Clips of Eli

Here are a few clips of Eli taken during January.
Clip 1: We discovered Eli is ticklish.
Clip 2: The snow kept us in Friday through Sunday. We took Eli out to play in the snow.
Clip 3: He is still laughing his head off mostly because of Mom.
Clip 4: Eli started eating from a spoon- yum! rice cereal.

Little River Zoo

(Ben here, I hijacked the blog to tell you about our trip to the Little River Zoo)
The week before I went back to school I decided to take Merrilee and Eli to the local zoo. Well I didn't expect our own personal tour of the zoo. The lady in the picture below took us around to each animal enclosure and told us about each one. We almost got to pet some small Egyptian foxes (except for the fact that she couldn't catch them). We howled with some coyotes; Eli tried, but the best he could do was cry.

That sign is for real. Look below! I quickly realized that these were powerful animals, and they were not afraid of humans either. I can't believe we brought Eli into the enclosure. Oh, and yes, we got to feed and pet kangaroos- how cool!

I wasn't really hurt. I strained my face in surprise and Merrilee happened to catch this on camera.

Eli was really interested in everything BUT the kangaroos.

Cute monkeys too. Most of the monkeys were greedy little brats, though. This zoo definitely provides a unique experience. When it was all over, we were glad we came to this little ghetto zoo.

January Update

Eli has become such a mama's boy. He LOVES it when I laugh- he'll start cracking up if I just look at him and laugh. He grabs my hair, snuggles with me, gives me"kisses" (my entire face gets slobbered), and stares at me, no matter who's holding him. Well, the feeling is mutual!

I just took Eli in for his 4-month checkup (and shots- blech!) this past Monday. He is 17 pounds (88th %ile!) and almost 27 inches long (95th %ile!)- he is one big dude.

Elias really has bouts where he just develops like crazy. He is SO interactive. He's constantly looking around at everyone and everything. He turns pages in books while I'm reading to him. In his "Farm" book, he smiles every time I turn to the page with the sheepdog and starts fussing if I turn the page too soon. Isn't that crazy? Four months old and that kid already likes dogs (too bad, he doesn't get one!). He can almost sit up entirely on his own now. He laughs every single day and plays with me and Ben.

Elias loves his dad. And Ben loves his Eli.

Cute Eli Pics in December

I don't think anyone questions whether or not Eli is a healthy baby.
Sometimes, I rub his belly for good luck.

Eli loves hanging out in his sling.
He gets to see the world and hang out with Mom all at the same time.

I hear the OU fans can get a little crazy sometimes.

Eli was fascinated with the snowstorm.

December in a Nutshell

We enjoyed going down to sunny San Diego for Bryce and Brittany's wedding.


Eli gazes out the window to watch his first snow storm.


Our parking lot after getting 14 inches of snow on Christmas Eve.


The abandoned cars of crazy Oklahomans who tried to drive Christmas Eve. There were cars EVERYWHERE! On the side of the freeway... on the freeway... in the middle of intersections... everywhere.



Eli gets a big surprise from his Mom on Christmas Day.