Eli's First Year

I can't hardly believe that my baby is turning one today! It doesn't seem like it was that long ago that we brought him home from the hospital. I wanted to do a few pictures of him over the last year. He's changed a bunch! :)

My sister, Nichole, took a few pictures for me when I was pregnant with Eli.

I felt great my whole pregnancy. I exercised every week day, and didn't gain that much weight with him. I was pretty shocked when he was born and was a 10 pound baby!

Eli just a few days old. We took this picture for his birth announcement.

Eli's first Melon Days! John's mom always buys the grandkids t-shirts, and a child's 4/6 was the smallest size they had. I made it into a onesie so it would fit him!
Eli at 3 months--what a cute smile!

Eli's halloween costume was a frog this year. He looked so stinkin' cute in it! :)

Eli at 5 months.

Eli's 6 month picture. His hair is starting to lighten up!

Playing outside in the backyard. 8 months old.

Eli's 9 month picture on the front lawn. Totally blonde now. So cute with his dark eyes!

Our baby boy, 12 months old (1 year!!). What a cutie~

Yea!! It's my birthday! (clap, clap, clap)

Eli now weighs 19 lbs. 4 oz. and is 29 1/2 inches tall. At this stage Eli has been walking for about a month now. He's getting pretty good at it! He tries to run, and it's so cute to see his legs going faster than he can go and trying to keep his balance. We rarely see him crawl anymore. It almost looks funny to see him crawling now that he's been walking. Since he turned 11 months, he now gives "5's". He loves to clap--notice his one year pictures he is clapping in both of them. Eli will eat just about anything put in front of him. I haven't noticed him being overly picky about anything. A few of his favorites are hot dogs, bananas, zuccini bread, and popcicles. He can say Mama and Dada to get our attention. That boy loves his daddy! His little face lights up when John comes home. He always wants to be held by him. He can say gramma, and he tries to say the kids names, although it doesn't sound like them. He has figured out how to yell and does so whenever he is excited. He can wave "bye, bye". He likes to point at things. You can ask him, "Where is daddy?" And he will point to him and say, "Dada!" If he wants something he will say, "Mama!" and open and close his hand like, "give me some". He is a happy little boy, and we are so glad he is part of our family. We love him so much! Happy birthday little buddy.