Dear Eli,
Oh my goodness... so much to tell you! Let's start at the beginning, shall we?
On Oct. 17th, we finally realized why you have been keeping us up all night long, and what all the tears were about. You finally cut your first tooth! Not two days later, the other one started coming through, too, and there you are, the two toothed wonder. With the advent of your teeth, you now think that baby food isn't good enough, and you want whatever is on my plate. Or your daddy's plate. Or your babysitter's plate. Or Grandmommy's plate. Or Poppa's plate. You get the idea.
Moving on, a few days after you cut your teeth, you miraculously started crawling! It was funny and we got some videos, but your daddy has them on his phone, and he's sick in the bed, so those will have to wait. But back to that day...
You had been trying to crawl for some time. You'd rock back and forth on your hand and knees, and then you'd lunge forward and face-plant into the floor. We thought it was hysterical. You... not so much. But we were up in your room, and you finally figured it out. I mean, don't get me wrong, it took you 10 minutes to go 5 feet, but things have changed since then. Now you're a mover and a shaker, and you crawl EVERYWHERE. I put you down in one place, turn my head, and you're gone. (By the way, you're currently cruising around the room in your walker. I looked up from the monitor and you caught my eye and gave me the BIGGEST smile. I LOVE YOU!)
Take, for instance, yesterday. I put you in your crib so you could play while I got a shower. When I got out, I heard you crying, so I went in there, and low and behold, you are STANDING in your crib. I thank God that we lowered your mattress two days before that. If we hadn't, you could have tumbled out. Anyway, I went and got you, and put you in the floor of the bathroom so I could finish getting ready. I've NEVER taken that long to dry my hair. Let's just say that every 30 seconds, I had to stop, grab you, and take something out of your hand to keep you from eating it.
So you're a crawler, which is awesome, and you can stand, which is just plain advanced, and you are cute, which is obvious, so your daddy and I scheduled a photo shoot to take some family pictures. We haven't gotten them back yet, but we took you to Piedmont Park in Atlanta last Sunday. It was absolutely beautiful, and I can't wait to see how the pictures turned out. At first, you weren't too interested. We tried to get you to smile, but you weren't having it. We took a picture kissing your cheeks... and you are screaming. Awesome! I put you into the stroller, though, and propped the bottle up where you could eat (you refuse to hold it yourself, you lazy baby), and your daddy and I took some pictures, just the two of us. After you had eaten, you were in a much better mood, and you were just adorable. At one point, we were down on a dock, looking at some ducks on a pond. And of all places that you could have done this, you did it right there. You kicked your BRAND NEW SHOE off into the water. It was the first time you had ever worn then. And we all watched as it floated off into the water. I even think the photographer got a picture of it. But as your daddy pointed it, that won't be the last thing we buy for you that only gets used once before it's lost or destroyed.
This takes us up to Halloween. These are some of the pictures taken from the weekend leading up to the holiday:
Do you see your teeth? So stinkin' cute!
We went to a Halloween party, and that's where you wore the skunk costume you borrowed from your cousin Jack. The jammies are also from him. Thanks, Jack, Uncle Andy, and Aunt Jessica!
Then... there was Halloween. Your father swears you'll hate me for your costume, and you'll be embarrassed when you're older. Well son... let's just say I can't wait for you to bring your first girlfriend home, because THIS is what I'll show her:
That's right, Bubba... we dressed you up like a redneck! You had a mullet wig, a sweet flannel shirt with the sleeves cut off, a pair of blue jeans, and a buck-teeth pacifier... that you refused to keep in. Notice that I'm holding it in your mouth in the picture that includes that piece of the costume. Your Grandmommy thought it was funny. She laughed, and laughed, and laughed! Your Poppa, though... I'm not so sure about him. He hates that we call you Bubba in the first place, but that didn't stop him from going trick-or-treating with us, and he carried you up to more than one front door in that AWESOME costume.
And now, here we are, and you're almost 7 months old. I can't believe how fast the time is passing. You're growing up so fast, and I can't stand the thought of you not needing me any more. Right now, you are mommy's baby. You love love love your momma! And I'm eating it up :) In fact, I had to stop mid paragraph here because you had toddled over in your walker, and you were wimpering, holding your arms up for me to get you. So of course I did! Just know, baby boy, that you are the greatest single thing I have ever done with my life, and while it hurts me to watch your move out of the infant stage, I can't wait to see what you become. I love you to the moon and back, Eli James.
Love,
Mommy
