7 months old!

I can hardly believe my little baby is 7 months old today! I feel like 6 months is still little...but 7...7 is big! He's getting closer and closer to a year! I was standing in front of my tree tonight, thinking back to last year when Mike and I took our "family" picture with me, him, Riley and Cliffy. Amazing how much can change in a year.

Eli is becoming quite the squirmy little guy! It's getting harder to hold him cause he just wants to squirm everywhere! Explore, explore, explore. It's so fun to see how the little things we don't even THINK about....like how the numbers in the elevator light up.... just thrill this kid.

So this week, I discovered that when I laugh at Eli, he laughs back. Super cute...especially when he's trying to be mr. sad cranky eli. I love tricking him into laughing. :) There's not a day that goes by that I don't think about how lucky I am to have this kid.

Eli's favorite things at this age are: chewing the covers off of his books, squealing as loud as he can, pretending to cough, getting as much slobber on mommy's face as possible (I love Eli kisses!), pretending to wake up at 5am, singing loudly during the quiet moments in church, running his fingers through Mommy's hair, rolling all over the living room, eating the remote control, pulling his hat over his face and just being CUTE. :)

Yay Food!

So far, Eli loves food! It's so much fun to feed him. I hate that we have to wait 2-3 days before introducing new foods.. I wish I could just sit down and feed him tons of different things to see what he likes. We started with rice cereal (likes), then carrots (likes), then sweet potatoes (starting to like them more), then oatmeal (likes more than rice cereal), then pumpkin (haaaaated it), then squash (LOVES!), then green beans (dislikes). I'm making my own food because I tried it and it's REALLY easy. I thought it would be much harder or annoying, but it's SO easy! For sweet potatoes, I baked one potato, then blended it up, added some water and wala! Done! One sweet potato was EIGHT servings of food for him. I'm doing the whole...freeze the food in the ice cube tray and serve it later thing. It's great! Four carrots made 3 servings. I think this is definitely the cheapest way to go. I love my magic bullet...it's blending everything up perfectly! Tonight, we move on to peas. I have a feeling he's not going to go for them, but we'll see. :) I have carrots on standby.

6 months old!

It's been a fun past two weeks!!! First of all, the one tooth is really noticeable now (hard to get a picture cause he hides it). Two days ago, when I was feeling to see how sharp the tooth was, I felt another one next door! Woohoo! He didn't complain about that one coming in at all... such a brave little guy. So now he has his two bottom teeth! Can't wait til they show up in pictures. :)

Last week, Eli finally rolled from his back to his belly (he'd previously only been doing belly to back) on his own! Woohoo! Before he NEVER liked to be on his side...now he's spending a lot more time there, especially when Mommy is trying to change his diaper. :) He's yet to become a steamrolling maniac... he'll pretty much just roll over once and be content with his new position. FINE by me. Buys me a little more time before he's unstoppable.

His new favorite thing to do is floor swim. When we put him on his belly now, he loves lifting both arms and both legs, flailing as quick as he possibly can. He lasts about 5 seconds, puts them down to rest, and then goes again. It's super cute. I can totally see the energy this kid is going to have when he starts crawling and it's really scary. :)

Last week, on his 6 month birthday, we fed Eli for the first time! (Nowadays, all of the literature and pediatric societies strongly encourage waiting until 6 months to eat so their digestive systems are better developed). One teaspoon of rice cereal to four teaspoons of formula pretty much felt like I was feeding him his formula with a spoon... but it was still super fun! The first face he gave us was priceless... but then he proceeded to gobble the rest of it up. Mmmm. I'm waiting til today's doc appointment to give him the next food, because there are a million different opinions about the proper "order" to feed the baby....and I just want to get her take on it. Most likely, we will be giving him carrots, since that's the veggie mommy ate most when she was pregnant and he might already like it. :) I'm super excited about making his food and did a trial run with the carrots today. Yay!

He's really doing great! Mike and I are so, so, so thankful that we have such a great kid. As one of my patients told me yeterday, God gives you the good one first so that you're encouraged to have more.

