We were kind of lazy that morning, but eventually we did start getting ready for church. My brother, Uncle Josh, had just finished eating his cereal and Eli decided he wanted to check the bowl for him to make sure he ate all his food. Eli is still working on his next tooth, so anything he picks up in his hands goes straight into his mouth to chew. He seemed to particularly enjoy this spoon this morning.
"You saving that piece for later?"
My church has a wonderful nursery, but once again I was hesitant to put him there when he knows absolutely none of the workers. I didn't want him to get upset because I was leaving him with strangers, so we brought him into the worship service with us. He really did very well. The music definitely caught his attention and he decided to shout his own "Hallelujahs" a couple of times, which resulted in several stares from some of the members. Luckily, with 2500 people in attendance, it's hard to pinpoint exactly where a noise is coming from, so it wasn't too bad. Pastor D had just started to preach when Eli got really sleepy. I grabbed him and his bag and we were going to go to the cry room, but it was locked, so we decided to hang out in the coffee lounge instead. My church just went through a huge building project to add what they call KID CITY to our church and one of the things they added before you get to KID CITY is this coffee lounge for the parents and a HUGE play area for the kids. My intent was to rock Eli to sleep while watching Pastor D on TV, but that didn't happen. There was way too much going on, especially when 50 kids started playing in the play area. Eli was fascinated and didn't sit still for a minute.
Needless to say, Eli was pooped after church. He got in the car and one the way to Applebee's he drank his bottle and went fast asleep. He was still asleep when we got to the restaurant, so while my parents acquired a table, I sat with Eli while he finished his bottle. When he finished, I delicately transferred him to his stroller and he stayed asleep again! That's twice this weekend! WOW!
He did great at the restaurant again. He slept for about 30 minutes and then woke up and was ready for some baby food. He kept his eyes on our plates the entire time we were there and Dad finally succumbed to the pressure and gave his some tiny pieces of a french fry. Eli gobbled that up so fast! He loved it! I brought a banana with us to the restaurant because I wanted to try giving him some pieces of it and letting him feed himself. He did really well and managed to get a few pieces into his mouth. He seemed to really enjoy feeding himself the bigger chunks so we'll have to start branching out with some other soft foods that he can feed himself. Any suggestions from my blog followers?
We got home and while I packed all our stuff in the van, Eli got to swim one last time in the pool with Pop. My plan was to tire him out so he would go right to sleep in the car so we wouldn't have to stop at all on the way home. He loved swimming with Pop. We're going to have to get the boy a swimming pool one day because he loves it so much. At one point, Grammy came to get me so they could show me Eli's new trick. They put him on the side and Pop stood right in front of him. Grammy let go and Eli would lunge and then fall into Pop's arms. He kept doing it over and over and over. He was enjoying it so much that he hated having to get out of the pool when it was time to go. He would have stayed in that pool all day if he could have!
We got on the road and after a quick trip to Sonic for a drink and a bottle feeding we got on the road. I looked in the rearview mirror and this is what I saw...ahhh, the sound of sweet silence.
He slept this way all the way to Monroe and then things went downhill FAST! He was tired of traveling, tired of the car, tired of the car seat, tired of Mommy singing to him to get him to calm down, tired of not seeing anyone, tired of having to entertain himself, and ready to get O-U-T! We stopped at Pier One because I knew they had lots of furniture that Eli could jump on to help release some energy. He loved it until 30 minutes later Mommy put him back in that stupid car seat for the rest of the trip home. He decided to pay me back though in the form of wailing and crying most of the hour and a half trip home. He didn't cry the entire time, thankfully, but that was due in part to Gerber Puffs. They satisfy a crying baby like nothing else :) We now never leave the house without those things :) They're MAGIC!
We made it home safe and sound. Eli was so happy to see his daddy and his daddy was so happy to have his family back home. Even though it was about an hour past his bedtime, we let Eli play for about 30 minutes so he could get some energy out before going to sleep for the night, and play he did! Oh my gosh! That kid went crazy :) Josh asked me what I had given him, but Eli was just so happy to be home and be around his own toys. He kept going in circles around the living room checking everything out. It was so funny! I am so glad we were able to make this trip. We had so much fun visiting with my parents. I can't wait until we go again!
I know about those cryfest car trips! Oh, do I!!
ReplyDeleteDrew started out with the self feeders that have the mesh stuff and the handle. We'd put chunks of apple or bananas in there. They were large enough for him to hold and still nutritious. Cheetos was another first thing we tried! Easy to hold and dissolves fairly quickly...although very messy! How many teeth did you say he had?? Drew had about 6 when we started with animal crackers. They also dissolve easily. Soon after we moved on to small pieces of cheese, baby goldfish, Gerber yogart puffs (GREAT), and crackers. Hope that helps!