Happy 10 months Ely!

Length: 29.5 inches 50-75 percentile

Weight: 20.01 pounds 25-50 percentile

Walking yet: not yet on two feet but walks on knees using a walker

Ely has gotten much stronger in just one month. He can pull himself up onto his feet and play with big-boy toys. He can even walk on his knees while pushing on a walker. He isn't confident enough to walk on his feet just yet but he loves holding onto things and standing.

Row-row: Yes, Ely can row, row...

Ely will grab onto my hands or my shirt and rock back and forth when I sing "Row Row Row Your Boat". It's quite funny because he'll pull himself up and no matter what he is doing, if I sing to him that song, he will rock back and forth.

Ball: Ely loves balls!

Ely loves to throw balls. We were playing under the Christmas tree and he threw an ornament on a glass ornament and it broke the glass ornament. It was his "baby's first Christmas" glass globe. Ely has quite the arm. He can throw over-handed and apparently it take a lot of shoulder muscle and it's a technique that toddlers master.

High-five...kisses....

Daddy taught Ely how to give high-fives. Ely has also started to kiss me but he leaves his mouth open and slobbers all over my face. It's a very sloppy & slobbery kiss but it's Ely's kiss.

Uh-oh: First serious Dr. visit.

Sweet little Ely has a clogged tear duct. He is a little fussy but is cheery as ever. He doesn't mind and goes on about his day. He has stopped rubbing his eyes and scratching. We just started giving him eye drops so we're hoping that his eyes will clear up very soon.

Ely, you are such a patient sweet boy. You hug everyone at daycare and wave "hello" to everyone. You've got quite a throwing arm and perhaps you will be a pitcher or a quarterback. Daddy is very excited about it. I hope your eyes get better soon!

It's December already?

I cannot believe that it is already December, not to mention already December 8th! I finally got around to taking pictures for our Christmas photo cards. It was much more difficult to get all three boys - Toby, Charlie and Ely to all pose for the camera.

First I had Ely all dressed up and managed to have 5 minutes before Ely started to crawl away. He's sure a fast crawler.

Another 30 min later, I tried again, this time, putting Ely inside the sled. I found that the lighting wasn't just right. Here is Ely raising his hand to object.

It was past Ely's bedtime and I tried again (pretty risky thing to do) and I finally got a good shot! Here is Ely making a funny face (this is not the pic for the card :P)

Ely is growing up super fast. He is getting much sturdier and heavier. He is also learning much faster. He loves to observe and study things...and tries to figure out how things work.

I want to stand up!

Ely balances himself on his knees now. He likes to play with big boy toys.

Our friend Miyeon gave us this Peek-a-Bop Playland and Ely likes to crawl inside to play with balls. For some reason instead of crawling inside, he looked to the clear plastic window to look at his toys. He may have been imitating me.

I found Ely had pulled himself up on the bars of the Jumperoo and rocking it. I think Ely will move onto walking. He rocks on his knees but he likes to stand up more. People at daycare think Ely will start walking soon too. Although he may be less motivated once his friends who walk move to the toddler class. His friend Blake is 10 months old and holds himself up onto toys so Ely may still be motivated to stand up more.

Happy 9 months Ely!

As of 11/11/09 Ely is:

19.5 lbs 25-50%
29" 75%
48.5" +97%

In the last couple of days, Ely has gone through a growth spurt. He feels a lot heavier, especially today. I'm going to measure him tomorrow and see if he gained more weight.

Creeping: Expert creeper. Ely is creeping everywhere. It's more like a military crawl.

Crawling: Not yet! He has gone on his knees more.

Pulling: He can pull himself up on me. He likes to hold onto the baby gate and yank on it.

Talking: Ely mimics sounds and tries to "talk" more.

Personality: Still a sweet baby boy!

Ely is a sweet baby. He loves to say "hi" to everyone at daycare and give everyone hugs. He rubs his head on other babies' heads to say "hello". He rests his head on laps too. He loves Mayboobae. He puts his arms around her neck and gives her multiple hugs.

Best Buddy: Cade!

