Bella- Six Months, Eli- 2 Years 3 Months

Bella At Six Months

Bella had a half birthday! Our precious little baby girl is six months old. My has she has changed in the past six months. This sweet little baby, who used to fall asleep in my (and Stephen's) arms and sleep close to 21 hours a day, has turned into a smiling, laughing, on-the-move little girl. At her six month check up, she weighed in at 13.2 pounds and was 24 inches long. She is going to start full-blown crawling any day now. Right now, she rocks back and forth, moves one leg and one arm, and lunges forward with all of her strength. She will do this until she makes it across the room and is able to get her hands/mouth on whatever toy interests her at the moment. She can sit up unassisted as long as there is something in front of her to keep her attention, she "talks" a lot, and she puts everything that she touches in her mouth. She has even started pulling up on her crib. The other day, while trying to fall asleep, she was crying a real cry, so I went in to check on her. To my surprise, I saw a little crying face just over the top of the bumper pad. She was on her knees, holding on to the rail. That day, Dad lowered her crib. She has tried many new foods over the past couple of weeks: carrots, green beans, squash, cauliflower, broccoli, peas, apples, blueberries, and chicken. Of all of these foods, her favorite seems to be broccoli. Her least favorite is a toss up between the apples and the blueberries. She makes the funniest faces when I feed her apples. Next on the menu for Bella: mango, beef, and yogurt. Bella has also started sucking her toes. As she was lying on the floor, in only a diaper, trying to stick her big toe in her mouth, I was reminded of a picture I had taken of Eli doing the exact same thing, so I had to go searching for it.

Bella

Eli

Eli At Two Years and Three MonthsEli's First School Picture
So cute, but where did that hat come from and who else had it on their head? I did not send him to school in that hat. Yuck!

At just over two years, Eli seems to amaze me each day with the questions he asks and the comical things he does. Today, he asked me, "What's this?" He was doing the sign for the letter E. I said, "What do you think that is? He replied, "E for E-LI!" in a very loud voice. He knows quiet a few letter signs. The other day, I let him ride the rides outside of Sear's. On the way home, and without any prompting from me, Eli said, "Thank you Mommy, letting Eli ride the rides." What a sweet boy! I replied, "Eli, that is so sweet. You're welcome. We will go back very soon since you were so polite and said thank you." Eli, with a smile, responded, "Makes Mommy happy." What a charmer!
One of Eli's favorite things to do is what he calls driving. He doesn't really drive; he just likes to get behind the wheel of a car, press any and every button he can find, and hang out the windows until he's told to sit down. When someone comes to our house, the first thing he usually says after giving hugs and saying hi is, "Eli drive." When we pass motorcycles, police cars, firetrucks, etc. on the road Eli will say, "Mommy, Eli drive that... " Well, Dad and Eli have been going to the Build and Grow Clinics at Lowe's. This past weekend, the project was to build a firetruck.
There was also a real fire truck there for the kids to get on and explore. Did Eli get on the firetruck? NO! He didn't want to get inside at all. Dad put him on the front and back of if it for a quick picture.
Mom, on the other hand, looks like she's ready to hop in and go put out a fire.
While at Aunt Kathy and Uncle Kerry's house, Uncle Kerry started up his motorcycle and asked Eli if he wanted to get on. With a frightened look on is face, his reply was, "No."
All this talk about "driving" all of these different cars and Eli doesn't even want to get on any of the fun ones. He did get on Uncle Kerry's motorcycle after he turned it off.
We are going to Safety Day at Home Depot this month. I'm hoping he'll get on the safety vehicles that will be out there.
Eli is such a good big brother. He has been helping out with Bella's diaper changes and baths. He is giggly and excited when he sees her first thing in the morning or after his nap. When I get him out of bed, he always says, "Bella's awake," in a voice that is suggesting if she's not awake now, she will be in a minute. He gives her hugs and kisses all the time. I know he doesn't realize how dainty and fragile she is, and he is sometimes too rough with her, passing along the same "big hugs" he receives from me.

Something exciting happened over the past month. Eli's legs are finally long enough to make the pedals on his tricycle go all the way around! He loves riding his tricycle around the block. The other day, I was thinking about the many times I pushed him around the courtyard in the back of our house when we lived in Granite City. At first, his feet did not reach the pedals at all. I would push him, and he would keep his feet on the foot rest while moving the handle bars back and forth, making it rather difficult to keep the tricycle on the sidewalk. He was so little back then. These two years have gone by so fast! Time does fly after you have little ones.

Eli and Bella with Grandma and Mamaw