10 months old!!!

I truly can't believe my little baby is 10 months old. We celebrated last week by heading down to Maryland to visit friends and family. There are many people I haven't gotten to see in a long time (a few who hadn't met eli yet!) so it was our mission to see as many of them as possible. On our way down, we broke up the trip a bit by stopping to see Julie, Isaac and Gabe.... then on to Kerry's house...then to my mom's. Thursday we were hoping to get to go to the zoo, but the weather was supposed to be bad (turned out great!) so we made other plans. We headed over to visit my Grandma and then on to see Eleni and the girls. Friday, we visited with Emily before heading up to visit Jessica and her house full o'boys. It was an exhausting trip, but a very fun one!!!

The whole time we were at my mom's house, Eli was VERY interested in Bob. It was super cute. Now that he can crawl, he tried to get near Bob or go investigate what Bob was doing whenever he could. Bob used to like Eli when he couldn't get around so much, but now that he's mobile, Bob kept a watchful eye on him.... needless to say, all old Bob wanted to do was sleep, and was quite annoyed to have this noisy little screamer constantly begging for his attention. Last time, whenever Eli cried, Bob would bark...this time it was the other way around.

We also discovered a few VERY fun toys while we were at mom's house. Who knew that Eli and his Gerber food lid would become inseparable? And playing with the washcloth (putting it on top of his head) produced SQUEALS of delight. We'd say "Wheeeeere's Eli?" and he'd happily try to cover his face with the washcloth. He was quite proud of himself. Mom got him a bunch of new books and he loved them all! It's really fascinating to me that he's really starting to understand things.... he'll now feel the rough, squishy, soft parts of his book without prompting and can anticipate pages (he'll start smiling before I turn the page to his favorite pictures). He'll sit in my lap for a good 15 minutes or so reading his books. It's very fun.

Another big milestone last week was the independent standing. He had done it a few times in the weeks prior, but only for a few seconds. As soon as he realized he wasn't holding on, he'd freak out and reach for something or fall. At mom's house, I stood him up right next to Bob and let go and he stood there for 45 seconds!!! (yes, I counted out of pure disbelief). He's starting to realize he's not holding on and he's ok with it... he even smiles and tries to get back up again when he falls. Super fun!

The WORST thing in his life is having to get his diaper and/or clothes changed. He is nearly impossible to change with one person at times. He can flip over in less than a second and he loves to try to crawl away as fast as he can. When I manage to keep him still, he screams bloody murder the whole time. Fun.

On Sunday, he changed from normal crawling to TURBO crawling. If you're not already standing and ready to get him, he will absolutely make it to the other room before you. He still loves to hightail it to the litter box, the cat food (when there's even the tiniest of openings in the barricade, he knows and makes it through), the remote controls, the outlets, important papers (he doesn't care for the non-important ones), the tub (he likes to try to pull the shower curtain down), the cats (they hide), and mommy's phone.

I'm SO SO happy the weather is starting to get warmer.... warmer weather means more time outside! Yaaay!

Wow - Back to back posts!

Wow... I'm actually updating the blog on back to back days! woohoo! I had to run yesterday because the baby woke up from his nap... but there are more things that I wanted to say. Over the past two days, it seems like I can't shovel the food in fast enough! What a big eater this little guy has become. There's not much he won't eat... I know that will change when he gets older, but for now we'll just keep filling him with fruits and veggies! I made fish for the first time for him last night and he LOVED it. I think the next adventurous thing we'll try is tofu. I read that babies like it if you coat the tofu in cheerio dust. Ha.

It's snowing in NYC again this morning.... we had to move the car (for street cleaning) this morning, so I got Eli all bundled up and we headed out in the snow. He was trying to catch the snowflakes.... it was very cute. If the weather isn't too horrible, we have a play date with his one year old friend Sawyer today.

Eli HATES getting his diaper changed and getting dressed. It's apparently the WORST thing in his life if I have to put a shirt on him. I can't even distract him with toys anymore - he just screams and screams and screams. Luckily, he can pretty much stay in one outfit a day, but the diaper changes are non-negotiable. :)

He learned how to throw/drop things on the ground this week and that has since become his favorite thing to do. Other favorites of late are: playing with/eating his shoes (we have one pair that fits him right now, but we can't ever put it on because he likes to pull them off), tearing up newspapers and magazines, pulling out wipes from the box when I'm changing his diaper and trying to eat them, flirting with the grocery check-out ladies (though this has been ongoing for months now), taking as many clothes out of his drawers as possible and flinging them around, knocking down towers mommy builds, trying to grab his spoon while mommy is feeding him (the pediatrician told us to give him his own spoon so he stops reaching for mine), and, as always, screaming DADADADADA as much as possible.

