Three Random Things

1) WOW! It's been a rough few days with Eli. If his swollen gums are any indication, he's got about four teeth ready to pop: two on bottom and two on top. The kid is miserable. Just plain miserable. If something is entertaining enough to distract him from the pain, he's ok momentarily, but for the most part, he's letting us know (as loud and often as he can, I might add) that he is not a happy camper. Luckily, he's still sleeping very well at night, so there is the silver lining...

2) So much for baby steps. Eli has been army crawling for a total of eight days and he's already perfected the motion. It started as a very inefficient wounded soldier movement, and then progressed to the two-hands-extended-at-once-and-pull movement. Last night as I was preparing his bath, he scooted across the floor faster than I could run after than him, using lizard-like stealth and speed. It appears he finally figured out the correct way to do it, alternating hands and pushing off of his knees. He's still dragging his belly on the ground, but he pushed up onto all fours several times this weekend in preparation for movement, so we're getting closer.

3) Eli's latest trick is feeding other people when he eats. About a week or so ago I noticed him lifting up a cheerio or a gummed-to-death piece of banana to Lehr or I when we sat down next to him as he ate. Now he does it all the time. It's quite cute actually, as long as you don't actually eat the damp, mutilated food he offers. I did manage to eat a cheerio from him yesterday, but it went directly from his tray to my mouth: Eli did not 'chew' it for me first. This is not something I tried to teach him; I imagine he's just mimicking how I feed him when we're out and about (one piece at a time).