Let The Fun BEGIN!

It is officially on like Donkey Kong! After months of crawling all over the dogs, poking them in the eye and chewing on their ears, Eli has realized that the best way to get the dogs to play with him is do something they like. He has always enjoyed watching the dogs wrestle and play tug-of-war, but he has been barred from joining the melee because of the high probability of him getting fish-hooked by a sharp tooth. Well tooth and claw be damn! Eli has been grabbing the dogs tug-of-war ropes and marching right up to them with an offering to play. The dogs were a little confused at first but Bosley (our goofy lab mix) was the first to take him up on his offer. Kelvey and I cringe a little every time the dogs lunge in to take hold of the rope, but Eli thinks it is the greatest thing in the world. He squeals with delight as they begin to pull, but within a few seconds the dogs have yanked the rope out of Eli's hand and he is left lying on the floor laughing his head off. He pops right up, though, and charges at the dogs to grab a hold of the rope for another round. The dogs better watch out though. Once he packs on a few more pounds of muscle from all the chin-ups he's doing, he will be the reigning King of Thunderdome (aka the living room).

Monkey See, Monkey Do

I have to say that I had a wonderful day with Eli and Kelvey today! We started the day with some delicious brunch and then spent the rest of the morning and early afternoon working on the front yard. Eli started out in his exerscaucer while Kelvey and I pulled weeds, but Eli eventually got bored and want to join in the fun. We took him out and he immediately went to where Kelvey was working and started yanking at the grass and weeds too. I guess he had seen me plucking weeds from the yard enough times that he knew exactly what to do. Once he discovered the loose soil aftermath of Kelvey's work, though, his attention turned to getting dirty. It was heartwarming to see him investigating the dirt by running his fingers through it, grabbing fistfuls of it, and crawling all around, not caring about how dirty he was getting. Kelvey and I didn't care either. It was a cute scene, but something about it really struck a chord deep inside me. I think it was seeing him "in the moment", not having a care in the world, and me feeling the same way, knowing that he was completely safe in what he was doing and being able to be in the moment with him. I wish I had been able to take some pictures but we were dirty and sometimes it is best just stay focused on the experience than trying to capture it.

After we got all cleaned up, we took a moment to relax for a little bit in the living room. With Eli there are no relaxing moments as long as he is awake so he spent the time cruising around the coffee table playing with everything he could reach. When he grabbed my phone, I was surprised to see him mimic another one of our everyday motions. He picked up the phone, looked at it for a second, and then held it by his ear as if he was talking on it. It was weird to see him do something so grown up. As we watched him, Kelvey told me that she had also seen him pick up one of my Sunday crossword puzzles and hold a pen to it like he was writing. Makes me wonder what other mannerisms he is picking up from us.

Happy Hobbit Holes

When I was a little kid, I absolutely LOVED playing in my pop-up play tunnel. I'm pretty sure it was an Aquaman themed play tunnel. I loved Aquaman. I even had the green underoos with the matching orange shirt. But I digress. I wish I still had that tunnel so that Eli and I could waste away the day crawling in and out of it, enacting what ever crazy adventures we can think up. I'm sure Eli would thoroughly enjoy it because he has been tunneling through everything he finds as he crawls around and explores the entire house. Some of his favorite spots are under the buffet in the dining room and the end tables in the living room. He'll climb onto the bottom shelf and just park himself there for while as he plays with whatever toy he brought with him or what ever he finds in the general vicinity. Sometimes he looks like a funny little hobbit as he peers out from under the tabletop and smiles as if to say, "Are you still there? Because I'm still here".

Eli's number one spot in the entire house has got to be the dog crate. He will spend hours opening and closing the door, flipping the latches, climbing on the sides, and crawling in and out of it. Sometimes he will crawl right in with the dogs and just chill with them. The dogs love him and he loves the dogs so they do not mind the invasion of personal space too much. The dogs let Eli in their crate, and Eli lets them lick the inside of his mouth. It's a win-win situation.

As long as he is not chewing on the power cords like a little rabbit, we are happy to let him be a free-range baby.

PS: If I can get my mom to dig out the picture of me in my aquaman underoos and socks crawling through my play tunnel, I will post it.

Cliffhanger

A while back, Kelvey and I watched a show on TLC called "The World's Strongest Toddler" and were pretty amazed. It's about a kid that has been diagnosed with Myostatin Related Muscle Hypertrophy, a condition that gives him greater muscle mass and incredible strength. He is faster than the average kid and was reportedly able to do pull ups by age 2. I don't know how or when it could have happened, but I am pretty sure that Eli and this kid crossed paths at some point, words were exchanged, and some one was slapped in the face with a glove symbolizing a gentleman's duel because Eli is determined to prove that this "world's strongest toddler" is nothing but a punk.

As you can see by the picture Eli has been working on his arm strength and is now able to hang on me without support. He also has developed enough leg strength and dexterity to climb up me. I couldn't find any info on whether this ability is normal for kids his age, but we may need to get him a little baby harness and climbing gear for rock climbing at the Barton Creek Greenbelt soon.