So They all Rolled Over and One Fell Out...

No, no one fell out of anything this week, but someone did ROLL OVER! That's right, our tiny little Eli finally figured out how to roll over! I am so proud of him! Every doctor we ever see (which is a lot for our preemie guy) gently reminds me that Eli will be developmentally behind until he is two years old because of his prematurity. (At two he'll be completely caught up.) So I try not to read any of the books that talk about milestones for his age, etc. because I just want to enjoy Eli for who he is and were he's at. But I get so excited when he reaches each milestone AHEAD of when the doctors say a premature baby should reach them! Our little Eli has been a fighter since day one, and he continues to prove his strength to us every day.

Yesterday morning I had him on the floor playing with toys on his belly, and he all of the sudden just rolled over to his back! I was really surprised because he's never even attempted this before, so I put him back on his belly to see if it was just an accident or if he'd do it again. And over he went yet again! His look of surprise was so adorable- "Hey, how did I get to be on my back?" And then when I went nuts with praise for him he looked even more surprised, "Why is mom going bonkers about this?" Of course, when I tried to capture his new feat on video, he just got mad and wanted to be held. But I'll remember this first roll-over forever in my head! Way to go, little Eli!

In other news, I am finally getting over this stomach bug that has had me down for five days now. That's right, five days. Five miserable days. Five saltines-and-chicken-broth days. Five 100-degree-fever days. Five I-think-I'll-just-lay-here-and-moan days (reference When Harry Met Sally). Fortunately Eric was home over the weekend and took care of Eli 100% so that I could just lay in bed. But yesterday he had to go back to work and it almost killed me! I never realized how bad being sick can be until I had a baby! To be dragged out of bed in the morning by a happy, talkative baby and have to be smiley and upbeat and care-taking all day when you feel like you just got ran over by a truck is no easy thing! But I did it. And today is so much better. I'm really thankful to be sitting here drinking a cup of coffee and keeping it down! :) Hooray for health.

Eli has been so incredibly talkative lately! From the moment he wakes up to the moment he closes his eyes he is babbling. I love it! It is hard to feed him, though, because he just wants to talk, not eat his bottle. :)

We're going camping this weekend! Twice a year our whole [Bergstrom side of the] family goes to Daingerfield State Park in East Texas for a long weekend. It's the most perfect place in Texas, and we've been going there since we were little girls. And now that we're all grown up and married with kids, we're still going strong. Eric and I had to miss the last trip because I was on strict bed rest with the pregnancy, so we are even more looking forward to this one. Daingerfield is the place where Eric told me that he loved me for the first time (sappy sound effects allowed here) and the place where he proposed (in the most romantic, amazing way any guy could ever come up with) and the place we went just days after finding out we were expecting Eli. And now it is the place that we'll bring Eli twice a year for years and years to come. I can't wait!

And, now that I am hearing Eli's talking through the baby monitor, I will go get him up from his nap! Have a great Tuesday!