eleven months old

With all of the holiday hustle and bustle, I forgot to update at eleven months. I didn't weigh or measure him, but trust me, he's healthy! He did learn some things this month. He can clap his hands, and he does it all the time. He's so happy when he does it, he even lets loose a gleeful, "ah-ah-ah!!" He will also imitate you when you shake your head and say, "ahhhhhh". He's learning how to blow kisses. If you blow him a kiss, he'll put his hand to his mouth and say, "uuuuhhh-AH!" The only thing is that he doesn't just do it once, he does it two or three times, so it comes across as more of an "Indian whoop". My favorite thing is when he gives kisses on your actual cheek. He opens his mouth as wide as it will go and slobbers generously all over your face, sometimes even shaking his head from side to side to cover more facial territory. Then he smiles ear to ear. Every now and then he'll take it upon himself to kiss you of his own accord. He'll grab my face and pull it close and slobber away. I don't even wipe it away, I just sit there with a wet face. Oh, and soft things - he loves soft things, like puppies and kitties and big fluffy pillows. Every time he comes across something soft, he puts his head down on it and lays there, enjoying the softness (much to our cats' dismay). Although, his favorite toys are still his balls and buttons. Pushing the balls around the house, and pushing buttons with his thumbs. Last night Brian and I sat at either end of the hallway and Eliot pushed the soccer ball back and forth between us, even picking it up and throwing it a couple of times. Then he laughed and giggled and smiled, and then said happily, "aaaahhhh ahhhhh, ahhhh!"

Christmas

Many people have asked how our Christmas was. Well, it was wonderful! Eliot recognized right off the bat that there were new toys under the tree. He crawled right over to them and started pressing buttons. Santa was pretty lazy this year, and did not assemble the "some assembly required" toys, so Daddy had to help him out and put together the Retro Rocket before Eliot could get on it. Also, Santa's little elves just love to tie those toys into the box! It took almost as long to get one out of the box as it did to assemble the Rocket. Then, we had family over for Christmas brunch. It was very casual, but we had LOTS of food. It was so much fun to have everyone over, and we didn't have to worry about leaving to go visit the next person. Everyone was in one place so we could relax and spend lots of time together. Eliot got lots more toys from everyone else. So many, in fact, that the toys from his grandparents had to stay at their respective houses. But it will be good for him to have some toys to play with there. We went to Deenie and Grandy's house in the evening. Izzy (Eliot's favorite cousin) was there. He got candy and toys in his stocking. We ate a fabulous supper which included scalloped potatoes drizzled with truffle oil. Eliot ate his weight in those - I guess he has a taste for the finer things... He went right to bed that night, and slept late the next morning (much to the delight of his Mommy and Daddy). There are plenty of pictures posted on the gallery page.

very sweet puppy

Ok, here's the story about the above picture. The dog is Izzy - Aunt Kate's puppy. She's a very well-behaved and sweet terrier mix that Kate got from the pound. (That was a shameless plug for the virtues of adopting pound animals, if you want a new pet.) Anyway, Eliot and Izzy play together all the time. Izzy will chase Eliot around, then Eliot will chase Izzy. Sometimes, when they are both being still, Eliot will lay his head down on her and "love the puppy." He also tires to give Izzy his toys, but Izzy knows that she's not allowed to play with Eliot's toys. Well, Santa brought her a new stuffed toy for Christmas. When Eliot got there, she brought it out and dropped it right in front of him. So they finally got to play the "I'll give it to you then you give it to me" game.

Christmas pics!

Lots of new pictures up on the Gallery. Go see!

Christmas party part two

Yesterday was Eliot's classroom Christmas party. First, we re-watched the video of Eliot NOT jingling his bells. Then we ate a little food. Apparently, Eliot can eat chicken fingers. Who knew? And he was shoving those big cheesey poofs into his mouth like there's no tomorrow. His entire head was stained orange. He had one in each hand and one ENTIRE one in his mouth. Then, when he was done, he threw his plate on the floor and commenced to fit-pitching. Right in front of all the other moms. Yep, no shame at all. He banged his tray and screamed... The worst part was that his teachers were all like, "oh, looks like Eliot's finished." All nonchalant, like he does it every day. Great. Then Santa came in. Most of the kids cried, but Eliot was ok with sitting in his lap, but only because Santa had a giant bag of cookies. Santa was all, "ho ho ho, what do you want for Christmas little boy?" and Eliot was all, "I WANT one of those cookies." And Santa was all, "ho ho ho, you sure do like cookies. Can you sit still for a picture first?" and Eliot was all, "Come up off a cookie, old man. I don't want to have to make this painful for you!" I have not gotten the copy of the picture yet, but I'll post it as soon as I do. But just imagine Eliot sitting on Santa's lap and leaning over, stretching his arms as far as he could to reach the bag of cookies sitting next to him. In the end, Eliot got his cookie, and Santa remained unharmed.

