Yummy In Eli's Tummy

This is just one of the many phrases I've been saying lately to Eli as we try to get him to open up wide for the first real foods. Given how much he loves milk, I figured he'd be chowing down on the solid food right away but surprisingly he's not so taken with the concept...yet, that is.



I have a feeling that when he figures out the solid food will make him just as happy and full as breast milk, he'll be going nuts when the spoon approaches his mouth like his cousin Gus. But, for now we sing songs, dance, jump up and down...whatever it takes to get him to open and swallow. Sometimes I'll be wielding the spoon and Rita will be standing behind me dancing like a nutty woman trying to get him to smile, laugh and eventually take the food. And luckily we recently inherited a nice Ikea highchair from one of Alan's colleagues because Eli's thighs were getting way too big for the bumbo chair.





So far we've tried rice cereal, banana, oatmeal, and peas. I would say peas are a definite dislike so far as he gags and spits it all back at me. But he really digs his new high chair and bangs his fists on it to make a racket. This weekend we're going for butternut squash.

And speaking of eating and fat thighs, people keep telling us that as soon as he starts crawling he'll trim down. And as cute as he is as a roly poly, I think we'll be in much better shape with his clothes fitting him with a few less inches on his thighs and tummy. He's definitely getting more active and tries really hard to crawl so perhaps we'll be chasing after the boy in the near future.

No Need for Wool Sweaters

I'm part of a needlepoint group, as I've mentioned before in previous blogs, and this week I got to talking with one of the other knitters about baby sweaters and it reminded me that I have 3 sweaters that I made for Eli a long time ago, one even before he was in the belly. They've been sitting in the back of a drawer here since there will never be an occasion when it is cold enough for him to wear them. But, just for fun, I pulled them out, cranked up the A/C in the apartment and tried them on the roly poly. I had anticipated that perhaps we'd use them during the holiday season this year when we return home for a bit but alas, the boy is already wearing the 9-12 month sizes. So if anything, I at least have these pictures of him wearing the sweaters for a minute in our apartment in Ghana. I thought it was hysterical...Eli on the other hand could have thought of better things to do with his time.

This one didn't even fit over his head.

On the Move...Sort Of

Lately Alan and I have been a bit obsessed with Eli's newest accomplishments. He's beginning to make small movements towards crawling and although we both think our child is gifted, we realistically know that true crawling could still be a ways off. But it sure is fun to watch him work on the new movements and skills. He does it with such determination and focus, and we're amazed that somehow this little person seems to actually get frustrated when his body doesn't move the way he wants it to.



Last weekend we bought Eli these colorful puzzle mats that can cushion him as he practices sitting up and crawling because otherwise our apartment is full of hard tile.



He absolutely loves (or at least we think he does) the mats and spends a good portion of the day playing with all of his toys on them...including destroying his jungle mat that he's way too big for now.



Of course in the back of my mind, crawling means childproofing the home which I don't think either of us are really ready for so if it takes Eli another few months to be on the move, we'll be ok with that!