Month 11 (draft)

Little Boy-

Happy 11 months! I absolutely cannot believe that you will be a year old next month.  The time has flown by and my sweet little baby boy is turning into a sweet little toddler. 

You continue to be more and more fun each month. This past month is no exception. You are really beginning to understand things these days and love learning. Books are still fantastic in your eyes. We read several books every night and you will often flip through books on your own during the day. You are excellent at turning pages and lifting the flap in peek a boo books. You especially love books when we point to pictures and tell you what they are. You can say Mama, Papa, Bobo and Ah (for Thera-cats), out, hot, meow, bok bok (chickens),  ball and bye bye. The last few aren't super clear to make out, but they are pretty good. You understand so many words now and point to things when we say 'where is ____'. We can ask and have you point to outside, kitty cats, puppy dogs, fish, trees, lights, fans, mama, papa, grandma, grandpa, grampy, your aunties, babies, chickens, cars, trucks, the mail, spoon, cup, book, certain toys (dragon, seahorse, animals (your mobile), crib, window, door, water, tub, your diaper, mouth, eye, hair, belly..... I'm sure there is more.

Month 10 (draft)

Well Elijah..... your 10 month post is going to have to wait until tomorrow. You were a wild man tonight and were up until 10:30. Mama is ready for bed now too.

Sweet boy-

Happy 10 and a day! Tonight was much smoother with you in bed by 7:15. This whole bedtime deal needs work lately. Some nights you are down at 7:30 while others you are going strong until 10:30. I'm pretty sure it hard to do in part with you still taking 3 naps on some days. Within the last week or so I have been doing what I can to help eliminate your last nap of the day. You sleep well through the night however have been stirring at 5am here and there. Otherwise you are normally up between 7:30 and 8:30 am. You are still in the bed with Mama and Papa simply because we haven't felt the need to do otherwise. I do think however, that we will be lowering the mattress in your crib in the coming weeks and making an effort to transition you to sleeping in there on your own.

You still eat like a champ; there is really nothing you will refuse. You are showing less and less interest in your purees and more interest in Mama and Papa's 'real food'. Aside from the regular old baby food you are eating Mum Mums, yogurt melts, puffs, cheese/veggie munchies, shredded cheese, deli meat turkey, yogurt, rice, oatmeal, blueberries, watermelon, banana. You get bites of some of our meals too, like toast, corn on the cob, and barbecue ribs (haha). You had been nursing before I went into work, then 2 bottles, then nursing 2 or 3 more times when I got home from work. Now that school is out for the summer we are just about back to exclusively nursing. This is good because I was experiencing a pretty dramatic decrease in my milk supply which is resolving itself with all of the nursing.

These months continue to be more and more fun with you. You have improved on your clapping and waving. There are lots of words you understand and respond to. You know: clap, wave, dance, splash, outside, kitty, trees, mama, papa, grandma, grandpa, auntie, diaper, mouth, nose, kisses, milk, and  high five. You dance when you are happy or excited, such as when you eat something yummy or mama sits down with you to play. You also dance when you hear music from your toys, television shows/commercials, or when Mama or Papa sings sometimes.

You are without a doubt mobile now. It is a combination of crawling and scooting. This means trouble for the cats as you are obsessed with them. You LOVE love love Bodhi and Thera and squeal at the sight of them. You are determined to be right on top of them all of the time. Your 'pet' them, smack them with your toys and lately pull on their tails. You have also recently started leaning into them with your head to give them a 'kiss'. Thankfully they are pretty accepting of your 'love'; especially Thera.
You pull yourself up on whatever you can get a hold of: the couch, your highchair, toy basket, laundry hamper... You are also constantly grabbing for our hands to help you stand so that you can walk around. Even if you are just holding onto a finger or two you are getting around pretty well. 

swimming
biting
doctors appt...............
..........

First Father's Day

Happy Father's Day to my husband.....
You are an amazing father and we both love you.....so much.

Month 9 (draft)

Happy number 9 my boy!


What a fun, fun month this has been with you. You have such a great little personality and have been learning all sorts of new tricks.

