Eli's New Favorite Pass Time

We've been trying to do more structured activities with Eli instead of just letting him run around the house causing trouble. He really loves to color and it keeps him away from the CDs and the electrical outlets.

Inaguration Weekend

I know that most of the country has moved on and all of the tourists are gone but...I thought some of you might be interested the Smith Family Inaguraul experience. First, let me just say that I have never seen so many people in DC. There were crowds everywhere. We walked up to the market and there were crowds. We walked to the park and there were crowds. It was crazy.

Given the tight security restrictions (no strollers, no bags, etc), we decided to stay home for most of the festivities. We only live about 2 blocks from the Capitol so we were actually closer while sitting on our couch then a lot of the people watching on the Mall. It wasn't as festive inside our house but it was a lot warmer.

We also went to the Michigan Dinner Dance held at the Smithsonian Museum of American History. I hadn't been to the Museum in years since it's been closed for renovation. It was really neat to be able to walk around and look at the exhibits. The evening included "Michigan" food (cherries and fish not coney dogs), a Motown band, and free booze. All in all a good time. Thanks to the MoGo for hanging out on the couch so we could go.

and it was called yellow...

According to Eli's teachers, the other day he held up a block and said yellow and the block was actually yellow. They are focusing on the color yellow this week in his room and it must be sinking in. He's a genius! Of course he will not name anything by color on demand so I haven't witnessed this color-naming genius for myself as of yet.

This can now be added to the list of things that Eli says. This list includes:
"Sit down" - which he yells while standing in his high chair when we forget to clip him in and when standing in the tub
"Mah Peas" - which means more please, he's a very polite little boy
"All Done" - followed by either eating more food or holding up his hands in the air
"Hi" - usually "Hi ADah"
"Ba-Bye" - with a wave and usually a hug
"ADaH" - which means Dad
"Mmmmammmma" - which means Mom or feed me or hold me or I'm not happy

New Photos

Sorry we've been MIA for a little while. Here are some photos of Eli...

Merry Christmas

So I'd tell you all about how Eli wasn't really interested in opening presents and was more excited about the boxes than the toys, but you already know all that don't you?

Trick or Treat!

Technically, this was Eli's 2nd Halloween but since Eli was only a few days old this time last year we really didn't celebrate. This year we went to Hilloween - which is sort of like a block party in front of Eastern Market full of tons of kids in costumes. Eli had a lot of fun running around and almost getting run over by strollers. We even ran into one of Eli's teachers which made Eli very happy.

Here's our happy penguin...

Updates

Sorry we've been quiet for so long, the computer was with Daddy while he was off campaigning...Eli's been pretty busy these last few weeks. First, we celebrated his 1st birthday at home with our friends, Jaime and Helena, as you can see the cupcakes were a big hit.











Then we celebrated Eli's birthday at daycare (once again the cupcakes brought out the smiles).