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.