Doorway Bouncer

For Christmas my parents got Eli a doorway bouncer and he loves it.  It took him a few weeks to grow into it, but now when we put him in it he goes to town!  You will notice that most of the time he has his left arm extended and his right arm ends up in the seat or sticking out of the leg hole.

If you watch all three videos you will see that in the first one he doesn't really know what to do, but the second and third videos are a little more action packed.  Video one is 45 seconds, video two is 49 seconds, and video three is 2 minutes and 32 seconds.

Eli learning to bounce on 01/08/09

Eli Bouncing on 01/23/09

Eli Bouncing on 01/24/09

Charlotte Checkers

On January 10 we went to a Charlotte Checkers game in downtown Charlotte and it was a ton of fun.  The Checkers are a minor league ice hockey team for the NY Rangers, for more info click here.  It was a spur of the moment decision to go and with tickets and parking it was only $30!  The game was originally a night game but was changed to an afternoon game because the Panthers had a playoff game that night, which they lost.   

Eli's first hockey game!

The Checkers won the game 4 to 3.  The other neat thing was that the intermissions were just like a minor league baseball game.  They had people run an obstacle course in giant hamster balls (on ice), they had sumo wrestling (on ice), the Checkers Mascot... Chubby :-) rode an ATV (on ice), tricycle races (on ice), a truck give-a-way if you threw a puck into the sunroof, the Chick-fil-A blimp dropped coupons, they shot t-shirts into the crowd, and some little girls did a skating show.  It was very entertaining and Chubby can drive the heck out of an ATV!!!  To top it all off one of the guys in a hamster ball was wearing a UMaine jersey!!!!!  We were so excited that we found him in the crowd and tracked him down when the game ended.  It was a let down though because he didn't got to UMaine, his mom did.

Face off in the neutral zone.

How perfect is Chick-fil-A, as a whole?!?!

Eli zonked out!

We were a little worried about the noise with Eli.  He was a little unsure of it all especially when the announcer shouted or the fog horn blew for a goal.  He did however sleep through the third period, with his eyes popping wide open every time the announcer or fog horn blew, but he went right back to sleep!!  

We were also really impressed with that area of Charlotte, it was very clean and modern for a big city.  We hope to go to more games and explore the area.  

Cute Pics and Noises

These are just some fun pics that were taken around New Years.  Andrea also got a fun video of Eli laughing.

Just chillin'

Laughing and having fun.

Really excited!

Huh?

This movie is a little over 1 minute long, the full version is 3 1/2 minutes long!  I hope you enjoy.  This is the first of many videos that are coming down the line.

More Christmas Celebrations & Cute Naked Babies!

Eli and I (Andrea) went to Durham on Christmas Day to spend time with the family for a few days. Daddy had to work. :(  We had so much fun playing with Claire, Wyatt, and all the big kids too! Eli had his 4 month check-up the day after Christmas and he weighed in at 16 lbs. 4 oz. and 26" long! He's probably at least a pound more than that by now!   

Grandma gave Eli a bath in the sink. Look at that face! Just makes you want to give him kisses!

 

         

3 cute babies in diapees! 

They were quite squirmy, but seemed to really enjoy naked time! :0)

Eli and me opening our stockings from Santa. 

Well, Eli is doing more sleeping... less opening. 

I love it when he sleeps on me!

Wyatt holding his cousin! Aren't they sweet?

So, this is my first official post. I don't know how often I'll post since Jason does such a great job and he lets me give him input. We hope you all enjoy seeing pictures, hearing about our lives, and learning the latest on Eli! 

 

Our Christmas

The reason that we had to do Christmas so many times was because I had to work all week the week of Christmas.  So, Christmas Day we had a short family gift exchange and then after lunch Andrea and Eli headed off to Durham.  

Eli was ready for more presents!

We got Eli a hat and a fun 9 month jacket.

A new Tar Heel hoodie!

Eli got me Beedle the Bard (Harry Potter), 

and Andrea got me some shoes.

Doc got a squeeky turkey.

Maybe the coolest gift of Christmas.... Chick-Fil-A Pez!!!