The tooth is coming

It's been a busy week! First of all, I noticed on Sunday (Nov 1st) that Eli's first tooth is coming in! At first, it was just a big red bump... last night, I could see the actual top of the tooth. Eli's been with his Grandparents during the day for the last two days and they said he wasn't fussing at all. Could it be that I have a kid who doesn't cry when his first tooth comes in? We'll see. I think the worst is yet to come.

Our trip to Maryland was super fun!!! We got to hang out with Grandma, Aunt Rosie, Emily, Uncle Tom, Great Grandma, Aunt Kathy, Stacey and the twins! It was a busy three days but super fun ones. Eli had a lot of firsts.... first time in the leaves, first time carving pumpkins (er...he was asleep...), first time getting dressed up in his little monkey outfit! He was an ADORABLE monkey. Eli also got to meet his friends, Jonah and Gabe, who were born on the same day as Dexter! Now he has two more buddies to add to his posse. It was close to the day when he met them, so he had a big meltdown. Nothing like three screaming children to make you lose your noodle.

On Halloween, we went trick-or-treating with Eli's friend, Sonali. She was dressed as a ladybug and Eli the monkey.... super cute. We went out to a street that was all decorated and spooky... with the TONS of people there, the kids were just staring with wide eyes the whole time. They were so entranced by everything that was going on that neither of them tried to take off their hats! Yay! We went back to Sonali's building and went trick-or-treating to about 5 apartments. For Eli's first door, Mike let him lean over to the candy bowl and pick whatever he wanted. Hahaa... wouldn't you know it, my son picked the giant plastic spider that was on top of the bowl. Hahaha. Good choice, Eli. Go for the big ticket item. :)

I'm filling in for someone at work and decided to go in on Monday and Tuesday. Eli got to be with his Grandparents and I got to spend the whole day working with Mike. Monday night, I had my workout class in the city, so I came home solo and Mike went to spend the night with the baby. I was 50% happy cause I got to have a whole night of ME time and 50% sad cause I really missed my boys. It was definitely a strange combo of emotions. Tuesday was a really hard day because I missed Eli sooooo much.

I'm amazed every single day at the new things Eli can do. He's picking up skills so quickly these days... it's just remarkable to see that all unfold before my eyes. He's doing better with his sitting...especially when distracted by a fun toy! I'm so looking forward to these next three days with him before I have to go back to work!

It's almost Monkey Time!!

I am so so so excited about Halloween! Can't wait to see Eli in his adorable Monkey outfit! I've resisted the temptation to put him in it to see what he looks like. I can't wait to see!

I feel like every day this week has been filled with big changes. On Friday, he started holding his bottle all my himself! We just have to help him out with the very end. He's getting much better at sitting and balancing himself when he starts to teeter. He's reaching for EVERYTHING right now.... he just wants to touch (and put in his mouth, of course) everything he comes near. He loves looking at the cats and was actually petting Riley (without grabbing her hair like he did the first time) and laughing. Whenever the cats walk past him, he stops whatever he is doing to watch them. They are starting to come over to him (not up to him, but closer) now, too.

Tito Tommy came over this week so that Mike and I could go out to see a movie (Whip it!). It was so fun and we love knowing that Eli is in good hands. :)

He's still a great sleeper.... averaging about 11.5 hours a night. Tonight he was WIPED out and fell asleep before he could even finish his bottle. Completely limp while I was putting him in his jammies. So cute.

Our friend Julie is having her 2nd baby boy tomorrow - can't wait to hear what his name is! Another friend for Eli!

Eli's favorite activities this week: trying to fit Mrs. Seahorse in his mouth, playing with his keys, screaming and squealing while putting his keys in his mouth, fitting Mr. Cow's entire head into his mouth, grabbing books so he can bite them, gumming plastic ring toys as hard as he can, covering his face with blankets (yes, he needs to be watched), and trying to pull the skin off of mommy's neck. :) I love this kid!!!

5 months and lots of changes!

