6 Months!

Eli is officially 6 months old! I can't believe it. He has changed so much this month and the time has flown by! He is a lot more observant and curious now. He wants to know what is going on at all times and if I bring him somewhere, he is always sweeping his gaze back and forth to take it all in. It is super cute because when we are at home he is really verbal but when we are out a lot of times he is very quiet because there's so much for him to learn about!
Some of the new things he learned how to do this month was eat solid foods!! The foods he's tried and loved are; carrots, peaches, pears, peas, and figs. The foods he's tried and kind of liked; prunes and bananas. The foods he can't stand: rice cereal and applesauce. he is supposed to eat rice cereal for the iron every day but he spits it out everytime even when I mix it with fruit.
He also has learned to roll really well! He can roll both ways and several times in a row!
He can also sit up for long periods of time which is so fun! He loves to be either sitting or standing with help.
Sleep has been a huge challenge this month. He has a harder time going to sleep nursing, he's way more aware so he has a hard time going to sleep if things are going on, he can sit up in his swing and it looks like he's going to leap out so I have a hard time letting him sleep in there and he used to love it. We have been working on helping him learn to fall asleep on his own and he's making progress. Going to bed at night he can sleep if u put a gentle hand on his belly which is huge progress from how hard it used to be to get him to sleep. But waking up in the middle of the night and naps are still an issue. He's been doing pretty great in the car which is so awesome. Anyway I am rambling! He is a joy and he's enjoying pumpkin season. We went to disneyland with him. So fun! And got him a pirate costume for halloween. So wonderful having a little kiddo around. ;-)

5 months and changing every day!

I have to say that this has been my absolute favorite month with my little man Eli. He is a ball of energy, smile, and laughs. He loves to play, explore, and venture outside of our home. This month we have gone on adventures every day, and he has grown in leaps and bounds!
Some exciting changes are:
He is doing SOOOO much better in the car! I no longer dread driving with him.
He LOVES to stand and is even strong enough to stand up if he's only holding onto our fingers!
He ALMOST can sit up by himself! He can do it for a bit but then will topple.
He is still working on rolling both ways, but he's a lot closer. For some reason, his favorite place to roll is the changing table.
He is 20.5 pounds and 25 inches long! Super big boy wearing anywhere from 3-9 month clothing depending on the brand.
He is such a happy camper! He smiles all the time now!
We joined two mom's groups, and he's getting so much better at being around people he doesn't know. His favorite activity is observing the other little babies. ;-)
He is getting even better at falling asleep at night since we adding a bath every night to his bedtime routine. "He sleeps through the night," 8pm-4am, a short feed, and then till about 6 am about 5 nights a week.
I'm more in love with our little bug EVERY SINGLE DAY!! I'm so blessed to be his mom, and I have to say that I do love being a stay at home mom.
We are still working on taking consistent naps, sometimes he will only sleep for 10 minutes, which is super frustrating, but other than that, he is doing fantastic!!
We are excited to introduce solid foods at the end of the fifth month so just a few more weeks! I already bought his rice cereal because I was so excited, and I have a handy bullet blender to make homemade baby food.
For some reason, I can't get the pictures to work so befriend me on Facebook if you want to see a bunch of photos of him. ;-)

4 months old!

Eli is now 4 months old! He has changed SO much since he was born, and it is so fun to see him grow and develop! We went to the doctor yesterday, and he weighed 18 lbs, 12 ounces putting him in the 98th percentile. He is 25 inches tall so only in the 57% percentile for height. We may have a wrestler on our hands. ;-)
Eli's newest favorite thing is standing. He loves to push himself up and stand while he holds onto helpful fingers. It's amazing how strong he's getting. He also really loves all his toys! He loves to play with them, throw them down, and suck on them. He chews on everything, our fingers included, and drools like a leaky faucet. He's started wearing bibs half the time. ;-)
He also got a new Excercizer that he stands up in outside that he loves. He will play with the toys that are attached and gently rock the entire Excerizer back and forth. I have a feeling that once he starts to crawl we might have a hard time catching him. He loves to move.
One of the cutest things he's started to do is to laugh! ;-) It's so fun throughout the day to try and get him to laugh by making funny noises or tickling sounds. He loves farting noises. ;-)
He has his first cold right now, which is super sad, and I really hope he recovers soon. He still can't stand driving places and only can stand his stroller for about 20 min. before he starts to whine. He either wants to be free on the ground or in someone's arms. One of our lifelines has been his carriers. I'm wearing him right now, and he fell asleep. He loves to cuddle close to us, and it allows the fam to be able to go to Sea World and the OC swap meet without so much as a fuss.
Eli is such a good boy, and we are so proud of him. He sits in his high chair during meals, and he brings huge smiles to our faces every day. I'm SO thankful to be his mom!