I was able to finally see what others have been telling me about Cade and Ely. When Cade gets dropped off (later than Ely), Cade and Ely have a little talk and laugh together. I was getting ready to leave (the babies couldn't see me) and I saw Cade kiss Ely's head. Cade's mom said that he was sad yesterday and it may have bee because he missed daycare.

Teeth: Six total!

He has two on the bottom and four on the top. Ely still tries to grab my finger and bite it.

Ely is very alert and observant. He likes to watch people and mimic them. He is starting to pick things up faster and faster. Daddy taught him how to throw in minutes and now he loves to throw. He loves balls so he likes being able to throw it. He used to knock balls together but he likes to throw balls too. He still loves to knock toys together the most...that and shaking toys that make sounds.

Ely's first Halloween

We enjoyed a little walk around our neighborhood park before we headed out to B-square to meet our friends. Ely liked being inside the backpack and looked around to take in the fall foliage.

Later in the day we headed to B-square to meet up with our first-time parents (we all had babies this year). We weaved through the huge traffic of other moms, dads, grandparents, & adorable kids in costumes.

After an hour or so of taking pictures, we headed over to Maggianos for dinner. I was a bit worried about having dinner so late with Ely but he did well (and other babies too!). He got a bit fussy but he was okay once we bribed him with a huge piece of bread.

It must have been a tiring event for Ely because he slept until 8:00am.

*next year, we'll have to head out to B-square a little earlier*

**next event on the "parent's guide book" --- Holiday Lane!**

Da Da Ba Ba

Ely lies to say da and ba to his toys.

He loves to scoot everywhere.

Patient Observant Ely

Today we went to went to the Early Childhood Cognition Lab at UW for a study that they are doing with babies. I was a bit nervous at first because it took me awhile to find the lab and it was Ely's feeding time. We got to the lab just in time and Ely took his bottle before he got preoccupied with his new surroundings.

The study was very simple. They did a little puppet show with two toys (green frog and red truck toy). They were trying to see if Ely would favor one toy over the other because of positive reinforcement. A person would say "hi", look at both toys, hold up the red toy, smile, and say "WOW". It took 10 minutes and by the end, Ely got very bored. At the very end of the study, they had me hold Ely up to the the toys and see which one he preferred. They had me try it twice. Both times, he first felt the test table, whacked it a couple of times, and went directly to the red toy. He didn't even glance at the other toy. It was pretty amazing to see how positive reinforcement had such influence on a baby.

After the test, the researcher told me that it took only 6 trainer tests before the actual study started. I guess some babies can take up to 14 tests before they knew what the test was about. The minimum is 6 tests and Ely had figured it out by then what the test was about. The researcher said that he was observant and apparently it is a trait that lasts when they grow up. The assistant also commented that Ely starred at the puppets for a long time. :) Ely likes to stare at new things, new faces....he is a curious boy.

Little Ely has THREE little teeth coming in on top. I knew about one as it's been coming in for about a week now. I was letting Ely gnaw my finger and sure enough, I felt the other two teeth. I can't wait until they come in and Ely smiles. He is going to look so funny. :)

Bottom -(2) Central incisor: check!

Top-(1) Central incisor: check!

Top -(2) Lateral incisor: check!

We're very excited to announce that Ely's been chosen for See Kai Run's 2010 Fall catalog. We hope that he gets more than a picture of his foot in the catalog. We'll see!

8 months old

At 8 months old, Ely is:

28 inches in length - 25-50%

19.5 pounds - 25-50%

19 inches head circumference - 95%

Ely is growing up to be a very happy sweet boy. He loves to smile and laugh. He also helped his friend Kaylie recover from a fall as she cried. He patted her tummy while he waited for Mayboobae to help Kaylie. Ely also cries when he thinks that he hurt someone (if someone says "ouch" after he hits someone).

(Sorry Ely.....you are just so cute when you make that face!).

Ely is starting to scoot. He will be crawling very soon. He has perfected his rolling technique and can roll around very quickly to anywhere. Ely has especially taken a liking to my laptop and whenever I am on the laptop, Ely will roll over to me. He likes to pound on the keyboard and act like he is doing something very important.

