Elliott - 11 Months Old

On one hand, I can't believe this is the penultimate monthly Elliott update. On the other hand, are these torturous monthly shoots over yet?

I've said it before, and I'll say it again: our Elliott is on the move! He is one speedy army crawler. Within the last couple of days, he is spending more and more time up on his knees, even doing a bit of traditional crawling. Mostly, though, his knees are used to get him high enough to pull up on whatever object is nearest. He has done very little cruising but seems surprisingly stable when standing, holding hands.

He has been teething pretty much the whole month. His first two teeth are still working their way down. His bottom middle two teeth are through the surface but not much else. A fifth tooth (top middle on the right side) has just peeked through the gum. As a result, many nights have included some sort of interruption at some point, and naps have been less than stellar. Poor boy.

Elliott's personality is shining through more every day. As I've said previously, he is persistent, and redirection is successful less than half the time. He's most interested in what his sister is playing with that that very moment. When she's not here, he loves her Duplo (and the table) and putting things into and taking them out of her pots and pans. Elliott has developed quite a love for books. When his bedroom door opens, he almost always jets out to start taking them out of the shelf. When left alone, he can spend a long time (in baby time) looking at board book. Reading time before naps is one of the few times in the day when our busy boy actually stops for a few minutes. Elliott continues to be generous with his (vampire) smiles and puts his arms out to be held by familiar people.

Elliott still only signs for milk, but I have noticed him paying close attention to the other signs I've been doing with him; hopefully a breakthrough is around the corner. He continues to babble and be rather vocal. In the last week or so, Elliott has started to repeat our words by making noises in similar intonations. I've had him do this with banana, brown bear, all done, and a few others. Yesterday, he said "dah" while pushing away from me and trying to get down. Today, he said "bah" while reach for a ball and "nah nah nah" while shaking his head side to side. I think a language explosion may be on the horizon, and I can't wait! After catching Madeleine's first word on video (at almost exactly the same age!), I feel a bit of pressure to over-document.

In addition to language output, I've also noticed that he seems to be more aware of his behavior and instructions given to him. Diaper changes have been more pleasant since I realized that he actually listens when I tell him "no rolling on the changing table" like I actually mean it rather than just for play. He responds when we call to him and is starting to follow basic instructions ("arms up" "come to the table for dinner").

Elliott still eats well and turns away very little. When he turns away food, we continue to offer it at subsequent meals. I'm currently working on getting him to eat one of his sister's favorites: cottage cheese. This week, I started weaning by eliminating his feeding after his morning nap. I figure that this one usually came right before lunch, so he's still getting fed in the event that he's hungry when he wakes from his nap. I'm still nursing him at wake up, after his afternoon nap, and at bedtime. While I look longingly at my non-nursing friendly fall wardrobe, I also cherish these last remaining weeks of quiet time with my otherwise busy baby boy.

By some miracle, I snapped this one (and only one) shot of Elliott on his back on his sheepskin before he pulled the tie over his head and scooted away. Look how long and lean he's getting with all this activity!

Oh, I do love my little gingersnap!