White Christmas?

Houston got snow yesterday! For those who live in Utah and other snow-common areas, that may not be a big deal, but it rarely dips below freezing and/or snows here. It was the big news of Houston for everyone, and we were surprised that we actually got to show Eli what snow is. That's the first we've seen since we moved here. Unfortunately, snow is usually accompanied by very cold weather, and it was freezing last night. Of course, you wouldn't know it today. The sun is out and the temperature is about 20 degrees warmer than yesterday--much more my style. However, it is nice to have snow for Christmas, and though it's gone today, it was fun to see yesterday.

Thanksgiving in Gig Harbor

Though I'm sure he loved visiting Grandpa and Grandma Pratt, I think Eli will be grateful he won't be remembering his first Thanksgiving. I certainly have a lot of gratitude for a generally happy and pleasant baby. Unfortunately, Eli was not his usual on Thanksgiving. He left Houston with a cold, which got worse until he was running a fever and screaming all morning on Thanksgiving. Eli's happy temperment was overshadowed by his obvious pain for the majority of the trip. We did manage to take this somewhat deceiving picture on Thanksgiving as he managed to eat about two bites of squash. In fact, he must have lost his appetite because he wouldn't eat hardly anything while we were there. He's gradually getting his appetite back now that we're home, but he still seems to be fairly picky about what he eats. Before we left, he loved sweet potatoes, squash, etc. Now he barely touches them. If it doesn't have banana in it, forget it. Maybe it's just a stage, or maybe it's the after effects of a trip in which his mommy felt she was starving him. He finally ate some banana on the plane ride home, and he's been loving it ever since. As for the plane ride home, it was not a fun experience. On the way to Gig Harbor, some ladies told Josh that Eli gets the "best baby on a plane" award because he was so good. I guess we should never have accepted the award because it was a jinx. He definitely did not earn it on the flight from Seattle to Las Vegas. It was all Josh and I could do to keep Eli's crying to a minimum and avoid the stares (evil ones probably). I was tempted to call my parents during our two hours or so in the Vegas airport and have them come get Eli. No, just kidding. I was really thinking that it might be nice to avoid at least one flight on our way to St. George for Christmas, but we'd miss Josh too much. As a result, we will be flying again in two weeks, and I REALLY hope that it's much better. Otherwise, I may be saying NO to flying for a while. If you want to see Eli (since he's really the reason people want to see us nowadays) :-), you'll have to come to Houston. At least the flight to Las Vegas is much shorter than the one to Seattle, so here's hoping (fingers crossed) and praying (literally) that Eli lives up to his once earned award.

Five Firsts

We've been experiencing many firsts around here lately.

1) First Babysitter--technically Eli's first babysitter was back in May when he was about six weeks old and I needed to go back to work to finish out the school year, but he wasn't aware of a lot at that point. We haven't had a babysitter since, and it was the first time we got one so that Josh and I could go on a date (it's more difficult when you don't have family around). Carolyn, a woman that I visit teach and Josh home teaches, babysat Eli for about two and half hours on Saturday night. It was a much needed date for Josh and me, but we learned why so many couples think about their baby when they're out. As we were leaving the house, Eli gave us this really confused look like he was asking, "Where are you going, and why are you leaving me?" It melted our hearts. Fortunately, he didn't cry, and Carolyn said he did just fine, but he was very excited to see us when we came home.


2) First Time Sleeping Through the Night--that same night we got a babysitter, Eli slept through the night without waking up even once. That's never happened before (yes, many of you can count your blessings now). Unfortunately, it was a one time occurence so far because he hasn't done it again. Maybe we need to get a babysitter again?


3) First Cold--I've had a cold for the last several days, and unfortunately, Eli got it too. I feel so bad for him! Of course, he has a lot of congestion, and I'm continually wiping his nose, which he hates. I can tell he has difficulty breathing at times, which may be one of the reasons he hasn't repeated sleeping through the night. Hopefully we'll both get better before going to Grandma and Grandpa Pratt's house for Thanksgiving next week.


4) First Time Saying Dada--Eli has been babbling a lot more lately, and last night he said dada about three times, much to Josh's delight (okay, I was happy too, though I had to remind Josh that it's easier to say than mama, and Eli still doesn't know who dada is yet). : )


5) First Time Pulling Himself Up into a Standing Position--Eli surprised me the other day by pulling himself up onto the stereo. Later he pulled himself up onto a filing box, and he tries to do it now with the coffee table and couch. So far the coffee table and couch are a little too high, but if my leg is in front of the coffee table, he can pull himself up by getting on my leg first. Here's a picture of him when he pulled himself up onto the stereo:

Indecision

The other day Eli seemed a little confused about which pacifier he wanted and which way he wanted it in his mouth. I thought it was funny and got lucky enough to capture it on camera.