Learning to Swing

Six Months Old

It's hard to believe that in the spring we had a tiny baby so new he could barely control anything except his eyes. Now we are heading into fall and Elliot has more than doubled his size, giggles, rolls over, pulls on our dog's ears, plays with toys and is even starting to get teeth.

First of all, Elliot had his six-month appointment this week. He is 18 pounds, 2 ounces. He measures 27-3/8 inches long. He's in the 50-75th percentile for his weight and head circum- ference, and 75-90th percentile for his height. He still has his chubby legs though thank goodness--we love to snack on them.

We thought Elliot had a cold last week, but it subsided quickly and soonafter little white spots started to appear in his bottom gums. Teeth will come in handy later when he starts eating food with texture. For now he's happy with his baby food. He eats: rice cereal, sweet potatoes, winter squash, carrots, peaches, bananas, apples, blueberries, rapsberries and pears. Sweet potatoes and bananas seem to be his favorite. Baby food can add up, so mom bought a book so she can make her own. We'll see how that goes.

Last weekend was ACL (Austin City Limits Music Festival... see link to the right) and we had friends in town from Denver and Los Angeles. JB and Michelle Bissell stayed with us. It was great to see old friends--we miss the crew back in Denver. The Clancey brothers (Bo, Gunnar and Ty) were also here with their posse from L.A. Bo helped our son teeth on his Corona bottle at a bar on Sixth Street. See video in the link below. Elliot and Cat skipped the concerts since he needs to nap a few times a day, but they got to see our friends and show them some of Austin. The concerts were great. It's amazing that ACL has become such a big event and it's only five years old. Come on down next year!

New milestones for Elliot:

• Getting his two bottom teeth.
• Growing more hair, but still has that very defined widow's peak.
• Laughs hysterically at his Baby Einstein puppet.
• Rolling back to front and front to back like a pro.
• Can hold two toys at once.
• Eating like a champ.
• Does raspberries.
• Can sit up in the grocery cart.
  
• Poops his Fuzzi Bunz every time he sits in his Bumbo seat to eat.
  
• Still has the bluest eyes and chunkiest thighs.

Here's the video link:
Elliot's big day at ACL

Sweet Potato Pie

Just this week Elliot decided he really likes sweet potatoes. In fact, even though he isn't much of a crybaby, real tears are shed when we have to pause during suppertime to warm up more sweet potatoes or make more cereal. I know you shouldn't laugh at a crying baby, but it's hard not to when he does this. I mean, the rolls on his legs will tell you that he is not getting enough to eat and is indeed starving.

Opening Day

BBQ and beer are in the air this Labor Day weekend; football season is upon us. To celebrate this big occasion, we took Elliot to his first-ever tailgate for our national champs - a very imporant day in Elliot's life as a Longhorn fan. Drew could not have been prouder to show him off.

Elliot is changing almost daily now that he is 5-1/2 months old. It is such fun to see him doing everyday things with such gusto - things we take for granted because they are so simple and mundane. To him they are big discoveries. He can roll around from his tummy to his back and vice versa. Now that he can flip, he likes to do it at bedtime. Last night we peeked in and found him sleeping on his tummy, something he has never done.

At about 5 months he stopped eating his dreamfeed and now sleeps from about 7:30pm until 7am, although we usually hear him stirring in his crib around 6:30am. Also we think he's starting to cut a tooth. We don't feel it yet, but he's been fussy sometimes with a runny nose. I give him a little Tylenol and it helps him feel better. In the past few weeks he went to his first pool party and seemed to really like feeling weightless in the water. Our black Lab Abby is now on his radar. He used to see her but didn't react to her, and now he likes to watch her with a curious look on his face. Abby likes to lick his toes but that's about it. Also we have a new nanny as of the last few weeks. Her name is Stacey and Elliot seems to really like her. He still sees Juli when mom and dad have date night.

Elliot outgrew his size small Fuzzi Bunz diapers. Now he's in the size mediums. We figure he is just about 20 pounds right now at less than six months--what a chunk!

This weekend is our 6th wedding anniversary. A lot has changed in six years. We sure love being parents, and Elliot has made this anniversary our best one yet. We have a lot to celebrate.