don't hate him, as they will all be forced to be friend forever!

Eli with his girls Mckenzie, Emma, & Ally!
March 10th, 2012

A rare family shot!

 We spent the rest of our little "vacation" in Buffalo, visiting with family and friends.  We spent most of our time with Grandma, Uncle Steve and Aunt Kelly.  We also had visits from Cousin Bobby and Uncle Bob, "Uncle" Feeney and Declan, a great visit with Great Aunt Debbi, Great Uncle Bob and Cousin Jaime, and a fun dinner at Ted's with "Aunt" Nessa.  We didn't have the camera out nearly enough because we were just enjoying a nice week off with family and friends!

Some highlights of the trip for Eli included his first taste of cereal, watching TV with Uncle Steve, being baby-sat by Aunt Kelly, and visiting some of our favorite Buffalo stores and restaurants.  We can't wait to spend more time in Western New York this summer!!

First taste of cereal!

"What is this stuff?"

Playing with Grandma

I think Eli and Uncle Steve are both looking back at
Aunt Kelly.  So cute!

Most adorable baby ever!

Snuggling with Grandma!

First taste of ice cream!
Anderson's, of course!

Eli wanted to be just like Uncle Steve!
Orange pocket-T, black sweats, sitting
in his chair!

Thanks for a wonderful visit!!

Seriously, adorable, right? (3)

I truly think he gets more adorable everyday.

And it's not just that he's cute, it's his personality too!

(Thanks to Ryan's cousins John, Rachel and Baby Grady for the super cute firetruck outfit!)

A NYC tour of animals with Cousin Bobby!

At the end of February, Eli's cousin Bobby, Aunt Shannon and Uncle Bob drove from Buffalo to visit Eli! 

It's quite obvious that Eli loves Bobby.  Eli was just 2-months-old and you could see his gaze follow Bobby around the room (definitely the first time he was actively looking for someone other than Mommy or Daddy). 

We spent the evenings hanging out at home, where Aunt Shannon and Uncle Bob got to hold Eli and Bobby got to amaze us all with his animal knowledge and his dancing skills.  Eli loved laying on the floor with Bobby (and borrowing Bobby's blankie and red panda stuffed animal!). 

The first full day they were in town was actually beautiful (50s in February!), so we took Eli to the Bronx Zoo for the first time (it was Bobby's, Bob's and Shannon's first visit to the Bronx zoo too!).  Though Eli slept through most of it, I think he had a great time!  Bobby told him all about the animals we saw!  And Bobby was so excited that we found a Fossa and Fennec Fox!  We had so much fun and the zoo was so large, that they literally were kicking us out as the zoo closed. 

Eli and the sea lions!!

Bobby, the peacock, and Eli!

Another shot with the peacock!

 The next day was super rainy, but we decided to head into Manhattan and check out the Museum of Natural History!  I LOVE this museum ... but never thought about the fact that the 5 floors are best scaled via the beautiful marble staircases.  Not possible with a baby in a stroller!  So we spent a lot of time waiting for the TWO elevators that were functioning that day.  There were also a lot of school groups, but we saw a lot, despite the crowds.  While it was fun, I do think we'll wait to go back until Eli can be stroller free (or at light umbrella stroller bound) so we can move up and down the stairs!

My favorite room, of course, was the hall of Ocean Life!  But the whole museum is so fun!

Baby Eli and Baby Walruses!
(He was amazed to discover that walruses
weigh about 150lbs when born!)

Bobby & Eli with the Blue Whale
(yes, a horrible shot, I know!)

We also traveled to NJ for a visit at IKEA and some Popeye's chicken!  Eli just loves a good adventure!

It was so great to hang out with my awesome nephew!  He's just so sweet and so smart!  A good portion of our time at home was spent working on a powerpoint presentation on the crabeater seal -- that was based on an assignment I give my college students!  I am just so proud of him and am so glad that Eli has a wonderful cousin to look up to as he grows up!

Eli is so excited!!

Eli is 2 months old!

Another month has flown by!

Eli turned two months old on February 24th!

2 months old
February 24, 2012

2 months old
February 24, 2012

2 months old
February 24, 2012

Height = 23.5" (about 75th percentile)
Weight = 10 lbs 15 oz (about 25th percentile)

Eli's life at 2 months:

