A Trip to the Desert Museum

It just so happened that this weekend I had Friday AND Saturday off. I rarely have a Friday off and so Saturday is spent catching up on sleep...soooo...THIS Saturday Jake and I decided to actually do something! We debated on going to the Arboretum but decided on the Desert Museum since Jake's never had the opportunity to go. Admission is $12 for each adult but they also have a membership program. For $50 you get a year membership for 2 adults and all of your children plus 3 extra guest passes and discounts on some of their food, ectc. We decided to go with that since it's not very far from us and Elijah loves the outdoors. Plus when people come to visit it's a nice place to go. We're glad we did! We had a GREAT time and can't wait to go back. Here's some highlights.
Here's us just starting out. It was a little cool initially but warmed up quite a bit. We found out that they provided sunscreen in the bathrooms just in case you forgot yours (which I did..hey this is the first big "outside" outing we've done with a baby!)
They have an aviary but we didn't have enough time to see it. There was a volunteer at the front bringing different birds of prey out so people could see them better. Here's a beautiful barn owl.
A mountain lion (aka Puma). I just love cats. I think they are so beautiful. It's always neat to see how similar the big cats are to the domestic house cat.
They have deer.
And Prairie Dogs.
Roadrunners.
And the 3 Billy Goat's Gruff.
Bob Cats

And a Hummingbird House
They also have a butterfly garden. This Lantana smells SO sweet.
We thought these would be a nice addition to our front yard.
We enjoyed ourselves. Of course, since we were in Tucson we had to take advantage of the area and go to Pinnacle Peak for some steak and a little "Ghost Town" fun.

I should probably add that TODAY Elijah is 10 MONTHS OLD!!! Wow. He got his 3rd tooth yesterday (top left) and has been a little cranky. More to come soon maybe? I'm not quite sure how big he is (although my arm gets pretty sore!) We go to the cardiologist in 2 weeks so I'll know an accurate weight then. All for now!

This post is entirely wordy so I apologize ahead of time, but hey, you got a video out of the deal right? So..Elijah just LOVES mac & cheese. He loves it so much that he just can't have one noodle at a time...it has to be big boy bites. It's just too funny to watch him get so excited. He definitely has decided that indeed his taste buds DO work and no, he doesn't want any of those nasty veggies...even orange ones! How a baby can turn his nose up at sweet potatoes I'm not quite sure but it is definitely becoming more of a struggle to get him to eat them. It has become more of a battle to make my own food because I have been trying to find a combination that he will eat. I'm in the midst of trying to add things like rice cereal and applesauce to try to get him to like his food. Don't mention the meats...not going as well either. I've even tried cut up meats thinking maybe he'd like them. He's not liking them so much. He's decided he likes bread, mac & cheese and fruit. He eats cottage cheese mixed with applesauce and cinnamon too. And of course fruit filled yogurt is a yummy treat. I can't say I blame him for his likes...I like them too. He doesn't care for cheese so much either (mac & cheese does NOT count...I like that too but can't stand cheese..YUCKY!). He's definitely growing up into a little boy (where did my baby go?!!) and daily shows off some new tricks that he has learned. Friday it was pulling himself into a sitting position. I'm not quite sure how he did it though. He was playing on his belly and then all of a sudden he was sitting. Has he done it again..no. Does he crawl much..no...not unless he wants something (of course it's usually something he's not supposed to have). I can see another tooth attempting to pop up on the bottom so any day I expect to see a new pearly white. Another thing he has been doing? Asking to go on walks in his stroller. How does he do this? He gets wiggly and whiny and the looks at the stroller and the door. "You want to go for a walk?" Put him in the stroller giggles and grins. Little turkey loves being outside in the fresh air watching for new things and listening to the birds tweet-tweet. He is just so fun! I can't wait to bring him to see Grandma and Grandpa and Aunt Heather and Uncle Bryan along with all of his other aunts, uncles, cousins and other special friends and family in Michigan in get this...a month from today! YIPPEE!! It has been WAY too long and I can't wait for my family to see his little personality up close. Counting the days!

My Little Soldier

Okay, so here's a little video clip of Elijah doing his little army crawl. I know it's short and he's not going very far but hey, it's his first day at this.

Army Crawler

I haven't got a picture but Elijah is CRAWLING!!! It's not the hands and knees crawl that you may think of...think more along the lines of a Marine in combat but he's still mobile as anything. It seems like it just happened all of a sudden. I can't believe it. I'm so proud of him! I have to admit I'm a little sad to think of how independent he has become. So much more is in store for him!!! How will I cope?!! So much for delaying the babyproofing!!! Guess that gets done sooner than later!!!

AZ State Cutie

OK so my team is really U of M but who can find Michigan stuff in AZ? Even so, he's pretty cute if you ask me! He loves reading books..and tearing them if they are paper books. Hmmm...wonder where he got that from, huh Mom? (Teehee...my Mom and Dad would find me in a pile of paper in the crib) Good thing for board books! Anyway, it seems his favorite toy are these stacking cups we got from Discovery Toys. He loves to knock them down and pound them together.



We missed saying a few things on our blog in the last week..like...
Happy 32nd Wedding Anniversary Grandma and Grandpa!
and
Happy 6th Birthday Isaac!
and
CONGRATULATIONS on TWINS Levi and Micah to Angela and Chad!
and
Happy Birthday GaGa!

Wow! That was a lot to miss!

Standing with Assistance

As you can see Elijah can stand pretty well if he holds on to something. He likes to stand better than sitting now...which can pose as somewhat of a problem if I need him to sit and play for awhile. He is getting to be more and more independent now and is really growing into his own little person. We just love him to death and look forward to each and every day with him.
I'm glad I figured out how to post a video. I'll try to post them more often now for all you non-Arizonans.

Outdoor Cutie

We have slowly been working on our front and backyard and Elijah loves to sit in his car with us. We took these pictures a couple weeks ago but I just haven't been able to post them. Isn't he a cutie?
He's getting to be such a big boy! We went for his 9 month checkup today and he weighs..get this... 22 pounds! He's 28 1/4 inches. Wow! He's officially outgrown our infant seat! I can't believe it! Little chunky monkey!
That's all for now!