Elliott Turns Seven Months Old

Dear Elliott,
Today you turn seven months old. SEVEN! I think it’s about time you start paying rent, don’t you?

So many great things have happened in the last month. Your top teeth are still slowly coming in, but now you have four of them poking through your gumline. Of course all you want to do is bite me AS HARD AS POSSIBLE, because that just seems like the most fun thing in the entire world, but no. Not happening, sorry. I like my fingers without blood gushing out of them. You’ll have to settle for your toys and teethers and hey – even Daddy’s fingers are okay. I don’t mind one bit! Just don’t try to bite the cats, they bite back. Those nasty little buggers. I know that the dogs wouldn’t mind though. They just love you. All they want to do is LICK LICK LICK and SNIFF SNIFF SNIFF, which makes you squeal in delight for some reason. You’re crazy! Don’t you know they lick their own butts (and sometimes each others’) with those tongues?!

Every day you get a jar full of baby food. So far, we have learned that you absolutely LOVE sweet potatoes, peaches, bananas and prunes. My good friend Erica says if we give you too much banana, you are going to be consipated and then HOLY SHIT THE WORLD WILL END. If you like bananas, you are gonna get bananas, my friend. Everyone can use a little constipation once in awhile, YOU KNOW WHAT I’M SAYING?! *high five* Prunes did some very awful things to your diaper and I will never forget the mornings that I’d go into your room to get you out of your crib and see a giant brown stain on your matress. The prunes are so potent that they LEAKED THROUGH YOUR DIAPER and THROUGH YOUR CLOTHES and took a nice long nap on your crisp white crib sheets. It was pretty disturbing. So far you don’t have any foods that you do not likes except carrots. You despise carrots. You and carrots will never be friends. Any time we would try to feed them to you, you would contort your body as best you could to try to get out of your chair and AWAY FROM THE CARROTS. You hate them so much that you were willing to risk falling flat on your face to get away from them. Oh and they also turned your shit neon orange. Just so you know.

You have been babbling a whole lot more, which has been awesome. You’ll look at us and just say all this random jibberish and you have to be a parent to really understand just HOW CUTE it is to hear someone saying “iiiiiih ehhhh ouuuuuuuuuuuuiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii” to you over and over and over again. You still say DADA and up until yesterday, when you said MAMA for the FIRST TIME EVER (be still, my heart), it was the only thing you said other than the jibberish. I don’t think you know who DADA and MAMA are, since you have also said DADA to the cats, the dogs, me, your grandpa and a few of your toys. I have a feeling that this month is going to be pretty huge for your vocabulary.

I just have to point out that you and one of our cats, Missy, are best friends. She follows you everywhere and loves to lie beside you and rub her entire body all over your legs, arms, head and anything else she can get access to. You pet her and hug her and she purrs in delight. She doesn’t even care when you pull her fur (which is a big no no, DIDN’T I TEACH YOU ANYTHING?). She just bites your fingers and you both giggle and then go paint each others finger nails and talk about boys. Oh wait, that’s ME and Missy. Anyway, you have a very loving relationship and I just know that she thinks you are the best human being in the world and you think she is the bestest kitty that ever lived. Max and Dewey, our other cats, can’t be bothered with you. Don’t worry, they can’t be bothered with anyone but themselves. They are just antisocial. And possibly homosexual. With each other.

I think the best thing that happened this past month (besides the MAMA thing) is that you learned to sit on your own, unsupported. We still put a pillow behind you in case you topple over, which has happend many times and ended with a THUD and scream, but you are doing very well. You sit up and play with your toys ALL BY YOURSELF. Which is not only the cutest thing I have ever seen, but a huge relief because I can get some stuff done around the house while you play. I don’t think you have a favourite toy, but the ones you play with most often are your mirror (you like to chew on it), Mr.Elmo who whos tummy plays the theme song from Sesame Street, Mr. Elephant, your walker, your school bus that has little people inside (who’s heads you just love to chew on, and a little rubber toy elephant that your dad and I have lovingly nicknamed Stanley. He’s cute. You also like to bounce around in your little jumperoo, which your Aunt Amanda so kindly loaned to us. I don’t think you want to give it back. Maybe we will hide it in the basement and say we were robbed and all they took was the jumperoo. Hey, it’s possible!

You can stand up if you are leaning on something or we are holding your hands. We can tell you walk to walk SO BAD and it’s just so adorable. You show no interest in crawling. Skip that boring crap, let’s move right from sitting to standing. Then walking! Oh my. You love leaning on the couch. Your dad or I will sit on the floor behind you, for when your legs eventually give out and you fall backward, and you just lean on the couch and smack the hell out of the cushion. I can see how that would be exhilarating.

Elliott, you are the most amazing person I have ever had the pleasure of knowing. I can’t wait to see what the future hold for you and for us as a family. I love you!

Love,
Mama