He has started to mimic our actions a bit. He loves to slap his open palm on things (almost as much as he likes giving everything a good scratch) and in playing with him the other day, we realized he can (more or less) mimic the number of times we bang on things in reply. We have also been trying to be more consistent about 'waving' goodbye and hello. And he seems to be watching what we are doing pretty intently. Occasionally, he's even raised his hand, but so far he hasn't made an official wave.
One of the more fun things he's been doing lately is laughing when we laugh. You know when you start laughing just because others are and you don't even really know what's funny? He's been doing that. Grandma Mary had me in a giggle fit the other night with her nearly old school rap rendition of the 'official' Name Game song lyrics. I was dying. And the next thing I knew, Elliott was laughing right along with me.
He's also really started getting into things. He will see something and need to have it. You move it, and he goes after it. My mom had some fun with that the other Saturday when she was helping us clean out our office. And if it is something he can play with, he's started getting pissed if you need to take it away for some reason...like my knitting bag below...which clearly isn't a toy, but was letting it slide a bit too long so I could get some more pictures...oh well, lesson learned!
Physically, his activity level is climbing exponentially. He loves pulling up on everything (which he can do very efficiently now using almost just his legs), standing at things and banging the tops of surfaces with those open palms I mentioned. The coffee table is awesome for this. He has also started climbing around things to get where he wants to go. Before I used to be able to put a chair in front of the dog bowls and that would deter him enough. Now he just climbs over whatever obstacle lies in his path...this even includes us.
He's also started the very cute habit of following us around the house. The other evening I was going from one room to the other and back again putting things away and he just kept crawling after me. It was a great game for me because he was focused on following me (not getting into something he shouldn't - we're still working on getting the house more baby-proofed) and used up a ton of energy. Although towards the end his little face flashed - not again! when it was clear he thought I needed to sit down.
Elliott can also palm objects. He's taken to rolling Jenny's favorite ball around the floor and we noticed he could pick it up with an open palm. I then noticed him picking other things up that way, too. I have no idea if this is something all babies do, but we like to joke that he's going to be a basketball player...or a really great magician ;)
He still has just the two front bottom teeth and we honestly don't see any signs of any more any time soon. He's also back to eating more things than just pears. After the doctor's suggestion of increasing his liquid intake, his pooping issues have improved quite a bit. Certainly far from perfect, but at least he's no longer in pain while it happens. He's still on our self-imposed restricted diet of poop-friendly foods, but the peas and oat cereal have come back. We also keep a sippy cup of water within his arm's reach most of the day and he gets a small glass of diluted juice during bath time (I'm still trying to build up my tolerance to the idea of sticky babies and toddlers). We've also been signing to him consistently at meal times. He now clearly understands "do you want some more?" and can apply it to not only eating food, but also drinking more juice.
A couple weeks ago we also went through a major baby clothes reshuffle. He's now in 6-9 month, 9 month, and 6-12 month clothes. We packed up everything else. We also took stock of what we have and picked up a couple more pairs of pants and some long sleeve shirts to last him (theoretically) through the winter. This also marks more or less the last of the gift clothes. He has a couple 12 month outfits and a few toddler outfits to grow into, but that's it. So we are going to need to start frequenting the resale shops soon to get an early start on stocking up.
He also went on his first forward facing stroller ride last weekend. I could kick myself for not having done this before we went to the zoo a couple weeks ago. Not only was he facing the wrong way to easily look at the animals, but the height of his car seat bucket was right where the hand rails were mounted. Needless to say, we are looking forward to going back to the zoo soon!
He took to the stroller ride well, but did look rather stoned through most of it. But at least there was no screaming! One thing I didn't like about it, is the lack personal interaction. Before when he was facing us, we could always talk to him and interact with him. Now its even hard to tell if he's dosed off. The good thing is that Elliott's always been an observer and this gets him an unobstructed front row seat to the world.So what stopped him in his tracks? A nasty bird feather. So gross.
He's building up his immune system, right?
Finally, we are really feeling the pinch of a rapidly growing little boy in our present living arrangements. As it stands, he usually wakes up twice a night...once when I come to bed and once when Brad comes to bed. Who knows how long he would sleep if we weren't waking him up! We are as silent as possible but as soon as the door jam pops, he's awake. Clearly we are going to need to remedy this situation, but we also don't want to move to another rental if we don't have to. So we are saving like mad and hopefully buying will be an option for us in the relatively near future.
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