Today I made Ely organic quinoa and avocado for dinner. He ate lots of it. I made so much of it and there was still a ton left after I filled up little containers for the freezer. There was even enough for Toby and Charlie. They enjoyed eating it too. Toby wasn't too sure at first but once he saw Charlie eating it, Toby decided that it was not bad at all either.

Ely's first word is "hi". It's hard to record him saying it because he only says it once when he sees us. He is starting to say "hi" and raise his arm at the same time. Ely is growing up so fast!

We love you Ely! We're so grateful that you are growing up to be such a healthy, happy, sweet boy! We look forward to your first walk, your second word, first full sentences, ...... we can't wait!

I'm sorry

I'm sorry...

Ely was pulling on daddy's face and daddy said "ow, Ely, stop" (not loudly at all) and Ely started to cry. We tried it again...and sure enough, Ely cried again. He made a very sad face and cried very very sadly. I said "ow" really loudly at Ely once when I was feeding him and he bit me. He must have still remembered that and thinks that he did something horribly wrong when someone says "ow" to him. Poor kiddo.

Computer!

Ely likes to type on the Mac. I offered him a PC keyboard but he didn't like it. We're looking for our broken laptop so that Ely can type on the keyboard, although I have a feeling Ely will still prefer the Mac.

Pumpkin Patch

Our friends invited to the South 47 Farm in Redmond on Sunday so that our little babies could pick out pumpkin for Halloween. Baby Olivia and Ely were very patient as we snapped away pictures and pick out pumpkins.

Crackers! Crackers!

I love crackers!

Thanks to our friend Lisa, Ely has started to eat MumMum crackers. He absolutely loves eating these. We just got a huge box of them from Amazon.com because he eats 3-4 crackers per day. Ely kept hitting the MumMum box (maybe he knew it was "his" box of crackers).

We can't eat snacks next to Ely without Ely crying for his too. He grabs at my mouth trying to get the cracker from my mouth.

While Ely was eating his cracker, I reached over and asked for a bite. Surprisingly, Ely shoved his cracker in my mouth. :) Such nice boy!

High-Five Ely!

Daddy is teaching Ely how to do high-fives. He has done it successfully during dinner tonight. We'll see if he remembers it tomorrow. :)

I want mommy!

I picked up Ely yesterday and when I got to the LC, Mayboobae was holding Ely. As soon as Ely saw me, he reach over with his arms open and laughed. It was the first time Ely reached over for me. :) Sweet boy!

Tickle Tickle!

Ely has been very ticklish lately. It's like the tickle nerves may have just kicked in lately. He also loves to "tickle" me by blowing raspberries on me. It's funnier to watch his expression afterwards as he looks up at me.

Cold Weather....

It has been very cold at night lately. It's pretty warm when he goes to bed but he has woken up with very cold hands and feet. We finally gave in and got (yes another one...) a heater from Costco with a temperature setting. It's worked wonderfully last night, although it may have been extra toasty in his room (the cold humidifier countered the extra warmth).

Pumpkin Patch?

Yes, it's already that time and we're going to a pumpkin patch for the first time. We've always resorted to buying one from QFC but this time, we're going to start a tradition and go to a pumpkin patch with Ely. :)

LC Update:

Ely is scooting on his back by pushing with his feet.

Ely got stuck behind a rocking chair so Ely tried to push the chair before he finally gave up and decided to roll around the chair. :P Ely was able to pull a blanket with his 4 month old buddy on it so I could imagine Ely thought that he could move the chair too.

Ely said "hi" to his buddy Cade and to Mayboobae. He "sort" of says it to us too but we're not too sure.

7 months (and 5 days)

I know I say it every month but Ely has had a huge growth spurt this month...although he has dropped in his percentile range. He is 28"in length (50 percentile) and 18 lbs 7 ounces (40 percentile). We've been feeding him solids on top of the normal amount of milk he eats and he doesn't want to eat more than what he is already eating so I have given up hopes of having a chubby baby (chubby babies are so cute!).

