Elijah is just moving right along…literally! Since his first birthday he has learned to walk and climb, learned some new “tricks”, is almost weaned, gotten some new teeth, and is communicating a bit more. He’s a fun little guy who catches on to things quickly and he has stayed true to himself as he is still very passionate with his opinions. Elijah brings more and more fun and laughter to our household all the time and we love him to bits.
I love this stage of new learning when young toddlers amble around on wobbly legs. I like how they are generally agreeable but have the benefit of big kids in that they are more independent and can be put down more. Elijah was very fun to watch walking when he initially learned because he didn’t bend his knees so he walked with a wide stance and looked like a cowboy that had just gotten off his horse. In the last two weeks or so he has perfected the knee-bend, though, and now he is enjoying walking faster.
He has also become quite the climber. We have a footstool in our living room that is about 2ft high and the other day I caught Josiah standing on it and told him to get down. The next thing I knew Elijah was standing up on it. Yikes! As Jacob says, “monkey see, monkey do!” He has also learned that he can walk up to the couch and make motions to climb up while whining and Josiah will walk up behind and give his behind a lift. While I’m on the subject of the boys interacting…every time Elijah finds Josiah’s water cup sitting around, he very dutifully picks it up and goes to find Josiah and gives it to him. So kind! It is funny though when Josiah doesn’t want it, puts it down, and Elijah picks it back up and hands it to him again. Eventually he brings it to me or Jacob.
We have gradually noticed that Elijah seems to catch on to things very quickly. In addition to sitting up early and crawling early he only had to be shown once how to walk behind a toy or push himself on a ride on toy. More recently, while blueberry picking, he purposely picked only ripe berries and put them in the bucket. He has also learned, thanks to Jacob’s teaching, to give the sweetest hugs and kisses as well as high fives. He’s also learned to point to some body parts. He is not, however, interested in much talk or sign language. He does (when he feels like it) say a form of “thank you”, “da da”, “ma ma”, “cat” (or specifically our cat Lilah) and signs “more” (when coaxed) and “milk” is the universal sign for “I want” along with a grunt.
As far as diet goes…he is so picky! I’m not used to that because Josiah ate and drank anything. His preferences change, but right now his meat intake is mostly restricted to chicken, turkey deli meat, and hamburger meat if covered in spaghetti sauce or chili. He has to eat his veggies in the form of puree now since he will not currently eat it as a finger food. He is finally willing to drink something other than water from a sippy cup and I accomplished this by putting in banana drinkable yogurt in a cup, which he loved, and slowly adding milk. He still nurses about once daily, but he has lost interest and drinks more from his cup, as long as it is a specific cup, that is. I expect he’ll be weaned by the end of the week because now we just do it enough to keep me comfortable since he couldn’t care less.
Elijah now has eight teeth total but he has two molars on the way. He is the slowest teether! You can feel/see the teeth for weeks before they break through.
There is a new love in Elijah’s life. A teddy bear. He started showing interest in all things soft and loves to carry around articles of clothing, so in preparation for weaning and eventually pacifier revocation I gave him a teddy. He fell in love instantly and has never looked back. The other day Josiah filled his crib up with stuffed animals before I could get him up from his nap, but Elijah only had eyes and arms for his one special teddy bear. I need a duplicate! I hope to be taking away the paci once he is weaned and over these current teeth coming in…maybe before the next 3 month update.
We love having this little red head wonder in our lives. Everywhere we go people have to comment on his hair. It is often greasy looking when we pick him up from the nursery from people “petting” him :) One visit to the grocery store will glean multiple comments about his beautiful hair. It never ceases to amaze me. He has such funny and wonderful facial expressions along with a laugh that you can’t help but laugh along with. Elijah has a particular fondness for Jacob which I know melts his heart. Admittedly it is a little hard on me because I’m used to Josiah who seemed to adore me at this age. Elijah, however, will readily leave me to go to Jacob, Grandma, Cindy, and others as long as the setting is familiar.
Keep growing, Elijah. You are already making a wonderful boy!
3 comments:
He does look old in that last picture! And, he does look more like your cat than either of you, not sure how to explain that one. I am with you on needing a time out of my own after many meals being swept on the floor. I think we are finally starting to make some progress in that area, or he's just growing out of it...
How adorable! I love that they still look a bit like a baby when napping. He is a cutie and a billion blessings, thanks be to God.
Love this update - he is just adorable! He looks like you and Jacob, I think, but that's going off of my high school memory, so it could be lacking just a tad. :) I feel you on the eating - we are finally getting Riley to eat a few things besides hot dogs, macaroni, and bananas, thanks to Jonah who will eat anything...and then swipe it to the floor like Elijah. I cannot tell you how frustrating that gets at age 3.5 - we still haven't figured out how to overcome that one. Glad to see your boys are healthy and growing - it's really about all the little blessings, isn't it?
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