You surprised Mama on her first Mother's Day by waving hello to her for you first time.  I was so impressed. It was pretty funny how beside myself it made me feel. I kept saying to Papa "that was so cool". I was so proud of you and look forward to feeling this over and over as you grow and accomplish new feats. You are getting pretty good about waving when we tell you to say hi or bye bye.

This past month you also learned how to clap and will do it when we say clap. Sometimes you do it own your own accord. There have been several times that you do it after waving and we say 'good job'.... we join in and applaud with you.

 The weather is finally turning nice so we have been spending more time outside. You love to go out and get excited everytime we step out the front door. You will kick you feet and make cute little squeals.

You know how to pet the kitty and understand what that means when we say it. Thera has really taken to you and will come up to you and put his head down so you can 'pet' him. This typically looks more like you beating him and pulling out some fur but he loves it none the less.

You still love to eat and often try to get food off of Mama or Papa's plate. We do give you some bites of grown up food sometimes, such as mashed potatoes or rice. You love to feed yourself the few finger foods we have given you which mainly consists of puffs (sweet potato, banana, or kale), yogurt melts,  and Mum Mums. I am pretty sure you could handle some other stuff but I am still pretty nervous about you choking.

 

........

Month 8 (draft)

 Happy 8 months Elijah!
Mama almost missed this today...how could I.

April was a busy month for us. Papa started a new job working in the I.T. department of the bank. This meant he had to be trained and would no longer be home all morning to watch you. Mama refuses to go the daycare route out here in the boonies so thankfully it was Grandma to the rescue. Your Grandma made the trip up to Maine and watched you during the day both the week before and after my April vacation from school. You've done really well with the changes. It took a couple of days for you to really warm up to Grandma, and there is some crying when Mama or Papa leave in the mornings, but you quickly adjust and happily play with Grandma.

We've gone backwards in the sleep department this month. For some reason you spent about two weeks waking up at 4:30 in the morning ready to go. Most mornings it took about an hour or two to get you back to sleep. While you have stopped doing that this past week, you are still waking up a couples times during the night which you hadn't done in quite a while. And needless to say you are still sleeping in the bed with us. I had every intention to try the crib out again during April vacation but unfortunately we all came down with a nasty cold. You were very congested and coughing a lot, so I was much more comfortable having you in the bed next to me so I could keep an eye on you. You are also waking up earlier now that Papa gets up for work in the mornings. Instead of getting up around 7:30, it is now 6:30.........including on the weekends.  :{

You are an eating machine and love just about any baby food we give you. Your favorites seem to be banana, apricots, apple/mango/kiwi, and peas. You are also eating Mum Mums and just within this past week yogurt. We feed you breakfast, lunch and dinner now.

You still have just two teeth. We've been wondering if your top teeth will be breaking through soon as you have been a bit more fussy/drooly lately. Once they do come in you will be dangerous! You bite hurts pretty bad already so I can only imagine.

We are working hard to encourage you to crawl. If we put you on your hands and knees you will hold yourself up for a minute and then quickly roll onto you back. All you really want to do is walk. You do a great job getting around if we hold your arms and let you "walk" around. You haven't pulled yourself up to standing on any of the furniture yet, be will do it if Mama or Papa offer you our hands.

Papa might not agree but I swear you have a first word.  MEOW! You love our kitties and meow or screech when you see them. So cute.

The car can still be a challenge. Some days you throw a fit in your carseat. If someone is there to ride with you and entertain you in the back seat you are fine, but not so much when you are on your own.

easter
toys
falling
outside

Month 7 (draft)

  

My sweet boy-

Happy 7th month Elijah! What a month of milestone March has been. 

Look close

You brought in the month with what we thought was your first real cold; runny nose and a cough. I think what it really had to do with was the fact that your first tooth was making it's way out. Your first tooth (bottom left) showed up in March 2nd. You did pretty well with it, only being a little fussy. 

We gave you lots of frozen sweet potato ice cubes in a mesh feeder to help ease the discomfort. You loved them and would show your approval at the first sight of them. The second tooth was quick to follow, breaking through on March 7th. So far you have been pretty good about not biting mama, though you still try to chomp down on my fingers. I know I used to let you do that all the time, but now it really hurts.