christmas party number one

Sunday night we went to Deanie and Grandy's house for their annual Christmas party, and I forgot the camera! Trust me, I'm slapping my own wrists over that one right now. Eliot was the belle of the ball - crawling around the house from one end to the other. He was fearless on all fours, winding his way among the two-legged party-goers. He mashed some peas with his thumb, and ate some spaghetti. Then it was time for caroling! I bet if he had his bell he would have jingled it this time! He sang right along with everyone. (I am, of course, using the term loosely, as really all he did was bounce up and down and wave his hands in the air, while making random "Uuh! Ahh! Ooooo!" noises. But I digress.) He stayed awake until we left about 10:30pm, without crying or whining or anything. Just some eye-rubbing and heavy lid drooping. When we finally walked down to our car, his little eyes were practically glossed over. He fell asleep before we got to the stop sign, and didn't even wake up when we got home and I carried him upstairs to his crib.

We have even more parties planned this week, so stay tuned for more stories of Eliot Holiday Fun!

secret's out

Every year, for about ten years, I attempt to make my Mom and Dad's famous toffee. And every year I fail. This year's toffee attempt, however, was a success! I've been racking my brain, and I can only think of one thing I did differently. This year, instead of hovering over the stove "watching the water boil", as it were, I was franticly chasing a kid around the kitchen during the whole process. Could this be the secret ingredient that my mother has been hiding from me all these years? =)

Christmas pageant

Well, I just returned from Eliot's school Christmas Pageant, and for those of you who missed it, don't worry - you didn't miss much. First of all, they pre-recorded all of the babies and showed the video on a big screen. I can understand that. They said that a few years ago they tried to bring all of the babies over to perform live and it was TOTAL CHAOS! So they sang "Jingle Bell Rock" and all of the babies jingled their little bells with fervor. Well, most of the babies did. Eliot did not. He was too busy poking his teacher's wristwatch with his thumb. Second pan - Eliot is trying to disassemble his bell. Third pan - Eliot has abandoned his bell and is now staring at his teacher as if to say, "why are we still singing this song? I'm bored of this one. How about a nice round of 'Frosty'?" Now, let's get this straight - Eliot WAS the cutest kid in the whole school.. but we don't need a pageant to know that.

laid back

Last night I went to check on Eliot one last time before going to bed, and this is how I found him. To give you a little perspective, the solid side on his right is the foot of the crib, and the slats that he has his legs slung up on is the back side. So the way you are viewing him above is the way that I was viewing him when I went in - upside down, and apparently very comfortable!

just a sip

Eliot learns all kinds of neat things at school and then surprises me with them later. Yesterday, for example, when Eliot woke from his nap, I put him in the high chair for a little snack. Stephanie and Lauren had stopped by to visit, so Steph and I got to chatting. The next thing I knew, sweet little Lauren had offered Eliot her sippy cup. I watched to see what would happen, and lo and behold! Eliot just drank out of it like a pro! He turned it around so the spout faced his mouth, he tipped it up, and when he was finished, he set it right back down on the tray and continued eating. This may not be as shocking to anyone else, but I had no idea he knew this trick.

conflicted

When I picked Eliot up from school yesterday (where he got YET ANOTHER bad report) he was still feeling a little sniffley. He's been sick for about a week now, and the antibiotics only seem to be moderately helping. Anyway, his teacher was holding him, and when I walked in the room he lunged from her arms toward me saying, "MAMAMAMAMA!"

Well, I'm conflicted. First of all, I hate that he's feeling sick. He's so fussy, particularly in the middle of the night. When he's feeling his worst, he won't take a bottle. He shoves it away with both hands and swipes his arms in front of him as if wiping an invisible chalk board. One day, in a fit of rage, he even threw a container of goldfish cracker smack-dab across the room. And there is just not enough tissue in this world to keep up with the constant trickle sludging from his nose to his top lip!

On the other hand, I had no idea that I could be so moved by his little outstretched arms - I can't resist - I spoil him. Even in the middle of the night it feels so good to have him lay his little head on my chest and heave a giant sigh of relief. And if there is one word that can wipe away the sins of a sick baby, it's "mama".

play time

Eliot has several favorite games right now. For example, he likes to take two blocks - yes two, not one, not three, always two - and push them in front of him as he crawls behind. If one gets too far out of his path, he'll go get it, and return it to the mate and continue pushing.

Another game he likes to play is the "I'll give it to you then you give it to me" game. That one is pretty self-explanatory. It can be any object - block, ball, book, whatever.

He likes the Imitation game, wherein you do something - shake your head, pat a rhythm on the table - and he'll imitate the action.

If anyone needs more specific instructions (cheat codes, alternative rules, etc), I'll try to oblige, without making fun of you. =)