Car Sounds

Spinning Wheel

August Photos Again

After searching our iPhones, I did find a few notable photos of Eli for the month of August. Enjoy.

View them on Picasa Web Albums.

Order them from Walgreens.

August Photos

Well, it's only one. We must have been in baby girl preparation mode in the month of August for the photos of Eli were few and far between.

Basketball

Eli Falls Asleep

Fake Tantrum

Funny Face

Flying Bear

Bath Faucet Fun

Fire Engine

Eli Hugs Grace

Eli June 2011 Photos

View them online in Picasa Web Albums here.

Order prints from Walgreens here.

July Photos

View them online here.

Order prints here.

Scales

Spinning Chair

Ketchup

Ketchup Bottle

Eli Greets the Fans

Cleaning up at Burger King

Eli Drives

Pickup Stones

Horse Ride on Dad

Broom

New Shoes

Eli eats pizza

Bubble Wrap

School's Out Forever Dog

Ribbon Ball

Body Slams

Bread Slice

Eli makes some noise

Eli climbs a chair

Eli on a cleaning kick

Eli and the mouse

Eli picks flowers

Eli & Emma

Eli & Grace

Eli pulls a weed

Eli wakes up

Eli May Photos

View the photos in Picasa Web Albums.

Order prints from Walgreens.

Eli and the Easter Basket

Eli in the Tunnel

First Bites with a Fork

Glass Door

Chatty Eli

Eli the Hairdresser

Eli Fears the Koosh

Side Step

Why we baptized Eli today

Our pastor asked us to share with the congregation why we wanted to have Eli baptized. Here's what we told them:

1. Children have always been part of the covenant God has made with his people. Children were included all the way back in Genesis 17 in God's covenant with Abraham and again on Pentecost when Peter speaks about God's promise being "for you and for your children." Jen and I place our faith in this God, are members of Christ's church, and are filled with the Holy Spirit. As our son, Eli is part of our family, this New Community congregation, and the covenant community we call the Church.

2. We realize that baptizing Eli as a baby runs counter to the hyper-individualism rampant in America today. Baptism places the emphasis on God and what God has done in Christ and what God is doing in Eli. Eli's baptism today is far more about God than it is about Eli. Rather than focus on Eli's helplessness, just like our own, focus on God's graciousness. This sacrament is a visible sign of the invisible grace that God gives to Eli. Perhaps the easiest way to express it is that God says "yes" to Eli.

3. Baptism is not just a sign of God's faithfulness and unrelenting love, it is also a promise of future faith. We look forward to the day when Eli says "yes" back to God. Baptizing Eli makes blatantly clear what we already know - that God acts first in our salvation and that whatever faith we do have, it is because God has given it to us. We baptize Eli today in the promise of faith that is to come. Eli already has a relationship with Christ and the Church even if he has not made a decision to convert. In baptizing Eli, we demonstrate what is true: that Eli belongs to God and is a part of the covenant community until the day that he should reject them. In other words, Eli's "in" until he takes himself "out."

Desk Chair

Diaper Champ

Eli at the Playground

Eating Asparagus - Almost

Diaper Liners

Looking Outside

Failed Feeding

Eli April 2011 (8 photos), by Andrew Vanover

I'd like to share my Walgreens Photo Center photos with you. Once you have checked out my photos you can order prints and upload your own photos to share.

More April Photos

April Photos

First Steps

Eli took his first steps last Friday! I wasn't there, and this photo was taken maybe an hour after the event. Jen saw it live. Eli was standing at a bench at his friend Lukas' house. They were standing on this "bench" of two chairs facing each other. Eli was on one end of the "bench" and wanted to get to the other end...but Lukas was in the way. So he just stepped around Lukas to the other side of the bench! I guess all it took was a little motivation.

Eli and the Beads

Opening Birthday Presents

Room to Crawl

Crawling with Grandpa George

Eli Chuckles

Eli's Birthday Balloon

Eli claps

Eli and the Laundry

Eli March 2011 (21 photos), by Andrew Vanover

I'd like to share my Walgreens Photo Center photos with you. Once you have checked out my photos you can order prints and upload your own photos to share.

Eli March Photos

View them online here in Picasa Web Albums.

If you want to order prints, you can through Walgreens.

Eli and the Alarm Clock

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After the Donut...

Eli's First Birthday Donut

Eli's First Year Slideshow

Eli's First Birthday

Opening presents is fun...

...but not as much fun as reading the directions!

My first birthday cupcake, yum!!!

Grilled Filets on Valentine's

In the spirit of this forty-degree Chicago weather, I grilled a pair of filet mignons when Jen got home from work tonight. I love you!

