Trick or Treat!

Eli had such a great day! Last year he was too little to participate in the day's activities, but today was a whole different story. This morning our playgroup had a costume party complete with orange snacks and lots of adorable costumed kids...our little puppy being the cutest, of course! :) (No offense to our friends!) This evening we went to Redmond Town Center (the local outdoor mall) where Eli had a blast Trick-0r-Treating! He was such a natural, you'd think he's been doing it all his life. :) He toddled from store to store saying a version of "trick-or-treat" that sounded a lot like "taco taco taco" - SO cute! He got better and better with each attempt, and he very sweetly signed "thank you" to each person who gave him candy...without even being prompted! He even held onto the pumpkin bucket that we were sure we'd be stuck carrying. We have two adorable (short) videos to share, but weren't able to load them onto the blog, so take a minute to watch them on You Tube... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uZavnXAZQlI and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=45YdsVoJk8I - make sure to have your volume turned up for the first one, it priceless. :) Hope everyone else had a safe and fun day.

Piano Man

Eli has a new hobby...playing the piano! This weekend we had the wonderful blessing of a visit from Andrew and Jill (Eli's uncle and aunt), which led to lots of quality time at Nana and Pa's house. Eli had a great time playing the piano with Nana, as well as dancing while she played for him...and he faithfully clapped at the end of each song! Looks like we have a natural, and one very happy Nana! :)

Library day

Eli and I went to the Redmond library Thursday for their young toddler story time. Eli wasn't really into the story time, despite the books and songs, but he did enjoy hanging out in the library's children's section. He breifly sat and looked at a book about fossils, though it was a little (a lot!) beyond his age. He then discovered that there were cars and trucks going "brrrm, brrrm" outside the window - and boy was he excited! He even got to see a police car; that made his day. :) A final highlight came when Eli discovered that the cushions in the window seat were great for bouncing - woohoo!! Story time may not have been his thing, but he didn't let that stop him from having a good time.

Socks!

Eli discovered a new "toy" yesterday...socks! First he grabbed Dada's socks out of the laundry basket (fortunately it was clean laundry!) and decided they made great mittens. He walked around clapping and smiling. Then, while getting ready for his bath, he decided to play the same game with his own socks. The look on his face was priceless...he was very pleased with himself!

Outside?!

What's that big yellow ball in the sky?? Believe it not, the sun made a rare Fall appearance in Seattle yesterday, and we took advantage! It was remarkably nice out for an October afternoon, so we dusted off the stroller and leash and took a walk around the neighborhood. When we returned home we played outside for awhile, and boy did it do our spirits good! Eli had a great time exploring the changes to our yard brought by the Fall, specifically the fallen leaves and apples, and the puddles, of course! We were able to spend an hour outside playing and exploring, and Eli loved every minute. He tried to get Zoe to play fetch with the apples...and she humored him by chasing them. Eli was fascinated by the puddles, though I had to draw the line when he tried to follow Zoe's lead and drink out of them! It was a wonderful fall afternoon!

Playing together

Eli is at the age where he's really beginning to play with other kids, and it's so fun to watch. Monday night we had the pleasure of having dinner at the home of some good friends of ours who have two daughters. We've always joked with this couple that Eli's going to have a hard time choosing which of their two girls will be his first girlfriend. :) Clara, who is a year older than Eli, may be out to an early lead in the race...she and Eli had a great time playing together after dinner. The copied each other's actions, whether drumming on Clara's bed post or pretending to go to sleep, and even did some absolutely adorable dancing together!

"Ssss"

For those who aren't fluent in Eli-ese, "ssss" is "shoes" - one of his very favorite things right now! When we dress him in the morning, he immediately lifts up his feet and asks for them. During the day, he'll randomly go into his room and come out carrying shoes, then sit down and try to put them on - regardless of whether or not he's already wearing a pair! If he finds our shoes lying around, he tries to put them on (also regardless of whether or not he's already wearing his own!). He points out people's shoes in books, and can even pick out matching pairs, believe it or not! I think if Eli was a girl, Dada would already be worrying about the budding shoe fettish!