Finally, hopped up on sugar and needing to work off the extra calories, Eli decided to help his daddy do some pushups. This help consisted of climbing on Daddy's back and beating him on the head with a maraca.

It is never dull around here.

Then there was milk. What's a cookie without milk?

And still that cookie kept going.

Then Gennie the Dog decided that she needed a piece of the action (or a piece of the cookie).

And now, the story of a cookie...

After the cookie party on Saturday morning, we've had a lot of cookies around the house. Eli's never really eaten sweets (not since his birthday cake) but Sunday afternoon I gave him a cookie as a snack. It was the gift that keeps on giving.

The cookie was apparently delicious. He savored it. For a long time.

This weekend was a great one around the YoSim house. Friday evening, Eli made his stage debut, playing the part of "A Stocking" in the preschool Holiday Follies show. he could not figure out why hie was parading around in his pajamas and reindeer slippers in front of a couple hundred people, but he seemed to love every minute of it. The pics aren't very good but I'll post them as soon as I get them.

Saturday morning we went to a cookie swap at my friend Jennie's house. Jennie filled her house with neat women and their hilarious children. It was blessed chaos. Eli had a morning full of junk food and playing with someone else's toys-- bliss! I had a morning of eating junk food and knowing someone else was going to clean up-- bliss!

Later that evening, we went to the Aiken's house for another kid-friendly holiday get together. Eli apparently stood a little too close to the mistletoe because he got a big surprise hug from his new friend Lily Grace, about his age. As far as we know, this is his first romantic encounter with a member of the opposite sex. He got a huge grin on his face and high-tailed it into the other room. Okay, so he's not yet a Romeo. Eli enjoyed the spreas at the Aikens. So did his parents!

In other news, Eli loves this time of year because boxes keep showing up on the porch filled with the best stuff ever: packing paper and styrofoam peanuts!

We've been busy!
A few weeks ago, I met Kevin and Eli at the Georgia Aquarium for lunch. Mid-day on Wednesdays is apparently a great time to go since there's no one there! We are members, thanks to Grumpy and Grandmere, so it is fun for Eli and Kevin to go for a little while in the middle of the day when the weather is crummy.

I'm not sure why it has taken us so long to discover this, but Eli loves the piano at Grumpy and Grandmere's house. He especially likes to slide down the shiny bench to reach the high notes. It should be noted that these were taken with Grandmere's new iphone. Mama is very jealous of the iphone. Eli doesn't really care since it doesn't have buttons and he really likes buttons.

Eli says, "Happy December everyone!!"

But perhaps the best part of the trip was visiting with little cousin Hunter. Hunter's not so little anymore. He's almost four months old and a beautiful little butterball. So sweet! It was agreed upon by all that in no time, Eli and Hunter will be great friends.

Eli also got to spend time with his (almost) cousin Chloe. She's a rock star of a two-year-old, very smart and sassy. She's getting really good at sharing and helped Eli figure out how to play with the toys at G-Daddy's. Chloe is going to keep these boys in line, for sure.

We can't wait to see the cousins again!

Eli also had the opportunity to try out his daddy's old kiddie rocking chair.

It did not go well. He really wanted to ride it backwards or side saddle or something, but the chair wouldn't cooperate. Even when Eli got out the egg beater to subdue it, the chair refused to be tamed. In the end, the rocking chair went back to its home in the other room.

Can you believe it is December tomorrow?

The York-Simmons Family had a great Thanksgiving. Grumpy cooked a fabulous meal (as usual!). We ate until we were stuffed then got in the car for the long drive to see Grandaddy (a.k.a. G-Daddy) and everyone in Pilot. Eli was very good in the car.

The trip had a few highlights. One was discovering Great-Grandma's toy box, stocked with fun things that have been used by generations of kids visinting her house. Eli had a blast with the wooden spools, toy cars, blocks and other sundry things. The toy box will definitely get another visit at Christmastime!

Wow! It has been a rough week. Eli was sick all of last week with some sort of infection. Eye? Sinus? Bronchitis? We never did quite figure it out,but a round of antibiotics finally knocked it flat. But not before several nights of missed sleep, some serious crankyness and one sad-sack of a little boy. Now that he's better, though, he is sleeping like a champ and he slept in until 7:15 this morning!! It was AWESOME!!

Since Eli was feeling better yesterday morning, I decided to take him with me to church/work and let Kevin have a couple of hours of time to do his own work since he had lost several work days to sick baby care.

When we dressed him up on Sunday morning, he looked like such a big boy, sporting a little sweater vest and saddle shoes. so you wanna know what life looks like at our house in the mornings? Here it is (minus Kevin in his pjs).

While we were at the park for the neighborhood party, Eli figured out that it is very fun to tumble aorund on the ground while covered with a layer of thick polyester fur. He found it hilarious. I, on the other hand, started to understand the plight of bear mamas who are constantly having to pick sticks and leaves and acorns out of their baby bear's fur.

Eli was a bear for Halloween. We went to his preschool Fall Festival and to our neighborhood party. Eli was very full of himself.

When we visted Grandaddy in North Carolina a few weeks ago, he gave Eli a great gift: a rocking horse!





Ride 'em cowboy!

Eli is composing a symphony.