Eli with daddy....kicking!

Eli hase been eating his socks and toes now for the last few weeks. Its been very cute. He also is sleeping much more these days. Last night he slept from 6:30 till 12:00 and then from 12:00 till 4:00, then woke up at 6:30. This is the longest he has slept. And all in his crib (which is still in our room and seems to be working really well for everyone to get some good sleep.) We've been working on sleep for the past few weeks now and Eli has come a long way. I can now just lay him down in his crib for naps and bedtime "Awake" and he goes to sleep all by himself. This is such a big deal, because up until a few weeks ago Eli could not go to sleep without our complete assistance, which was getting to be harder as he got heavier. I have to recommend a book that was really helpful...something that all new parents should read. It's a great book becuase it gives you all your options and how to do each one. It's the "No Cry", "Maybe alittle Cry W/ Soothing", or "Cry it Out", all wraped into one. It's been a great help for us comsidering two weeks ago it was normal for Eli to be up 5-6 six times a night, sleeping a total of 8 hrs a night. Of coarse this was after week took him out of our bed and started him in his crib. When their in bed with you, you really have no idea when their waking up to nurse. Your half asleep and so are they, so it works out pretty good. But with limited space and Eli getting bigger, I wasn't getting much sleep. Needless to say, his waking habits transfered over when we put him in the crib, and were much more tiersome since I had to get up to nurse. Not to mention the constant work it was to get him asleep for naps and bedtime anyway. Well now he takes two naps a day, both around 2hrs and is in bed for the night around 6:30 or 7:00 and now only waking up once or twice sleeping 11-12 hours. What a blessing!




Other good books
The No Cry Sleep Solution
The Sleep Book

So we had a pretty fun weekend. We went out to lunch and coffee with the Arney's (Jessica, Justin and Brendon) on Friday and then on Saturday we went to Huberts Tree Farm. Huberts has been a tradition since we moved to Bremerton. This year we went with a few different families but didn't buy a tree. That's how much fun it is...you don't even need to leave with a tree :). We'll have our tree when we get to Grama and Gampa Adams for Christams. Eli stayed warm in wool baby bag type thing that Grama Bean got for him. All snuggled in the back pack with Jeff he seemed to have a great time. Chad and his little guy Jamie are in the picture with Jeff.

Eli with Todd

Taryn with Eli

Grampa and Eli

Noah and Tia

Noah and Eli


Well this weekend was full and fun. After a yummy thanksgiving we headed over to the otherside of the water to see the Marshalls(tia grama and todd grampa). My dad met up with us their also, so Eli got to spend some time with grampa cox. Then on Saturday morning the schulz's (Angie, Tony and Noah) came over to the Marshalls and Eli and Noah got to hang out for alittle while. Then later that afternoon we went to meet up with the Walker's and the Wrights for some tri-tip and good fellowship. Eli did good, taking naps in the sling and being his usual happy self. We had a great time catching up with all our friends on that side of the world and then crashed when we got home somtime around 12pm Saturday night. Then we woke up to SNOW!!!! Jeff came in and woke me up before he headed off to church to show me what had happened outside. I was so excited. Then it snowed for the rest of the day, while tired little Eli slept!!!

Today we spent some time this morning in the boppy sitting up. We haven't done this alot because he usually just tips over. But this morning, with the help of the boppy he did pretty good. Though I think he was mostly concerned with how he was going to eat his green frog. I also did some research on the web looking for clothe diapers to fit his ever growing Adams bottom. At first I thought we would just go ahead and buy more of the clothe diapers from katie's kisses, but we really don't use diapers during the day expect for when we leave the house, so the cost would be high. And it's starting to get to be a hassel to take off his pants, unsnap the onies, remove the diaper cover, take out the diaper and then finally put him on the potty (don't worry he sits inbetween my legs). All this in a public restroom. Too much work then to get it all back on!! So they make a diaper called a All In One Diaper or AIO. It's washable and dryable, but it's more like water proof underwear rather then a diaper. So at first I thought we could buy them....but they are ohhhh sooo pricie, $26. So then I found a pattern to make them myself. So here's a link to the Free AIO Pocket Diaper Patten along with directions of how to do it.
http://www.geocities.com/rew4birth/index.html

Eli is getting so big. Now he can jump in his johnny jump up.
Right now he really loves to chew on the edge...but he is also
starting to get the whole jumping thing also. Today we just hung around the house and played. Tummy time is getting to be more fun also. His little legs are starting to bend and kick now (more then before)...pushing against the floor (I think I even saw some air under his tummy today!!!)...wiggeling around and yelling. He's also getting really vocal. He has always been a good talker but recently he has starting to yell and shout...saying things in baby language. He's not upset or mad...just likes the sound of his own voice. It's so funny to listen to him from another room, just yelling and talking away!

