Trying to Remember: Peek-A-Boo

Last night Elijah initiated Peek-a-boo for the first time! It was the first time we saw Elijah learn something from watching us. It was so exciting and unbelievable. I didn't realize that at just 8.5 months, he can watch us do something and figure out how to do it himself. It was after his bath and he was wrapped up in his towel laying on the changing table. Daniel was rubbing lotion on him and Elijah grabbed the towel, moved his arms up over his face, and then really quickly pulled them down. Daniel realized what he was doing and started saying "peek-a-boo!" Elijah kept doing it over and over and every time Daniel yelled "peek-a-boo!" he laughed hysterically.

Elijah is also accelerating in his motor development. In the last few days I have noticed him trying to balance on his feet without holding on to anything. He often uses our legs to pull up on when we're in the kitchen. I can feel his weight shift off of me and then back on me over and over as he tries to find his balance. I also watched him a couple nights ago as he pulled up on the couch, pushed off, and fell down on his butt. He did that over and over and over again. Each time he pushed off, he held it for a little longer before falling down. It's just amazing to watch. He intuitively knows how to learn these things without anyone showing him or teaching him. I feel like I'm watching evolution happen right in front of my eyes.

Last weekend, Elijah was pretty fussy. We attributed it to teething since he has another tooth coming in right next to his first one. I took him to school on Monday and let them know what was going on, and that we had given him some ibuprofen that weekend and it seemed to help. At around 11:30am I got a call that he had only slept for 20 minutes that morning and he really needs some ibuprofen. So I ran over to the pharmacy inside Children's hospital, bought some infant ibuprofen, and drove over to his school. Yet another time that I thanked God we found a day care right on my campus. I gave him some ibuprofen and then spent a good 30 minutes rocking him to sleep. At first he seemed wide awake. Then he started resisting it- arching his back and whining. But slowly he got quiet and relaxed in my arms. He stared at the ceiling for a long time as I kept rocking him and watched the other babies play. And slowly he closed his eyes and started breathing deeply and heavily. Then I knew he was out. I laid him down in his crib and went back to work. It was such a sweet time. Initially I was just going to give him some ibuprofen and go back to work. But it's pretty rare that I get to rock him to sleep anymore. And once I started, I really wanted to finish. I wanted that satisfaction of watching him drift into sleep in my arms.

On Tuesday I took him to the pediatrician to make sure his ear infection cleared up. His regular doctor, Dr. Krawcek, wasn't available so we got the float doctor. We met him once before when Elijah was 8 or 12 weeks old. He dismissed my worry about Elijah's (lack of) weight gain and his spitting up. We weren't impressed. And this visit confirmed that. He made Eljiah lay down on the table and asked me to hold his arms down while he looked in his ears. He was really slow and thorough, and did it twice on each ear. Of course Elijah screamed because he doesn't like being held down. Dr. Krawcek never made us hold him down to look in his ears. Regardless, we got the confirmation that his ears are fine and some recommendations to ease his teething pain. I also found out that he gained 15 oz in 15 days! Holy cow, nearly a pound in 2 weeks! So it wasn't just my imagination that he was getting very heavy very quickly. He went from the 60th percentile at the beginning of May to the 70th percentile on Tuesday. That is crazy! It makes me so happy. He is obviously growing and thriving. He is such an easy baby. I say it over and over again- we hit the jackpot with this kid. Now if we could only get him to sleep past 6:30am!