New Years in Lakeland, part 1

After Christmas, we loaded up the car and headed down to Lakeland, Florida to spend some time with Josh's parents.  I learned two things on this long drive:  

1)  I-75 from Macon, GA to Tampa, FL may be the most boring stretch of interstate in the country.  

2) The iPad is an awesome way to keep a toddler occupied on a long drive.

The weather was gorgeous during our visit and there was an awesome park within walking distance of Josh's parents' apartment.  We wandered over there one morning and let Eli explore.

He first checked out this big cat...

 

And then did a little digging in the sand pit...

 

We blew some bubbles and Eli chased them... 

It was originally a little too chilly for Eli to play in the fountains, but as it warmed up it was tough for Eli to resist the call of the water.  

 

 

I don't remember if Eli was crying in this picture because he was cold or if he was mad that he had to stop playing in the water.  Either way, I thought he looked pretty cute bundled up in my sweatshirt!

What I'm reading...

On the nightstand:

Her Mother's Hope and Her Daughter's Dream  by Francine Rivers


Downstairs:

Making the 'Terrible Twos' Terrific!  by John Rosemond
Bringing up Boys by James Dobson
The Young Man and the Sea by Rodman Philbrick


What are you reading?

A conversation with Eli: morning wake-up

We have this conversation almost every morning while Eli is still laying in his crib.

Me:  'Goodmorning Eli!'

E:  'Daddy?'

Me:  'He's in the shower?'

E:  Ta-ta.  (Thomas the Train)

Me:  Your Thomas is downstairs on your train track.

E:  Ka-chow.  (Lightning McQueen)

Me:  He's downstairs too.

E:  Bobby.  (Bob the Builder)

Me:  No, we are not going to watch Bob the Builder right now.

Our first Christmas in Georgia

It was a very quiet Christmas around the Lauer house.

For the first time in years, we didn't travel to visit family over the holiday.  Eli is just getting to the age where he understands presents and the fun of opening them, so we relished the opportunity to watch him open his presents in our own house.

I was the first to wake up and had to wait until after 9am (!) before anyone joined me downstairs.

And I discovered that the present opening process with a two-year old prevents bunches of pictures from being taken.

None of Eli opening his presents but some of the aftermath...

This little guy was easily Eli's favorite present of the morning.  Thomas, or 'Ta-Ta' as Eli calls him, was carried around for a least the next three days.  I can't say that I am the biggest fan of the Thomas cartoons, or the cost of ANY of the official Thomas merchandise, but Eli sure does love this train.

We ended the day with some delicious filets cooked in a cast iron skillet and brown butter noodles.  Yum!

I dropped botany twice but I enjoy a good botanical garden...

My mom joined us for a week in mid-December while my dad traveled hither and yon doing his consulting work... 'yon' this time meant Brazil and my mom figured it would be more fun to hang out with Eli rather than stay home alone!  He is pretty cute company, I have to admit.

While she was here, we decided to check out the Georgia State Botanical Gardens located on the outskirts of Athens.  Perhaps not the most colorful time to visit the gardens, but we enjoyed the grounds and the fresh air.  And it is always fun to find free places to take Eli to explore.

There were a few plants in bloom... 

 

but mostly we just followed Eli around as he wandered the garden paths.

Eli posed for a few picture for Grandma... if you looked closely, you can almost see him saying 'CHEESE!'

Look over there, Grandma!

We were trying so hard to get a good picture of my mom and Eli together... but he was already tired of me aiming my camera at him and asking him to stay still.  What a face!

Eli taught Grandma a few things about the finer points of botany (I think, remember I dropped that class twice!)

The biggest excitement of the outing was the discovery of this little guy...

... and a daddy longlegs that Grandma and Eli watched until it disappeared out of sight!

Eli and the Big Truck

A typical conversation with Eli these days is about one of the following things:  trains (choo-choos), back hoes (dig-digs), or big trucks (beh chruck).

So you can only imagine his joy and delight when his Pappy drove his rig to Athens for Thanksgiving and let Eli sit in the driver seat.

 

He was, simply put, over the moon.

 

Pappy even showed Eli how to honk the hydraulic horn!

 

My big boy doesn't look so big when he is behind the wheel of this big truck!

Such fun!  Thanks, Pappy!

Thanksgiving in Pictures

Josh's family joined us in Georgia for Thanksgiving.

Which also meant that we got to meet our nephew, Jack, for the first time.
Which also meant that Eli had a new source of entertainment for the week!

 

Eli got to help his Grammy roll out the dough for the pumpkin pie crusts! (Pretty sure more flour ended up on him then on the counter!)

Thanksgiving place cards...

Sweet Jack...

Chris and Eddie loved the chance to hang out with their grandsons!

With family in town, we decided to celebrate Eli's birthday a little early... stay tuned for pics of Eli riding his cool new balance bike!

Jack couldn't keep his eyes off Eli the whole week... you could just see his wheels churning as he tried to figure out how he could keep up with his cousin!

Proud grandparents!

Happy 2nd Birthday, Eli!

I don't know how it happened.

I blinked and my chunky little baby turned into a energetic and joyful toddler.

Who turned TWO today.  TWO!

He doesn't really know what all the hubbub is about, just that he has gotten some extra treats and a huge Lightning McQueen balloon.

He was not really in the mood to take a picture in the chair this morning.  So I am lucky I got a usable shot!  Most of the rest looked like this:

Happy Birthday, Eli.  We love you to the moon and back.