The count is in. We haven't known how much Eli weighes over the past few months. We couldn't get to the 2 month appointment, so it turned into the 3 month appointment. I thought for sure he was going to be like 20 lbs, but he is 24 inches long and 14.5 lbs. 50 % for both areas.
They grow too fast nevertheless!

Biddles in the morning! Daddy is getting the fire ready, so I snuggle with Eli until its warm enough....

This weekend Jeff's mom Faith came from OR to visit with Eli. We mostly just lounged around the house, except for Saturday, we went to Vashon Island to visit the Kuhns. Grammy had a whole bunch of fun songs and games to do with Eli. He really enjoyed spending time with her, he was in great need of some Grama time. Since all grama's are a plane ride away, except for Tia grama who is in Snohomish :), this was fun for all of us!

This is Eli with daddy on the Ferry. We went to visit some friends in Seattle who had just had a baby. It was Halloween so we thought that Eli should get the most out of his costume that the Kuhn family gave us. Our friends thought that is was very funny when we walk into the room with Eli in Costume. Later that night we went to the church Havest Party where he fell asleep in the costume. SOoooooCuuuttteeee!!

Biddles is lucky enough to get to share the bed with the rest of us...he's a co-sleeper baby. A novelty even at three months he understands...at least I think that's the case considering the smiles we get when he wakes up. It's precious to snuggle up at some odd hour in the night...him knowing i'm right there for whatever he may need. Eye's closed he searches for my face with his little sweet pudgy fingers. He finds me, takes a deep breath and then dozes contently back to sleep. I take a deep breath also to smell the sweet aroam of his fresh clean baby smell and then I too close my eyes, so thankful that we have him and he has us.
These were taken at 5:50 a.m. Normally he's not up quite so early but today was different. So we got up and played a bit. Biddles smiled for the camera as he always does and then around 7 :00 a.m. we went back to sleep. Jeff had also gotten up and started a roaring fire to get the house nice and toastie..."thanks hubby, we love you!" Bid's is getting really good at tummy time. He rolls to his back when he get tired and then I put him back on his belly after the rest is over. This morning his little knees and feet were trying to go somewhere, lifting himself up a bit and pushing forward with his feet....he might be an early crawler!!!AHhhhhhhhh

For a article on Co-Sleeping from Dr. Sears click the link...
http://www.askdrsears.com/html/7/T071000.asp

This weekend we went to the pumpkin patch. Some friends went with us and we had a great time. Eli loved the all bright colored pumpkins. For the first time it was actually hard to get him to look at the camera. Eli had his first hay ride pulled by a tracker and Jeff took him through the corn maze. After all the pumpkin picken' we went back to the farm for some warm apple cider. Days like this are so much fun!! Happy Harvest

Here is Biddles doing potty practice. IPT or EC stands for Infant Potty Training or Elimination Communication. We have a friend who told us about it who had a six month old who was going potty on the toilet, we couldn't believe it! Doubtful, at seven weeks I started making the "sssss" sound every time he went peeps (like she told me to do). Only after a day or two of doing this he started going potty when I made this sound. This also works with #2's. Now at 11 1/2 weeks Eli is completely potty trained to go #2's on the toilet. He grunts and squirms until we take him to his green potty or toilet. Peeps are easy to catch while at home but for now we use a diaper whenever we leave the house. Be sure that this is always something that he enjoys and is never forced. It is more important to build communication than anything else. Jeff and I both work together to watch for Eli's cue's for letting us know that he has to go to the potty. The average child is potty trained by 12-18 months. For more info on this you can go to the link that we have under our links list, Diaper Free Baby . Or if you have a questions just ask...I know is sounds pretty strange. But I thought since we found it fun to try, others may want to also. Potty on!!!

This is biddles hanging with some of his friends. These little guys were all born within the last 6 months (Biddles being the youngest). We had a baby shower at our house for our friend Anna who is due any day!! Can't wait to meet our new friend Abbi Jane! ("whoo hoo, a girl" said biddles)

This morning we woke up and had some fun tummy time. Eli likes to kick the balloon ball really fast. It makes a jingle noise. He gets so excited when it gets going really fast. I thought it was funny that we were listening to Jack Johnson's "Banana Pancakes" song. If you haven't listened to it you might want to check it out. It was a good start for the day....

Yesterday Eli and I helped Jeff move some wood from the trees that got cut down in the yard. This was the first time in the backpack, he liked it so much that he fell a sleep. I think he's sticking his tongue out at the camera. Good Boy!!

This is the first posting for The Adventures of Biddley Adams! This last weekend we went to Salem, OR to visit Auntie Jessie and Uncle Tim (Jeff's older brother). Biddles' first road trip. He did really well for having such a long drive. We met up at Red Robin on Friday night, then did some late night shopping at Target. Saturday we went to a farmers market where we got some lunch and some fresh veggies for dinner. Uncle Randy (Jeff's younger brother) also came over to visit and see biddles for the first time.