It's really amazing to me how many new things Eli can do every day. About a week ago, he started being able to hold his feet (it was just his knees before) and tonight, he put his toes in his mouth for the first time. Yay flexibility and abdominal strength! He's also become much better at unsupported sitting this week. Earlier in the week, he was able to sit by himself (albeit quite poorly) for about five minutes. He still likes to push himself backwards, so there's no leaving him alone quite yet.

His favorite toy is still his beachball and tonight he was very good about holding it by himself and transferring it back and forth between his feet and hands.

His other favorite activity this week is squealing and screaming. He loooooves hearing himself talk and squeal. So cute. He could do it (and does) for hours. When we were at church, we were wondering how that would go over during the quiet parts..... but happily he was quiet and only squealed while everyone else was singing.

Thanks to all the mom suggestions, we bought a Bundle Me for his car seat...now I can zip him up in his own little lined bag when we go for walks and rides in the car. Woohoo!

We also discovered something fun this week.... Eli tends to wake up at 6am or so, talking to himself. Well if I just let him talk for a little bit, he falls back asleep and doesn't wake up til 8. YAY 12 hours of sleep!!!

Other Random Thoughts

I thought of a few more new things that I wanted to make sure I was keeping track of. :) Eli has almost completely outgrown his bath tub. He likes to splash and kick and try to get his legs as far out of the tub as possible. I put a bath toy (a little duckie) in there last week and he loved it. It's a small tub so the duck doesn't have far to go, but it was still fun.

We stopped swaddling Eli at night (woohoooooo) and have been putting him in super cute little sleeper outfits. When he was waking up in the night, his legs were FREEZING cold, despite the warm sleeper. So we started putting him in a fleece sleep sack (why don't they make these for adults????) and he's gone back to sleeping through the night. He looks so cute in his crib.

It's so funny how he has such preferences for his toys. There are some toys he has that I think look SUPER FUN but he couldn't care less about them. I want to go to Target today to see if I can get a few more toys....a ring stacking thing and some toys that talk. He also needs more pants.... SO fun buying baby clothes!

He sat up by himself this morning for about 5 seconds. Maybe he will be able to sit after all... I thought he'd totally rebel against sitting since he loves to stand so much.

He's lost a lot of hair on the back of his head except for his little pony tail. It's hilarious. We should just cut it off but I think it's cute :)

Ok.... over and out for now. He's napping and it's time to get some of the clothes folded and put away. Fun, fun. :)

Almost 5 months!

Amazing that Eli's almost FIVE months old. He's changed so much since my last post. He's now VERY good about tummy time.... one morning he even stayed on his belly for an hour (though that is indeed rare) cause he was loving all of his toys. The $2 I spent on his little plastic keys was money WELL spent. He loves putting those things in his mouth every way possible. He also LOVES chewing on his giraffe, mommy's fingers, and Mr. Monkey. (I realized last week that I was Mr.-ing everying, so Rachna and I decided that the giraffe is a Mrs.). Another one of his new favorite things to do is play with his beach ball.... he LOVES kicking it, spinning it, licking it and looking at all of the bright colors. He has a thing for tables.... he LOVES feeling them, trying to lick them, bang them, etc. Tables of all kinds fascinate him. It's great when he discovers them because it will buy mommy at least 45 seconds of being able to eat her meal....something that was once easy to do but is now difficult since he REFUSES TO SIT. Yes, Eli prefers standing and if I try to put him in a sitting position, he violently pushes back with his back so that he is straight. Hopefully he'll outgrow that little phase soon.

Although on the whole he's still a great sleeper, he's now taken to getting up once in the middle of the night. He usually starts out talking to himself which then progresses to spitting (his new favorite activity...blowing bubbles/spitting), kicking full force and then punching his crib. When this fails to get mommy's attention, he cries. Following the doctor's advice not to feed him if he gets up in the middle of the night, I've just been changing his diaper, hugging/rocking him for a minute or two and then laying him back down. For the most part, he goes right back to sleep. Last night he woke up every hour, but I'm thinking that has to do more with the fact that he currently has the WORST diaper rash I've ever seen. (Have gotten tons of advice on what the "Best" diaper cream is.... right now we're trying the butt paste).

