Eli is One!

Our other exciting news is that Eli has officially turned ONE! It was bittersweet for me, but I'm very thankful we have a happy, healthy, growing boy. We celebrated his birthday on July 13th, the day after his actual birthday. Though we tried to keep it small (Eli's grandparents, aunts and uncles, my godparents, and a few of our close friends), we still had a big turn out, which we appreciated immensely. It's always fun to have a houseful of people, and it was great visiting with everyone.

On Thursday my dad and step-mom and my brother and Bailey made their way down to Missouri, so we got a little extra time to visit with them. Friday I spent most of the day (with a lot of help from Bailey) getting everything prepared for Saturday. We also picked up Eli's cake, which was super cute! I ordered it from Cakes by Candace here in Rolla, and I was very impressed with her work. I know I posted a picture on Facebook already, but here's another!

I'm really not going to post a lot of pictures from his birthday since I already put most of them on Facebook, but we truly had a wonderful day. The rest of our out-of-town guests (which included my mom, step-dad, my aunt, uncle, cousin, Mason's mom, sister, and nephew-- I hope I didn't miss anyone) arrived on Friday or early Saturday morning. Eli was incredibly well-behaved, especially considering he didn't have much of a nap. He ate like a champ, which didn't surprise me, and went to town when it was time to eat his cake. He didn't really know what to think about opening presents, but he certainly liked playing with all of his toys once they were set up for him. He made out like a bandit, and to be honest, I don't know where we are going to put most of his stuff! He's very blessed, and so are we to have such thoughtful friends and family!

After the majority of our guests left, we just lounged on our deck with my parents, my brother and sister-in-law, and my aunt, uncle, and cousin. We ended up starting a fire and had some smores as well. It was such a great day and we were so thankful to everyone who was able to come or that sent gifts for Eli!

Us with the handsome birthday boy!

The other day Mason and I took Eli in for his one year checkup. We found out that he is in the 95th percentile for weight (26 pounds), and the 90th percentile for height (31 1/4 inches), which didn't really surprise us given the amount of food that boy can put away. He also had to get three shots, which he definitely wasn't fond of, but he was a trooper! Then we had to go down to the lab to get some blood drawn to check his iron. We actually just found out this morning that he is slightly anemic, so we are going to have to give him drops for three months to help with this. His number was 10.9 and they want it to be at 11.3, so his doctor isn't super concerned at this point, but she obviously doesn't want it to get any lower. And in another month we have to take him back to the lab to check his iron level again. I guess we're just going to have to buy the kid some steak! ;)

Eli is definitely getting around now! Though he's not walking (yet), he climbs and pulls up on everything, and can stand by himself for a very short period of time. Once he gets that balance down he will be gone! He still doesn't have any teeth, but the doctor said his gums are very swollen, and we could actually see the nubs of where his four top teeth are getting ready to come in, so it shouldn't be long! We've been calling him "Rex" because he has gotten into this stage where he likes to growl when he "talks." It's actually pretty funny because he will hold up his index finger and just yammer away at us. He's still a really good sleeper and usually takes two naps everyday. He has also been sleeping about twelve hours every night, which Mason and I appreciate. :) It's nice to sleep in! Overall, he's a very happy little boy, and we have enjoyed getting to spend the summer with him!

This is Eli's last monthly picture, minus his 12-month sticker. I have no idea where I put it, so this is what I got! ;)