7 Months

My sweet Eli,

Today you are seven months old! It seems like the time has flown by. I am trying hard to treasure every moment of you as a little baby- rocking you as you snuggle against my chest, carrying you around the house, singing to you as you eat your bottle, watching you sleep all warm in your crib… because I know that in the blink of an eye you'll be a rough and tumble little boy with no time to sit and rock with your mommy! Eli, you are a joy to my heart!

Here are some things that are true of you at seven months of age:

-You have found the volume control on your voice! :) You've always been a "talker," but just in the past few weeks you've discovered that you can be extremely loud, and you love this fact! When you wake up from your nap, you immediately begin testing the limits of your voice- shrieks, yells, laughs, etc., all at the top of your lungs. It cracks me up!

-You love to "bounce." Whether in your jumparoo or just standing in my lap, you bounce up and down almost non-stop. Everyone who sees me holding you asks if I'm making you bounce like that, but nope- it's all you, buddy! It's the cutest thing.

-You now love to bend completely in half so that your head is upside down. You'll be standing up on my lap and all of the sudden bend over completely and look at your shoes, your legs, etc. Then you'll stand up again and continue bouncing. Then down again you go… it's really funny to watch you. I wonder what you're thinking as you go through this routine!

-You are not a big fan of eating. Eli, we battle you with every bottle to get you to eat! You've always been a little adverse to feeding because of all the tubes down your throat in the NICU and because of your reflux, but we keep hoping you'll grow out of it. Not so much! :) This wears on us, and I'm sure on you too. You need to eat so you can gain weight, but this seems to be of very low priority to you!

-You're as happy as a clam almost 24/7 (barring feeding time). Needless to say, I love this about you!

-You can almost roll over from back to front! You mastered the other direction last month, but now you are working hard on getting from your back to your tummy. It is really funny to watch you try. It will be any day now, I think.

-You love grab at people's faces. Sometimes this is gentle and sweet, like when I rock you and sing to you and you softly touch my face, and sometimes this is rough and painful! :) You've learned that grabbing someone's lip and pulling gets quite a reaction, and this is highly amusing to you! :)

-You're bright, active, and very healthy. Despite your small size, you are in perfect health. The doctors are all so pleased about this, as are your mommy and daddy!

I love you so much, Eli Dane! I am so happy to share every day with you, to watch you learn and grow and discover the world around you. Happy birthday, Pumpkin!

***Note to readers: I want comments! :) I love hearing from you guys that you are reading our blog and praying for us, and I love all the Facebook messages about this. But please leave comments here too! It's really fun for me (and motivating to keep blogging) to read your comments. I don't mean to be selfish, but give me those comments! (Please.) :)***