After working 5 days in a row (I was filling in for someone who was out), I'm VERY excited about getting to spend the next two days at home with my little buddy. Thanks tons to Lolo and Lola (Grandpa and Grandma) for watching Eli for the past three days!

The best day

I can't stop smiling because today was just one of those completely perfect days. From the moment he woke up til the moment he went to bed, Eli was a perfect, happy angel. We spent the day with Rachna and Dexter (woohoo!) and just had a great, great day. Eli's getting stronger and therefore tolerating tummy time much better.... he had tummy time four times today and didn't complain at all! We went for a nice 3 mile walk (up major hills...go mommies!) and Eli slept most of the way. He had a great time watching Dexter and loved smiling at Rachna. Instead of crying when we were looking for parking (he hates the stop and go), he was talking the whole time in his cute little voice. When we got home, we played for a little bit and then had his good night bottle. Usually when he's done, that's when he starts to fuss... tonight he just kept smiling at me! I kept looking at him in disbelief cause he just kept smiling....and kept it up while I was swaddling him AND while I put him in his crib. I turned on his good night music, turned off the light and left the room...and NEVER heard a peep! Amazing. What a great, great day!

4 months old!

Eli turned 4 months old on Saturday! He has his 4 month check-up on Wednesday, and I so clearly remember when, at his 2 month check-up, the doctor was telling me how fun he would be at 4 months. At the time, I was thinking - wow, 4 months is a long ways away.... and now here we are!

It's amazing to see how much changes on a daily basis. Over these past few days, he's been talking up a storm!! I like to think I'm hearing him say "hi" and "yeah." :) It's so cute to hear his little voice.

We're looking forward to our weekly visit with Dexter tomorrow! The boys are starting to really notice each other and it's just fun to see them together. I got matching "best buddies" shirts for them to wear, so hopefully they'll both end up in them at the same time. It's a great workout for the mommies to walk through Rachna's hilly neighborhood pushing those strollers.

He's still taking his super long naps, which gives me the chance to put videos and pictures online to share. I love that he's such a great napper and hope it lasts for at least a few more months!

Yesterday, Tito Tommy came over for the Redskins/Giants game. I didn't get home until part way through the game, so Eli was already wearing his Manning (Giants) jersey. After half-time, I switched him into his Redskins onesie :) (As soon as I put it on, the Redskins got an interception - woo!). Goooo Redskins!!!

Off for now. Will post more after the doctor's appointment. I can't wait to see how much he weighs! My guess is 15 lbs 11 oz. :)

17 weeks old!

Ah, so I've been quite terrible about updating this blog. I really thought I'd be much better about it.

So Eli is now 17 weeks old and is changing so much every day! About two weeks ago, we decided to start the whole cry himself to sleep deal...and it's worked GREAT. We lay him in his crib, tell him we love him and we'll see him in the morning, turn on his little light show/music thingy and close the door. He cries for about 5 to 10 minutes and is OUT. Last night I decided to be really daring and try putting him to bed without swaddling him. (A huge pain, cause he always busts out of it and then gets upset that he's out). I put him in his long jammies and laid him down.... 10.5 hours later, I was wishing him a good morning! We tried it again tonight, and again he's out. So maybe we are now living a swaddle-free life!

Over the past three days, he's started to try reaching for things while on his belly... a great developmental step! WOOHOO! He doesn't cry as much when he's on his belly now... probably cause he's stronger and can last longer.

We went to visit Rachna and Dexter today and had a great day!!! We always love going for visits. I so can't wait til the boys are old enough to run around!

Ok...over and out for now.

Happy 16 week birthday, Eli!!!

So I haven't been as good at keeping up with this site as I thought I would be. I'll try harder! We've had a busy few weeks - Eli's first vacation to Ocean City filled with tons of firsts. Will post more about that later.

