Eli is 5 MONTHS OLD!!!!

"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." Jeremiah 29:11

Sweet Eli is now 5 MONTHS OLD!! I seem to remain in a constant state of shock, watching Eli grow and change by the minute. I look at Eli and he reminds me of everything good in life. He makes everything sweeter. :)

Last week my friend April babysat Eli for me because I had a meeting. April is a friend from teaching. We were both teach in Galveston and happen to live right down the street from each other in Leagie City. She has a son, Aidan, who just turned one. The boys had so much fun playing together! Aidan was actually asleep when we arrived, so April put Eli in his swing. She said when Aidan woke up and saw Eli in the swing he was soooo excited!

Here are some pictures of Aidan and Eli playing together...









The meeting I had that evening was my induction into the Alpha Delta Kappa sorority. It is a wonderful organization and the women who are part of this sorority are just amazing! They are such a fun, warm, sweet and inviting group of ladies.

Their Mission Statement:
Alpha Delta Kappa is an international honorary organization of women educators dedicated to educational excellence, altruism and world understanding.

That evening I took my oath and was pinned as the newest member of the ADK chapter in Galveston.

Here is a picture of my sorority pin...


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Last weekend the Webb family had a "Family Day." Charlie has been working so hard all week and most weekends, so we decided to make the most of his day off. We took Eli and Lulu to the Friendswood Park near our house. We had the best time walking around in the beautiful weather, talking, laughing and people watching.

Daddy and Eli at the park...



Lulu playing at the park...



Pretty park scenery...






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Our baby boy is FIVE MONTHS OLD!!! Everyday Charlie and I cannot wait to have playtime with Eli and see what new things he is doing.

One thing Eli started doing in the past couple weeks is sucking his thumb. (Sigh...) I am hoping it does not end up a hard habit to break (Though I have to admit, it is super cute!). He still loves his pacifier when he naps, but I have caught Eli sucking his thumb quite frequently in recent days.

Eli caught in the act...









Charlie and I also have been enjoying Eli's fun personality! He laughs at EVERYTHING! He is such a happy baby and I can't help but smile every time I look at him.

A few of the many faces of Eli...











Eli is so close to being able to sit up on his own! He is so close in fact, when I attempt to lay him down on his boppy pillow, he does not want to lay flat. He wants to sit up, so this is what I get:



Eli is also able to hold his bottle on his own (when he wants to). I still love feeding him though, so I am okay with doing the work for him. :)

Eli feeding himself...



Eli seems to be much longer than he was a month ago! I do not know his exact length and weight because he will not go back to see the doctor until his 6 month checkup.

For now, we will have to make guesses by looking at the monthly comparison photos :).

Here is Eli's chair photo at 4 months...



Here is Eli's chair photo at 5 months...



Here is Eli's photo with Mr. Bear at 4 months...



Here is Eli's photo with Mr. Bear at 5 months...



Of course Mommy had to do a 5 month photo shoot! I just LOVE, LOVE, LOVE this adorable little outfit Eli is wearing!









Here are some of the things Eli is doing at 5 months old:

*Eli loves to grab! Anything you have in your hand, he will reach for :)
*He eats usually eats an 8 ounce bottle with cereal in the morning before daycare (at 5:00 am) and a 7-8 ounce bottle with cereal at night before bed (at 9:00 pm). He eats 6 ounces every 4-5 hours during the day.
*Eli also eats cereal with fruit twice a day and vegetables once a day. His favorite fruits are peaches and bananas. His favorite vegetables are green beans and squash. Luckily, he seems to like all the foods he has tried.
*He can now hold the bottle pretty well on his own, but likes to use one hand to touch Mommy's face while he eats (so sweet!), so I don't mind helping at all.
*Eli likes to use his door jumper as a way to maneuver around. He likes to take steps in it and spin around. It is so fun to watch!
*Eli "sings" when I have music on in the car or on TV. I think he likes music because he smiles and babbles along when there is music on.
*Eli now sucks on his thumb and fingers. I am sure this is due to the teething.
*He is now wearing all size 6-9 month clothes.
*Eli is such a good sleeper, but now he tries to fight going to sleep. I think he is afraid he is going to miss out on something fun! haha
*Eli has such kissable cheeks! Charlie and I LOVE to kiss his little cheeks and we usually get an out loud laugh from Eli when we give cheek kissies.

Discoveries....

I am sitting here with my little snugglebug on the couch and was trying to think of how I would start off this blog. As I was going through my temporary "blogger's block," Eli discovered his feet. He is suddenly so entertained by his feet. He is grabbing them, trying to eat them and thinks they are the coolest "toys" ever. These little daily discoveries are what I live for nowadays. I love watching Eli's expressions and his reactions each time he discovers something new.

Eli has discovered and tried quite a few new things over the past couple of weeks. The biggest thing is Eli now eats jarred food! Eli has tried a total of 4 vegetables. The first food I had fed Eli was green beans. He LOVED them! The doctor told me to give him vegetables before fruit. She also told me to alternate vegetables every four days--green vegetable, yellow vegetable, green vegetable, yellow vegetable....After the green beans, we tried squash. He really liked the squash too! Next we tried peas, which he ate, but I do not think they are a favorite of Eli's. Most recently, he tried sweet potatoes. I thought he was going to fly around the room after he tasted sweet potatoes for the first time! He hept making "mmmm" noises and flapping his arms up and down.

