A baby fading away

When I put Eli down for a nap today, he was still pretty awake. He started doing his intense smiles (kind of the same way he grabs his blankie and shoves it in his face) and I would laugh and do it back to him. We were totally cracking each other up and trying to do funnier and funnier faces each time. I had never had an interaction like that with him before. It was so fun!

Before nap time, Stef and Alex came over and Eli and Alex really played together -- they are interested in a lot of the same things: opening and closing doors, opening and closing lids, turning water on from the faucet (and only occasionally turning it off) and going up stairs. Alex taught Eli to jump on the bed and they spent a lot of time rolling around on the bed, playing in the shower stall and going up the stairs. They had a blast :)

The other photo is Daddy and Eli feeding the ducks on Saturday afternoon in the beautiful sunshine. Eli had trouble throwing the bread to the ducks. Instead he would let a piece roll down the bank and a brave duck would have to come very close to snatch it up.

Anyway, all of these things remind me how fast he is growing up. He is joking around with me, which seems so kid-like -- not baby-like, he is playing with another boy his age and he is learning to throw. His babyhood is fading away....