Happy First Birthday Eli!

Eli Freeman Wyatt - one week old

Eli and Lucy - Easter 2009 - Eli is 3-months old

I'm not afraid to use a cliche'...Wow, Eli's first year has gone by so fast! If I look at my calendar for 2008 I see a lot of doctors appointments and notes about glucose levels and insulin shots, but I honestly don't remember it as being a lot of work...perhaps my hindsight sees through rose-colored glasses? Eli's arrival was a scheduled c-section, which was super-nice considering it allowed our families to be here on his birthday. We went home from the hospital on the 15th and he had his first sponge bath on the 20th - the day of Barack Obama's inauguration.

Eli is a pretty mellow fella. He usually has a "just happy to be here" look on his face - we have so enjoyed this past year! We have had many good times with our awesome families and supportive friends. Chris and I cannot believe how different he is from Lucy - we hate to compare - but we cannot help but notice. He is much more physical...he first rolled over on Chris on February 16th and was scooting around his crib that month too. We took him to church for the first time on Ash Wednesday - February 25th. Eli went on his first plane trip - to Texas - in March. It was a great vacation...Chris and I had two-months experience parenting two children and we had survived his Busy Season with a newborn - a huge victory! Eli, Lucy and I went back to Texas for another week in June. We took Eli to Pennsylvania for the first time in July and he also started eating food...we haven't offered him anything he hasn't liked...this kid can eat...as you can see by his adorable chubbiness!

Eli 8-months old

Eli and Lucy were both baptized in August - Chris and I were so thrilled to celebrate that occasion with our families and dear friends. In September, Eli started Kindermusik. I enjoy the one-on-one time with him and he loves to move his body to the music...we call it "getting his motor running!" He loves to turn pages in the books we read to him...Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? and I Love You Through and Though are two of his favorites. We went to Gatlinburg and back to Pennsylvania in October. Eli was crawling by Thanksgiving and he is now cruising, crawling and loves to walk behind push-toys.

January 2010

I love walking into Eli's room in the morning...he quickly pulls himself up and gives me his toothy-grin. He sometimes has a touch of separation-anxiety whenever I leave him, but is usually pretty calm. Being the second child, his naps are a little abbreviated (or non-existent) if I'm trying to get Lucy to/from school, but I think the pros of having a big sister far outweigh the cons. They love to play together and it really makes me laugh when I hear her talking to him in the same tone of voice I use on her..."No sir, Eli..." He loves to splash in the bathtub and will, from time to time, stand in his crib and bang on the wall. Eli also enjoys stacking anything...blocks, Tupperware, whatever. He loves to roll the ball back-and-forth too! Chris thinks I am softer on Eli than on Lucy...I enjoy them both so much and am probably just continuing to relax more with each year of parenting. I know there was sleeplessness and frustration over the past year, but I am so grateful that we got to experience it, good and bad. I expect that someday he'll leave me and go to college and want to get married, but as the dinosaur says in one of our favorite books, The MINE-O-SAUR....right now he's "mine all mine!"

January 2010 - enjoying some yogurt