Two teeth!

You're sitting up on your own like a champ now. We still have to stay near by to catch you when you tip over, but you can easily go 5-10 minutes unsupported.

.........to be continued...............

Month 6 (draft)

Half a year! Holey moley......
I can't believe how fast you are growing up.
Elijah, you are developing quite the personality. You are an inquisitive, strong, determined, and funny little boy. You take in everything around you. Studying faces, looking out windows, watching animals... You love the television, which I not so sure how to feel about. Papa puts you in your swing some mornings and lets you watch one of your favorite shows; Dinosaur Train or Word World.  You are quick to grab anything you can get your hands on nowadays. We need to be careful about what is within your reach. You steal papers, wrappers, pens, remotes and they all go straight to your mouth. Our animals have finally caught your interest. You watch the kitties and even "pet" them when you can. Most of the time this equates to grabbing a fistful of their fur and pulling, but sometimes you pet them right. Luckily none of them seem to mind. You also go outside and "help" Papa with the chickens in the morning and love to watch them.
You have been fascinated with watching Mama and Papa eat for several weeks now; tracking the food from our plates to our mouths. You even try to grab it off of our plates. We decided at 5 1/2 months to give you your own food. The first thing you had was sweet potato and you took right too it. No funny faces or spitting it out; just a minute to think about what just went into your mouth and then you were good to go. You opened  right up for more and even grabbed hold of the spoon to feed yourself. So far you have tried bananas, carrots, and oatmeal and enjoyed them all.

We went down to Connecticut again this month to visit Grandma, Grandpa, and Aunt Rachel. You stayed awake for almost the entire 4 hour trip down (sleeping only 20 minutes). Papa and I took turns riding in the back seat entertaining you. While we were down there we had you baptized in the church where Mama used to go. You were so cute in your little white outfit, tie and all. Father Castaldi said you were a good baby because you didn't cry at all.

You are just about sitting up on your own. You can do it for about 20 seconds or so, but Mama (or Papa) is always ready to catch you. Pretty soon we won't have to.

Rori, your first cousin was born this month. She is a tiny little peanut which made you seem so huge. You weren't all that interested in her yet, but soon enough you too will  be causing trouble together. While we were visiting her she cried...causing you to cry right along with her. I not sure if it was her crying or the loud noise she was making that got you going. Whatever it was it was pretty cute.

Big Boy!

Elijah is learning how to feed himself....

(not sure why there is no volume)

Month 5 (draft)

 

Elijah-

  Happy birthday my sweet baby boy. I don't even know where to begin this month... you have been busy. 2010 ended with a visit from your Grandma and Grandpa. We celebrated a belated Christmas with them and boy did they ( and the rest of our family) spoil you. You did great opening your presents with help from Mama and Papa; examining each and every new toy you got carefully.

You received a little red sled from your grandparents and have used it several times this month. Papa gets you all bundled up and takes you cruising around our yard....through the woods and around the pond. I wasn't sure how you would do because you didn't like the cold weather when we got our Christmas tree, but you seem to be quite content sliding around in there. 

Mama and Papa got you a new tub called the Tummy Tub. As silly as it looks, it's actually pretty neat. They say it mimics being back in the womb and you stay warmer longer in there too.

Your hair is finally filling back in this month ( while mama's is doing quite the opposite). It is a mix of short hair and some much longer hair on the top. Most of the time this long hair sticks straight up, leaving you a little goofy looking. Papa keeps threatening to give you a hair cut, but I won't let him.

You really discovered your voice this past month and have learned that you can yell. At times you screech like a crazy  banshee and other times you seem to be doing it to watch our reactions. For a few weeks you would 'talk' real loud when you were tired. We would hold you on our shoulder, swaying you to sleep, all the while going deaf with your yelling in our ears. You also mastered blowing raspberries this month. Sometimes they are loaded with spit and you spray our faces as well as your own. 

Around 17 weeks you figured out how to roll from your belly to your back. I think you are quite proud of this fact, as you weren't always a big fan of being stuck on your belly. About a week after that you discovered your feet. Now you grab them all the time and stick them in your mouth. If you have socks on those will get pulled off in a hurry.