It's REALLY become challenging dealing with him in church. He's cranked up his "church voice" another notch and seems to REALLY enjoy the acoustics there. Mike and I basically take turns carrying him to the back and oftentimes have to step outside because he's just so disruptive. There are a bunch of little ladies around us who love seeing him every week, so at least there are a few people who don't mind his LOUD singing. :)

I am pretty sure he's teething again because he's been chewing on everything and is super drooly these days. I THINK I see two coming in, but it's hard to tell. This kid is going to have a mouth full of teeth before he turns one! Off for now...

Getting more adventurous!

It's been a fun last couple of weeks with Eli. (I call him "Baby Eli" because I know I'm not going to be able to do that for much longer!). He had his 9 month checkup last Friday and everything looks great! His measurements were way off this time... they measured him to be 29 inches tall (putting my average little guy into the 70th percentile for height!) and 18.5 lbs for weight (18th percentile)..... However we measured him before and after to be 17.5 inches and 19 lbs. The doc said she thought the scale was off because she had spent the whole day telling everyone they were underweight. She said he looked great and is doing everything he's supposed to be doing. He waved hello to her, which made her happy. (He sometimes waves...sometimes doesn't... I don't truly think he understands what he's doing just yet). He got two shots but took them like a trooper!

He's much better at standing now...to the point that I don't always feel like I have to be sitting right behind him whenever he's standing. He's pretty good at "dismounting." He still always likes to carry at least one object (usually one of his rings or blocks) around with him wherever he goes. It makes it harder to stand up, but he always finds a way! He usually falls when he tries to hold two things at once and lets go of the table/whatever he's standing on.

These past two weeks, he's gotten even MORE into reading. On Sunday, he sat still while I read him 14 books!!! A crazy record!!! He still LOVES his animal books and always smiles when he sees cows. He's trying harder and harder to catch Riley these days, though he doesn't really do much once he gets near her.

He was given the approval to start meats, dairy, etc last week, so we started yogurt and cheese! It's soooo funny to see his face when he eats yogurt. He's not used to the sour-ness of it, so he makes a classic "sour" face with each spoonful. he still wants us to shovel it in, though! His appetite is really growing and he pretty much likes everything we give him. Mike is much better at getting him to eat when he's being fussy... it's cute to see the two of them together.

We were hoping to get to the zoo today but the weather is icky and he's been a sleepy/nappy guy all day. Hopefully we'll get to go next week... I know he's going to love it there!

He just woke up from his nap, so I'm off!

9 Months Tomorrow

I can't believe my little buddy is going to be 9 months old tomorrow! I just got used to telling people he was 8 months old. Sheesh time flies. As I sit here now, he's taking his second nap of the day and it's a LONG one. This after days of trying to refuse the second nap or only taking 30 min naps... it's a welcome change and allows me to have some much needed catch up time!

It's still astonishing to me how much he learns every day. Over the past week or so, our book reading has evolved from Eli sitting in/near my lap for about 45 seconds, flipping the pages back and forth and back and forth as many times as possible.... to him actually sitting in my lap quietly for the duration of 4-5 books! Today he shocked me by appropriately turning the pages (just once and then letting go!) every time it was time to turn it. VERY cute. He got so excited... I'd start to turn it and then he'd grab it as if to say - nonono, I've got this, Mommy! Over the past few days, favorite books have really started to emerge. I cannot for the life of me get him interested in books about trucks/cars or my favorites... Hippos go Berserk (I have him for the first 5 pages) or Gossie. He LOVES books about animals and enjoys hearing me Moo, Growl and make monkey sounds. He does not care for my horse or dog impersonations and is ambivalent about the cat and pig. :) Speaking of cats, he LOVES chasing Riley now. (For some reason, he has very little interest in Fat Cliffy). When he sees her, he'll take off with his little army crawl after her. She (always sitting at a distance these days) does a good job of looking completely uninterested and then gets up to slowly mosey off when he gets about 3 feet away.

