In honor of Elijah being an amazing six months old already (oooh, that made me a little tearful!) I'm going to list the six things that you should know about him.

1. Eli likes to eat. He nurses during the day every three to four hours and he screeches at the slightest interruption to his meals including when they end. He's been sampling homemade baby food in the evenings for a couple weeks now and is about ready to have food added to his breakfast as well. So far his favorite is bananas, followed by pears. He grudgingly ate carrots and applesauce. Sweet potatoes are up next.

2. Eli likes to chew. Andrew jokes that we should buy him puppy teething toys. He will gnaw on anything that he can get to his mouth. After months of not having to worry about little pieces of things I'm suddenly scanning the floor to make sure there's nothing that he can grab and put in his mouth that will hurt him. If he is having a "good chew" on something and he drops it he SCREAMS until a member of his devoted fan club retrieves it for him. Along with all this chewing comes more drool than a pack of dogs. When you hold him you have to position him carefully otherwise you will be soaked with baby spit. Eli has to be dressed all the time, he can't really hang out in just a diaper because when all that drool gets on his skin he's too slippery to keep a hold of. We've seen two little teeth lurking under the surface of his bottom gums for about a month now, but they appear to have stopped moving so we see no end in sight to the drool.

3. Eli likes motion. His favorite activity is being chauffered around the house in our arms to see what's going on. He also loves to be walked around outside. If we were flush enough to have one of those big nice baby swings I think he would still like that too. He is trying desperately to learn how to scoot and he sticks his little bottom up in the air and tries to push with his legs. He hasn't yet gotten any forward motion, but we all laugh at him and Ben thinks he looks like a caterpillar when he tries. He can lift his whole chest and belly off the floor (no small feat because he has quite the belly) and push himself backward. When he's on his back he can use his feet and arms to push himself around in a circle. He can roll in all directions and usually the first thing that he does when you lay him on his back is to roll onto his stomach. He can himself up on his hands and is just beginning to be able to tuck his little knees up underneat him. He has almost no interest in sitting up. I think once he figures out how much easier it is to keep his chew toys in his mouth sitting up instead of laying down he'll change his mind though. If Eli can't be in motion then he wants to watch someone else in motion and lucky for him we have our own in-home perpetual motion machine, Benjamin!

4. Eli likes talking and signing. He's a great little babbler and will usually smile, coo, and jabber with anyone who takes the time to engage him. He's a very vocal little guy. It's also nice that's he's big enough that if he's on the floor and starting to fuss that we can talk (nonstop) to him and stave off the crying while we finish up our current task (sometimes). He likes singing especially and breaks out in big smiles. Andrew also swears that he calms down faster when music is playing. I think at this point he has big plans for Elijah to be the guitarist and Ben to be the drummer so we'll see how that all works out.

5. Eli is a lover not a fighter. He's not really a fusser. In fact, fussing is an almost certain sign that it's either time to eat or time to sleep...or needs a toy fetched. He warms up quickly to new people and is almost instantly calmed by some snuggling. He loves to be held and would happily spend all day in someone's arms, even though he won't sleep that way. He's very smiley and quick to laugh. He just seems to have peace in his soul.

6. Eli is a pincher! I'll include this as the last point just so I can say that you've been warned when any of you hold him.He will grab and hang onto skin, facial features, glasses, hair, you name it. He has quite the grip too so watch out. He was sititng with Ben on the couch the other day so I could take some pictures and he grabbed a fistful of Ben's neck and just pinched away with his fat little fingers. By the time I put the camera down and freed Ben he'd gone from laughing and saying, "No, no, Eli" to tears and little red claw marks on his neck!