Happy Birthday to Elijah!
On our other blog I posted the progression of Elijah growing over the past year, but here I want to add in a few notes of what he has been up to (though right now it's over a week past his birthday so there are a few things he has been doing now that he wasn't doing yet by his actual b-day)
New: Playing more intentionally such as stacking, putting things into containers, etc, climbing very well up stairs or stairs of a small slide and going cautiously down, paying attention longer to dvds, standing up on his own (but only when he's not noticing - when he notices he gets nervous and sits and goes limp when I try to get him to do it again). He has also recently has done a few things that have blown us away because he has initiated them completely on his own - blowing kisses and signing more. He started blowing kisses to a group of our supporters when they were leaving and signing more to Danielle when eating cantaloupe. I also noticed he seems to be saying mamamama around me lately. I started to wonder if maybe he was trying to say my name. Also lately he has been pointing a bit at things. The other day Danielle asked Elijah where his mama is and he very distinctly pointed at me. He repeated once and then wouldn't do it again. In fact, all of these things he can do but he won't do them consistently and some he won't even repeat again at all. It's almost as if he learned something but has to put it to the side to learn something else new and will come back to it. This is also true of waving, signing all done, and a few other things. It's really interesting.
Personality: When I think of Elijah the adjectives that pop into my mind are: friendly, smiley, cautious, a bit loud and reserved at the same time, discoverer, squealer, mama's boy, a follower (follows older kids' leads), and silly
Routine: Same as before but only nursing morning and evening. He has switched to whole milk throughout the day due to his lack of interest in nursing during the day. He is also recently starting to show the same lack of interest in nursing at night and even sometimes in the morning so it looks like soon we may be all done. I am following his lead in weaning and happy with how things are happening naturally and slowly.
Struggles: Naps - 45 minute ones are still happening sometimes and a good nap is considered 1 hr and 15 or more. It may be time to drop one. Another struggle has been boredom. He loves playing with others and seems to get bored just with me around the house.
Loves: Stuffed animals and soft blankets, snacks, climbing, playing with other kids or adults, watching videos with music
This past year has been the most wonderful, exhausting, and fulfilling year of my life. Happy Birthday sweet Elijah!
