Walking, standing, being naked and being in Seattle

Eli is walking more and more these days. He can sometimes take two steps at a time, sometimes four! Today while I was cooking dinner, he stood by the refrigerator and played with the magnets, and he wasn't holding onto anything! He is very anxious to be able to walk around by himself -- he practices every day and he get frustrated when he falls down. Not long now!

For several weeks now, Michael and I have instituted family time in the living room. Most of the time Eli is naked, which he loves! He and pulls himself up on the couch and laughs and laughs as he crawls all over Mama and Daddy. It is very fun and very cute.

This past weekend we were in Seattle visiting Daphne, Will, Perry and Noe. Pete and Makie and their new baby, Sophia, came also. It was a fun-filled weekend with the kids. Eli loved to "draw" on their easel, ride on their green tractor, push their walker and climb up their stairs. What he didn't like to do was sleep. We aren't sure what was going on but he kept waking up and one night he just cried from 4 to 6 a.m. Ugh! I think he just wanted to keep playing with Perry and Noe :)

A first step

Eli has been practicing standing by himself a lot lately. He throws his hands into the air, stands for several seconds, gets this great look of surprise and pride, and then falls on his butt.

But today he let go and took one step toward me. The smile on his face was huge as he realized what he did. Not long now until he is waddling around all the time :)

Standing

In the kitchen tonight, Eli stood by himself for about 5 seconds. Wow! I had just put him down to stand next to his box of toys but he didn't grab the box right away and he had his arms out to balance himself. Uh oh, I think he is on his way to walking...