9 months old - april 29, 2009

nine months already! to think that there are only three months until elias is one year old is both crazy and sad. as much as we have experienced and gone through over the last nine months, it has gone fast. he is now crawling all over the place, pulling himself up to stand and shuffle his way around. he has such an amazing personality that brings us so much joy and happiness. at his nine month checkup he was 26 1/2 inches long (5 percentile), 18 pounds 2 ounces (15 percentile), and his head measured 18 1/2 inches (90 percentile). he celebrated his first easter with a cars easter basket filled with toys and some dissolvable yogurt bites in place of candy. one of his favorite toys has been the alphabet magnets that play music and the alphabet song. he has said both mama and dad, waves at us when saying hi or bye. he is eating more solids along with his formula. he absolutely loves to climb on anyone and anything. he likes to help us brush our teeth (although he doesn't like having his two teeth brushed much. he played at the grass for the first time, loves going to the park, and loves going on walks in his stroller. he loves to play outside, play hide and seek, and he bounces his head with music. finally, his favorite game to play is the game of mom or dad coming to get him.

florida pictures...

8 months old - march 29th, 2009

elias' eighth month was another great one. he has become very active - he loves to climb and squirm. he is up on his arms and legs, can rock, and can get to where he wants to get to - but he is not able to fully crawl yet. elias' first two teeth came in. they are so cute. we have so much fun laughing with elias...he is developing an amazing little personality with a great sense of humor. also during this month, elias took his first vacation. we went to florida for a week - which also meant his first plane flight, exposure to the sand at the beach and the ocean, and swim in the pool. he loved it...he is definitely an outdoor kind of guy. and he is definitely a poop in the most inconvenient places kind of guy (he pooped on the plane - both times - and at several of the restaurants that we ate at).

7 months old - march 1st, 2009

elias' seventh month was another adventurous one. it started out with his first major cold of the year (and of his life). it involved a pretty heavy cough, sore throat, and a very plugged and runny nose. it lasted for about two weeks off and on again. with that came some really bad eating, and then following up the cold was his six month checkup where he received another round of shots. this made his eating even worse. we were at a point of despair because we could not get him to eat and he had actually lost weight over the course of week (between when we took him in because he was sick and his six month checkup). we talked to the doctor about doing some additional tests, and even thought about taking him to some specialists in indy. things started to turn around though, and by the end of the month he had started eating better...not great...but better. it was sufficient - including a decent amount of formula and some veggies and oatmeal to go with it. 

it is clear that he is growing now. he is still a little guy, but he is growing. he has been teething still, but there are no teeth yet. he has also been saying a lot more consonants lately - even sputtering out a "da da" at times. in fact elias even waved at tyler and said da da at the airport before his trip to israel. he is as squirmy as ever - close to crawling and he loves to climb all over the place. he laughs with us - and he loves taking showers and getting splashed in the face. what an amazing joy he is!

six month checkup

elias went in for his sixth month check up yesterday. developmentally everything looked great. he is progressing just like he should. he is still having some problems with his eating. the doctor was a little unsure as to what the cause of this continuous issue is. we suspect that reflux is still a major part of the problem. but we are planning to check into other options if things persist.

his height was 25 inches (5% - really short for his age...which is no surprise considering the source). his weight was 15 pounds 4 ounces (5% - not very heavy for his age, but average when his height is taken into consideration). his head size was 17 3/4 inches (75% - he has a huge head...as the doctor said, he is all brains).

again, it is crazy to think that elias has been with us now for the past six months. please continue to keep him (and us) in your prayers as he continues to grow and develop.