He is getting MUCH more confident in his pull to stand and can get up to standing from a variety of positions. His new favorite thing is to drop whatever object he's holding (because he always likes to be holding something... usually a book, piece of paper, block or sock) and then bend down to pick it up. After much figuring out, he always gets it and then promptly drops it (on purpose) again so that he can figure out another way to bend down and pick it up. It's very cute to see the wheels spinning. We spend about 80% of our day over at the barricade of furniture we've built to prevent him from getting to the cat food, litter box, stroller and dining room chairs (I know, I know... I'm no fun). He likes to stand and scoot himself along the entire distance of the barricade...then bang bang bang, drop things, pick them up, and head back so he can open/close the cabinet we keep our shoes in. Opening and closing things can last us a good hour...it's THAT fun. Who knew? Today, as a surprise, I let him stand on the counters to open and close all of the kitchen cabinets. Oh the squeals of delight upon seeing all of those new containers!

He's a pretty vocal guy, with 97% of his vocals being about DADA. We vary it up, of course... dadadDADADAdaddaaaa... dddadadadadddddaaaaaaaaDAAAAADADADA. It's great fun to listen to him get all excited. When he starts getting really loud, we refer to it as his "church voice" as he thoroughly enjoys SCREAMING DADADADA in church whenever a quiet moment comes about. He also likes singing along very loudly during communion and whenever there is a quiet part when just the cantor is supposed to be singing. Lovely.

We took him out in the snow yesterday during our big blizzard of 2010 storm... He was looking around quizzically at the snow falling and blinked a lot when snow landed on his eyelashes. He was tired so he threw a minor tantrum when we sat him down in the snow. I can't wait til he's old enough for us to take him sledding.

He's still battling his cold... stupid runny nose...be gone with you!

I weighed him yesterday on the Wii and he's about 19 lbs! Woohoo! Grow baby Eli, grow! He has his 9 month checkup next Friday.... will post more stats when I get them. :)

Every day, something new

Wow. It's really fascinating to see how many new things this baby picks up every day. He's now 8 and a half months and he's just a bundle of energy. He's officially getting his top two teeth...the top left one started appearing on January 17th...and a few days later, the top right showed up. They're still trying to make their way out, but we can definitely see them. He also got his first "big" cold on the 30th. Poor little guy is having a hard time with his runny nose. For the most part, he's still been sleeping through the night, though.

So now that he's able to pull himself up in his crib (and everywhere else!!!), he's been harder to put down to sleep and has been waking up earlier. Now all he wants to do is stand, stand, stand! Instead of waking up in the morning to a baby laying down saying "dadadadada" (his morning talking).... now I wake up to a standing up, dancing baby. Over the past few days, he's been pulling himself to stand on anything and everything he can find.... the coffee table, the bookshelves, his toys, and most of all...ME. When he gets frustrated because he can't figure out how to stand up on something, he'll crawl over to me because he knows how to get up on ME. Too funny.

He's still got the ole army crawl down. He uses his right side properly, but crawls on his left forearm...and continues to hold his left leg up in the air. The PT in me wants to "fix" it, but do I really want to make a fast baby even faster? I think not. Last week, he was able to stand and cruise along in his crib... but over the past few days, he's really figured out how to move along the furniture. It's amazing to see how brave he is.

On Wednesday, we reached a big milestone - he got his helmet off! Wooohooo! He only had to wear it for 10 weeks. The before and after pictures were striking... He really used to look like ET! We're so happy with the way his head shaped up. It's strange to go about the day without the helmet now...we're so used to it! His hair is getting really long... we're going to have to take him for a hair cut soon!

His favorite things things this week: holding his hand up in a permanent high-5 position (and we now do this after every bite when we're eating), crawling while holding onto something (usually one of his blocks, books, or his wooden spoon.... he MUST be holding something), throwing cheerios on the ground, dancing (to the music we hear and the music in his head), opening and closing cabinets, standing at his music table (only on the JAZZ setting...he instantly switches it back if I flip it over to the other setting), and screaming DADA whenever he can.

I'm a lot more tired these days (especially because he's trying to give up his second nap!!!), but we're having a great time! Let the adventures continue.

Unstoppable

Wow - this kid is UNSTOPPABLE. I knew it would be tough when he started crawling, but maaaan. I'm going to have to start taking naps again. He started crawling on Saturday, January 9th, three days before he turned 8 months old. He was so proud of himself when he figured it out. And what did he go straight for? The dirty stroller wheels. For some reason, those are just fascinating to him. Now, no matter how far I put them away from him or how much I distract him, he still goes right for them...at lightening speed. Looks like we're going to have to find a new place to put the stroller.

His "crawl" is adorable. He still can't figure out how to get around in quadraped, so he lowers himself to his belly and drags himself. He refuses to use his left leg... he just holds it up in the air and it goes along for the ride. The PT in me so wants to fix it, but pffft - he's doing fine. Maybe he's a future soccer star and is just protecting his kicking leg. :)

This Saturday, the 23rd, he went from being manageable to Mr. Squirm/High Energy crazy boy. I can't even hold him... he just squirms his way out. If I were to let him, he'd fling himself mid-air.... and would probably land and keep going without batting an eye.

