My Little Monkey

Elijah's motor development is on overdrive!  Last weekend he gained a lot of confidence in his crawling.  He still isn't really exploring or getting into trouble too much.  He mostly stays in the area that we put him in.  Most of the time, the living room or his bedroom.  He will crawl to get to a toy across the room that he really wants, but otherwise he is content to sit and play with whatever toy is in front of him.  He goes back and forth between crawling on his knees and crawling on his toes.  But more and more he favors his toes.  I think he can get more traction on the slick wood floor that way.  It's pretty adorable.

By the end of the weekend he was becoming more adventurous.  Daniel told me that while I was napping downstairs, Elijah crawled from the living room over into the kitchen area to be closer to him while he was working just outside the back door.  I'm still looking forward to the day that Elijah crawls to me when he sees me or when I call his name.  He also began climbing and pulling up on everything!  Our dining room chairs, the couch, the wall, his toys, and even us!

Anything he can use to get himself closer to standing is fair game.  Unfortunately, it's not always safe.  He fell on his head quite a few times this weekend.  I know it's all part of normal development, but that doesn't make it any easier.  I try to brush it off (at least outwardly) when he does fall, because I've noticed that he looks to me for a reaction before he reacts.  About half the time he doesn't even react, he just gets back up and keeps on climbing.  The other half he does the big gasp of air, long pause, and then WAIL.  On Sunday after church we went to Chipotle for lunch and he sat in a high chair for the first time.  His head was right at the level of the edge of the table, and he smacked his head right on the sharp edge.  It's just the beginning.  I'm bracing myself.

Elijah's sleep habits continue to be better than ever.  He is sleeping a solid 12 hours, from 6:30pm-6:30am.  He wakes up once to eat, usually around 4 or 5am.  Lately we've had a lot of fun singing together.  I showed Elijah a clip of Elmo on Sesame Street on Sunday morning and we've been singing "Elijah's Song" to the tune of "Elmo's Song" ever since.  Daniel thinks it's hilarious that I still can't seem to get it right, even though it's written for preschoolers.  I'll get it eventually......

Every single day I am thankful for my sweet baby boy.  I've been doing his bedtime routine more now that he just goes to sleep on his own without 30 minutes of patting, shushing, and rocking.  I absolutely love it.  I have never felt so much love in my life than I do while I'm in that rocking chair, reading to Elijah while he has his last bottle of the day.  I love to feel his silky hair under my chin, and smell his little baby smell, and feel his pudgy soft fingers wrapped around mine.  It is in those moments that I feel like I am living my dream.  Nothing else in the world matters as long as I am holding my baby boy.