Getting into the groove

I don't know why it took me so long to have Eli put himself down for naps. I just had to let him cry and go in every 10-15 minutes and now he puts himself down for nearly every nap. I used to nurse him down but lately he is awake through most of if not all of nursing. Or if he falls asleep he wakes right up. Anyway, he was skipping every single nap when meant there was a crazy mommy and crazy baby in the house. So I started leaving him in the crib for what should constitute a nap and he started falling asleep on his own. Win win. We are both way happier, and this has been going on for weeks now. I am also finally finding time to get things done around the house!  I found this grout paint that makes your grout look a million times better, like new really. I spent 3 solid days of nap times redoing all of our grout. I have gorgeous tile and very bruised knees to show for it. I also secured the rest of the tippable furniture to the wall today.  I have also started vacuuming every other day downstairs because I know a little boy who likes to crawl everywhere, and some cats who like to track litter everywhere. I am loving my house more and more now that I have been making these small changes. I also cleaned our shower doors with something called bio-clean. I can't remember if I mentioned this before but it is magical. Add a little (kinda a lot) of elbow grease and my shower doors look brand new, no more hard water stains that are 10 years old! 

I have no smooth transition. Straight to baby talk.  Eli has been semi approving of books more these days. He often wants to just chew on them and is not interested in me reading anything, but crawling and clinmbing, those are his favorites and he does it all day every day! 

My mom got me this awesome "my mom snaps" book as part of my birthday gift. It's all about the daily activities a kid is doing and how the mama snaps pictures all day long. I LOVE it! 

Eli got to meet my friends 4 week old niece. She was so sweet. It's crazy how fast you can forget how cuddly and sweet little ones are. I absolutely loved that stage but this stage is way more fun, that stage was sweet :) .

Paul and I went on our first childless date day and it was amazing. We still bought Eli some stuff but mainly we  went bike shopping to 3 different stores and did research. Then we went to lunch, got my free starbucks bday coffee and then walked 3 miles around greenlake in some amazing weather. It was a much needed 5.5 hour date while grandma watched Eli. And we got to see the blue angels because it was Seafair! 

Eli loved his first taste of vine fresh blackberries! There are lots of places close to home that have blackberries free for the picking. I made my first freezer jam with them!  

I had to go get a filling and a cleaning at the dentist and it turned into a 1.75 hour visit because of insurance logistics and stuff. This kind of thing would have annoyed me pre baby but I just enjoyed the time alone watching the news and fiddling on my phone while waiting for things!  I also didn't need to get numbed at all because the fillings were so small, which was awesome! I would way rather have them fixed now than in a few years when they are awful! 

My mother in law made me an awesome fruit tart for my bday, and the Celebrate is my favorite event additive I got from lisa leonard designs when she was having a sale :) 

My boy loves the bath, we take one every night almost even though he showers with me in the morning. 

My birthday bike with my main man! 

Amber teething necklace please work! 

Eli unfortunately caught his first cold (or has really bad teething congestion) and he is hating the nose frieda.  I have a humidifier running in his room and he has been napping more than ususal. Still just teeth buds and no teeth, which is fine by me. Love this little dude and hope he feels better soon.