Eli January 2011, by Andrew Vanover

I'd like to share my Walgreens Photo Center photos with you. Once you have checked out my photos you can order prints and upload your own photos to share.

Eli eats an apple

Crib Standing

I knew one of these days we would walk into Eli's room and find him standing in his crib. It happened tonight even while wearing his sleep sack! Good thing we lowered the mattress a month ago.

Grrrr

I'm not sure what made him do this, but I'm glad we got it on film.

Right Foot

Eli's been into holding his right foot while eating lately. Not sure why. Better than in his mouth!

Bigger in Wisconsin

Here's proof that they grow them big in Wisconsin - Eli was 8 months and still fit into this newborn outfit from Wisconsin.

Crib Sitting

Jen walked in and found Eli sitting up in his crib after a nap a few weeks ago.

Football Watching

Even though this is a month old, you can see the lengths Eli will go to so he can watch football.

Twenty pounds

We took Eli in to the pediatrician today and he weighs 20 pounds exactly. He is 8 mo and 1 wk.

Sitting Up Now

I lucked out to see Eli sit up for the first time today and get a few photos as he made the big push! He is crawling in fits and starts but not yet continuously. 7 months 3 weeks for those interested.

October Photos

Now in a Picasa Web Album.

First Swimming Lesson

Election Day

Eli's looking forward to being able to vote in 17.5 years!

Eli, Where Are You?

Creeping

Eli is officially creeping. He can get around in a scootch/slide/sprawl manner that propels him forward to whatever target he locks onto. Good thing we purchased and installed a gate a few days ago.

Nov. 2 Voting Made Easy

If you live near North Park University, you now have absolutely no excuse not to vote on Nov. 2. I have done the hard work of reviewing the endorsements of the Chicago Tribune and the Chicago Sun-Times for the contested races since I am not going to take the time to look at each race and make a decision on my own. If you can relate, read on!

To my surprise, they agreed on the majority of their endorsements. I indicated this with a thin green line on the ballot. They differed on the big ones - amendment, senator, governor, treasurer. Since the Tribune leans Republican I highlighted their endorsements in pink; the Sun-Times leans Democrat so I highlighted their endorsements in blue. There were a few smaller races where the Tribune made an endorsement and the Sun-Times had none. For those, I just highlighted pink.

This linked document is the "Specimen General Election Ballot Style 218." You can get an advance copy of the ballot you will receive here. A general list of everyone running for every position is available here (but it's not as useful).

Now you have NO excuse not to vote on Nov. 2!

Inches from Crawling

After being home with Eli today, I am going to make a guarantee that he will start crawling in November. He's up on his hands and his feet, has taken "steps" with his hands and with his knees. All he needs is a little coordination and our life as we know it with a stationary child will be history.

TwitterFeed

I just started an account with TwitterFeed that will automatically take my blog posts and push them out to Twitter and Facebook. Consider this a test of the new service.

Eli's First Night in Germany

Jen and Eli are in Germany with her mom visiting her sister and new nephew. Here's her account of the first night:

He did great on the flight and during the first day here.  Last night... solid food, bath, and to bed at like 8:30.  He slept for 2 hours, then woke up.  I fed him and he didn't go down... not even sleepy.  burped him, rocked him, fed him again.  still playful.  warned mom i was going to let him cry it out...  he screamed his head off for 1:15 and then, since that's the longest he did at home and here he's sick, in a new place and in a new time zone... i picked him up (we're sleeping in the same room).  He immediately stopped crying.  i rocked him a few min still he stopped gasping (you know, that post crying, calming down breathing) and he fell asleep in my arms.  i put him down and he didn't move.  that was that.  he slept until i woke him up at 9. 

September Photos

I've started using Picasa Web Albums instead of Flickr. I'm also transitioning from iPhoto to Picasa 3. With over 8,000 photos, I don't see this project ending anytime soon.

End of September

Difficult Day

Today's a difficult day. Eli hasn't slept for more than 45 min at a time despite waking up before 6am. We gave him carrots last night for the first time. Changing diapers after eating solid foods is no fun. So far, peas and carrots are my least favorites. Enough said. Worse than that, I bent over and kissed him on the changing table right as he spit up and onto my lips. Tasting your own throw up is bad; this is the first time I've tasted someone else's; it was worse (and yes, I did just use two semi-colons in a single sentence).

Today's highlight was going through the automatic car wash for the first time. He liked the beginning and the ending but the middle was quite noisy. I had to sing pretty loudly so he wouldn't get scared and cried. Mission accomplished.

Eli makes noise