Crawl On

Elijah's crawling! This is a jaunt that he made on November 19th, 2009. Pardon the shaky camerawork.

Toothface

Elijah is getting his top two teeth, a painful process, but one not without cuteness. He has recently taken to grinding his bottom two teeth against his top two, resulting in tough face not unlike that of Don Corleone sitting down to a plate of veal parmesan. Despite our continual attempts to capture this face on camera, it wasn't until last night that our pal Brendan, with his trusty iPhone, succeeded.

Applesauce

First bite of applesauce. 'Nuff said.

The tiniest monster

Elijah has started yelling like a tiny little monster. Just cuz he can. Wouldn't you? Don't you? Sometimes?

Anyway, he is babbling with the cute "baba"s and the "bop-bop"s, but now there is the new and thrilling ability to yell like Bobcat Goldthwait. He yells at the couch. He yells at his toys. He particularly yells when he jumps in his jumpy thing. Not mad, just a yell. Extremely cute.

It is starting to feel like a very cozy fall in our new house. The leaves are beginning to turn, Mike is out cutting firewood with a chainsaw (so manly!), and Elijah and I are yelling for fun. Idyllic. We've been eating pie and cassoulet, Elijah has been eating sweet potatoes and broccoli. Fall also means we get to put Elijah in all of those handmade sweaters that his Nana and great-Grandma Smith have made for him. And in hats! Meredith gave me important advice: Persist with training your child to wear hats because they look so damn cute in them. We all have to sacrifice for fashion.

One Morning in Maine

We took Elijah on the annual ferry trip to Peak's Island where we typically ride bikes around the island, swim, bike some more, swim, freeze in the 64 degree water, bike a bit more, look at the rock sculptures, take another dip, eat an italian sandwich, and ferry home. Elijah wasn't sitting up yet so we couldn't take him on any of the various child bike seats. Instead we walked. And walked. And swam. And walked much more. All the while, Elijah rode like a pasha in his regal backpack carrier, watching the ocean and feeling the island breeze. Next year, he'll be big enough for the bike seat and maybe a dip too.

Fathers Day

Mike didn't get to sleep in and Elijah got him a Mojo magazine he already had (boy better get with it), but it was a nice Fathers Day anyway. Mike is an excellent dad and does all the good dad stuff - he tickles with his mustache, he plays the scary snarling noise game, he shows Elijah youtube videos of zebras and laughing babies, and he sneaks Elijah tastes of ice cream and tomato. Here are some pics of Mike looking amazingly like his own dad in the '70s.

Lija Minelli

When Elijah is being particularly dramatic, this is the perfect new nickname: Lija Minelli. And he is bringing the drama lately! He has discovered his vocal chords and is exploring their full range. He has discovered that, with the right pitch and volume, he can make things happen...specifically, he can make 2 full grown adults cater to his every whim. Here are some of his more expressive faces in his slideshow debut, with costume changes, made on the occassion of his Taylor grandparents' retirement.