The Baylor Family Blog

Even though the GIANT pumpkin was carved, and Eli had tasted most parts of his little pumpkin, Pumpkin night continued in this Baylor household…

Daddy lit the GIANT pumpkin to make its happy face shine!

And Eli of course had to explore the newly carved GIANT pumpkin (after mommy made daddy blow the candle inside out)!

My favorite two boys: Daddy with the GIANT pumpkin and Eli with his little pumpkin after having lots of fun on Pumpkin Night

So at the conclusion of Pumpkin Night, we all just vegged out and enjoyed each other’s company! Family is a beautiful thing!

Monday night was declared “Pumpkin Night” at this Baylor household! So after dinner was finished and cleaned up, we covered the kitchen table with newspaper and put the GIANT pumpkin in the middle. Then Eli went into his booster seat with his little pumpkin. And the fun began…

Eli was excited to play with his little pumpkin while watching…

Daddy carve the GIANT pumpkin!

Eli was trying to figure out what part of the pumpkin tastes the best…unfortunately, I don’t think the pumpkin stem won!

In the meantime, Daddy finished carving the GIANT pumpkin, which is also a happy pumpkin!

Gran-B and Papa-B brought Eli a GIANT pumpkin this past weekend that is actually home grown in their garden! There is the Eli-sized pumpkin he got at the pumpkin patch and this GIANT pumpkin! Eli has spent several minutes each day since they left standing by the pumpkin and touching it. He is very intrigued with pumpkin stems…I mean they stick out and are easy to hold onto unlike the rest of the pumpkin. I do have to keep a careful eye on him so he doesn’t try and eat the stem…haha! And though he cannot stand on his own yet, I was able to get him wedged between the wall, piano and pumpkin to get this quick shot…moments later, I’m sure I caught him toppling right over into my arms! We are planning on carving the pumpkin next week. Unfortunately, Eli doesn’t get to help this year!

On another note, Eli has been doing soo much better yesterday and today. Its been a breath of fresh air to me! We are on day 3 of peas…so I’m praying that his little body can handle them better than carrots and oatmeal and milk and soy and…! And he seems to be over his cold…no more fevers thankfully! So thank you for your prayers and encouragement!

Though we’ve managed to get some fun pictures of Eli this past week, overall he had a pretty rough week! He refused to take good naps, which left him increasingly fussy into the afternoons and evenings and he was even waking up frequently through the night. On Saturday, he woke up with a slight cough that got a little worse through the weekend…so it doesn’t help that he seems to be fighting off a cold. Yet, he was much more pleasant this weekend than he was throughout the week. Despite having a busy weekend, Eli slept more this weekend than he did any day during the week. And he even slept through the night on Saturday and Sunday nights. Matt and I are pretty convinced Eli’s better mood and sleeping is directly related to not eating his newest food: carrots. I was feeding Eli carrots around noontime…and his fussiness seemed to get worse in the afternoons and evenings also tying into our theory. I have no idea if he’s allergic to carrots or not…but I am sure that we don’t plan to give him carrots for a while. Eli sure seems to have a very sensitive tummy. So now that he’s had a break from carrots, I’m planning on starting him on peas today. The poor guy. I hope his tummy handles peas better…he’s had such a rough time with food in general since he’s been born. I know I need to keep introducing foods to him, but its especially hard when it makes his fussy and in a bad mood. I know its not fun for Eli either. And I though the biggest challenge with solid foods would be if he liked the taste….ha!!

I love fall! And I hope our little boy feels the same after getting his very first experience of playing in the leaves! I brought his Eli-sized pumpkin from the pumpkin patch outside and let our little guy practice sitting (and falling over into the leaves), laying in leaves while crinkling leaves in his fingers, exploring his pumpkin (especially the cool stem), and crawling (well, almost…he’s still working on it) through the leaves to his pumpkin. What fun…we found leaves everywhere in our clothes after going inside…but it was worth every minute! Enjoy the pictures…

Eli had a surprise waiting for him at the front door one day…a book that is almost bigger than he is from my Aunt Carlean!! This book is amazing…beautifully illustrated pictures of a classic book! I’m protecting it from him at the moment…knowing he’d rather drool all over it and likely tear the pages than enjoy it! But I’m looking forward to laying on our tummies and reading him the book someday in the future!

