Heads Up, Big Guy!

Eli's days of muffled screams as he lies face down in a blanket on the floor are over! This week he finally realized he has the strength to lift his head up of the floor and he has never been happier. He used to DREAD having to do tummy time and would just lay there with his face plowed into the blanket crying in passive defiance until we eventually felt bad for him and picked him up again. I was starting to think he was never going to get his head up because he never used his hands or chest to prop himself up. I'll be honest with you, the boy has the legs of a mule but he was kind of lacking in the upper body strength area. He got a little stronger as he learned to move his arms and grasp things and with a little encouragement a-la-Mickey from Rocky, Eli is now eatin' lightening and crappin' thunder in the head lifting department. Plus, Eli is so starved for attention these days that he is happy to lift his head just so he can hear us cheering and making a big to-do about it.

Eli's Giggle Fits

The only thing better than being greeted with a smile from Eli every morning when he wakes up is his laugh. Eli has been laughing up a storm lately and we were lucky enough to catch an episode on camera! This video is of a laughing fit that happened a few days ago but it is actually kind of mild because it happened right before his bedtime routine and he was already a little tired. At the end of the video you can see our dog, Bosley, trying to join in on the fun by sneaking some quick licks on Eli's face.

Earlier this evening, though, Eli and I were laughing our butts off at each other and I didn't even have to do anything. We just sat there face to face laughing at each other. It was great! I'll try to get better footage but, as you can probably tell by the quality of the video, the camera we use is our regular photo camera and does not take very good video footage.

The weigh-in!

We took Eli to his 2 month check up on Sept. 1st and we were excited to to get the official word on how big he has gotten. He weighed in at a brawny 13.1 lbs. (80th percentile) and an astonishing 24" (90th percentile). In case you are not aware, Kelvey and I are pretty short people with very tall family members so we are wondering if Eli will soon be towering over us. Tubbs here is still in great health, but unfortunately I did not get the OK to take him to the river and springs I was hoping for.

A whole new world

Eli has had some astonishing realizations lately. His first enlightenment came to him while he was spending the day at work with me. I had him sitting in his car seat on top of a table while I washed out his bottles, and when I turned around . . . I saw his eye locked in an intense stare aimed directly at his feet. He was so enthralled that he didn't blink for over a minute. I think what caught his eye was the bright white socks with single blue stripes he was wearing because his usual bare feet never really caught his eye (FYI: Just because Eli lives in Austin, is often barefoot, and is wearing a tie-dye onesie in this picture does not make him a hippie. I was trying to get a good picture of him playing with his feet but he just kept making cute faces so I decided to just post one of him smiling instead. Just image him saying something like, "Dude, you won't believe what happened to me today!" in the picture and it will fit the entry better). Since then Eli will remember he has feet down there and will attempt to wiggle his toes and grab things with his them. In the tub the other day he was flexing and curling his toes and trying to clench my fingers with them. I warned Kelvey that he has inherited my insane ability to pinch with my big toe and she should would be wise to keep her distance or suffer the wrath of the toes. He also notices them when he is sitting on the couch with us and it is kind of funny to see him scrunch forward over his big belly to look at them.

Another thing Eli has discovered is that the dogs are actual living things that do not just make background noise. I often take Eli for a walk around the backyard after I get home, but I also kick around a tennis ball for Bosley, our skinny retriever, as we wander. Eli usually has his eyes pointed to towards the rustling leaves above us, but now that he has a new favorite position of slouching in the crook of my elbow his eyes are pointed down more and he can see the dogs more. While kicking the ball for Bosley, Eli became entranced by Bosley's movements back forth across the yard. His eyes locked on him as he chased the ball and ran back, chased the ball and ran back. Eli still doesn't pay too much attention to the dogs in general but every now and then he will lock onto them as they peek their head over the side of the bathtub while he is bathing (they always come to check on him) or when they try to siddle up next to him during tummy-time on the floor.

The biggest development for Eli is that he is realizing he can somewhat control his arms, hands, and fingers. He loves to bat at the toys hanging around his playyard and playmat and is trying his hardest to actually grab at them. Today Kelvey called me to say that he had actually grabbed a hold of one of his rattles and had brought it to his mouth to suck on! He still has a ways to go before he is flossing his teeth on his own, but he is trying his hardest to get there as soon as possible. When he is laying there playing with his toys you can hear him grunting as if he is saying, "C'mon hand! Just swing over and grab it. C'mon!" I'm pretty proud of our little guy and can't wait to see what other discoveries and developments he makes in the coming weeks.