On the move:

This month, he has mastered his rolling technique. He can also rotate his body to change direction. At home, he likes to roll to the direction of sounds. Every noise amuses him and he is so eager to see where it is coming from. At LC, he likes to roll to his favorite play areas (including under the crib with his favorite toy) and to his friends. He is still the youngest at the LC and his older friends (10month-12months) are crawling around everywhere and starting to stand up. He likes to watch them and probably wondering when he can do what the big kids do.

Yum Yum:

Ely started solids since he was 6 months old. His favorite is avocado and banana. He also enjoys carrots. He has not pooped in two days so he may have to have some plum tomorrow. Ely gets excited when it's time to eat his solids. He leans over and takes huge bites. He can also grab the spoon and feed himself.

Clap clap:

Ely knows "clap your hands". If I tell him to clap his hands, he claps! It's the cutest thing. He also knows "no" and he used to get sad when I said it to him but now, he smiles and continues to do what he does. Perhaps the little 7 month old has already figured me out. Perhaps not.

Blankets:

Ely loves to play with blankets. I would cover his face with a blanket and he would yank it off of his face and squeal with happiness when he sees me. One time I covered his face but his right eye wasn't covered. He stayed quiet like his face was covered and was still excited when I pulled off the blanket from him.

Tickle Tickle:

Ely is very ticklish. When I tickle him under his arms, ribs, or under his chin, he breaks out into a huge laugh. I think it's super cute so the poor guy has to endure a tickle-fest from me.

I can dunk!

I was playing with a toy where you drop balls into a bowl. Ely watched me do it and when I gave him a ball, he reached over and dunked the ball. The bowl is a bit high for him so I tried to help him by pulling on his arm and he pulled back. He didn't want help! Our little boy is already becoming a little independent individual.

Chatter Chatter!

Ely doesn't usually talk very much but lately, he has had a ton to say. He talks and talks in cars, in the morning (5 AM), and everywhere else. He takes little pauses and starts up again.

I can tickle you too!

Ely likes to stick his tongue out and blow raspberries. Sometimes he just sticks his tongue out sideways. I like to blow raspberries on his neck and arm because it makes Ely laugh. While I was laying in bed with Ely this morning (it was 5 AM) Ely put his face on my arm and I thought he was rooting. Ely actually blew raspberries on my arm! He looked up very content with a huge grin on his face. I laughed and he was very happy & did it again. It was very cute.

If you happy and you know it...

Clap your hands?

Ely's brightens when he hears songs that he knows. His favorite is to clap along to "If you're happy and you know it" song. He watched his friends clap to the song at the LC and clapped along with them. Over the weekend, I kept singing him the song and clapped so that I could watch him clap. Today I told him "clap your hands" and he looked at me and clapped! No songs and without me clapping! It is amazing to see that Ely's comprehending what I say to him. How fast he is growing. :)

Peek-a-boo

He loves to play with tulle. I cover his body with it and squeals as he lifts it on and off of his face. It's a simple game but he loves it so much. I made a box like the one at the LC. The entryway has a tulle hanging on it and he likes to lift it up and down. He also likes to go inside he box and kick the walls. I cut out pages from a color book and he likes to look at the images.

Roll, Roll....

Ely is rolling around a lot now. He likes to pul on the tags underneath the couch and manages to get his feet stuck under the couch. He also likes to pull books from the bookcase. We'll need to baby proof for this rolling exployer. :)

Row Row...

Wedding:

Ely went to his first wedding. We were a bit nervous because it was a 7pm wedding and his bedtime is 7:30pm. Daddy had been having his late night outings to meet up with his friends (pre-wedding celebrations) and Ely started to get very fussy around 6:30pm. Fortunately, Ely did very well even with people holding him. It was a beautiful wedding outside. A bit chilly & rainy but the rainbow came out towards the end.

I was able to enjoy dinner while Ely slept. We were able to have him sleep in his stroller through the night. He only woke up once when the bright flashes went off and people clapped around him.

