enjoying the fine arts

On Sunday, Grandmother Galloway invited us to see a play.  It was an outdoor production of Annie Get Your Gun at Homestead Hollow in Springville.  It started out very hot, and then got very rainy!  But through it all, Eliot maintained his good nature.  He enjoyed the music, the activity, and the real, live horses.  He smiled and danced.  He even sang along to some of the songs (in the beautiful way that only a 6-month-old who does not know how to talk can!)  If I had known he was such a theater fan, I would have taken him long ago. 

eating again

We've been trying to get Eliot to eat some solid foods off and on for a while, but since he showed little interest, we haven't pushed it.  After all, he's sleeping through the night (mostly) and doesn't seem to be wasting away.  But now, as at the ripe old age of six months, it's time to get serious about this rice cereal thing. 

So the mess started innocently enough with a Biter Biscuit.  He really loved being able to eat it himself. He played with that while I got some cereal ready. My new recipe was: rice cereal, applesauce and formula. mmmmm! He was pretty patient through the first couple of bites. Persistent Mom kept trying, but when he started blowing raspberries, I knew it was time to give up. He was more interested in his biscuit than any rice cereal concoction that I could devise.  Here is a very brief demonstration of Eliot enjoying his biscuit.

We are going to keep trying every morning until he gets the hang of it. Or, I guess he could just live on biscuits for the rest of his life!

more tummy time

Last night Eliot was playing on the floor with some of his toys.  He noticed a block to his right.  With his right hand, he reached and reached for it, but to no avail.  After several seconds, he tried with his left hand.  Bringing it over to meet his right, he still couldn't reach.  He flipped his left leg over his right - now in a full twist.  Stretching and stretching with his left hand, he finally grabbed the block - success!  He was so pleased to have the block in his mouth, that he didn't even realize he had rolled all the way over, and was now on his tummy.  Proud Mama that I was, I got in the floor and celebrated with him.  He immediately recognized what he had done, and started with the squealing.  At least it's nice to know that he can do it if he wants to!

what it's all about

Sometimes Eliot has trouble going to sleep. We'll put him in his crib and he'll move around and flail his arms for a while. Usually we'll let him do it for about ten minutes, and then go check in on him - just to say, "hey, we're here, we love you, and now go to sleep." Well, tonight he was flailing and spinning himself around. After the allotted time, I went upstairs. There, in the dark, I crept to his cribside. With his head to the side he never even looked at me. He just sensed my presence. He calmed down, and smiled. I gently touched his back. With the smile still on his face, he slowly closed his eyes and went right to sleep.

swimming

On Saturday, we went swimming in Aunt Holly's pool. Eliot was skeptical at first, as the water was a little chilly. But it was such a hot day, that he quickly warmed up to the whole idea. Gigi gave him a neat little boat, with a shade and everything, although all he really wanted to do was eat the handle. We met Mike's niece, Gracie. She had a pretty cool boat, too, and she was nice enough to let Eliot play with it a little. After such a long day, Eliot was exhausted! After a little juice to cool off, he went right to sleep.

what else does eliot like?

Eliot has taken up screaming. Not in a fussy or sad way, just screaming to hear his own voice. It was real cute the first hundred times! But still, it's kinda funny.

He absolutely LOVES Baby Einstein. If you look closely at this picture you can see Baby Einstein reflecting off of his glossed-over eyes.

Strolling is a real favorite of his. I think he picked this up at daycare (see Bye-Bye Buggy). I'm hoping that this will be good for Mommy, too, as I get in some much-needed excercize.

a fascinating discovery

While splashing in the bathtub last night, Eliot discovered that he has feet. Actually, I think he suspected their existence for some time. But last night, he actually spent several minutes talking to, squeezing and tugging them. Unfortunately his bottle-belly prevented him from chewing his toes, but if he could have gotten them in there, he would have. But soon he bored of them, and let them go with a giant SPLASH, which was deemed the funniest thing to do with feet.

what eliot loves

Eliot loves to stick out his tongue, chew on his tongue and make general tongue-type noises - like "lalalalala". He also blows a mean raspberry.

He likes to touch faces. He doesn't do it in a mean way - more of a curious way - kind of exploring what faces do. He loves kisses in the palm of his little hand.

Eliot loves the sound of his own voice. He really likes his hoarse voice when he's sick. He'll say "aaahhhhh..." and revel in the raspiness.

He loves the aquarium swing at home. The teachers at school say that he loves the aquarium bouncy seat. What a little Aquarian he is!!