Turtle Monkey

We had the best weekend with Elias. He woke up in a great mood both Saturday and Sunday morning and both days we had a fabulous morning of play and relaxation together. My mom and stepfather came over Saturday morning and stayed until about 5pm and Elias seemed to really enjoy their visit. He was in a great mood all day long. Supposedly, he actually grabbed the glasses off my mother’s face, which is quite the accomplishment because he doesn’t seem to understand the concept of lifting his arms to grab things quite yet.

After my parents left on Saturday, some friends stopped by and Elias was nothing but smiles and contentment! Toward his bedtime, he started getting fussy because he was tired, but quickly fell asleep with Mark rocking him.

On Sunday, Elias was a little bit fussier than normal, but that’s because he was extra tired. I’m not sure if it was because of the hectic day before or just because he’s still hanging onto a cold. I tried to get him to sleep as much as possible. He wasn’t really keen on the idea of being put down to sleep, so I held him through all of his naps yesterday. That’s more than okay with me - how much longer am I going to get to hold onto a sleeping baby?

I have to admit, it’d been more than a week since I did “official” tummy time with Elias. Tummy time never concerned me too much - it’s not even really all that big outside the U.S. Elias gets lots of tummy time on our chests and never really cared too much to be placed face down on a blanket (what baby does, though, I guess?) Anyway, I was surprised when I put him face down yesterday morning and he actually lifted his chest up off the ground for the first time. (Normally he wiggles around with his face pressed down into the blanket until he gets upset and I rescue him.) He seemed equally surprised, but he still wasn’t too sure about this tummy time thing.

Elias is definitely getting closer to rolling over. I’m sure the ability is within him, he just doesn’t seem very concerned about doing it. He rolls onto his side quite a bit.

We’ve been trying to get him to practice sitting up. You can definitely see the look in his eyes when he’s sitting up, like the whole world has changed for him. He seems eager to be able to do it on his own. We’ve managed to get him to sit unsupported for several seconds at a time, but I think that’s more of a fluke than anything he’s actually doing. I had a dream the other day that he started scooting around. It freaked me out a bit, but I don’t think it’s going to take him long to start scooting once he figures out how to sit up on his own.

The eczema on his face is looking so much better this week! He still has a small patch on his left cheek, but it’s not all that bad. Unfortunately, his entire left arm and a patch on his left leg has flared up. Hopefully we can get that under control (it seems half my time with him is spent moisturizing him!) without his face flaring up again.

Surprisingly, not too much is going on in the land of Elias right now. He’s still getting over a cold he picked up shortly after we returned from Texas. He hasn’t picked up any new skills, but he is mastering the skills he already has. He loves touching everything. He’s still not purposely grabbing at things, but he will grab onto things and pull them to his mouth. Whenever Mark or I hold him in a cradle position, he usually puts his hand up to our face to feel it. We got him a new toy that’s like his starfish cloth, except it looks like a bear. He really enjoys feeling and crinkling it and pulling the bear’s feet rings up to his mouth.

His babbles are becoming more expressive and consonants are slowly making their way into his vernacular. Every once in a while, we can get a giggle-type sound out of him when he’s happy, but there are still no real laughs yet.

Elias is still showing zero interest in rolling over and still doesn’t care too much for tummy time. It’s hard not to be worried that he isn’t rolling over or reaching for things yet, but I’m trying my best to remember that every baby develops at their own pace.

It seems he’s putting most of his effort into being able to sit up on his own. When we hold him on his back, he leans forward as much as he can in an effort to get upright. We can hold him in a sitting position in our laps very easily, with only a hand on him to keep him balanced. The muscles seem to be there, but the balance is definitely not.

Elias has been enjoying tummy time a lot more lately. Of course, that’s because we just started using the Boppy for tummy time. Duh. Sometimes I really feel like I’ve missed the most obvious stuff about being a parent. At least any of Elias’ future siblings will have the benefit of what I’ve learned through trial and error from him.

By the way, our living room ottoman is about one of the best purchases we made in anticipation of this baby. At first, we got it just because of the nice soft edges and storage capabilities. It’s also been a godsend for our backs, though. Neither Mark nor I are in the best physical shape and it’s hard getting down on the floor. With the ottoman, we can put down a blanket and place him on it to play with him. I’ve started surrounding the ottoman with pillows as well because although we wouldn’t leave him there unattended, I know babies like to do things quicker than normal people can react to them, so I wouldn’t want him hurting himself if he fell off.

Elias is showing little interest in rolling over and still gets frustrated by being on his tummy for more than a few minutes at a time. I’m starting to think that he’s going to be able to sit up by himself before he can roll over completely. I predict he’ll skip the crawling phase altogether and move around by scooting his butt across the floor instead.

When I went to pick him up at daycare yesterday, this beautiful little red haired girl came crawling over to us, pulled herself into an upright position using our carseat as leverage and then took a lock of my hair into her hand, though she did not pull it. I found myself smiling and talking to her just like I do with Elias. Funny how having a baby changes you! Before Elias, babies frightened me and I could never bring myself to interact with them. I never thought I would interact with others’ children, but it looks like I just had to learn using my own child as practice!