The Cupcake

Eli contemplates his first cupcake.

After smooshing frosting around for a while, Dad shows him how it's done.

Eli catches on quickly.

I get to eat this whole thing?!

Yay for birthdays!!

The Birthday Boy

Partay!

Birthday Boy with his cupcake maker

Who's the funnest Auntie?

Developmental update: almost 1 year old

subtitle: no, he's not walking yet.

Eli turns 1 in 8 days and he's up to his usual dare-devil tricks. He:

*waves bye

*high-fives

*gives kisses on command (this is my favorite skill of his)

*dances on command (this is my 2nd favorite skill of his)

*kicks his legs on command

*points to the kitchen when we say "hungry" or "food"

*points to the stairs (and his room) when his bedtime story is over or when we say "naptime"

*grew his 5th tooth (2 on top, 3 on bottom)

*knows how to use gravity to get something out of a container (i.e. pouring cereal out of a tupperware)

*opens CD cases and takes the CDs and album literature out of the case

*turns book pages

*opens and closes doors (so far without smooshing fingers)

*uses the stereo remote to turn the music louder and quieter

*empties a shelf of all books or DVDs or CDs in less than half a second

*sends text messages in his own private language from my phone

*crawls like a bat out of hell

*stands up and cruises (walks holding onto the edge of the couch), but usually crawling is faster so he opts for that

*makes the sign for "light" when he sees a lamp, or sunlight moving around the room

*plays "catch" with dad (rolling an orange back and forth)

*takes all credit cards out of my wallet one at a time

*takes every kleenex in the box out one at a time, very helpful

*puts his arms one at a time through his sleeves as we dress him, passing whatever he is holding from hand to hand to further facilitate the process

*drinks from his sippy cup

*feeds himself fingerfoods and sometimes even applesauce or yogurt on a spoon

*tackles our heads, smooshing his cheek on our cheek, when we lie down on the floor (this isn't really a developmental milestone, but is adorable and therefore worth including)

*says "mama", "dad" or "da-ee", "more", and various things we don't know the meaning of, such as ba-ba-ba, da-da-da, dis, dat, voov, dsst

as you can see, he is obviously a genius, and i'm sure i'm the first mother to feel this way.

Da Boyz

Apron strings

Racquetball, anyone?

Eli's obstacle course

Eli's eats his first chocolate chip

There's no going back now.

Eli arranges the centerpiece

More fun with produce

Everyone's favorite game: Chase the Potato!

I don't know how your shoe got here, Mommy. I was just reading my book. Honest.

SNOWSTORM!

Interlude with remotes