Eli at 10 months

Can it be 10 months already?

but it is!

The time has flown and this little guy seems to learn new things daily.  

He is steppin'  --not walking yet, but so, so close.

He is talkin' "mama, da-da, dee-dee (Sadie) ni-ni, ah-da (all done)"  

He is one rough and tumble little bear.
He even had his first mosquito smack-down yesterday.  Finally, the kid gets some revenge!
 

This month Eli has really started to play.  He is a very compliant companion (to a point) to Sadie's various flights of imagination. Tonight he was undergoing an extensive checkup, including shots and a lot of "this will only hurt a bit" from Dr. DeeDee.

But make no mistakes, when Eli has had enough, he lets everyone know.

Self-advocacy is the gift of the second child :) 

Probably good that his big sis wants to be a doctor, considering that this month Eli managed to chip his front tooth (he's only had the thing for a couple months!) and slice the gums over the neighboring tooth.  I wish I knew how he did it, but being the climbing, body thrashing wild thing that he is, we didn't even notice till probably a couple days later. At least the chip isn't too bad: the only one who really seems to be suffering from it is breastfeeding me.  This kid... he nips, like a puppy, when he gets excited.  I get the most nips, cause I'm the mom, and therefore, the most exciting :)

But I also get so many snuggles.  In the last couple months Eli has really gotten cuddly.  We are loving it.  And we are loving this guy more and more as every month goes by, and with each milestone that passes.  It's hard to imagine life without him.  We are filled with gratitude and wonder each and every day...even when he storms the greenhouse and tries to pull up the plants.