Some firsts

Eli tried a few new things today.

He ate some pieces of banana by himself. He did a great job of chewing it up before trying to swallow it. But he had some trouble picking it up with his fingers. He still grabs it with his entire fist and then it is hard to get it in his mouth. But he certainly has fun trying.

He also took a walk in the afternoon in his jogging stroller without the infant car seat. It makes him look like such a big boy when he is sitting in it because he faces forward instead of toward me. He didn't seem to mind at the beginning of the walk but then he started crying before we got home and I had to carry him several blocks to calm him down. And boy, he is a heavy guy!

He was super happy when Michael came home from work and he was rolling around on the floor and squealing. I love it when he is that happy. I love to bury my face in his belly and make him squeal and squeal.

A bathtub milestone

We have the kind of baby bathtub that works for a newborn and a 1 year old. Up until tonight, Eli has been in the reclining position (the newborn side). But tonight we put him on the other end and he took his bath sitting up! He fell over a few times but I was right there to catch him and he just smiled his big, open-mouth smile and didn't get upset at all.

Jumping in an exersaucer

While Michael and I were making dinner tonight, Eli was playing in his exersaucer. All of a sudden, he started jumping up and down in it. It seemed like he had just figured something out and it was fun to watch his expression. He was having fun playing by himself. I guess he could have learned to jump in it at daycare but I haven't seen it yet.

No walk but a song

Eli had a long 21/2-hour nap this afternoon. Of course, it was right when I was going to go for a walk with Melissa, her son Oscar, Stefanie, and her son Alex. They were kind enough to just veg in my backyard for a bit, and it was a perfect day for it. It is so fun to see all of these Statesman Journal babies growing up -- they are so close in age and yet, at this stage, they are doing such different things. Alex was learning to go up the steps on our deck. Oscar was totally cooing at us and intensely studying the leaves on the tree above his head. Eli, as I mentioned, was unconscious.

When Eli finally woke up, we took him to Sarah and Jeremy's for dinner. Eli ate a ton! (We had pulled-pork sandwiches, Eli had oatmeal and pear puree). Eli had a great time watching Elliot and playing in their fun basement. Michael got a little bit too rough when he tried to get Eli to crawl. He was sort of pushing Eli's feet and Eli's face and knees were getting rug burn. Oh daddy...

After all the excitement, putting him to bed was quite a treat. I nursed him and gave him a few ounces from a bottle. Then I lay him in his crib and he started to cry because he didn't want me to leave. He started breathing really fast like he was anxious. So I rubbed his belly in a small circle over and over again and sang my version of Hush Little Baby. He listened for a long time, then yawned really big, and rolled over to go to sleep. That was it.

My version of Hush Little Baby came about because I never knew the words and wanted to sing to Eli when he was an infant. Since I was too sleep-deprived to look up the actual words, I just sang him my version over and over again. Now that I know the real version, I still like mine better. And the best part about mine is that it never ends. I can keep making up rhymes.

Hush Little Baby, by Beth

Hush little baby, don't say a word
Mama's gonna buy you a mockingbird
And if that mockingbird don't sing
Mama's gonna buy you a diamond ring
And if that diamond ring don't shine
Mama's gonna buy you a five-and-dime
And if that five-and-dime don't sell
Mama's gonna buy you a wishing well
And if that wishing well won't wish
Mama's gonna buy you a big green fish
And if that big green fish can't swim
Mama's gonna buy you a dolphin fin
And if that dolphin fin won't fly
Mama's gonna buy you a Russian spy

After that, things change every time I sing it to Eli. Enjoy!

A big orange hat

Eli and I went for a short walk with Sarah and Elliot this morning. Eli looked adorable in his big orange hat. And he didn't try to pull it off until we got home!

Sleep update

Saturday night was a little tougher in terms of the sleep training. Eli woke up at 11:45 p.m. and cried for about 45 minutes before falling back asleep. He then slept until 5 a.m., when Michael fed him 3 ounces and Eli promptly fell back asleep and slept until 7:30 a.m. Still pretty good.

For his naps, he went into his crib awake and both times he fell asleep himself without crying. During his afternoon nap, he slept for 3 hours!

