10 Months Old

Elias is 10 months old today. Where has the time gone?!? We love every day with this wonderful little boy and we are so thankful God chose us to be his parents.
At 10 months old Elias has become quite a little ham. He gets that from his Dad. I have a feeling this kid might become a rock star. He LOVES music. I mean LOVES it. If Elias is antsy, fussy, or just needs to be entertained so I can get something done, all Brian needs to do is grab his guitar. Elias will sit mesmerized the entire time. Sometimes he actually starts singing along with Brian. It is THE CUTEST THING. After a while of sitting Elias will then make his way over to his Dad so he can touch the guitar. He can't get enough of it.
I wasn't into American Idol this year, completely over it in fact, but Brian still wanted to watch. So, he found a new partner to watch Idol with...Elias. He and Elias would rock in the rocking chair and Elias would lay his head on Brian's shoulder in complete relaxation. As soon as a performance would start Elias would twist his entire body around, pop his head up and stare at the television until the singing was done. And just as quickly as he popped up for the singing, he would go back down when it was done.

Last Sunday we went to the Charlotte's Web musical that Brian's Dad was directing. If they were talking, Elias was all over the place... as you would expect an almost 10 month old to be. As soon as anyone started singing Elias sat completely still for the duration of the song.

To further prove Elias' love of music I will even admit to a bad Mom moment. I am sure everyone has them and I swear I only did this once. We were in the car. Elias was screaming at the top of his lungs which is unusual for him as normally he loves the car. In an attempt to keep my sanity I turned the music up louder to drown out his crying. (Awful, right?) All the sudden, silence. Brian looked over at me and said, "did you know that was going to happen?" At which point I sheepishly admitted, "no I just was tired of the screaming." Bad, I know. Now if he starts crying in the car we sing one of his favorite songs and he usually stops right away.

In addition to loving music, Elias also loves to flirt. It is NON STOP. If someone is smiling at him and ooohing and aaaahing he will tilt his head to the side, get a sheepish grin and just stare. It is SO cute!

Elias also has learned some new tricks. Of course he hardly ever shows them off when you want him to. Elias can wave. When we were at the mall getting his helmet airbrushed he decided to wave at people who were passing by. It was super cute. Usually it takes him a while but if you are waving to him he will eventually wave back. Our nightly routine most often includes Brian rocking Elias to sleep. If I am in the kitchen and he can see me he will sit up and start waving and smiling. It's great!

Elias also has started doing "so big." After one day with his Mimi he picked this up. It is super cute. We say "how big is Elias?" Sometimes he throws his hands in the air right on cue but most the time we have to show him a few times and then he starts up. He is "So Big!"

Exactly one week ago Elias ceased scooting and started crawling. It started with just one or two paces so he could get in a position to then sit down and play with whatever item he was after. Within a couple hours he realized this was much faster than scooting and he has been crawling ever since. Sometimes his little legs get going faster than the rest of him can keep up with and he does a face plant but he gets right back up again.

Just as I feared, Elias' new found mobility has led to new found trouble.I was putting on my "face" as Brian so lovingly refers to my makeup and noticed it had been silent for a few seconds too long. Even though Elias was literally at my feet I didn't notice he had unrolled the toilet paper. As I ran out to the living room to get the camera, the kid who cannot under any circumstances be alone for more than 5 seconds started to follow me, dragging his t.p. trail with him. Seriously, can he get any cuter?

Elias also finally learned how to tolerate the pool. The first few times we tried the pool it began and ended with screaming. On Saturday it was nearly 100 degrees. I had already been in the pool so Elias and I were inside for a while. Elias was sitting at the screen door "talking" and waving his arms in excitement watching his Papi and Uncle Israel play in the pool. I took him out there and they swimmed over. Elias reached out for my Dad and he went in. I thought he would start screaming any second. Although I wouldn't go so far as to say he liked it, he also didn't cry. He got nervous and almost started crying once the water hit his chest but all in all it was our first good experience with the pool.Yesterday we had our Dr.'s visit. Elias is weighing in at a slender 22 pounds. The doctor told me this was above average. He is 30 inches long which I was told was well above average. His head is 48 centimeters. After looking at the chart the doctor looked at me, chuckled a little, and said, "well his head is...HUGE." That made me laugh. Certainly no new news. We have always been well aware that this little boy has a large noggin. My Mom quickly defended him by saying it wasn't out of proportion to his body. Sometimes though when he is sitting up he actually looks like he is laboring at keeping his head steady. Luckily his height and weight truly don't make his head look out of place :) Brian looked up the percentages as "above average, well above average, and HUGE" weren't quite doing it for him. For weight Elias is in the 55th percentile. For height he is in the 80th percentile. And his head is in the 94th percentile. Since we have had him home his weight and height have swaped, which means the diet the doctor put him on apparently worked. The doctor put him on this diet because he didn't want to see "another obese American"...meanwhile I was just thankful my child wasn't malnourished.

At 10 months Mr. Independent has also decided to veto his baby food most of the time. I make all his baby food myself and stocked up this last time and have a couple gallon baggies full in the freezer. Of course this is when he decides he a) only wants to eat when we eat and b) only wants what is on our plates. Usually I can still sneak in some of the food as side dishes but now Elias only wants big people food as the main courses. He really likes pancakes, bread, rice, beans & guacamole (we are close to the Mexican border, you know), casseroles, mac n' cheese, and really anything else we will let him try. So far the only thing he consistenly spits out are tomatos. The doctor told me yesterday we can start trying meats now so we will see how that goes.

10 Things We Love About Elias

1) His flirtatious smile and head tilt

2) His love of music

3) His super cute baby teeth

4) The way he clings to my shirt with everything he's got in him when he doesn't want me to set him down or hand him to someone else.

5) His laugh

6) The way his eyes sparkle when he smiles

7) The way he starts panting whenever he sees something that he really wants

8) His excited arm flail

9) His slobbery kisses

10) His sweet cuddles