Family Picture

Thanks to my Mom, we have an actual family picture that is not a selfie. Yay! 

Tongue Time

Our little Elliott has a new thing he is figuring out: sticking out his tongue! It is so funny to watch him sitting there thinking and concentrating on something with that tongue sticking out. I was able to catch him in action! 

Family Selfie

We realized that we do not have hardly any pictures with the three of us, so, of course, a family selfie was a must. That silly Elliott certainly was excited! 

Silly Boys

These two boys got a hold of my phone. This was what I found...

It's Hair Time!

Elliott was born with quite a bit of hair. It has continued to grow since he was born, and he now has a full head of all these curls. There is no taming it, although I don't really want to straighten it out anyway. Here are a few shots of his most recent "do". 

4 Months Already!

Our little Elliott is not so little now (well, compared to what he was)! He weighed 15 pounds (31%) and was 26 inches long (74%) at his 4 month check up last week on September 3rd. He is now wearing mostly 3-6 and 6 month clothes and is growing quickly out of those. In the last week he has learned how to easily roll from his back to his front and in the opposite direction. He does have a little difficulty knowing where to put that right arm after he rolls to his stomach, but he is getting there. We find him laying all sorts of ways in his crib when we go to check on him. He is still dealing with waking up a few times a night but is mostly contented with his pacifier during these nightly wake up calls. We are also getting a little scooter on our hands. He has started to army crawl towards objects that interest him, so leaving him alone even for a little bit is becoming more and more of a no-no!

When he is feeling well (aka not gassy or being bothered by his teething), he is all smiles! His smile lights up his whole little face and involves not only his mouth but also his eyes and little nose. In just the past few weeks, he has become less fussy during the day. I have enjoyed taking selfies with him, reading books to him, playing with him in his jumperoo, and going on more and more "adventures." We have also enjoyed going to Starbucks to see Chuck a few times with Mortimer. Elliott gets better and better in public and seems intrigued by all that he sees.

Elliott and I had a particularly messy adventure last week in Publix. He had a huge blowout on the frozen food isle. I didn't see anything at first but could definitely smell it, so I didn't think it was that big of a deal. When I took his car seat out of the top of the buggy, I was embarrassed to find that his blowout had run out of his car seat where his straps are and into the buggy. I did my best to clean it up but still felt so bad for the guy who helped us get our groceries in the car. Bet he will stay away from us in the future!

We started giving him rice cereal right at 4 months. His first experience with it was what we expected: messy! He had it all over his face, and his hair was sticking out of the side of his head after he got cereal in it by the end; but, he seemed ok with eating it. Since then, he has gone back and forth with liking rice cereal. Lately, though, now that he realizes he can hold the spoon he likes it more. As you can imagine, more cereal ends up outside of his mouth than in it, but he likes eating it more when he gets to be in control. He is also getting better at keeping the food in his mouth now than he did at first. He would scrunch up his little nose and spit it back out to begin with. He is also getting more demanding with his bottle and likes to try to hold it himself. For some reason, he has started eating less at each feeding. We are watching this to see if it continues or if it is just something he is doing just for now.

It is amazing how quickly this little guy is growing. Every day, he seems to do something new, and every day we are seeing more and more of his little personality shining through. Here are a few pictures of him in action being his sweet, silly self!

Flip a Switch

Elliott is like a different little person from who he was just three months ago when he joined our little family. Lately, he has been so expressive and is starting to interact with us. I love getting to see him do that little, shy smile of his. He has also starting to try to laugh now. Currently, he smiles really big and makes this little noise, but it is not quite a laugh. He is getting close, though! He has really starting "talking." He makes all these cute sounds and has all these facial expressions like he is trying to communicate with us. I have joked with other people about how he already talks more than Chuck and I combined, but every day I'm realizing that is not totally a joke. We might have a talker on our hands!

Our little munchkin is also eating more (4.5-5 oz) a feeding and eats pretty much every three hours. Unfortunately, he got out of the habit of sleeping through the night recently and wakes up quite a bit. Sometimes I wonder if that little stinker just wants a visit in the night from Mommy or Daddy even though he doesn't really need anything. He can also be found with his head turned sideways (He sleeps on his back) trying to chew on his crib sheet. Really, at this stage, he will try to put pretty much anything in his mouth that he can reach. I think he has even had a go at the cat but, thankfully, with no success.

I am getting more and more "adventurous" with him. I've taken him out in public by myself a couple of times now. This is a really big deal for me, considering just the thought of it caused me a lot of anxiety just a few months ago. I've been trying to do baby steps, though. We've been to the mall with friends and to Publix (haven't been brave enough to try any other grocery stores or good ole Wally World). We have visited Chuck at Starbucks a few times. Elliott and I also had brunch with some church friends and lunch with my college friends. He made his Mommy proud during most of these adventures.

A good friend told me that things would really start to change at three months, and, wow, she was right. It really is like I flipped a switch and turned on this new, smiley, more aware little Elliott. He still has his fussy moments (like, oops, today in the church nursery), but I am seeing more and more of his personality. I look forward to getting to know our little guy more and having the chance to witness all his new little ways of doing things.
-N