He's also pulling up on everything. Yesterday when Daddy put him down to sleep at night, he went in there after 15 minutes of screaming to find out that he was standing up in his crib. Uh oh. Just don't try to climb out yet, little buddy! He loves crawling over to me and pulling up on me, too. He loves standing at the coffee table or at the couch... but hasn't yet figured out how to cruise while standing.

Last week was the first time we left Eli to go on vacation! Mike and I went to Vegas for three days and Eli had fun staying with Grandma in Maryland. He was a perfect angel (according to Grandma) and they had great fun looking at Bob, sitting in the high chair and looking in the backyard at the birdies, reading stories, taking out all of Grandma's CDs from her drawer and opening and closing the cabinets.

Two nights ago, when I was putting Eli to bed, I noticed that he's getting his top left tooth! I can definitely see it! He was fine until yesterday afternoon...he became Mr. Upset crankypants and has pretty much been that way since. Poor little guy. It's hard to tell...he might be getting both at the same time.

Yesterday, we had great fun hanging out with Tita Rachna and Dexter! The boys enjoy hitting each other in the face, trying to poke each other's eyes out, pulling each other's heads, rolling on top of each other and holding hands. It's so fun to see them together. Rachna is now back at work full time, so I'm hoping we'll still be able to get the boys together regularly.

Food-wise, he's doing great. He likes everything so far...except for Avocado. We'll keep trying, though! We just started trying more finger foods. Today he had a few teeny bits of honeydew and for a snack, I gave him some peas. When snack time was over, I was amazed that so many peas were missing from his tray.... when I lifted him out, I found out why. There were a bunch mashed all over the seatbelt and he was sitting on about 5. Nice.

Ok... over and out for now!

Eli's First Christmas and New Year's!

I keep forgetting to update... mostly because I use Facebook a lot to add pictures and tell Eli stories. But I remembered tonight so here I am!

Eli's first Christmas was great! He loved opening presents.... especially tearing the wrapping paper, transferring it back and forth from hand to hand, and trying to put it in his mouth. Eating the boxes was also a big hit. We gave him three books about the real meaning of Christmas (which will mean more to him over the next few years, but I wanted him to have them for his first Christmas), a wooden spoon from Ikea, and a few 1st Christmas ornaments. He got lots of great toys, clothes, and ornaments from friends and relatives.... and I need to remember to write thank you notes SOON! It was so much fun being able to have baby Eli with us this Christmas!

On the 30th, we got a GREAT GREAT surprise... Jenn flew out from Korea so she could see Eli! So happy they finally got to meet. They bonded instantly and it was so, so great to see them together. The visit was about 36 hours but the best Christmas present I ever could have asked for.

For New Year's, we went over to Mike's sister's house like we always do. I love getting to spend that day with them all...so much fun! We put Eli to bed late (around 9) and then got a fun surprise.... he woke up at 11:45! So we got to put a hat on him, give him a noisemaker, and have him join in the fun. I wonder if he thinks that's what happens every night when he's sleeping. It was really wonderful to be able to ring in the new year with both of my boys. :)

He's been really happy these last few days. He's on the briiiiiiink of crawling... he now is able to get up on all 4s and rock back and forth. And he drags himself from his play mat over to the wall so he can try to chew on the corner of my closet. Rolling is still his preferred method of getting around, but he's getting close!!! He loooves standing and holding onto things and I put the legs on his little activity table yesterday so he can stand and play. He loves to "dance" while he's standing, which is super cute. His current #1 fascination is the zipper on my fleece jacket... he loves to play with it. Coming in a close second are the buttons on my shirt, followed by light switches. He still loves looking at the cats and it is soooo cute to see him smile and laugh at them. I love that he still gives us "kisses" and he cracks himself up when he does it.

Eli is a great eater! Right now he has an 8oz bottle when he wakes up, then breakfast (a fruit mixed with cereal) an hour later... then two more bottles... then dinner (a veggie) and a bottle before bed. I'm wondering if we're ready to move to three meals a day. I'm really having a great time making food for him... baby cookbooks are fun and inspiring and are filled with combos I would have never come up with... like what I made tonight (Parsnips and apples, Cauliflower and Sweet Potatoes...). I love letting him try new things! So far he loves everything except avocado (third try tonight), green beans, and pumpkin.

Yaaay 2010!!!