Feb 26 2011
Elliott’s Getting Soooooo Big!
When we go out everyone always thinks Elliott is a girl. We wanted to make sure to document this look. We haven’t gotten his hair cut professionally yet. We probably will when he’s closer to a year old. In the meantime I prefer to think of this as his Justin Bieber hair style. Maybe it helps hide his crazy teeth. 
In other Elliott news, we’re pretty excited that he is beginning to sign. When Jonah learned how to communicate what he wanted, it seemed like he wasn’t as cranky. Right now, he’s got the sign for “milk” pretty much down, and tonight he did “more” for the first time. When we ask, “How big is Elliott?” he will put his hands up (usually) when we say, “Soooo big!” At least he seems to be learning that when he does it, it delights everyone, which of course makes him excited. He’s also started to clap his hands here and there, but usually just when he sees someone else doing it. A couple of other motions he does is he waves when you say hi or bye and he is also starting to kiss, which is very cute.
One thing Elliott has really picked up on is when he has a toy phone, he will hold it up to his ear like he is really talking. I guess we must do that a lot. :-) He also loves the remote controls and the humidifiers, mostly for the buttons. He has toys that have buttons too, of course, but I think he likes the remotes because he sees Mama and Daddy using it so much. And finally, he all-time favorite object is whatever his big brother Jonah is playing with. Doesn’t seem to matter what it is. Jonah still has a thing or two to learn about sharing. Usually when Elliott reaches for something, Jonah will say, “No, Elliott!” and then take his toy about two feet away, at which point Elliott will start crying. We try to let him share, but our method is to say that Elliott can have a turn when he is done. Like most three-year-olds, Jonah doesn’t usually hold onto a toy for very long.
Speaking of Jonah, he continues to have a great time at school. He has a new best friend named Layne that he just loves. Layne is a little older than Jonah (he just turned five) and is really good at reading, so hopefully some of that rubs off. They really seem to get along well. Chris and Jonah went to the Museum of Science and Industry over the President’s Day holiday with Layne and his parents and they had a great time. There is also a little girl at school named Sienna (affectionately nicknamed Sisi) and apparently the three of them as known as the Three Musketeers. At a recent kids birthday party, they were together quite a bit. It’s a little odd to think that Jonah is now forming his own relationship with other people, but I guess that’s it’s all a part of getting older.
Jonah’s vocabulary is also expanding. The other day our nanny mentioned her fiance had to work at night, and Jonah asked, “Is he nocturnal?” Both the nanny and I were very impressed that a) he knew this more complicated word and b) he used it in the exact right context. I know that they talked about nocturnal animals on the show Chuggington (his current favorite show), and it’s been in a few books we’ve read. It’s nice to see that some of the vocab is sticking. Chris also tries to get Jonah to do simple math problems here and there, like if he has three cookies and you take away one, he’ll ask, “So three minus one equals how many?” Sometimes he knows the answer, but usually he just wants to eat his dessert and not fool around with math problems.
Last note on Elliott — he seems to be sleeping better. Not sure if it’s some of the sleep training we’ve been doing (which is basically sending in Chris or letting him cry for a little while), but he’s eating really well, so we know he isn’t hungry at night any more. If he goes to sleep around 8:30 or so, he’ll usually sleep until past 5, which is really good compared to where he was just a couple of months ago, still waking up a couple of times after putting him down. Some days he’ll wake up, nurse for a bit and then fall asleep again until after 7, sometimes he’s just awake and that’s it. But still, that’s way better than waking up at 2 and staying up til 4.
It’s hard to believe Elliott will be 10 months in a couple of weeks! Right now he’s got a bit of an ear infection, so he’s on antibiotics, so hopefully that clears up soon. Tomorrow we all go house hunting, and the kids get to spend the afternoon and Grandma and Grandpa Diehl’s house.
