Dual napping

Eli is pretty much down to just 2 naps a day these days. He'll generally go down around 9:00 (plus or minus half an hour) and sleep for 1.5 hours or so, and then go down once more sometime in the afternoon and sleep for around 1 to 1.5 hours. Missy and I are actually liking the 2 reasonably long naps better than the 3 shorter ones he was taking before; it gives us a better chance to get something substantial done around the house while he is sleeping, or just to relax a little bit!

Eli's also sick *again* today. He has a bit of congestion in his lungs, which had him coughing a fair bit last night. Missy ended sitting up with him for a few hours during the night to help him sleep more easily. Missy noticed that one of the other baby girls in Eli's daycare had pretty much the same cough when Missy picked Eli up from the daycare yesterday. We're both really looking forward to when Missy can be finished with her job so we no longer have to take Eli to day care, where it seems that so often at least one of the other babies there is sick.

Shutterfly Photo Contest – Phhhhhh!

I got an e-mail today about entering the Shutterfly Photo Contest (we order our pictures through them and love the quality and service). So I picked my favorite picture of Elijah and typed up a very sweet note about the picture and what it conveys about him (and it had to be fewer than 450 characters). I submitted my picture, sent out e-mails to people to vote for the picture and then went and viewed it on Shutterfly’s contest pages. Only to find out that how many characters they give you to write a description is not how many characters they display!!!!! So my ode to Elijah was truncated and sounded dumb, instead of incredibly sweet. So ppppppphhhhhhhh on Shutterfly. :P

Anyway, here is the picture and what I originally said (and a link to the contest if you’d like to vote for Elijah’s picture).

This portrait is of my son, Elijah, and was taken during a diaper change that quickly turned into a rolling over practice session! This picture has been one of my favorites ever since that day and captures everything I love most about Elijah – the laughter and sparkle in his eyes, his joyful smile, and his sweet disposition. On a down day just looking at this picture renews my spirit and fills it with the same unrestrained joy that Elijah radiates with every smile.

Vote for Eli!

Let the Child-Proofing Begin . . .

Tuesday afternoon it finally happened -- Elijah discovered how to open the kitchen cabinets. I was making dinner and Eli was scooting all around the place (it really is amazing how quickly he's picked up on how to get himself around!) and playing with toys and his highchair when he saw me open a cabinet, scooted over, and reopened it himself. Fortunately it was the Tupperware cabinet so he couldn't do any damage (to himself or the Tupperware!). He kept opening the door and closing it, and then decided to pull all the Tupperware out and pushed it around the floor for a while. It was so cute!


Of course the inevitable happened and one of the doors pinched his fingers a little. He cried out and turned towards me, lifting up his arms and saying, "mamamamamama." That's the first time I've heard him using a word in context before -- so does that count as his first word? He didn't repeat it again so I'm not sure!

He was fine after a hug and kiss and wanted to get down and play right away again. He went straight back to the cabinet (the hair of the dog that bit you, right?) and then figured out the cabinet next to that one as well. He also discovered the gate blocking the garage entry and laundry room area today and spent at least 15 minutes scooting back and forth across the kitchen to go and hit it. Needless to say, childproofing this place is high on the list of things to get done!

Mobile!

Eli's still getting around doing his "scoot" thing instead of really crawling, but he's becoming more and more mobile! Today, for the first time, while Missy, Eli, and I were around the house, Eli a couple of times scooted off on his own into a different room, and Missy or I was obligated to follow him to keep an eye on him. Our boy is becoming a little bit more independent!

Creepin' and Crawlin' -- Right Out of Our Pants!

On Saturday when I got home from my BSF leader’s meeting and fellowship, Jon had Elijah out of his pajamas and dressed in his tough little Gap jeans and an adorable long-sleeved polo-type shirt. Eli looked so cute!

As per usual, Elijah wanted to scoot all over the place and explore, so we put him down on the floor. I was doing dishes in the kitchen while Eli played, and he made his way into the living room to play with more toys. I looked over and saw, lying in the doorway between the kitchen and the living room, Eli’s jeans. But no Eli. Hmm. Jon put Eli’s pants back on, and Eli made his way back into the kitchen. At which point Jon notices that Eli’s pants are getting lower and lower as he’s scooting across the floor! He looks like one of those rappers who wear their pants so low you can see their boxers – or the top of their diapers (and cute Sesame Street characters) in this case.

Anyway, the pants get pulled up again and Eli continues on his way, this time making a beeline for the bathroom (where Dad has re-located). Halfway there he encounters the rug under the table and yep, you guessed it!, the pants are completely off in about three scoots. He crawled right out of his pants and left them lying neatly behind him, still buttoned and zipped! Thank goodness he kept his diaper on! :)