East Coast- whew!

We had quite a trip. We tried to count the number of family and friends that had met Elliot on the trip during one of the many car rides and stopped when we hit 50. Elliot handled all of the traveling quite well and only seemed to melt down after too long in a room with lots of rambunctious little & not so little people around. We have a vocal family.

Elliot had a lot of firsts on this trip- the main goal, seeing as much family and as many friends as possible, was definitely achieved. He got to swim in the lake at Mim and Pepere's cottage. He learned to use his outdoor voice (indoors). He learned to lean over to grab beer bottles. He's officially very good at grabbing at things on tables. The rims of cups in particular seem to be an easy target. He's definitely watching people eat and follows the food from their plates to their mouths. I'm going to ask his doctor about starting solids when we see her next week. He still consistently wakes up every 3 hours at night to eat. Mommy would love to sleep a little longer.

When we got home, we made the transition from sleeping in our room in the cosleeper and our bed to his crib in his own room. The first night was not fun. He protested and woke up often. Though we didn't let him cry it out on his own, we did let him fuss while we tried to console him without picking him up too much. I almost relented and brought him into our room but I know that this will only be harder as he gets older and more used to spending the night in our room. Eventually it will be nice to be able to move and pull up the covers without worrying about steam-rolling Elliot.

He smiles and giggles constantly. His dexterity has really increased quite a bit. He gets such a concentrated look on his face at times when he's trying to grasp something. He's good at manipulating things with his toes too. He really had fun grabbing at his feet and legs during the trip east- probably because we had him in disposable diapers and he was able to maneuver more easily. Vrim calls them 'thigh exhibitors' because his chunky fat rolls hang out with the disposables. It almost makes me want to keep using them. I have to admit that they're easier, but they sure do smell a lot worse than the cloth.

We had a fabulous trip. We're thoroughly exhausted. We got to spend time with a lot of people we adore that we don't get to see too often living on opposite coasts. We ate fantastic meals and saw beautiful landscapes. Life is good.

Much love,
Elif

PS New pictures from the trip are up on Snapfish.