It was nice to meet up with our friends (we don't see them too often with Ely's early bedtime schedule). Baby Olivia was there too and Ely was fascinated by her headband. He also tried to grab her hand and steal her toys. Both babies did super well at the wedding. :)

Solids:

Ely has had banana,winter squash, carrots, sweet potato, and avocado. Ely doesn't like squash and sweet potato. He squirms and cries when he has had enough. He loves avocado & bananas and eats so much of it. His little belly looks like it is going to explode but he keeps eating.

Poopoo:

Ely has had the stinkiest poopoo now that he is having solids. However, he has been pooping little balls that isn't all over his butt. :) He has also pooped while in the shower with daddy. It's happened three times now. Poor daddy has to clean it up.

Friend time:

We hung out with our friends Kristin and Sophia at Bellevue Square Mall. Ely and Sophia watched each other and he tried to steal Sophia's bib..and pull off her cute headband. It was amazing to see how much Sophia had grown. We wheeled around the mall and chatted while our babies starred at the world around them. There was a ton of people in the mall...all escaping the pouring rain outside.

While we were feeding our babies, we noticed a lady from the news channel (still trying to figure out which one) and she was breastfeeding her 15 month old. Too each his/her own....

Delicata

I went to PCC after work to grab a winter squash and carrots (organic). I asked a worker at PCC about choosing a winter squash that is sweeter and he recommended Delicata.

I came home and cut up the Delicata and tested out the new Baebe Babycook. It was a snap to steam the squash and blend it. Once it cooled down, I fed it to Ely...and the little guy didn't want it. He spit it out and started to cry. I quickly made his usual rice cereal and mixed in a little bit of Delicata. He still wasn't too happy about it but he must have been hungry because he ate it. I tried to sneak in spoon full of Delicata and he didn't like it. I then tried having Sung eat it and tell Ely how tasty it was. Ely thought maybe the squash was good. It took a bit of convincing but Ely decided that the squash wasn't that bad. With the little Delicata, I was able to get 7 little containers (I had to mix in some rice cereal), just enough for Learning Center and the next few days.

The nice part is how easy it was to clean the Baebe Babycook. All clean and ready for carrots in a few days. It was a great find from Craigslist. :P

Vancouver and Victoria

We headed over to Richmond, B.C. on Friday. We got there in good time and headed over to dinner at Guu. We had good Japanese food while Ely gnawed on Soybeans (empty shell). Afterwards we checked out the Alberdeen Shopping Center. Soon it was time for Ely's bedtime and we were getting ready for bed at 830pm on a Friday night.

Ely woke up in the middle of the night with his arms and legs stuck in the crib. He rotates in his crib and managed to get himself stuck. He ended up sleeping with on the king size bed with us. He managed to rotate again in our bed as well and looked like he was kicking daddy. Eventually Ely took over the bed as he was doing his 180 degree rotation throughout the night and daddy was sleeping on the corner of the bed in fetus position. When I asked daddy why he was sleeping on the edge, his reply was that Ely kept moving through the night.

We woke up the next morning and slowly made our way to Kirin for din sum. Somehow they didn't get our reservation but we managed to get a table (this was our 3rd time attempting to eat at this place). Ely patiently waited for us to finish. After brunch we headed over to Vancouver. I did some quick shopping (managed to find suspenders for Ely. :P).

Afterwards we went to Stanley park and the Aquarium Center. Ely had lots of fun looking at all of the fish. I held him up to a shark viewing are and he was more amused by other kids next to him. He starred at them and started to whack at them. The kids weren't too amused by it. Poor Ely was just trying to say hello. Ely enjoyed whacking at the fish too. The bigger and brighter they were, the more he liked.

For dinner we headed back to Richmond and drove around to find a restaurant. We located a "all you can eat" Korean buffet. It was very nice inside and was reassured to find that the workers there to be Koreans. We had very good bbq and the seafood pancake was very good. We managed to get a second serving of bbq before Ely started to cry (it was past his bedtime).

