By the way . . .

In case you thought I was kidding about Eli's drool . . . behold:

Eli's Big Splash

Last weekend Eli went for his first dip in a pool!  Kelvey's parents were in town and invited the Oeser family to join them at their hotel pool for an early morning dip.  Kelvey and I tried to get some diapers made especially for swimming before heading over there, but we couldn't find any in Eli's size.  Instead we just had to wait until for our window when it was safe to put Eli in the pool . . . . meaning we had to wait until he had used the bathroom and could go in with a clean diaper.  Luckily our window came pretty quickly and we were able to hop in with the rest of the family.  I figured the best way to help Eli get adjusted to the water was to ease him in a little bit at a time.  First I dipped his toes in, then his feet, then his legs then we went for the gusto and got waist deep.  I expected Eli to shriek in discomfort but he took to the water like a regular Mark Spitz (minus the dashing mustache).  Of course, it helped that we were about to have our 65th 100+ degree summer day and the water was not much cooler than his usual bath water so it was a somewhat familiar feeling to him.  Had it been about 10 degrees cooler he may have had a different reaction.  We'll see how he does when I take him to the Barton Springs river which is, on average, 68 degrees year-round.  I haven't taken him yet because I want to make sure the pediatrician gives the ok first.  As much as I want him to experience the joys of river hiking and swimming, I don't want to expose him to any crazy bacteria, bug bites, or infections while his immune system is still developing.

Geez! The mouth on this kid!

Eli hasn't quite started talking yet, but has has made some pretty big advances in the mouth department over the past couple of weeks.  For one, he has become a drool factory.  About 2 weeks ago I noticed that every time I picked him up and held him in my arms, my arm would become glazed in a thick layer of slobber.  Sometimes it would be so bad that it would drip off the bottom of my elbow.  The weird thing is that he started drooling so suddenly!  It wasn't a slow build up over time, but more like his salivary glands just exploded from pressure and a geyser of drool erupted out of his mouth.  It can get kind of gross at times, but it helps to have a burp rag around at all times to keep things from getting too messy.

As Eli's drool increased, so did his urge to suck on things.  After sucking on a teat for 8 weeks, Eli seems to have learned that the best times in life are when you have something to suck on.  Maybe it's the milk-coma he sinks into after every feeding, but the kid has a heavy jonesin' for something to suck on these days.  For a while he was sucking on my bicep every time I held him and he would leave a hickey the size of a quarter on my arm, but he eventually discovered that his thumbs were more accessible and much easier to suck on.  It took him a while to get the coordination down and he would often end up fish-hooking himself, as you can see in the picture.  He's gotten better, though, and actually looks pretty cute once he gets his mouth locked down on a thumb.  Things get a little difficult for him when he gets greedy and tries to shove both hands in mouth.

Last but certainly not least, Eli has started making more deliberate noises with his mouth and can hold a conversation with you.  There are times when he is laying on the changing table and he updates me on all the exciting things he has done that day.  He has bypassed the cooing stage and has already started making grunts, squeaks, oohs and aahs.  He is even developing a laugh to go with his smiles, but right now it just sounds like a stoned surfer.  We keep reading and talking to him every day, so hopefully he will be giving full dissertations by the time he is 3 months old.

Eli's new favorite trick

Eli has always been good about his taking his bath . . . I say that like he's been taking them for years but in actuality I have been to Taco Cabana more times than he's had baths.  Anyways, Eli has always been good about his taking his bath but this past week baths just got a whole lot awesomer!  Eli is quickly becoming more aware of his body movements and has perfected a deliberate movement similar to a fish flopping on dry land.  He will start out soaking in his tub, enjoying the relaxing warm water and intoxicating smell of Johnson&Johnson baby wash, but eventually he realizes that he is naked and free from the everyday constraints of his clothing prison.  With lightening quickness he flexes his legs straight out and clenches his butt cheeks which causes the entire lower half of his body to pop out of the water!  It's tough to capture his awesome power and speed on camera so the picture does not accurately portray this movement.  He actually flopped 3 times while I was trying to take just this one picture!  It's like trying to take a picture of a lightening bolt with a polaroid camera.  All you can really see is the after math of water splashing everywhere.  It can sometimes be a little frightening because he will catch you off guard while you are scrubbing his feet or putting more soap on the washcloth and the commotion makes you think he is just slipped and dunked himself underwater.  When you turn and look, he's just splashing away.

And, in case you're wondering . . . yes, it is a pink bathtub.  We are a very progressive family that does not feel we need to conform to society's blue-boy and pink-girl motifs.  We actually got it from a friend at a baby shower who couldn't remember if we were going to have a boy or a girl.  We didn't know what we were having at the time either and did not feel that the color of the bathtub would have any detrimental impact on our child.  So we kept it and it works just fine.  The effects on Eli remain to be seen.

The first official smile!

So last week, as I was conducting my usual morning routine of kissing my wife, kissing my child, and kissing my dogs goodbye, I was abruptly bombarded with rabbit punches of cuteness to the face!  I had propped eli up on his Boppy pillow to see if he could entertain himself while Kelvey ate breakfast and noticed a Christmas miracle occur . . . . Eli began to smile at me!  At first I thought he was just wincing out a fart or burp like he usually does, but with a little coaxing he stretched it out into a full on smile.  I was so happy I couldn't help but try to see how many more I could get out of him.  It didn't take much to get him smiling ear to ear.  I'm not sure if it was the comfort of the Boppy, the beautiful morning sun pouring through the window, or the smile he saw on his old man's face that made him want to smile so much . . . . but it made my day.  He has had a few sporadic smiles every now and then (mainly after feeding) but nothing to this magnitude.  I still cannot wait for the day that he is able to laugh and smile as part of his normal interaction with us.

Eli is a month old!

So Eli turned 1 month old last week and we celebrated with cupcakes from Hey Cupcake!  Eli couldn't partake in the deliciousness, but I'm sure he got a taste of later through nursing.  Which reminds me . . . Kelvey keeps talking about how all the baby books say that if the mother eats gassy food then the baby will be gassy as well.  I'm not exactly sure how the miracle of milk production works, but I find this hard to believe.  Even if it is true, at least Eli will be well adjusted to the effects of cheese enchiladas and queso by the time he turns a year old.  Have I mentioned how much Kelvey loves cheese?  

Anywho, Eli is steadily packing on the pounds and stretching out as he gets older.  We measured him yesterday while he was on the changing table and he was a whopping 22".  That's 2" longer than when he was first born!  He has gotten so big that he is actually hitting the walls of his bassinet when he flails.  I also tried to weigh him on our scale and he came in at roughly 10.5 lbs.  I had to do the old weigh-us-both-then-subtract-my-weight trick so it is only a rough estimate.  We won't get an accurate weight until his next doctor's visit on Sept. 1st, and we are anxious to see what percentile for size and weight he will be in.  The extra pounds are showing, though, because he is starting to get a few extra creases in his once slender legs.  We have been doing deep-knee bends and the Jane Fonda workout so hopefully we can curb some of the chubbiness!