Today, Eli is 16 weeks old and he celebrated by ROLLING OVER! We were at Rachna's house visiting her and little Dexter (Eli was really staring at Dex today!) and Eli was on his belly doing a little tummy time... when all of a sudden, he rolled over to his back! Rachna and I looked at each other like... did he just do that??? He was all smiles and very proud of himself. After showering him with kisses, I put him back on his belly and he rolled right over again! Of course when I went to get the camera to capture the moment, he acted like he had no idea what to do. We'll see if he'll do it again tomorrow. :)

He now loves sticking his four fingers into his mouth, holding onto his toys, standing supported, squeezing mommy's nose as hard as he can, sitting in his high chair at the table like a big boy (not eating yet), staring at himself in the bathroom mirror, kicking mommy as hard as he can and squealing with glee when he does something fun.

He's still a great little sleeper, giving us between 8-11 hours a night. This week we started the whole letting him cry himself to sleep deal (because he has to learn how to self soothe) and he's doing great with it! The most he's ever cried is 20 minutes and usually it's less than 5 before he drifts off to slumber land. We are so blessed and lucky to have this kid - he's such a good boy!

He went to bed early tonight, so off I should head.... I think it's going to be an early morning!

Eli's busy day!

So yesterday was a really busy and fun day for my little man. In the afternoon, we met up with Heather, Will, Sawyer and Jamie for Eli's very first mommy-and-me exercise class! Sawyer (Eli's 6 month old girlfriend) has been going for a few months and we finally got to join her! There was one other little 6 month old girl, Abby, in the class. We had tons of fun! Above are a few pictures. Eli fell asleep at the end of the class cause he had missed his nap and was WIPED out. Sawyer loved looking at Eli and grabbing his shirt. :)

After lunch with Jamie and Heather, we headed home for a little bit until Mike got home and then drove out to visit Rachna, Nick and Eli's best friend Dexter. They were actually both awake and pleasant at the SAME TIME so we used the opportunity to take some pictures. Those are at the top of the page (Ok...someone help explain to me how i can nicely distribute the pictures throughout this blog.

Tonight we are off to Maryland to visit Grandma and to go to my friend Joanna's wedding! Can't wait!

My attempt to add pictures

Becky showed me how to add pictures, so we're going to give it a try. Yesterday was a long one for our little guy... he had a mini-meltdown in Target (he always does...right near the end when we get to the scrapbooking section) and then I had to wake him up from his afternoon nap to take him to my company picnic. Glad we went - the park was beautiful and it was nice to catch up with co-workers. He wasn't his usual smiley self, but he was still very well behaved.

This morning I got him to sit up on his own....for 2 seconds. Lol. Sitting independently isn't a skill he'll have for a while, but I think it's fun to keep practicing.

Yaaay - it worked when I added a picture! It's SO hard to capture his smiles in pictures because as soon as I hold up the camera, he frowns... but the other day I was able to get him smiling at Daddy! He LOVES smiling at the ladies.... he's a total mini-ham. :)

Happy 12 week birthday, Eli!!!

Well today Eli is 12 weeks old and I decided to steal Becky/Charlie's idea and create a blog about him so that friends/family can keep up with my little buddy. I can't believe he's 12 weeks old already!!!

Favorite Hobbies this week: Trying to fit both hands in his mouth, excessive drooling

Sleeping this week: short little naps (mainly cause mommy has him out and about) but sleeping 12 hours at night!

Adventures: Barbecue in Brooklyn last Sunday, playdate on the upper west side with Sonali Monday, and a trip to Target AND to my company picnic today. We're going out to dinner Wednesday, heading up to visit Dexter on Thursday and are heading down to visit Grandma on Friday!

Height/Weight: About 14 lbs and 24 inches (roughly...it's hard to measure). We're about to go up to the size 2 diapers... my little boy is growing up!

Changes this week: He's almost able to prop up on his forearms during tummy time, but not quite. He's starting to grab onto objects in his little play gym and can still play independently in there for about 45 minutes. He continues to LOVE Mr. Cow. He's able to track objects all over the place now - it's pretty neat to see!

I'll try to be good about updating this!