14 weeks

So I haven't written in the blog in a million years, but I am so enjoying life with our little man. I spend so much amazing and precious time with him every day that I don't know what else to write about besides him, our new little bugger. So I figured that I would write about him from his perspective. Thanks, Sarah, for the idea. ;-)

So here's what Eli would say. If he could talk. ;-)
So, now I'm 14 weeks old. I'm getting pretty big. When my mom weighed me a few days ago, I was already 17.8 pounds. I'm wearing clothes for 3-6 month old and am in a size 3 diaper.
My mom always tells me what an amazing sleeper I am so I guess it's impressive. My mom even says I'm a better sleeper than her. I'd say it's what I'm best at besides smiling and eating. Every night I go to sleep in my crib around 9 PM. Then I usually wake up for some early morning breakfast around 4 or 5 am, but most mornings I don't want to wake up quite yet and will fall asleep again for another hour or two. But that's not enough sleep for me. I will then usually take 2- 2 hour naps during the day. During the day, I like sleeping in my swing. I love my swing and my rain music that I listen to so that I can sleep better. I still love being swaddled, but this past few weeks I've taken a lot of naps without my swaddle and my mom has started keeping one of my arms outside of my swaddle so that I can learn to sleep through the night without it.
I love my life because every day we get to do my favorite things. My very favorite thing is spending time with my mom and dad. I love it when they hold me and carry me around and help me to dance and sit up. I love to smile for them and talk to them and have even laughed a few times. My other favorite things to do are playing in my jungle, playing with all my fun toys and putting them in my mouth, and going on walks with my mom.
I don't like driving in the car very much, but I guess I'm starting to get used to it. I can't wait until I can finally crawl! I move my arms and legs around all day, but I haven't been able to move except to roll over.
Until next time. Eli ;-)

How he Loves Us!

Today has been a big day of realizing things. I'm not sure why. I think it's because Joe left for the night. Whenever that happens, I'm hit head on with one of my biggest weaknesses, fear. I have been afraid of the dark and being alone for as long as I can remember. Joe is always telling me: all you have to do is choose not to be afraid or all you have to do is choose to have a good attitude or to choose make today the best day ever. Joe is an amazing guy, and he has the best attitude and he's so amazing for me but sometimes those things are really hard to do. But I tried tonight for him. And for some reason, tonight it worked.
God doesn't want me to live in fear and even though my imagination is super vivid and when I look out into a dark night I can imagine things being there (have u ever read my book, My Darkness?) it doesn't mean that there aren't ways to overcome those fears.
I believe are culture is very inundated with violence, and it's part of my problem. The movies we watch, the TV shoes, the books, the news... there are so many things out there screaming death and destruction. It is easy sometimes to believe that when u are alone at night something awful could seriously happen to u.
But tonight I was really hit with this song. Please watch it. It's real. I really, really like real. There are too many phony things out there. Too many things and people that are trying to look their best for everyone else. I'm very guilty of this at times too.
Tonight I learned somethings even if it wasn't the first time: I want to be real for everyone. I want to be a friend. I want to be unafraid of what man can do to me. I want to be all that God wants me to be. Still learning, still striving.
Here's the links:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U0luHiWwi08&feature=related

Eli

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God's holding me

Eli's 6 and half weeks old. He's growing up in every single way. His little legs are starting to take on some serious chunk, his length is starting to keep him from wearing some of his smaller onesies, and he is starting to really enjoying playing with me during the day. I sing to him, read to him, rock him, bounce him, carry him around, take him on walks, and more.

However, each evening he has a hard time. I think that the little guy is experiencing so many new things all the time, that he has to have himself a little cry when the day is done. Joe and I work hard at soothing him, and most of the time we are successful.

It's hard work. We change tactics all the time until we land upon something that pleases him that evening. We are definitely problem solvers with this little guy.

Last night as I was rocking and hugging little Eli, and he continued to kick his feet, squirm his little body, and make fussy noises. I asked Joe why Eli looked so stressed. I said that Eli has everything he needs. We make sure he is well-fed, has clean clothes, a clean diaper, plenty of things to look at, and warm arms to hold him. He really doesn't have anything to be stressed about.

Joe turned to me and said that what I'd just said was a perfect illustration for why we shouldn't be worried and stressed either. God is our heavenly Father, and he makes sure, as the Scriptures say, that we have our needs met. He holds us and feeds us and loves us in the same way that we hold, love, and feed Eli.

It was a wonderful reminder. God is our Father, and He loves us, hard to imagine, infinitely more than I could ever love my precious, little son. WOW!!

^{Matthew 6: 25}"Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? ²⁶Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? ²⁷Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life^{b]" style="font-size: 0.75em; line-height: 0.5em; ">[b]}?

²⁸"And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. ²⁹Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. ³⁰If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? ³¹So do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' ³²For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. ³³But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. ³⁴Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.