Grandma & Grandpa

Here are some pictures of Eli with his grandma and grandpa from their recent visit at our house.

Thanksgiving at the O'Donnell House

Eli spent his first Thanksgiving in West Chester, PA at his Aunt Darlene and Uncle Chuck's house. He met his cousins Ryan, Kyle, and Derek. Dinner was great as usual. After dinner we enjoyed a "friendly" game of kickball. The team Kevin was on beat the team Gretchen was on by about 40 runs. We all had a great time and kickball proved to be much safer than last year's game- flag football. (Aunt Darlene was sidelined with a broken arm.) Now that the visit is over, we're all preparing for the next family competition- the third annual Ping Pong Tournament held on Dec 26 at my parents' house.

Eli with his Great Nan Showers

The hostess- Aunt Darlene

With his cousin Ryan

With his cousin Kyle

Eli just stared and stared at his cousin Derek

Eli's Prank

Sleep...my great lost love. I think we all slept about 20 minutes last night. Eli has learned how to prank his mother. He "pretends" to fall asleep after nursing at night. I put him down and watch to make sure he's still "sleeping." I think to myself, what a cute little "sleeping" baby he is! He's so peaceful. I crawl back into bed and pull the covers up. As soon as my head hits the pillow... Eli puts his plan in motion. "AHHHHHHH!"

Eli played his prank on mom and dad at least 10 times last night!

" They just think I'm sleeping..."

Hats

Eli's hats are the cutest. Here are some pictures of him in our favorites (not necessarily his favorites)! He's such a good sport to let me prop him up and take picture after picture. I think we have over 700 pictures of him and he's only 5 weeks old.

This was a homemade hat he got in the CICU.

His Penn State hat (kind of makes him look like the Pope)

Yawning in his winter hat (might fit him by this summer!)

Isn't this the cutest hat?

All I need is a sled, Mom, and I'm ready to go!

Ok, take the hat off. NOW!

I'm a growing boy!

Eli had his one month appointment yesterday (even though he's now 5 weeks old). He now weighs 8 lbs 6 oz and is 21 1/4 inches long. He gained a pound in a week! His cheeks are filling out and he has a little double chin now. He got his second shot yesterday and had all of his reflexes checked.

Eli likes to play with his Neptune mat. He looks at the lights and can now grab onto the rings. He is starting to make new noises, too. He grunts and makes noises that sound like he's a little horse. We crack up every time we hear it.

"Sibling" Bonding

Eli napped today with his "sister" Gracie. Don't worry, Kevin was supervising.

Kitty centerfold

Bath Time

Eli is not a fan of bath time. He doesn't like getting his diaper changed either. This boy likes to stay nice and toasty warm. We have learned a couple of tricks to make bath time less traumatic. First, bath time is a two person job. One of us washes him while the other one pours warm water over his washcloth cover. We only have a couple minutes before he realizes what is going on and starts crying. Once he's wrapped up in his comfy towel, he's a happy little guy again.

This isn't so bad.

Keep the warm water coming Mom and Dad.


I think I'm over this. Please get me out now!

All is good now that I'm in my comfy towel!

Tummy Time

Tummy time quickly turned to nap time!

Little Monkey

Eli is finally big enough to wear his cute monkey outfit. There is a little monkey that fits into the pocket of the pants. Eli wore his new outfit to his friend Sydney's 2nd birthday party today. He slept the entire time! When we got home, we had a fun little photo shoot.

One month today!

Welcome to our blog! And happy one month birthday today to Eli. It's hard to believe that our little guy is one month old already. That means we've survived 30 days of no more than 3 hours of sleep at a time. We can't imagine life without him.

Mommy's favorite things about Eli
The smell of his skin
His burps- they sound like they are coming out of a grown man!
His hair and how it curls together at his neck
Watching him lift his head and move it from side to side
Staring into his eyes and wondering what he's thinking

Eli has changed quite a bit in the past month. He weighed 5 pounds 15 ozs when he was born and now weighs 7 pounds 4 ozs! He also grew from 19 1/4 inches to 20 1/2 inches. What a big boy!