8 Months

Thanks for the new outfit, Great Grandma Stalker, I love it!

8 Things We Love About Elias:

1) How he reaches his arms out for me when he is with someone else and wants me to hold him
2) His laugh
3) The way he sits mesmerized when his Daddy plays the guitar
4) The sweet feeling of him falling asleep in our arms. Many nights we playfully argue about who gets to rock him to sleep and we always argue (sometimes playfully, sometimes not so playfully) about whose turn it is to carry the sleeping baby in from the car. He is just so precious.
5) How Uncle Alemu can always make him smile
6) His baby talk in the morning
7) How much he loves to be held
8) His love of the outdoors

Elias turned 8 months old yesterday. He is so BIG! Twice this weekend when compared to a 2 year old he weighed the same. He fits perfectly into 12 month shirts right now. Pants are getting to be a bit more difficult. Although he has a very large belly he has a pretty small waste and 6 months pants still fit him around the waist but they are getting too short. If I bump it up to the 12 months size pants then they are a touch loose on the waist but doable; however, they are too long. Oh well. Either way my baby is looking like a big boy instead of a baby.

Time has gone by so quickly. We have now been together 7 weeks. Crazy to think that when we got him and people asked how old he was we said, "6 months" and now we have to say, "8 months."

At 8 months Elias is growing even more into his personality. He is smiling and laughing more often, although he still spends a lot of time with his content and observant gaze (especially when around a lot of people). He still does not have any teeth although I am thinking one will probably show itself in the next month. I'm not the best judge at these things since I lack experience but his gums are turning a lighter shade of pink and he still drools and bites things non-stop.

Elias' latest trick is rolling over in the bathtub so he is on his belly. Then he pushes himself off of the foam mat and slides to the end of the tub. He proceeds in kicking his legs and splashing his hands. He can't quite understand that splashing the hands is what makes the water splash onto his face. He acts mad at the water and then keeps splashing.

Elias has no interest in crawling. He can scoot a little but really he just does a 360 turn and moves backwards a bit. He has never been on all 4s and is not even close to figuring out what the knees need to be doing in order to crawl. He does love to stand and will walk if you hold his hands.

Still no sign of "Mama" but Elias does love to mimic. His latest is saying, "Mmmmmmm" when he eats. I didn't even notice I said "Mmmmm" with each bite I gave him until he started copying me. He eats everything we have tried to give him. His standard foods right now are yams, bananas, apples, mangoes, peas, green beans, carrots, and avocado. He loves to suck on french fries and nilla wafers. He likes crackers and rice puffs although I don't give him that many snacks yet since his little belly can only hold so much.

Elias is a wonderfully happy baby and the joy of our lives! We love you Elias!!