Thanks Aunt Carlean!

On Saturday, the three of us were able to join some friends to attend the Airforce v. Wyoming football game here in Colorado Springs! It was Matt’s very first Airforce game, and he was quite excited! And this was Eli’s second live sporting event…we are raising a fan early!! The day was unseasonably warm…we didn’t even bring sweatshirts or blankets with us into the stadium. The sky was the perfect Colorado blue that I’ve come to love! And to our delight, the Falcons pulled off a win over Wyoming! Yea!!!

Here’s Eli in his car seat all ready to go to his very first football game!!

Here’s gangsta baby in the stands during one of his few awake moments…he slept through the majority of the game, but did wake up during halftime

And the poor babe was still all tuckered out after sleeping through the game…I laughed when I saw him asleep in his carseat like this on the way home!

I am happy to report that we three Baylors had a nice, relaxing weekend! Matt and I brought Eli to his first Colorado College hockey game on Friday night. The game started way past his bedtime, so Matt and I weren’t so sure how he would do. He cried at the beginning when the lights were low and they announced the players, but he seemed to enjoy watching the players skate around the ice during the first period. He was asleep in Matt’s arms by the second period, and we headed home not long into the third period. To our delight, he still slept great through the night and woke up Saturday morning happy!

On Saturday morning, we joined masses of parents at a local church clothing swap, and we were able to get an armful of clothes for Eli for free…what a blessing! We headed over to Whole Foods after lunch and enjoyed their marvelous samples…and also bought some produce to make baby food for Eli. I fed him some carrots Saturday night…and Matt and I had to laugh at the faces Eli made with a mouth full of new food. By Sunday, he seemed to love the carrots. And today will be day 3. So far, no signs of an allergic reaction…but we may not know for a month or more for sure!

We spent Sunday morning in the nursery. At our service, Eli was actually the oldest baby in his room (non-crawlers). Matt and I noticed that Eli always seems to be one of the higher maintenance babies in the nursery whether we are in the nursery with him or not. Regardless of which service we attend, it conflicts with Eli’s nap times…so he never seems to be at his best on Sunday mornings. Matt took care of our sleepy Eli, while I got to hold a sweet little three month old baby who cuddled just like Eli used to!!

Eli sure is squirmy these days! He always wants to be down on the floor playing. He is at the point that he is soo frustrated that he can’t crawl and is working soo hard at it! He just wants to explore and touch everything! Though I miss my cuddly baby, I am enjoying watching him take in the world around him. He seems to be changing so fast right now!

Eli is enjoying his jumper more and more. He loves to stand, to bounce, and to swing in it! Last week Matt was playing with Eli in his jumper and asked me, “Are you sure you put this together right?” I said, “Of course, I followed the instruction book word for word.” And after coming to examine what was concerning Matt, and after Matt taking a good look at the instruction book, I indeed put the jumper together wrong. Eli was hanging by a thread (good things he’s small and doesn’t put much strain on it!). So I had to smile when Matt said that it would probably be a good idea if he puts Eli’s toys together from now on! Matt, of course, had the whole thing dis-assembled and put together correctly within minutes. I love my husband!

Here’s a quick picture of Eli and I at the pumpkin patch today. We went to Venetucci Farm and were able to pick a pumpkin for free. The only rule is that each kid is supposed to carry their own pumpkin out. So with the help of a Target sack holding Eli’s pumpkin, I put his arms through it and he carried it out. No one said, I couldn’t carry the kid carrying the pumpkin!!