On Sunday we woke up early to catch a ferry ride to Victoria. We got to the Butchart Gardens pretty early and the parking lot was empty. It was quite the challenge to go around the Garden with a stroller. We had to maneuver through narrow pathways and eager tourist taking pictures.

Ely enjoyed looking at all of the flowers. He tried to pluck all of the flowers his sight and put the petals in his mouth.

We took the Anacortes ferry back to Washington. The boys were very tired and took a quick power nap in the car while we waited for our ferry.

It was a long drive home for daddy while Ely and I slept. Daddy swore off going back to Butchart Gardens for at least 3 years. I agree. I think we should go to Yellowstone Park next! We're still contemplating our next road trip for next summer. Meanwhile, we'll need to convince daddy that we need to go somewhere warm this winter. :)

We found that Canadians are very expressive. Ely was quite the chick magnet (young and old) and he figured out that people react to his smiles. While I shopped, Sung would wait with Ely and when I would look over, a swarm of ladies would be around Ely commenting how cute Ely was. We also had random people come up to us and told us Ely was very handsome. While we were browsing through Club Monaco, a sales girl was commenting how cute Ely was and as she said it, she reached over to his hand. As she held out her hand, Ely grabbed at her finger and wouldn't let go. He may have to work on this when he is older but for now, people think it's just adorable.

I asked Ely if he would like to be a baby model and he smiled back at me. I also asked him if mommy can be his manager and have all of his money and he didn't respond. :P

6 months old

Ely is 6 months old today. He has grown so much this month. We went to Woodinville for a run that benefits the Seattle Children's Hospital. Ely and I waited for daddy and our friends Brett and Lisa to finish the 5K (good job guys!). While we waited we got a caricature of Ely running. The artist threw in the picture of a bunny. :) Ely enjoyed a Popsicle after the run.

At 6 months, Ely is 17.5 pounds (50 percentile) and 26.5 inches (50 percentile). I expect this to change once we get better measurements next week at the Dr.'s office.

At 6 months:

-Ely's biggest accomplishment this month is sleeping through the night. He usually sleeps from 7:30 pm to 5:30am, eats for a little bit and goes back to sleep again while I get ready for work.

-Has a tooth with a couple more on the way.

-He started on rice cereal. He leans over to take a bite of it now. We're trying to figure out if he needs to eat more or more often because it seems like he is hungry all the time. It may also be because he is going through a growth phase.

-Ely scrunches his nose when he gives us a big smile or tastes something funny.

-Got over a heat rash (from being bundled up too much at night) and didn't complain about it.

-Likes to grab his hands like he is praying and put it towards his mouth over & over.

-He grabs at our arm for attention.

-Likes to stand in the shower and play with the shower head.

-Ely likes to grab my hair and run his fingers through it. He doesn't pull on it.

-Still figuring out how to roll around. He rocks side to side and manages to change his direction slightly to get to where he wants to go.

-Ely is a happy mellow baby. He doesn't cry very much and when he does it is because he needs something or he is tired at night.

-He likes to pull his pacifier out of his mouth and try to put it back. It's still working on it.

-Smiles when I tell him "I ruff you". :)

Rice Cereal

Ely had rice cereal for the first time on Monday. He didn't eat very much of it but it was enough to him super strength to sit by himself. He thought it was funny to spit it out and let it run down his mouth. Ely had rice cereal again today and he ate much more than yesterday. I wonder if it will make him constipated. He certainly had no problem going poopoo after yesterday's rice cereal.

Today we went to our coworkers for a potluck. Diane was very nice to offer us her home, her boat, jet ski, and much patience. We had lots of fun and ate way too much food. Anne made Ely a toy (a water bottle filled with rocks) that Ely loved to play with. He would hit it and laugh as it rattled.

Ely met baby Sophia for the first time and gave her a big smile. They took a nice long nap next to each other.

It was a beautiful day. The sun came out and it was nice to ride on the boat and watch others on the tube behind us.

