Animal cruelty

Eli "invented" a new game this weekend. He loves to chase the cat (whose name is Chloe) and throw a ball at her. Actually, he likes to throw ANYTHING at her... or try to hit her with his shovel! We limit him to plastic balls that cause little damage. And for those of you now on the verge of calling PETA, Eli has horrible aim and has never come close to hitting the cat. In fact, I think she likes playing with him, because she will run away to a fairly obvious place instead of crawling under the bed or jumping to the top of the cabinets.

Here is some video of Eli chasing the cat. If you watch closely, you will see that Chloe sneaks off when Eli is distracted.



I am just waiting for the day that I find Eli in the backyard with a magnifying glass burning ants.

Addendum to the "Jump!" post

Here is some video of Eli jumping off the couch. You will also notice one of the problems associated with trying to videotape him... he REALLY likes to watch himself! When the camera comes out, he thinks that it is time to watch the Eli show.

Taking a cue from Van Halen (Jump!)

Eli's current favorite activity is jumping... on the floor, off the couch, from the top of the stairs, etc. Since he has not gotten hurt doing this yet, he pretty much has no fear. In the backyard the other day, he started jumping from the top of the slide without anyone there to catch him (Chris had remedied this by the time I had the camera ready).



At least once a day I will pull the cushions off the sofa and onto the floor. Actually, this activity will keep him entertained for a good 20 minutes. He loves to climb onto the couch and jump onto the cushions and then to the floor, and he has recently discovered that he does not have to land on his feet. It is just as much fun if he lands on his bottom. Thank goodness for well-padded diapers!

Blogging slacker

You may have noticed an absence in posts over the past couple of weeks (or maybe I overestimate how interested everyone is in this blog and you haven't noticed at all). My (fairly poor) excuse is that I have been taking on some extra shifts at the gym to help out a friend whose son was in the hospital and have had some training sessions for the new equipment at the lab. My work schedule should calm down a little bit now and I will hopefully be able to focus on the important things like blogging and soap operas.

A clarification

I suppose I should probably explain my last post in a little more detail. Eli did not throw up on purpose (this time). After his strep diagnosis on Wednesday, he was feeling much better on Thursday thanks the antibiotic shot that they gave him at the doctor. He was feeling so much better that he was bouncing off the walls, trying to make up for his 3 days of relative calmness while he was sick. We were at the mall and I let him run around in the play area to work off some of his extra energy. Unfortunately he was still not completely better, so when he got too excited he would start coughing. I pulled him away from the play equipment during his coughing fit so that he would not spread any latent germs and infect other children, but he was coughing so hard that he threw up, just a little. I caught it in one hand and put it in the trash can (I know, wierd, but I didn't know what else to do with it). Luckily I am not bothered by puke, probably because I handle much more disgusting substances from complete strangers when I work in the hospital lab. After this small episode, Eli was still coughing, so I decided he had played enough and walked to the stroller. As I was about to put him in, Mount Vesuvius erupted... all over my clothes, Eli's clothes, and part of the stroller. I am not sure if I received more looks of disgust or pity as I traipsed my half-naked child and puke-covered self ALL the way through the mall and out to the car.

Mementos

I have a new entry for my you-will-never-see-this-in-a-baby-book book.

August 3, 2006 -- First time Eli vomits on me in a public place

Little drummer boy

I must be crazy, because today I bought Eli his first music set, which has several noisemakers, a tambourine, and a drum.














Now, you may be asking if I ever put clothes on my child.

The answer is: No, because you never know when vomit is going to strike.

Mommy guilt

It seems that there is a reason for Eli's excessive grumpiness... strep throat.

Sorry, kiddo. Please be patient with me... this is all new to me, too.

The post office story

Something so strange happened today that I had to write about it. We were in line at the post office and Eli started to do his "shy act" (where he gives a little half-smile and buries his face in my shoulder) with the man behind us. I tried to get him to say hi, but he was sick and not really in the mood. All of a sudden, the man takes a post office beanie-baby bear off the shelf, gives it to Eli, and says that he wants to buy it for him. I was completely perplexed about how to handle this. I know that Eli is cute, and people are always talking to him, waving at him, or telling us how adorable he is. Once someone came up to us in a restaurant and complimented us on our well-behaved child. I've even had a woman chase us down in a museum in Branson JUST to get a close up look at Eli. But gifts from perfect strangers? I tried as best as I could to refuse, but of course I lost in the end. The really sad part about this is that instead of being grateful and accepting the gift, I was very suspicious of this man that only wanted to see my son smile.

By the way, Eli loves the bear.