4 Months Old & Rolling Over

Yesterday was actually Eli's 5 month birthday but this is the post for his 4 month birthday.  

Eli wearing Daddy's favorite PJs.

Not only did he turn 4 months old but he also rolled over for the first time.  He rolled back-to-front!!!  We were watching a movie with the whole family and I looked down and noticed he was almost all the way over and we all got very excited.  We stopped the movie and watched.  He rolled over and it was great!  

Eli post first roll.

Chubby cheeks playing with a rattle.

On Christmas day he rolled front-to-back, unfortunately I was not there to see it.  Since then he has only rolled about ten times, but it is becoming more and more frequent.  He rolled over yesterday and the day before!

Eakright Christmas

As I said we did Christmas with Andrea's family on 12/20 after we celebrated Claire's birthday.  It was a lot of fun and of course Santa came the next day.  

Here are some pics of the kids at Christmas:

Wyatt and Veggie Tales.

Claire workin' on the walkin'.

Eli chillin'

The two biggest kids of Christmas!!!

We did a present exchange that night and the next morning Santa had arrived.  Below is some of the merriment.  The Renfrow babies got a kitchen play set and Eli got an exer-saucer.

Dan and Mary and their tea.

Nuff said.

Mary loved her Grand Kid Calendar.

Eli's exer-saucer.

Renfrow play kitchen.

Andrea, Eli, and George.

Niece Claire's 1st Birthday

Our Christmas this year was spread out over a whole month.  We did Christmas with my family at Thanksgiving and Christmas with Andrea's family on 12/20.  However 12/20 was another special day, so before we did Christmas we celebrated Claire's first birthday!

The kiddie's at the table.

Santa's little helper, ready for fun.

Mom and the birthday girl.

We had a nice family dinner, cake and ice cream, and then presents.  It was fun to watch Wyatt interact with Claire for her birthday.  Wyatt was right in the middle of cake and presents and just could not understand why everyone was not paying attention to him, and why everything was being put in front of Claire.  He was a trooper and behaved well, he just wanted in on the action.

A little unsure of the cake...

A small taste...

Finger lickin' good!

Presents!

A really fun toy that Claire's daddy picked out.

Sweet Pics

These are some pics taken on December 17 & 19.  Eli loves to suck on whatever he can get into his mouth.  He is getting more and more hand control and grabs at everything.  When no toys are around he goes for his hands, fingers, or thumb... he is taking after his dad in being a thumb sucker :-)

Eli sucking his thumb.

Eli loves to swat at the lamb and pig 

and is pulling on the cow more and more.

Swami Eli!  Mary likes to leave Eli's clothes on

 his head and hum a little tune while she changes him. 

(do-do-doooo-dooo-dooo---do-do-doooo-doooo-dooooo-do-do)

Back Up... and Down...

We are back in Mac-ville.  Our computer is back and working but no data recovered :-(  We prepared ourselves for it, so we're not too upset.  Our mind set is that we can get the pics off our blog, and from friends and family... So, if you have pics of Eli from 8/28 through Christmas send them our way!!!!!  Plus they are only pics right...

Eli and me; this is my new favorite way to hold him.

It was only about a month that we were without a computer and not blogging, but I have a lot to blog about (come on, one month is 1/5 of Eli's life.....)!    The highlights include... the Eakright Christmas, The (young) Gwinn Christmas, Checkers Hockey, and Eli's new toys and tricks.

Eli chomping away on his hand me down keys.

The fun news this day, however, is all about Andrea...  She fell down the stairs while holding Eli and a bunch of random stuff.  Eli is uninjured and Andrea is ok.  We took her for x-rays and nothing is broken.  She tore/sprained something in her left foot and is hobbling around.  She was offered crutches but we knew that wasn't going to work.  So, she has a splint and was told to "stay off of it".  Thankfully, I have Wednesday through Sunday off and will be able to help her "stay off of it"!  Yay, five day movie-thon!!!  She is in a decent amount of pain and of course it scared her a lot but she has a good attitude about it all!

Eli getting a diaper change next to the couch this 

afternoon, because that's as far as mom could go!

Keep checking back for the coming updates!