8 months!

I can't believe the little guy is 8 months old! He's such a little explorer and into everything. You have no doubt heard people say "I can't turn my back for one second or..." Well, whoever originally said that had a kid just like Eli. It's like he's magnetically attracted to whatever is around him. He's not crawling yet but he seems to have the first part of it down. He'll be sitting up and launch himself forward. After a couple of flailing movements he finishes on his belly, where he proceeds to start rolling all around the room to get to things. Our daycare lady said that one day she went into the kitchen and when she came back he had rolled down the hallway!

It turns out that Eli's sickness was Hand, Foot, Mouth Disease and it ran through the kids at the daycare, most likely because of us. So I guess it was our turn to be parents of "that kid." It's only going to get worse as Eli gets more mobile and can get himself to whatever germs he desires. He seems to be back in good form now and it's good to have the little smiling boy back that we've missed for a while.

Little Mr. Fussypants

Ever since we got back from July 4th vacation down at Pamlico, Eli hasn't quite been himself. He's usually a great sleeper but he's be waking up a lot during the night and he's looked really tired during the days as well. On Tuesday he had a fever of 102 and combined with all the tugging he was doing on his ears I thought for sure he had an ear infection. He's had one before and I had them chronically as a baby. Our doctor visit ruled that out and I guess he just has some sort of virus. He's back at daycare after Rebecca and I each took a half day off to say with him yesterday. All this could also be due to teething, which seems to be the catch-all when no one has a clear idea what's going on.

Eli figured out the squeaker toy on his exersaucer this morning... it was the last little toy on there he hadn't really used yet, mainly due to the force you have to use to get the squeak. When he did it and Rebecca and I cheered for him he did it a few more times for good measure. I think he just liked the cheering and smacking rather than the squeak but it was still fun to watch.

Oh, and he also said 'da-da' this morning. There was zero meaning to it as he was just making noises but it was still really cool to hear. He's said 'ma-ma' a few times before so it was nice to even the playing field a little. Not that Rebecca and I are competitive people or anything like that. Heh.

Testing the waters

Lately, there have been a lot of UNC basketball players "testing the waters" in the NBA draft. That, of course, is a metaphor for seeing who is interested in your skill set and who might be willing to offer you large sums of money for it. Over the weekend, Eli decided to test the waters. No, not in the NBA draft, though some team would be lucky to have him as I whole-heartedly believe that he could make better on-court decisions than Stephon Marbury. Eli's water-testing was quite literal because it was his first time in a real swimming pool. I know he looks really serious in that picture above but he really had a good time with no complaints. That facial expression is no doubt the result of being told we had to leave the pool.

Portrait of a baby

These photos, of course, are not the portraits we had taken of Eli. We have seen them, though, and they are great. We are supposed to order them in the next day or two and then I'll have to get them and scan a couple. Big shocker that my sister wants the picture of him naked lying on his belly. Love you, sis! :)

Eli will no longer stay on his tummy long enough to try and crawl. He just flips himself over and smiles or cackles because that method of transport is way funner to him. I still think he will end up skipping crawling and head straight for walking. We decided to go on and lower his crib once he demonstrated his ability to hold on to my arm and pull himself up. He may not be able to do this stuff for a while but why take chances?

We have found our first food that Eli is not a fan of. It's strange because he was eating green beans before but now every time we give them to him he starts growling at us like our dog. I was on the phone with Rebecca while I was trying to feed him and she could hear him grunting. I told her I'd feed him something else and that went fine. Later in the call I announced that I'd give him one more spoonful of green beans just to see what happens. Guess what we got? Super-unhappy-face.

First Father's Day.

This weekend I got to experience my first Father's Day as a dad. For me, that day has been someone else's day and it's strange to all of a sudden have it be relevant for you. We had a fun weekend... my parents made the trip up and we had a cookout with them. The outfit with the yellow shirt and hat was one that my mom had bought for him so we thought it fitting to wear that on Sunday.

Saturday we met some friends and their 2 year old out at a bluegrass show in Saxapahaw, NC. Try saying that three times fast. It's a show they do every Saturday and it's a great environment. It's outdoors in a natural amphitheater setting, where you can sit on the side of a hill in the shade to watch the show. There were booths set up selling BBQ sandwiches and drinks. We had Eli out past his normal bedtime but he did well in spite of it and even slept til 8:20 the next morning. Very cool.

Eli is getting ever closer to crawling; now he is drawing his knees up under him and flailing in a much more organized fashion. He has still yet to achieve the all-fours position on his own but we are keeping our eye out for it. I always put a toy just out of his reach to give him some incentive and watching him trying to get it looks a lot like a turtle on it's back. Quite funny.

Eli also turned 7 months old on the 16th! Wow.

The cliches are true.

Time really does fly. In a couple days, Eli will be 7 months old. When the hell did that happen? He's gotten the hang of sitting on his own and his next two conquests appear to be crawling and pulling himself up to a sitting position. It could still be a while on both but it's not because the boy isn't trying. He's a little spark plug and we know we will have our hands full when he gets full-on mobile. We are also trying to get an early start on teaching the idea of 'gentle.' After all, there's nothing gentle about 'petting' a cat and coming away with a giant clump of fur. I'm starting to think that the separation anxiety signs are upon us. It seems like he is beginning to understand that we are leaving the room now as opposed to his attention just falling on the nearest thing to distract him. Eli has now tried avocado (which wasn't an amazing success the first time) , applesauce and bananas. Lately Rebecca has been giving him his own little veggie/fruit sampler plate and he's doing well switching between foods. He likes to eat just like his parents.

Roughin' it

Our anniversary was this week so we decided to take a vacation and head down to the Pamlico River house for a few days. We only ended up staying for a couple days because the house has no air conditioning, which lends to its rustic charm unless it's 100 degrees outside. We made a good go of it since we had a lot of fans and a nice breeze at night but once the breeze went away we decided it was time to go. Eli loves it down there and really likes sitting on the pier so the wind can hit his face.

Luckily for us, my sister lives on our way back and we got to stay with her and her husband for a night. Our dog Pepper was in heaven as they have a giant backyard and their own big dog who loves to play. Best of all, they had air conditioning. Yay! Thanks, Suze!

In the food department, Eli has tried all kinds of stuff and we have yet to find something that doesn't really agree with him. He's had carrots, sweet potatoes, squash, green peas, prunes, and pears. He really digs the prunes. He's also really upped his milk/formula intake. At this rate he'll be a little chunkster before you know it.

My parents gave us a gift certificate to get a portrait done of Eli and we did that this past Wednesday. We won't have a chance to see the photos until next Tuesday but if we get a couple of classics then I will throw them on here for all to see.