Growing Up

Eli doesn't like sitting around. I was told that he would probably sit on his own before he'd start crawling, but I guess Eli is determined to be different. He can sit up for a little while, but he soon topples over. On the other hand, he has carpet burns from moving faster and faster across the room and into the next. We really have to watch him carefully. I think he'll learn how to sit from crawling rather than learning how to crawl from sitting because when he is in crawling position, he sometimes leans back far enough that he is nearly sitting on his own. Go figure!

He's also understanding cause and effect a little better. We have a mirror in his room on the floor against the wall. He used to lunge into the mirror all the time trying to get at the boy in the mirror. I tried to help him understand that he would never reach the boy and would only get hurt instead. I think he's finally catching on because he doesn't really lunge forward into the glass anymore, though he'll still stare and occasionally lick the mirror.

His form of communication has changed too. He still has high pitched squeals, but he has added deep guttural sounds, what we like to call "monster" noises. Just recently he has been showing off his command of specific sounds such as the "ga" sound in the letter g and the "ba" sound in the letter b. He also seems to understand some of what is being said. He will respond and turn his head when I call his name, and when I tell him I love him, he will get a sheepish grin on his face. The best is when he gives me a very tender look and makes a specific noise that he only makes when he's looking at me that way. I'm probably reading too much into it, but it's as if he's saying I love you too.


Finally, he is sort of eating solid foods. We started with rice cereal, but he doesn't really seem to like it. He will eat bananas and carrots a little better, even though half still ends up on him rather than in him. That's all we've tried so far, but we will be adding others as we go along. I knew it would be a messy process, and I was right, but he does look really cute in his bib and high chair. He lets us know quite forcefully when he's sick of being in them. Remember the little baby Jack-Jack in the Disney movie The Incredibles? When Eli has had enough, he exhibits characteristics similar to Jack-Jack's superhero powers. He'll always be my angel, but he lets us know how he feels.