It’s been such a fun month with Elias! I feel like over the past month, his personality has really blossomed. This, of course, has some good sides and some bad sides.
We’ll start with the good. Eli can be so, so sweet and affectionate. I think in the past month I’ve gotten more snuggles, hugs, and kisses than in the previous three months combined. He’s also adventurous and creative and gets a silly little smirk when he’s about to do something goofy. Derek and I could pretty much survive on Eli’s chuckle, and we get to hear it often.
The bad parts have come out quite a bit more this past month too. Starting with the biting…
Oh, the biting. Eli has a temper, and it’s not good. When he gets angry sometimes, he’ll bite whatever and whomever is closest to him. He bites Derek most often, but I’ve also seen him bite Juliet (and make her cry–what happened to my sweet boy???). We’re trying to break him of the behavior, but we haven’t figured out how to get him to listen and obey very well yet. If anyone has any ideas, we’re open 🙂
Overall though, even with some bad days and stubbornness, we’re having such a good time with Eli. I feel like we’re constantly laughing at silly things he does and he brings us so much joy.
And now, the updates:
Eating: Eli has gotten a lot pickier about eating, which drives me craaaaaaaazy. There will be foods that he’s liked since he started eating real food that he decides he just doesn’t like anymore. Basically the boy would survive on donuts if he could (and that’s pretty much what he eats on Sundays because he gets them at church–oh well). He will usually eat foods that he doesn’t like if I give them to him on a saltine cracker, so I guess I can’t complain too much. I also get really excited when he eats and likes foods that I make for myself and Derek since he’s still eating a lot of his “own food.” He doesn’t drink much milk, but we normally mix a lot of milk in with his breakfast (normally fruit and oatmeal) and he eats yogurt almost every day.
Sleeping: He’s still a good sleeper at home, although recently he has been resisting naps. I think the problem is that I need to start stretching him longer between nap times instead of sticking to the schedule we’ve had the past few months. I feel like this is the beginning of the end of the two naps a day, which makes me sad, but I like that he’s starting to be happier even if he misses his morning nap on days that we just can’t get it in.
Other developments: Words! Little man is definitely saying some words now, including: bye-bye (bah bah), banana (bah bah nah, or some variation of “b” and “n” syllables), papa (bap bap) [Are we seeing a pattern here? He likes the “b” sound), mama, dada, and duck (duh). He has started talking a lot more in general, but most of it we can’t understand.
Eli now has 7 teeth and still a couple more that look like they’re coming soon. He sometimes stands without holding on to things and actually took a couple of unassisted steps today, but mostly seems disinterested in walking. He’s just so fast with the crawling! That’s okay, sweet boy, you don’t need to grow up too fast!
Dislikes: sweet potatoes (and various other foods, depending on his mood), not getting his way, getting his face wiped, being dropped off in the church nursery
Likes: waving and saying bye-bye, his riding dinosaur toy (Crunch), riding in the cart at the grocery store, riding in the stroller, when daddy lets him “fall” backwards, being tickled, snuggles before sleep, donuts and other sweet foods, playing with papa, dancing, music
And here are Eli’s 11-month pictures (these are getting harder to do!):
  
