6 Months Old

Half a Year Old....Already?!!

Elijah is six months old today. Can't believe he is half a year old already....

Here is Elijah in our laundry bucket.


I finally managed to take a photo of his teeth--yes, teeth, because he has another tooth coming out!!

Two Big Milestones

Today, Elijah had his first "solid" meal - rice cereal. He did wonderfully. He liked it, opened up his mouth, swallowed, and seemed to enjoy the process. He also got to drink water from his sippy cup and from an adult cup. We had given him cups to play with the last couple of days as we needed something different from his toys to keep him entertained. He actually got to drink out of it and was he thrilled! I can't believe how quickly our baby is growing....it makes me want to enjoy every moment of it....
We think he is going to crawl any day now.... he has the physical strength, but he has not quite figured out how to get moving faster. He lifts his butt up and gets his legs in toward his chest and pushes himself. Today, he semi-crawled across the bed as Paul cheered him on. When he starts, I know that he is going to keep me busy. Tomorrow, I'll try posting a video of his first "bites."

I was enjoying my warm bath....

reflecting on the day and thinking about what is for dinner. But, the paparazzi caught me off guard and interrupted my peaceful moment!

Developmental Leaps

He is growing by leaps and bounce!!

• Now he is able to sit up on his own for longer periods of time. He still falls over but I think we're almost there to sitting up independently.
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• He has a tooth out. I can't figure out a way to take a photo of it though.
  
• He continues to love reading. It has been fun to see him respond and interact with certain books that were of no interest to him before.

• He is much more independent--he knows what he wants, reaches out and grabs for them, can play on his own or with us for longer stretches of time (less sleep), is much more interested in exploring the world around him rather than interacting with us, and he now expresses his frustration or discontentment with this particular expression on his face.

We will start solids in a week. I can tell he is ready because he is now trying to grab our food and intently looks at us as we eat. We have been using the spoon to give him his medicine for acid reflux and he seems to do okay (although I'm thinking of using my hand initially to feed him, like the locals.) He seems to be doing better with acid reflux. I am going to try reintroducing dairy in my diet and see how it affects him. If I can eat dairy, it will allow for more variety in my diet for sure!!

The gift of a smile

While Paul was out today taking care of repair work for the scooter, Elijah and I went to go visit some friends riding around on the bicycle rickshaws. The mornings are generally cool during the monsoon (especially if it just rained) so we decided to take advantage of it and get out of the house. It was our first time out together without daddy. It was quite an interesting experience.

I got lots of stares from people as I carried Elijah. I think people were wondering, "What is this dark skinned Nepali woman doing with such a fair skinned baby?" They were also probably trying to figure out if I was his mom. I also passed a couple of albinos. The funniest thing was that each of them would look at Elijah and then me, and give me a smile as if we shared something in common. How interesting, I thought....

But, what brought me almost to tears was when Elijah flashed a big smile at a bicycle rickshaw-waalah and he in return looked at me and unashamedly flashed a big smile back with his rotting teeth completely exposed. Each bicycle rickshaw-waalahs thereafter would smile at Elijah and then at me because Elijah would give each one of them a smile that said, "Thank you, and I think you are great!" I don't think I have ever seen a bicycle rickshaw-waalah flash a smile before.... When I was preparing for Elijah's baby dedication and praying about what to pray for for him, I got the sense that he would bring "the joy of the Lord" to people. I saw that in him today. What a gift and a blessing it is that we could bring joy of God to one another....we are meant to do that.

Companions for Life...Maybe?

Elijah received a few stuffed animals as welcome gifts. Out of the teddy bear, the dog, Babar, and the penguin, he chose the penguin as his preferred "buddy." So, Patrush (means Peter in Nepali) the Penguin has been his bedtime companion. This morning, I found them lying in bed together with both of their behinds sticking up in the air. Too cute!