Favorite words

Eli has really been talking up a storm these last few days. It's really fun to hear him try to express himself... most of the time, that is. He's taken to yelling when we're not fast enough with the food.....not so fun. He knows that he can get us to shovel food in faster if he starts screaming, so he's really running with that one right now. His favorite word is still "Dada" seconded by "dadeeee" (it's so funny - he says the Dee part so heavy)... and now third and gaining strength is "MAMA." Woohoo! He's always said Mama, but very sporadically... until these last few days, where he's really stepped it up a notch. Mike said that last night, before Eli went up to sleep, he practiced the Mamas with Eli while pointing to my picture. :) Now we can pretty much get him to copy us any time we say Mama or Dada. His other favorite word, one that he says all the time, is "Abjou." If I say Abjou back to him, this brings laughs and smiles and more abjouing.

He is SO SO close to taking a step. He's now standing pretty confidently on his own and you can SEE in his eyes that he wants to step. You can SEE him standing there contemplating it. Ultimately, he reaches out for something to hold onto (he walks along the furniture with just one hand now) or just plops down.

Another cute thing he started doing this week is TURBO TURBO crawling to the bathroom. If he's across the room and hears me open the bathroom door, he comes SPPPPPEEEED turboing to see me/get to the bathtub/try to look at himself in the mirror/try to get to the toilet brush. It's adorable to see him crank up the speed and I'm going to try to get it on video soon.

He also FED HIMSELF today. INSANE. I realize it was pure luck, but he fed himself about 10 spoonfuls of cottage cheese today. Yes, it was very messy cause he was flinging the spoon around everywhere, and yes, half of the spoonfuls went "in" upside-down...but he was doing it! (No, I don't expect this to continue as it's not really an age appropriate skill).

Tonight, he did the sweetest thing EVER. Mike and I were able to sit down and have a full, uninterrupted meal because... Eli sat in front of his bookshelf for 30 minutes (!!!!), reading to himself. It was the cutest thing EVER. He alternated between three books.... he'd just sit there, turning the pages over and over and over.... then move on to the next one, etc etc. We couldn't believe he was sitting that still for so long. Cuteness.

Mike's going to try to take a day off of work next week so we can take this kid to get his hair cut! It's getting SOOO long. Soooo many times a day, I have to move his hair out of his eyes. Poor little guy. I even tried putting a bobby pin in his hair while he was eating (no, mom, I would never leave it in when I wasn't watching him because he could pull it out and choke)....but it didn't stay in his fine, feathery little hair. Lol.

Looking forward to Easter, when Eli can wear his little suit that Emily got for him!