Eleven Months

 

This past month, I was able to celebrate my first Mother's Day.  This holiday has a whole new meaning now that I am a mother myself and makes me even more grateful for the gift of motherhood and for all the things my own mom has done for me:)  We spent the day by going out for brunch after church, visiting Ian's parents, and then spending the rest of the afternoon with my family.  

Elijah experienced his first extended stay away from home when my mom took him home with her after watching him last Friday, and then I went back to get him on Monday.  He actually stayed overnight when he was about 2 months old at my parents' house when we went on a motorcycle trip to Wisconsin, but this was a much longer stay.  I totally forgot what life was even like before he was born, and it was so strange to be at home without him there for so long.  On the other hand, it was a much needed break with being so busy lately.  With my parents watching him the entire weekend, we could devote the Memorial Day weekend to finishing up the updates on the house.  Now, it just needs a good deep clean, and then the flooring will be installed along with the appliances and furniture being delivered.  As long as everything stays on track, we are hoping to be moved in by the middle of June.  As for our house in Lost Nation, we have a tenant lined up to move in the beginning of July.  We are thinking of maybe just keeping our house as a rental property after we move.  The lady who will be moving in actually contacted us about the prospect of renting, so we took it off the market and went ahead with the plan.

Now, on to the 11-month update...Eli will soon transition from the pureed baby food to all table food.  He has really enjoyed all the different fruit and vegetable combinations as well as the meats blended with vegetables and pasta meals.  He especially likes yogurt for breakfast.  He loves to feed himself puffs, yogurt bites, string cheese, and crackers (or really anything you put in front of him).  He still takes a total of 26 ounces of formula a day.  

Eli has been going to sleep a little later at night, usually between 7:30 and 8:00.  He wakes up earlier too, usually between 6:00 and 6:30.  His morning nap ranges between 2 and 3 hours, and he will also sleep for 2 hours in the afternoon. 

Along with saying ma-ma and da-da, he has been experimenting with new sounds like "ka" and "ta." He is still quite the little busybody crawling everywhere and pulling himself up on things.  His balance is really improving as he has learned to cruise along different things while holding on with just one hand.  He has been dancing more too by bouncing up and down when he hears music on TV or from his toys.  Instead of just pulling books out of the crate and throwing them on the floor, he will take one out at a time and actually sit down and browse through it while turning the pages. 

This past year has been a big one with big changes; new baby and new house.  That must be why it has flown by so fast.  Only 1 more month until we will have a 1-year-old and be moved (hopefully) to a new house.