Once a month, we go the best toddler-fest ever in the form of our church's foyer group for parents with young kids. It is a big group and at any given meeting, there will be 8-10 kids with their parents. There's always someone new and there's always fun to be had. The kids play while the parents drink wine and hang out. Here's our little buddy Caroline showing Eli some dance moves.

And what better to do when it is cold and snowy outside but bake? Eli and I had our first adventures in the kitchen together. We made gingerbread muffins. He was a great help!

SNOW DAY!!!
Most any one reading this blog will already know that we don't get much snow in Atlanta. Thank goodness. But a little dusting now and then is pretty fun. Here's Eli's fist snowfall. He's wearing his new froggy rainboots!

Eli took a big bubble bath to combat the "trapped inside on a cold day at Granddaddy's house" blues.

Golf? What's golf?

Well, I got a few pics up and now Blogger's not uploading anymore. Argh.
I'll keep trying, friends. We've had a big weekend with all the snow and I know you're dying to see Eli in his snowsuit and rubber boots. As a side note, I can't say "rubber boots" in our house because Eli thinks I'm talking about his friend Robert and then starts walking around the house going "Bober? Bober?" looking for Robert. Language is a funny funny thing.

Daddy and Eli say "Merry Christmas!"


Baby Hunter gets some quality snuggle time with his Great Grandma.


The cousins open presents.


Hunter and his Granddaddy

FINALLY!!!
Here's opening presents and Grumpy and Grandmaman's house.

This has been a really nutso month so I'm not even going to apologize for being a delinquent blogger. So there. Nah.

Eli is growing like a weed. We just bought him some new shoes. On the advice of the pediatrician, he'll stay in those soft leather moccasins as long as he can since they're really good for foot development. Unfortunately for Eli, that won't be too much longer since the new ones we just bought that fit him are size 21-27 months-- and he's not even 16 months old yet!!! I can't imagine where he gets those big feet from...

But really, he is moving quickly from baby to toddler. Our friend Erin (rock star mother of Baikal and Rybolt) said the other day, "Wow. Eli's got hair and teeth!" And that part's true: he looks like a kid. But it is more than that. He walks like a kid and he's starting to run, too. He decides to do things rather than just acting on impulse. Often, he makes bad decisions, but that's part of toddlerhood, too.

And the cool part for me is that this part is pretty fun. Being the mother of a toddler is a hoot. I love chasing him around the park and wrestling him on the couch. It is awesome to watch him figure out spaghetti and give his opinion on the music on the radio. We still have a long way to go but he's becoming this funny little person. Was there really a world without him?

Sorry... I got carried away...

Christmastime was a blast. We were so so so busy with all of our visiting and playing and celebrating. Eli was awesome through the whole hting, a really trooper when it came to being carted from one family event to another. And since Mama and Daddy had a few shindigs to go to, Eli got to spend some time with Grumpy and Grandmaman. He's still not entirely sure about sleeping over at their place but loves to play the piano and torture the dog (merely a Doberman, of course).

Eli took to opening presents like a duck to water and was really intent on opening his presents, my presents, his grandparents' presents... He didn't really care much about the gift itself, but was thrilled to tear the paper and play with the bows. Even though we tried to keep it light on stuff this year (we don't need much!) Eli still got some good loot from his adoring fans. Mama and Daddy gave him a fun tunnel to crawl through, some wooden racecars, and a push toy that makes lots of obnoxious clacking sounds. Grumpy and Grandmere gave Eli a wagon for riding to the park. We're putting the wagon to very good use already. Eli calls it a "wawo" and plays with it inside and out. Grandaddy got Eli a radio flyer tricycle and a golf set (plastic, of course). Eli uses the golf set to play hockey and the tricycle to chase the dog. Good times (well, not for the dog, but certainly for the rest of us!). Eli's daddy, on the other hand, likes the golf game a lot and has trained Eli to be his ball retriever.

Cousin Hunter is also getting big. Eli was very sweet to Hunter (except for the part when he tried to whack him on the head with the plastic hammer, but no need to mention that part). Hunter's mom watches Eli with some amount of trepidation. Eli's such a fearless little wild-child, it is hard to imagine sweet little Hunter ever flinging himself around like that. Just wait, Jaime, the day will come!!

[I am having a really hard time uploading pictures and this is my third try. Be patient, Christmas pictures will come soon enough. Sorry!]

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!