Training Camp

We had an eventful weekend. First we went to our baby Justin's b-day party at Pump It Up in Kirkland. Ely had fun going down the big slide with daddy. I don't think he knew what was going on but at least he didn't cry going down the slide. By this time next year, Ely will be able to have more fun. It was amazing to see how much Justin had grown since I last saw him at the Overlake Hospital when he was born, and when I held him in my arms...not quite sure how I should hold the little guy. Even a couple of years ago, he wanted me to play with him at his party. This time, he was a big boy and ran around playing with his friends.

Later that day with met with our friends Paj, Lisa, and Jadie to go to Seahawks training camp. They were able to get tickets for Saturday (much better than our 8:30am Sunday tickets). We sat on a little hill and watched the football players. It was hard to figure out what they were doing but after awhile it was starting to make sense (a little bit). We had Jadie and Ely lie down on the play mat next to each other. They were very amused by each other's pacifiers and took turns taking off each others pacifier. It was nice to see that they finally knew that they were lying next to each other and played. Ely has seen Jadie so many times but it was probably his first time that he "saw" her. It was amazing to see how much Jadie had grown. She was pulling herself up as she grabbed onto Stephan's shirt. Such strong girl! She also had two little teeth and another one possibly on its way. I also noticed another white bump on his lower gum.

Today we went all the way to Federal Way to buy Beabe Babycook from a lady (from Craigslist). It was brand new in the box and it had the Williams Sonoma stick on it. Apparently she got TWO of these for her babyshower....but maybe she didn't get a gift certificate with it? I'm looking forward to cooking up some meals for Ely but I need to get Ely started on rice cereal first. Maybe we will start that sometime this week. Ely loves to watch us eat and stick his little tongue out when we put our food in front of his mouth. He likes to suck on our spoons too.

I read a little book to Ely today and Ely found it so funny that he was laughing. I laughs when I tell him "I ruff you", "you're some bunny special", and "you're purrrfect". So there I was saying this over and over to get him to laugh more. After awhile, it was so funny to him anymore. I'll have to try it again tomorrow.

Ely likes to kick. He did it at the Learning Center. He kick his toys (attached to a mirror) and he squealed in delight (moving arms and all) after he gave it a good kick. I had him kick a ball and he thought it was pretty funny. I had him kick my head (we were bored in the car) and he thought it was very funny. I had to stop it though because it may not be funny if he kicked someone at the Learning Center and started laughing.

Earlier this week I got a Mozart for Babies CDs from Costco. It has various music that will help babies with concentration, memorization, ....etc. There was one for "Calming & Soothing" and I played it on the way to work so that Ely will sleep better. I was listening to the music and was wondering how the bells were so not soothing and calming but 10 minutes into it, I realized that I was getting very drowsy and quickly changed the station to something else so that I wouldn't fall asleep while driving. Once we got to the Learning Center, Ely was very sleepy and Mayboobae asked Ely if he was tired and commented how he is usually wide awake. Maybe the other CDs will work just as well....at least there's no harm in trying. I think it will help me to listen to it since I took all the time to make a CD for our friend Lisa and had it in our bag but forgot to give it to them. Oops....

Looking for another eventful week - feeding Ely rice cereal and possibly dealing with the backup that other babies go through.

Teeth

I tried taking a picture of Ely's tooth while he was crying and it didn't work.

I then tried to hold his mouth open and it didn't work.

Eventually Ely thought that I was funny and he laughed. I was able to snap some pictures. It was harder to figure out a way to make him laugh. He's really stingy with his laughs. It has to be really funny or else he doesn't laugh. Although sometime he thinks everything is funny.

Food?

Now that Ely is teething and he is sitting up better by himself, we are going to start him on rice cereal pretty soon.

Sleeping!

Ely has been sleeping much better. He doesn't really cry anymore when he goes to bed. This morning, he was awake and playing in the crib.

Moving?

Ely's been moving around at the Learning Center by rocking side to side and moving a little bit to get to his destination. I was trying to get his to do it at home and he didn't do it. I lied down next to him and showed him how to roll. He just smiled at me. He did roll side to side but didn't move much. Toby came by and rolled too. Charlie just thought we were being silly.