Eli is half a year old!

Our chunk-a-monk is already 6 months old! Crazy!

Mr. Eli has hit that very fun stage in which he is much more aware & interactive. Physically, he is able to do so much more than just a few weeks ago. At his 6-month well check, the Dr. was amazed at how well Eli was sitting...and also with his super-strong grip as Eli attempted to rip the stethoscope right out of his Dr.'s ears! Also, it should come as no surprise that his stats were still quite high. Here's the figures (and how it compares to big brother's).

And, just so you know, at Andrew's 9-month well check on January 4th, he weighed 19lbs. 13 ounces. We're attempting to do as much reusing of Andrew's clothes as possible, but clearly, it's not working as well as we'd hoped! :) Eli is one BIG 'little guy'!

Perhaps that has something to do with how much he enjoys eating!! While he found the plain rice cereal less than appealing, he sure does LOVE some orange "veggies"!

So far, that includes acorn squash, butternut squash, and yams/sweet potatoes. Soon to include some green beans, avocado, and homemade applesauce. Right now, he's getting about two bowls a day and we have to cut him off every time--who knows how long he would keep going! He opens his mouth just like a baby bird and then attacks the spoon.

Sometimes, I can't seem to shovel it in fast enough, so he feels the need to help! ;)

And, lately, food isn't the only thing going in that mouth--he's eager to stuff in anything he can his gums on (including his toes-a recent development). Sometimes he even gears up...opening really wide and then attacking. It looks something like this:

In addition to tasting the world around him, he is desperately trying to become mobile in an effort to grab anything in his reach (or just outside it). He rolls all over the place and has just recently become quite adept at rolling from front to back. This now means if I leave him in one place, I soon look up to find him upside down and across the room from where I left him. When he's not rolling around, he loves playing in his jumparoo and exersaucer on loan from friends.

And, he's still completely enamored with Andrew--he sure does love his big brother!

These last 6 months have flown by and we are so excited for all the fun milestones he will hit in the next few months. We sure are looking forward to all his 1st holidays coming soon and enjoying these next 6 months of wonderful baby moments as we know all to well how quickly they go! Here's a glimpse at the first 6...