This evening I put Eli down at 7:45 p.m. and he didn't cry AT ALL. He just played in his crib for a bit and fell asleep by himself. And when I left the room, I smiled at him and said "Good night" and he smiled back. Oh, he is such a great baby :)

Trying cheerios

I bought Eli some cheerio-like cereal and he tried some for breakfast. He could grab the cheerio in his hand but then he had trouble getting it into his mouth, mainly because the cheerio was trapped inside his fist. He had fun trying though...

Sleep training

Last night we tried sleep training, otherwise known as cry-it-out, with Eli. He had been having some terrible nights in a row where he would wake up several times a night and Michael and I were having to put him back to sleep. It seemed obvious that it was time for him to learn to go to sleep himself so that anytime a little noise or something woke him up at night, he wouldn't need us to help him go back to sleep.

I was pretty nervous about the whole thing -- expecting him to cry for hours or something. I put him to bed at 7:35 p.m. and he started crying around 7:45 p.m. Michael checked on him and found a very dirty diaper. He put him back in his crib around 7:50 p.m. Eli cried for about 15 minutes and fell asleep. And here is the amazing part: he slept the entire night without needing his parents!

Even when I put him down for naps during the day, he would cry a tiny, tiny bit and then fall asleep and take really good naps. In fact, his door slammed shut during one of his naps today and he woke up for a second, cried, and before I could get into his room to soothe him, he was back asleep. Amazing.

Tonight I put him down awake again and he cried for about 10 minutes. Michael went in to soothe him and 5 minutes later he was asleep. So far so good....

In other news, we went to the Saturday Farmer's Market again today and had a blast. Eli was fantastic and took a nap on our walk home. I love walking down there with my family. It makes me really like Salem. In the afternoon, we had a going-away barbecue for our friend Mardell, who is moving to Helena, Mont. It was super fun, but sad because Mardell is leaving us. Eli had fun watching Elliot though :)

Crawling Part II

Tonight, Eli was playing on his blanket in the backyard while I was planting some flowers. All of a sudden, he gets up on his knees and is using his forehead to balance. I called Michael, who came running out to see. Eli could tell he figured out something very important -- he was acting very pleased with himself. Yep, he is on his way to a crawl.

First signs of crawling....

While Eli and I were playing today in his room, I noticed that he is really starting to move around on the floor a lot more. He wanted this one toy that was just out of reach, so he rolled back and forth and reached really far with one arm and then reached really really far with the other arm. It was so cute -- and quite scary! He is going to crawl at some point -- ARGH!!!

Eli and Alex

Stef just e-mailed me photos of Eli and Alex during our trip to Corvallis. Aren't they cute?

7 months old!

Eli turned 7 months old today! It is absolutely astounding to me how quickly time has gone by since he was born.

Eli spent the day with Daddy because I had to work. They had a fun day going to the park with Wally and Zula, visiting Michael's work and stopping by to see me! Michael sort of forgot that Eli eats lots of solids these days (about 4 meals a day) and only fed him solids once. I had wondered why Eli was so anxious to nurse when I got home from work :)

Tonight, for the first time, Eli took a bath in the bathroom. He was still in his infant tub, but the tub was inside the big tub. I think it will help us transition to the big tub when he is ready.

Sleep update: Eli has been waking up a lot more at night. His first wake-up is usually before 11 p.m. and he just needs Michael to bounce him for a few minutes to fall back asleep. Then he wakes up again around midnight and usually nurses, although last night I was so out of it that Michael couldn't wake me up. And then he wakes up again around 4 a.m. or 5 a.m. Not good for a 7 month old fat baby! We are working on a back-to-sleep campaign....

Dancing, singing and cloth diapering

Michael and I played some Old Crow Medicine Show while we were giving Eli a bath tonight. We were singing and dancing around his bathtub (which is still on the dining room table -- we are going to transition to the bathroom soon!) Eli thought it was hysterical and Michael and I were having a pretty good time. It made me wish we had some kind of folksy/bluegrass festival in Salem in the summer.

