4th of July

Here are a few pictures from the past week. Drew came home for lunch on Thursday, so we walked a few blocks down to the deli for sammies. Elliot fell asleep in the carriage and I took these cute pictures. I love them; his hands look like little stars.

This weekend Drew’s brother Matt, Christina and our 5-year-old niece Sophia visited us in Austin while on a trip to Houston visiting Christina’s parents. We all went to The Salt Lick for dinner on Saturday, and then to the Austin Children’s Museum for the day on Sunday. Sophia played with the other 100 kids and all the hands-on exhibits. She was the check-out person at the grocery store, then worked in the diner serving her parents lunch. She was also the milk supply person, taking the milk from the dairy farm to the grocery store. It was crazy commotion everywhere. Of course, Elliot fell asleep.

Speaking of sleep, Elliot has slept through the night for the past 10 nights straight. Not only is mama happy, but so is baby. He wakes up in the kind of happy mood that only getting enough sleep can give you. I think part of his sleeping through the night now at 15 weeks is his easy temperament, but even more importantly I think he feels secure in knowing our routine. This is something we have really tried to give him – a way of knowing what’s coming at bedtime. Every night after his tub, massage, pj’s and feeding, we put him to bed and he usually zonks out within 15 minutes. Now if there is one thing we have learned in our short time as parents, it’s that things change. But for now this is what we do.

Some new things this week…

• It seems like he is getting a lot taller so we measured him as best we could. We think he is around 25 inches now. At the museum, there was a baby babbling and running around while Elliot slept in the stroller, and Elliot was definitely bigger than him. It was a funny sight.
• We went to a BBQ at a friend’s house and Elliot was tired, so we put him down in their baby’s pack-n-play. He was awake but entertained by the ceiling fan in the bedroom. I went in a few minutes later and he was asleep. We couldn’t believe that he took a nap in a strange bed in a strange house.
• He is getting better at grabbing objects. And just this weekend he found his thumb. He used to grab it with his mouth as it zoomed by. Now he can find it when he wants it. And he likes to grab onto his blanket wherever he goes. So now at only 3½ months we are pretty sure he is turning into my brother. (John couldn’t go anywhere without his thumb and his gangee. Once we were on a trip and midway he realized he left it at home. He cried for 100 miles until my parents found the closest JCPenney and bought him a new one.)
• Elliot recognizes three people now: Me, Drew and Juli. He smiles at all of us when we come into the room. Of course we all love that. And even though he doesn't recognize them, he likes to smile at strangers too.
• He loves to watch TV. We try to limit this to his Baby Einstein DVD, but he sometimes gets to see Food Network with mama and Sportscenter with dad.
  
• When he gets bored, he sighs.

P.S. Congrats to our dear friends Tricia and Mick in KC! They are now the proud parents of sweet baby boy Luke. We will get to meet him when we visit during Labor Day weekend.