• Eating: During this month, Eli has dramatically increased his food intake!  He still eats about 10 times a day (every two hours or so) and is now eating about 4 ounces per feeding.  He eats about 40 ounces of formula a day (way more than books say he "should" be eating!).  He is a champ and will eat from any type of bottle we give him and still doesn't care who it is feeding him, as long as he eats immediately!  Unfortunately, Eli had the last of the breastmilk at about 6 weeks old, but he is thriving on his formula (so I try not to be too upset about it!). 
• Sleeping:  Still doing pretty well, I think.  Just before 6 weeks, we moved Eli into his crib, and he sleeps great in there!  We have a whole bedtime routine of bath, bottle and bed.  We put him down even if he doesn't fall asleep with that last bottle and he just relaxes in the crib (all wrapped in his swaddlers) until he falls asleep.  We have a great video baby monitor and watch him as he kicks a bit and then falls asleep.  He is still on about a 3-hour schedule, but does tend to have one longer stint from 11pm (when we first put him down) until about 3:30 or 4am. 
• LIKES:
• Sleeping
• Eating
• Being held
• especially to look around and see new things
• Rattle Bear
• A few other toys
• Like his Bubba dog, his Little Einstein iPod, his bunny rattle and his fish board.  But he's not really into them totally yet.  And he still seems undecided about Mr Seahorse. 
• His Ikea Changing Table
• The ONLY item that we have paid full price for was this.  The SPOLING changing table from IKEA.  Our apartment has two floors and when we saw this foldable changing table, we thought it would be perfect for our lower level (and it was black, which went with our decor!).  I didn't want to walk up and down stairs for every diaper change or change him on the couch or floor all the time.  But I also wanted something that could easily be moved if we had a lot of company over.  I love this changing table, Ryan loves it, Eli loves it -- he will actually just lay in it for a while after being changed.  Totally worth the splurge!   
• His new chair
• For my birthday, Ryan bought Eli a new "chair" to relax in.  He picked up the Fisher Price Rock n' Play Soother Snuggabunny at Target (on sale, of course!).  As Eli really liked his changing table, we thought he'd like this hammock-y type chair, and he does.  It also folds up for easy storage or travel!  I love this and think we'll use it as his "bed" when we travel sometimes.  I would also recommend it to new parents instead of a bassinet.  It's pretty versatile and easy to move from room to room.   
• His swing/vibrating chair
• We looked around at swings and vibrating chairs and decide on the Fisher Price Luv U Zoo SpaceSaver Swing early on.  It was small and combined the swing and vibrating chair into one unit (perfect for a small NYC apartment!).  As we do, we waited until we found it on sale (half price and assembled -- an un-needed floor model!) and picked it up during a Buffalo visit last summer (about 18 weeks pregnant).  We love the small size and adorable colors and animals.  Eli loves the rocking/vibrating combo and is content to relax in it for hours!  It's one of his favorite nap places!    
• Bath time
• Though he looked traumatized after his first bath, Eli seems to really enjoy his brief baths now.  We put him in his Fisher Price Ocean Wonders tub and really just use the detachable shower head to rinse him down.  With it being winter, the water seems to get too cold to leave him sitting in a full tub.  He especially likes the fish or turtle towel that I get wet with warm water and drape over his belly while I soap him up.  He grabs it immediately and "snuggles" it.  It's usually a bit of a tug-o-war to get it from him when bath time is over!
• His "I Love Grandma" blanket
• Sandy (a nice lady that works with Grandma in Buffalo) made him a giant fleece blanket that has the cutest "I love grandma" with a teddy bear printed on one side and a bright green fleece on the other.  I immediately fell in love with it because of the green and the softness.  Eli fell in love with it too!  We fold it in half and put it on the floor and he just loves lying on it.  I was shocked when I put him on it and he actually fell asleep for a nap! 
• His cousin Bobby!
• DISLIKES:
• Waiting for food
• Seriously, he is STARVING and why can't we anticipate his need for food!? 
• Boppy pillow
• This moved from Likes to Dislikes this month.  I think the Boppy was a perfect cozy nook for him when he was tiny, but now that he is growing, he just doesn't seem to love it anymore. 
• It's hard to come up with much else for Dislikes!  Eli is such a happy kid!

Eli is changing so much each month!!!


And some "outtakes" for you!

Cousin Bobby comes to visit!

Bobby & Eli
February 24, 2012

Bobby, Uncle Bob & Aunt Shannon came to visit the week Eli turned 2 months old!  I'll share all about their adventures soon, but for now I just wanted to say:

Eli loves Bobby so much!

Bobby was such a wonderful big cousin and I know Eli is looking forward to seeing him again soon!

A weekend grandparent visit!

Both Ryan and I grew up living a quick car ride (or walk) away from our grandparents and aunts and uncles and cousins.  Unfortunately, at this point, Eli's closest family members are a 2-hour drive away.  We're lucky that we have lots of friends close by and also lots of family members that are willing to make the trip to see us!

The weekend that Eli turned 8-weeks-old, Nana and Pop pop came in from PA for a weekend visit.  Normally, Eli sees Nana and Pop pop on the TV over XBOX live with the Kinect.  They hadn't seen Eli in person for about a month, so he was much bigger and more active!  He was even big enough that Pop pop felt comfortable holding him for a while!

Eli had a great time and is looking forward to seeing everyone again at the end of March!

Eli & Pop pop

Eli with Nana and checking out his Pop pop!

Happy Valentine's Day!

He really is Mommy's Heart Breaker!
(Thanks Aunt Lori for the adorable outfit!)

February 14, 2012