A Quick Review

Eli is walking like a pro now and I guess he figures it is time to move on to the next item of business because he now babbles up a storm. The real words are coming. He's getting pretty good at "cat" - probably because we say "no cat!" a 100 times a day. If only Seamus would stay out of the way.... He is also doing "buh" for book and "ba" for ball sometimes and occasionally "da-da."

Now that we are careening wildly towards the one-year mark, I really notice how much he's grown and changed. I do feel a little nostalgic, but he's also so funny right now that I really wouldn't trade it. I was thinking about all the little things that make life so entertaining.
















Funny adaptation baby makes that solves a problem you'd never think of: Eli looses his balance easily if he bends over to pick something up. But carrying stuff around with you is one of the fun benefits of walking, so what's a baby to do?.... Squat down, play with stuff, select item, then stand back up and off you go!
















Annoying, yet cute and funny at the same time: Eli likes to put the pieces of toast and jelly in his mouth, suck off the jelly, then take the mushy toast back out. He's got such a sweet tooth.

Warms the cockles of your heart: That smile when I go get him out of the crib in the morning.

Super sweet: That smile when Chris picks him up to go upstairs to bed. He seems sooooo happy that he can finally go to sleep.

Crazy thing I think is cute: The pat-pat-pat his feet make as he walks across the hardwood floor. Close second - him standing on tippy-toes to see what's on the dining room table.
















Wish I had the camera: When Eli is climbing onto the couch by himself. It is still just barely too high, but he hikes that knee up onto the seat, grabs hold as far back as he can and s-t-r-u-g-g-l-e-s!! He'll finally get both knees up, then his butt sticks way up in the air as he wiggles his way more firmly into the seat. It is hilarious.

Best game ever: Peek-a-boo, of course. Makes him laugh every time. Close second is reading a book. He's constantly bringing us books to read. He only listens to two pages before fetching another book, but we're sure we have a budding genius anyway.

Just Toddling Along

Eli is making great strides (literally and figuratively) in the walking department, but it is still pretty clear why they call it "toddling."

Oh-so Busy

Eli has been a very busy boy lately. He has nearly mastered walking by himself and goes confidently across the room when a good stop-and-hold spot is visible or when something really interesting (read Polly, the grandparents poodle, or Seamus, our cat) is present. He has also begun to be more inventive and independent in his play, which is good, because he's been cutting down on napping lately.





































Eli had a great weekend and enjoyed several new experiences including his first yard sale - who knew there were so many people to play with and so much fun stuff to get into. Um, we're trying to sell that frying pan, dear.




















He also had his first ride on the Grandpa's "little green thing" - yippee! Good thing Grandpa likes to ride around on that, I think he'll be doing a lot of it in the future. And while we're at it Eli wants to send out a big Happy Birthday, Grandpa!