Eli had a busy day today. We drove to Corvallis and picked up some cloth diapers and covers. We stopped at a cute shop in town called Sweetpeas -- it's a Kids Cafe where there are little chairs and toys for kids, handmade baby purees and adult food too! Stefanie and Alex and I relaxed there for a bit. Eli did great -- napping in the car on the drive down and back and smiling at everyone while he was in Corvallis. It was a super fun day.

A parade and the art fair

Eli was in his first parade on Friday. It was the Kids Parade through the Salem Art Fair and Eli went with his class from daycare. The older kids at the YMCA tie-dyed T-shirts for Eli's class and then Eli wore his tie-dye pants. It is hard to see how cute he looked because it was cold and he had to wear a jacket.

I missed the actual parade so these photos are from the end.

He is also in the Statesman Journal's art fair video here.

Today Eli and I went to the Art Fair and I got him two puzzles from this guy who makes them himself. One has the letters of Eli's name on it and they are puzzle pieces -- how cool!

Michael stayed home because he has a stomach bug. So far our whole family has had it. It's yucky :(

Helping with dinner; sleeping

Eli was very happy today at daycare and even though he didn't nap very well during the day, he didn't want a nap when he got home. So I put him on a blanket on the kitchen floor while I made dinner.

He was smiling and squealing at me. Every time I looked at him, he smiled so big I could see his two bottom teeth and his upper gums. When I got on the ground and tickled him, he did his half-laugh. It was the best time I've ever had making dinner!

We are still trying to figure out how to ensure that he has a good night's sleep. He certainly sleeps better if he eats well during the day, but I am still nursing at least once a night. I am not sure he needs to be nursing at all given how much fat he has stored on his thighs :)

Babbling and a spray fountain

It is very fun to feed Eli these days because he likes to talk in between bites. Today we had a conversation that probably sounded like two Beluga whales talking to each other. It was quite cute.

But while he was squealing away, Eli managed to say "may." He also sort of said "ma." It is cute to see how hard he tries to say these kinds of sounds. He concentrates really hard and then presses his lips together and then finally busts out with a sound.

Eli and I went to the spray fountain on the Capitol Mall today. He was mesmerized by the shooting water but he is still a little young for the fun. All the other kids were running through the jets of water and Eli could only sit on the side and get mist on him (no, his mama was not willing to run through the jets herself so that Eli could get the full experience).

6-month appointment

Eli's 6-month appointment with the doctor was Thursday and we found out his weight: 19.5 pounds! Some friends of mine told me that their kids weighed that at 1 year. Yeah, well, Eli aspires to be a sumo wrestler, OK?!? (Actually he is only in the 75th percentile on weight -- yeah, there are other kids who are fatter!)

Other related stats: His head circumference is 18 centimeters (95th percentile). His length is 28.5 inches (95th percentile).

He got some shots also. He cried a little but then was easily distracted. It was much better than his 2-week shots where he screamed and turned red and wouldn't take a breath.

Minnesota visit

We returned Tuesday from a week-long trip to Minnesota. We went to Minnesota to visit Michael's family. Eli got to meet his uncles Daniel and Ben, aunts Linda and Mari, and cousins Daniel and Alejandra for the first time. He saw Grandma Myra, Grandpa Harry, Gramma Nancy and aunt Jessica again -- they had been to visit when Eli was just a wee boy.

We were also out in Minnesota to meet up with Michael's college friends who run a ridiculously long race every year. So Eli got to meet all of Michael's old buddies, their partners and their kids. Eli also got to meet some of my friends from Minnesota -- Rebecca, Amy and Steve and Becky and Jason and their cute girl Solveig. And we had a chance to have dinner with Marc and Sue and their cute girls Aine and Quinn.

I was very, very nervous about flying with Eli and then having him be in a new place for his naps and his nighttime slumber. Turns out, he did pretty well. He napped for a lot of both flights and we fed him a jar of baby food when we were landing both times (to keep his ears from hurting). At the beginning of the trip, he was pretty great about going down for a nap just about anywhere, even where it was pretty loud. But by the end of the trip, he was waking up a lot more at night and having more trouble taking naps. It didn't affect his mood though -- he was happy and smiling at everyone. He let lots of new people hold him and play with him, even if Mom and Dad weren't right near by.

He was also very adaptable to things like taking a bath in a cooler :)