Get up, Stand up, Stand up for your rights

Eli has become a little whirling dervish. Now that he has sort of figured out how to roll over diaper changes have become a little more challenging. He has also started to grab things in front of him and really hold on. That means putting sleeves on him is harder because he keeps clutching the inside of the shirt.

His best new trick is that when he is laying on his back we can hold his hands and when we start to pull forward he will pull himself to a standing position. He loves being upright and is always pushing off with his feet. When he pulls himself all the way up it is usually accompanied by a big open-mouthed smile, like he knows he really accomplished something. It's quite funny.

The end of an era.

We have hit a new stage in Eli's life journey, the Post-Swaddler era. He was always sort of a Houdini with that thing anyway, finding new an amazing escapes all along. Now that he can roll over the swaddler doesn't seem like a good idea anymore. Last night was his first night in the sleepsack and he handled it pretty well for the most part. All of these little mini-graduations seem sad somehow. Maybe it's because every single parent who has ever met Eli proceeded to turn to us and and say "They grow up fast, enjoy it!" and we are trying not to take anything for granted. Whatever the reason, we have learned a valuable lesson in our first 3 months: whatever you get used to always changes and there's always something new right around the corner. Be ready to adapt.

Turnabout is fair play

Yesterday's events were both good news and bad news for Eli. We'll start with the good news. After days of being tantalizingly close, Eli finally turned over on his own. Yay! The bad news is that when he turned over, he didn't realize that he was forcing tummy time on himself. He is not the biggest fan of tummy time and quickly got upset to let us know it.

On another cool note, I also put the pacifier in his hand last night and he held on to it for a while before almost succeeding in putting it in his mouth! He was really just trying to eat his hand but if I had turned the pacifier around the other way I think he would have found it. We have also been putting his hands on the bottle when we feed him to get him used to holding it (our daycare lady will be very happy when he gets to that point).

Eli watches violent television

Last week Rebecca and I were watching Lost (great show, by the way) and hanging out with Eli. We are holding off on him watching TV for a while as we would rather him get interested in the tangible things right in front of him. He's got years and years to be a couch potato but Rebecca and I have vowed not to mess him up this early. We usually have him facing us instead of the TV and we end up watching him and playing while the show is on. During a particularly intense sequence, we got sucked into the show and Eli craned his neck around just in time to get to see Sayid blow someone away onscreen. So, there it is. The end of the innocence*. It's over. We are horrible parents. Can't we just go back to the way it was?

*denotes heavily dripping sarcasm, in case you missed it the first time. :)

For the record, I talked with Eli about what he saw and asked him to let me know he was ok by chewing on his hands. He did so with gusto.

Growth Spurt

I think our little boy is in the middle of a big growth spurt. One of the things we have been very lucky with is that Eli really isn't very fussy. When he does get amped up, it's usually hunger-related or because he is overly tired. The last few days he's been like Kobayashi at the Hot Dog eating contest, going after food at every opportunity and chowing down as if he would never get the chance again. He has also really started sleeping through the night pretty well (knock wood) and his mom is getting quality rest.

Eli was also very pleased with the Tar Heels' defense this weekend against Va. Tech and ecstatic about Dook's ugly loss to Weak Forest. Speaking of dribbling...he has graduated to the constant use of a bib because the drool is out in full force. Before long, almost every shirt I have will start showing the telltale signs of a drooling baby on the left shoulder so it might be time to hit the Old Navy for some cheap shirts.

Hands-on experience

Eli is slowly but surely starting to discover his hands. Every once in a while you'll notice him moving his arms all around and they catch his eye. The look of confusion that covers his face at that moment is hilarious. He is also getting better at grabbing things and holding on to them for longer periods. The kid has an iron grip.

Last night Rebecca was cradling him and while they were looking at each other Eli kept swinging his left arm toward her face. After a few minutes of this it was clear he was trying to touch her but didn't quite have control over it yet. He managed to touch her face a few times during all the flailing and even grabbed her mouth once. Rebecca is starting to think he will be left-handed, which I have to admit I have been curious about. I'm predominately left-handed (though I write and play guitar righty because that's how I was taught) and Rebecca is right-handed. If he does turn out a lefty then hopefully he can make it past the notebook spiral imprints in his forearms and the green-handled scissors. That's the worst of it.

Eli has a laugh

Eli had his first real laugh the other day. Rebecca was tickling him and giving him zerberts and he let out the cutest little cackle. He's only done it a couple times since but we know it's there and can't wait for him to do it more. I guess as parents, we must learn to be funnier.

He also slept through his first UNC/duke game, which was a good thing considering the result. Sleeping through the game also meant that he didn't have to hear his dad's sailor mouth and the spewing vitriol that usually accompanies these rivalry games (I'm a UNC alum and Rebecca was a fan since she was little). Hopefully, I will be able to get my demeanor during games in check before he starts learning to repeat what I say. I don't think it's a real issue except during games against duke, where I can't hide how much I loathe them.