Elliott Lately

Life is amazing for Elliott these days. He is so excited about each new thing that comes his way and it's quite infectious. He has discovered music and will dance along. His favorite music to dance to comes out of the walker one of his daycare pals handed down to him. Press the guitar button and it plays "Happy and You Know It." Press the saxophone button and it plays "Rockin' Robin." He also has figured out where the music comes from, so he'll go and sit near our wireless speaker and look at us, ready to dance. He's also been caught dancing to the Game of Thrones theme song and various and sundry Sesame Street ditties.

He is getting stronger every day, but not walking on his own yet. He cruises around the living room while holding on to the coffee table or couch and has built up quite a bit of speed in his crawling. He is showing signs of being a climber -- he tries to hoist himself into the bath and has successfully navigated his way off the couch and onto the floor a few times. He's also very into opening and closing drawers, so we're in for a weekend of more baby proofing around the apartment. He continues to use his scooter and is an expert at steering and hauling anything that gets caught in the back wheels, like his highchair.

We have successfully got him sleeping in his crib again as I was waking up several times a night with a foot in my face. He wakes up around six or seven and snuggles with Lane while I get ready for work, then has breakfast. He really loves breakfast and wiggles and claps when we bring him into the kitchen. He eats a whole grain waffle with almond butter, some berries and a cup of milk. I pack his lunches for daycare and have found that he REALLY loves meatballs. Dinner has become a little more difficult as I try to feed him whatever I have planned for dinner, but sometimes he's just too tired or just wants to eat 87 crackers. I've tried feeding him as soon as we get home and that has helped a little bit. As soon as he's finished, any food left on his tray is thrown on the floor. Too bad our cats are too picky to eat anything but milk and butter off the floor. Speaking of cats and eating, Elliott has discovered the cat food bowl. He's tried to eat it a couple of times, but mostly just wants to pick it all up one kibble at a time and put it in a pile four inches away. Or put it in the water bowl. 

Elliott's vocabulary is growing and he now says "ball" and "Bo" and ocassionally "bye-bye" in addition to "kitty" and "tree." Bo is the dog who lives at daycare and Elliott was calling him kitty until he learned his name. In fact, most furry, four-legged creatures are kitty. Sometimes I am kitty. Sometimes the car is kitty. Oh, and he also says mama.