My Littlest Elf

It’s been a while since I’ve done an Eli update, so we did a little photo session yesterday, and here are some pictures to share…

…a little pucker for you…

…and here he is mid-sentence (ok, more like mid-coo!)…

I got a couple of cute ones of him smiling really big, but unfortunately I was laughing along with him and I kept shaking the camera.  Of course those pics ended up all blurry.

Elijah is doing very well.  He’s super healthy, sleeps GREAT, and seems to adore his family.  He is, however, an absolute grouch when he’s not where he wants to be when he wants to be there.  Mainly that happens when he’s tired; he loves for me to snuggle him to sleep.  He does NOT like to fall asleep in the car or the stroller or the grocery cart or generally in any situation where I cannot fully pay attention to him.  Since my main “errand time” is when the other kids are at school, it’s necessary for me to drag Eli along on various tasks.  He doesn’t like this much, and I can get one outing with maybe three different places TOPS before he starts to have a complete meltdown.  I can’t tell you how many concerned people have approached me in a public place, wondering if my baby is ok.  He will scream, scream, scream and do those scary prolonged face scrunches where there is no breathing going on, and the face just gets redder and redder (and purple).  I’ve stopped being embarrased about it, and I’ve learned to do a lot with one hand (while cradling him in my other arm).  This “quirk” of his sometimes upsets me, but mostly I’ve just tried to figure out how to read him and how to compromise.  I can’t blame him much for being such a homebody – I think he gets it from me, actually.  If it weren’t required for the basic maintenance of my family that I go out and run errands, I’d probably stay home 85% of the time.

When Eli IS in a good mood, he’s a total charmer.  I caught my husband all teary-eyed the other day, just ’cause Elijah was shooting him all sorts of chubby grins and coos.  It really does melt your heart.  It feels like tons of tiny little gifts when he pours out his love on you.  He’s changing now – I can tell that his teeth are on the move (and this absolutely contributes to his grouchiness!) and he’s starting to do more self-directed things with his hands (versus them just being stubby knobs at the end of his arms).  He’s also just on the brink of giggling, and you can tell now where he’s the most ticklish.

We’ve had a lot of fun with him joining our family and I really look forward to seeing what he’ll do next!

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