Eli Update

These are old pictures. Sorry, I haven't touched my camera in a couple of months.

Here are Eli's latest tricks. I thought I'd write them down for the sake of journaling....is that even a word?

1. He's walking. Started taking steps a couple of weeks ago (10.5 months) and now hardly ever crawls.

2. He's talking. He calls all food NANA. (from banana) He points at everything on the table in front of him while he sits in his high chair and screams NANA!! I can't keep up with his appetite.

3. He says words like Dada, Hadoo (Hayduke, the dog), hot, light, "AH" is "Mateo", Uh-oh, and of course, nana. He also growls when he sees pictures of a dinosaur, tiger, lion, bear or any animal for that matter. Tonight, he did the "ooow, ooow" sound for the baby gorilla.

4. He loves the feeling of falling backwards. (I recently introduced him to the baby swing at the playground... loved it!) He loves to do the "trust fall", but has no one behind him to catch him as he falls. He cracks up laughing when he lands. He does this on the couch or futon or bed. He learned quickly to not do it on the floor.

5. He loves being outside and always points to the window or door when he wants to get out. Too bad it's been freezing cold here and we haven't had much chance to get out. Maybe by JUNE it will warm up:(

6. He's sick of jars of baby food and wants grown up food. He recently chowed down a bowl of sopa de fideo. (noodle soup) Loved it!

7. He loves wrestling with Mateo, even though Mateo has no idea how to be gentle with him.

8. He recently got a vaccination. The nurse stuck a huge needle in his leg and he just stared at her. He didn't even flinch. No crying. No kidding. I'm convinced it's because of Mateo's constant eye poking, ear flicking, head butting, body crushing, cheek pinching affection that makes him so resistant to pain.

9. He turns one year old in less than a month. It went too fast.

10. He's slowly learning how to put himself to sleep during nap times, but only during the day, (if Mateo doesn't go in his room and "comfort" him while I'm not looking.) He hates the dark and won't fall asleep by himself at night, but can be rocked to sleep instead of nursed to sleep, which is a huge improvement.

11. He loves waving goodbye, but only after the person has left the room. We are still working on that one.

12. He slept through the night two days ago.... for the first time ever. Meaning, he went to bed at 9 and woke up at 6, and then went back down after nursing.. until Mateo woke him up of course.

13. Mateo wants to cuddle with Eli as soon as he wakes up. When Mateo is sad and having a little break down all he says is "I want Eli, I want Eli!" and he'll go to Eli and hug him for comfort. Eli just looks at him with a blank stare like he's saying, "What's your problem, dude?"

14. He's been to the ocean three times and he's not even one year old yet. (twice in Cali and once in Mexico) That's pretty impressive considering we live 12 hours away from the ocean. Hope to keep that tradition up.

15. Many months ago, Alex started calling him "Schmee-lie" (pronounced "lie down") as in "Smeagul/Gollum" from Lord of the Rings because he is "My precious". So, now Eli's nick name is "Schmee, Schmeeli, or just "E", or just "precious", said in the Smeagul voice.

Ewww, I just googled how to spell Smeagul and and saw a picture of him in Lord of the Rings. He freaks me out.... creepy..... remind me not to let Mateo see that movie. He'll NEVER sleep by himself after that.

That's all for now.

I think Eli is the most precious, handsome and angelic child I have ever met. Can't wait to share some more of him with you soon. (and I guess I'll share some of Mateo too :)