Eli eating his very first food, green beans...





Eli has also discovered rolling from side to side. We are still waiting for him to roll completely over. He is getting so close! He makes these "whoaaaa" noises when he rolls to the side and it is so funny!

Eli rolling on his side...



This little guy LOVES his feet now.... haha



Eli started taking notice in Lulu last month. He studies Lulu and reaches for her. Well now Lulu brings Eli her toys. She wants him to play with her. It is so sweet!

Lulu giving Eli a toy to play with...



She set it down for Eli...



Lulu decided to just lay down and hang out with her buddy...



Eli really loves his exersaucer! Each day he is doing something new in it.





Eli can also now reach the bottom of his exersaucer and stand flat footed....



My favorite Eli discovery is his laugh. He giggles at EVERYTHING! He thinks everything is soooo funny! Gee, I don't know where he gets that from. haha.

Eli laughing...



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We have had a jam packed, fun past couple of weeks! We headed out to Cypress the weekend of February 20th. That Friday, we enjoyed time with my family. My brother was so sweet and came over and cooked us all dinner! He made delicious seared tuna and an asian salad. It was sooooo delicious!

Chef Chris at work in the kitchen...



Of course, everyone loved spending time with sweet Eli! They were amazed at how much he has grown. He changes and does new things each and every day, so I can only imagine how exciting it must be to see all these new things after not seeing him for a couple of weeks.

Nana and Auntie Samantha enjoying time with Eli...



On Saturday we celebrated our dear friend Todd's birthday. We went to Fogo de Chau for the first time. It is a brazilian steak house. It was soooo yummy! I was so busy eating and talking, I didn't even take picture of the pretty food! They had the most AMAZING salad bar. We also enjoyed Creme Brulee and Chocolate Molten Cake for dessert. Needless to say, I paid greatly for it on the treadmill. haha.

We really enjoyed our night out! LOVE my Charlie...



Celebrating Todd's birthday...



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Last weekend I met up with some amazing ladies I became friends with when I taught at Burnet Elementary, Kim, Kari and Angie. We are all at different schools now, but we always try to get together and catch up when we get the chance. We just laugh and laugh...it is always a great time!

This was the first time they met Eli, so they were very excited to have a baby to snuggle and hold. Eli was eating it up! He LOVED all the attention.

He just stared and stared at Angie and sadly, I do not know how this is even possible...I didn't get a picture of them!

Angie bought me a surprise--a HUGE box of coupons!!!! I am really into coupon shopping, so that was so sweet of her!

We had such a nice time catching up. The girls really enjoyed passing Eli around and talking to him.

Kari and Eli...



An interesting tidbit about Kim is that she collects piggies. She was so thoughtful and bought Eli a "Three Little Pigs" finger puppet book so he would know it was from his "Auntie Kim" everytime he reads it. I have read it to him several times already and he is fascinated by the little finger puppets.

Thank you Kim for this adorable book!



Kim and Eli...


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Sunday we had family over to celebrate Bob's birthday! I thought it would be nice to have everyone over and I would cook dinner. I made spaghetti (with my Pop Pop's meat sauce), garlic bread, salad and for dessert I made my Nana Crawford's cheesecake. It was a nice day and everyone enjoyed visiting.

Eli got dressed up for everyone...



Can't get enough of this little guy and those cheeks...



Bob opening his birthday gifts...



Grammy and Eli...



Charlie, Grammy and Eli...



Auntie Alison bought Eli one of my favorite books! It is a poem book titled "Where the Sidewalk Ends" by Shel Silverstein. I remember checking this book out over and over at the library when I was in school. I absolutely LOVE his poem books and bought the series when I first started teaching (for my classroom). I read my students one poem out of one of the books each morning when they come to the floor for Reading. Alison and Charlie also loved these books when they were younger and even have a favorite poem in this particular book. I thought it was so incredibly sweet of Alison to think of getting him that book. It is even more special since we all have a childhood connection to the book. :)

Thanks everyone for coming to visit! Bob, I hope you had a spectacular birthday! We enjoyed celebrating with you. :)

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I woke up Monday morning for work and went to put Eli's outfit on I had picked out and guess what? It did not fit. The pants looked like shorts! I know he is a growing boy, but I feel like he is growing at Hulk speed! haha. Well, I had been waiting for a special occasion for Eli to wear this outfit his Auntie Bonnie had given to him for Christmas. Suddenly I was worried it might not fit anymore and he wouldn't get to wear it at all. Luckily, I was wrong and it fit PERFECT. So Eli got all dressed up in his fancy little man outfit for daycare that day. He got a lot of compliments on his handsome get-up. :)

Eli in his adorable outfit from Auntie Bonnie...





We have been so busy the past couple weeks, we used this weekend as a weekend to rest and enjoy time with Eli. Charlie put up a jumper that hangs in the doorway for Eli. He is soooo cute in it! He tries to walk in it and likes to spin around and make "oooohhhh" noises.

Eli in his jumper...





I spent a lot of time today playing with the features on my new camera. I am so ready and excited to take pictures with it!



I have exactly 5 workdays left until Spring Break. I am soooo ready!!!! I cannot wait to have time off with my Eli!!!



I hope you all have a MAGNIFICENT week!