Assigning Affection

This process of watching an infant become a toddler is AMAZING! I am so blown away, watching his learning process unfold in front of me. Here are some of the highlights from the last 3 months.

• 6/6 – started placing his hand in/over his mouth and making noises (think the “Indian” sound we used to make as kids)
• 6/18 - Got himself into a seated position by himself for the 1^st time and never looked back! Also started eating “puffs” (those little melt away cheerios looking things.)
• 6/24 – started “commando crawling” where his belly is still on the floor, but he’s moving across with his arms and some help from a foot. He actually had a style a friend of ours termed the “kickstand” b/c he keeps one knee bent with his foot in the air while he uses the other foot to help scoot.
• 6/25 – around this time Elliot started to “cruise” … you know, where they start walking while holding onto stationary objects. He goes from his “balance bar” to his exersaucer.
• 6/26 – Started to self-feed puffs.
• 7/3 – Elliot met the ocean up close and personal. We took him to the beach the first time in January, and he LOVED the wind, but this time he actually got to feel the water and sand. He wasn’t quite in love with it, but he didn’t fuss either. He actually got a bit of sunburn on his little left arm. I was quite alarmed, but he had no issues.
• 7/13 – Elliot has gone through a HUGE rite of passage … he figured out he can follow me into the bathroom. No peeing in peace for awhile for me!
• 7/14 – Introduced yogurt to Elliot’s diet and quickly realized his body doesn’t appear to like it. Will reintroduce at 12 months.
• 7/17 – Started crawling in his sleep.
• 7/18 – Steven and I left Elliot at home with Grandma and Grandpa to attend a friend’s wedding. This is the first time we’ve left Elliot at the house to do something together without him!
• 7/22 – First blood-letting accident! Elliot fell and cut his tongue with his tooth!
• 7/25 – Elliot begins to crawl on his hands and knees, still resorting to the commando crawl when the “normal” crawl frustrates him or he gets tired.
• 8/1 – A top front tooth (left) pokes through the gums
• 8/4 – Turned 9 months and visited the pediatrician. Elliot is 21lbs. 5.5oz and 30.25” tall!
• 8/6 – Discovered pots & pans in the kitchen.
• 8/8 – Sometimes thinks someone approaching him means they are playing “chase.” Will squeal and try to “escape.”
• 8/10 – Begins to CLIMB! OMG! Crawled on top of his box of blocks, trying to leverage it to get to the top of the TV stand.
• 8/12 – Flirts with standing – Elliot stood at the coffee table without his belly leaning on it (which is the usual stance). He left go of the table and stood for a second before he started to lose his balance … but he caught himself and prevented a fall!
• 8/17 – Understands that objects can go “into” other objects … pushed a ball down a slide.
• 8/18 – Elliot has 4 teeth pushing through the gums on top! WOW! Crazy teething run!
• 8/20 – Elliot started playing “dropsy” with items. i.e. dropping a ball over his crib rail.
• 8/21 – Elliot is starting to “share” objects. He was intently inspecting Grandma’s cell phone (without immediately putting it in his mouth) and when he was done inspecting it, he actually handed it to me!

There are probably a million other little things to mention, but these are the ones that I’ve jotted down in his calendar. I’ve still got major mommy-brain, so I’m sure I’ve failed to capture a few of the biggies, but overall, I think I’m doing pretty darn good with writing stuff down. Hopefully I can do just as good with subsequent children!

Everything is going well in the house. We’re busy getting everything in order so that we can put it on the market (please reserve any negative thoughts, we need only positive ones!). My company is moving to Atlanta and next week we find out who is being offered to move and who isn’t. Our parent company, Newell Rubbermaid, is headquartered in Atlanta, and so the move serves to put us all under the same roof. It is an exciting and unnerving time. As we were already in need of a bigger home, we’re excited about the prospect that that home may be in ATL! There will be LOTS of opportunity in Atlanta and so we are all looking forward to the possibilities!

Steven’s school year started back up last week, and with that, there are scheduling changes. Since Steven was at home during the summer, he and Elliot developed their own little rhythm and schedule. Now that he’s not waking up to Daddy in the mornings, I think Elliot is a little confused … I also think this is coinciding with a separation anxiety phase, so we’re working through that. Luckily my workplace is somewhat flexible and I can go in at 8:30 instead of 8 while we’re figuring things out.

Elliot has started to give kisses and hugs. Of course kisses come at you rather open mouthed, and hugs are more in conjunction with being picked up, but it’s still nice to have these little things to assign signs of affection.