The Baylor Family Blog

As of this past weekend, Eli can sit up all by himself…and he, of course, giggles himself silly, when he eventually topples over! Eli also things sneezing is one of the funniest things in the world, which I guess it is (he’s a genius already!).

Eli rolls all over the place. We’ll put him down on his back, he will turn onto his tummy, start inch-worming, and before long he’ll be on the other side of the room. The other day, he made his way over to his Bumbo seat and even reached in to grab a favorite toy (like I said, he’s a genius already)! Today he is modeling overalls that his daddy wore as a baby. They are tall and skinny…a perfect fit for our little guy!!

Do you see what I see?? Indeed, Eli is up on all fours…as soon as he can make all four work together, he’ll be crawling all over and be hard to keep track of!!

So for now we are enjoying our days of being able to turn our backs on our little guy knowing he can’t go far fast

Eli is exploring the world…

…one chair at a time!

Staying home has made me appreciate more and more the time, interactions, and quality time spent with other women. Because I stay home with Eli, I’ve found that I have to be more intentional to plan a time to get together with other women and also make sure to arrange care of my little guy. This week has been a breath of fresh air as I’ve had a few scheduled opportunities to get out of the house with Eli and enjoy time with other ladies.

As some of you know, I joined a MOPS program at a local church as a way of connecting with some other moms in the community. On Tuesday, Eli had his very first play date with my small group from MOPS. He was a little intrigued at the loud noises the 2-year-olds were making, but other than looking around, he preferred to stay right with me. It was an enjoyable time to just get out of the house and to be able to bring Eli along and to simply just talk with other ladies who stay home with their kiddos.

Eli and I also enjoyed meeting up with a dear friend, Susan, and walking many laps around the park by our home. The weather was perfect, Eli was mostly cooperative and even took his nap in the stroller (yea!). Most of all, it was nice to catch up with a good friend!!

Tomorrow, Eli and I will head out to our second MOPS meeting. It’ll be his first trip to the nursery for this event, so hopefully he’ll survive okay in another new environment. We are seeing signs of separation anxiety in our little guy…only to be calmed by returning to his mama’s arms. I know its a phase, but I’m also looking forward to him getting through it (hopefully quickly!).

Enjoy the picture, too. He is happily modeling an outfit that my mom gave him this summer. I thought his smile was priceless, the plaid shorts are adorable, and the “Lotsa Bugs” theme is very boy! Fun times!

I have so many things to learn.

My daddy and mommy think I’m as “smart as a fox” and are teaching me new things.

My daddy is trying to teach me how to walk…

My mommy is trying to teach me how to sit without toppling over…

Both my daddy and mommy and trying to teach me how to crawl.

But as you can see from my smile, I don’t have it all too bad. Life’s good. I’ll catch on.

Eli has officially graduated to sitting in the stroller without his car seat, and boy does he enjoy stroller rides sooo much more now!! Quite frankly, he really dislikes his car seat and the less time he spends in it, the happier he is! I ran an errand last week and was in a store less than five minutes before Eli was screaming, only to be comforted by coming out of his car seat. So there I was pushing an empty stroller around and carrying my little boy. So the next day, I decided to trial just putting him in the stroller and taking a walk in the neighborhood and he did great. There are conveniences of using the car seat in the stroller, but they are all lost when Eli screams. Therefore, I’m glad he’s taken to the stroller well!! He looks quite small sitting in the stroller, as his line of vision is right where the tray is. Nonetheless, Matt and I both agree he has grown a lot in the past few months!

And I’m sure Matt would appreciate me pointing out that our little boy is a Rockies fan (see above outfit:), and soon will be rooting for the Broncos! However, for tonight’s game, I think I’m safe to say we are all for the Colts!!! Go Colts!!!!

Every year on Labor Day weekend, Colorado Springs hosts the Balloon Classic, a free hot air balloon festival! Since we were in town this year and didn’t have any plans, we excitedly made plans to attend and introduce our little boy to big, colorful balloons! After an early bedtime Friday night, we awoke very early on Saturday morning to drive to the park to watch the balloons be set out and filled with air and eventually have a mass ascension into the sky! What a sight it was! Several of the balloons touched down into the water just after take off. I was amazed how many hot air balloons there were…it seemed like that were constantly more and more balloons taking off into the sky! There is a balloon glow at night. We decided to skip this part this year as our little boy goes to bed before the event starts. So here are some pictures:

Several hot air balloons flying over Prospect Lake, which is right next to the park.

One of Matt’s co-workers was helping photograph the event and got to ride in the G-Daddy balloon.

Matt and Eli with lots of balloons behind them.

We watched the G-Daddy balloon be set out and filled with air. Matt was able to position Eli at the base of the balloon, and Eli was quite intrigued with the air, the noises, and watching the balloon expand.

Matt gave me some time on Sunday to get away on my own. These moments are treasured and cherished. I set off to the mall and was able to enjoy some of the great Labor Day sales! I came home very refreshed. The three of us later set off to Babies R Us to buy a new car seat and baby gate for Eli…we are starting to prepare for the future of our growing boy!! Speaking of growing boy, Eli rolled over from his back to his tummy (finally!) on his own on Sunday night. He has repeated the event several times since…yea!!

We started Monday with a great bike ride around the park and into surrounding neighborhoods. Matt and I are a little sore today, but thoroughly enjoyed the challenging ride! We ended the day on Monday with dinner at the house of our friends, Jamie and Rachel! What fun.

So now we are starting a short week. Our little boy had a bit of a busier weekend than normal, which has left him exhausted! So, hopefully he’ll get some much needed sleep! That was our weekend…I hope you had a good one, too!

Have I shown you my toes, yet?

I thank God every day for giving me ten toes to play with!

Mommy says I’m a “multi-tasker”…I can suck on my fingers and hold my toes, all at the same time!