Bonding time

It has been a really long time since I have felt so close to my chunky little boy. We had such a nice weekend together and did many fun things. I wish every weekend lasted three full days.


On Saturday morning Elijah and I met the lovely Jess in Stillwater for a stroll along the river and lunch. It was BEAUTIFUL!

I didn't get any pics from the dropzone, but we headed there right after our Stillwater stroll and spent the rest of the day and night there. Dan was doing tandems, so Elijah and I just hung out. Once he went to bed I had a sweet friend of ours watch the baby monitor while Dan and I MADE A SKYDIVE TOGETHER!! It has been almost a year since we have been able to do that. It was awesome! We had a really nice, relaxing time at the dropzone. It is always so nice to get out of the city once in a while.

Elijah and I headed back to the Cities Sunday morning because one of my very best friends in the whole world, and her two beautiful children, decided to come up and visit from Iowa. I don't see Heather and her kids much, so it was really nice to see them.


We spent Sunday afternoon at the zoo and had a fun time seeing the animals.

We had a low-key evening at home last night and Heather and I got caught up. Today we all (even Dan!) went to the Mall of America and walked around for a bit. We had lunch together and then we headed home to put Elijah down for a nap. BYE, Heather, Molly and Ben! It was so wonderful having you here and we miss you!


When we got home, we found a present for Elijah in our mailbox. A new toy helicopter from Grammie Paula and Grampa Dick! He wasn't so sure of it at first, but ended up loving it and playing with it for a long long time.


The helicopter got me thinking about how many toys with wheels Elijah has. So I went through the entire house and garage and compiled them all. Here is the collection! Cars, trucks, trains, fire trucks, airplanes, helicopters....he loves them all!


He played by himself for quite a while tonight as Dan worked on the budget and I got dinner ready. I came into the living room and saw his train bag draped over his back and him playing the ukulele (an awesome Maui gift from Ronda and Andrew!). Maybe he likes music? He seemed pretty intrigued.


Then he went toward his heap of trucks and destroyed them all.


Resting his head on his soft car from Auntie Lissa. The floor is so hard!


I love it! He is finally moving around and really getting into things. This is the first time he has scooted under the chairs and table to play with toys and check things out.


Hi Mama! I'm playing with my trucks underneath the chair!

I noticed on our way back from the dropzone yesterday that Elijah's animal sounds (that we have been working hard on) each have a unique sound. He has his own interpretation of what each one sounds like. I got most of them on video tonight....




First time to check out his rocking horse. He LOVED it! And he was actually much more stable on it than I thought he would be.


Look! Standing all by himself! Can you believe it??? I love progress.

Have a good week, everyone. Thanks so much for checking in. We love you all. Please say a prayer about our surgery follow-up appointment on Thursday. He has been doing/feeling great, but let's hope for a great report (and little to no arrogant behavior from Surgeon).