Future Eli

I'm so grateful that cell phones, today, have cameras. It's so much easier to capture moments! I'm pretty sure that I've taken (at least) one picture of Eli every single day since he's been born. I'm even more grateful that my phone has a camcorder. I started making these spontaneous videos for "Future Eli." I talk to him as if he's an adult and I tell him what he's like as a baby. I've taken videos of him sleeping (so precious), crying (mean mama!), playing with his activity mat (fun), cooing (I just know he's going to be a talkative one). I always tell "Future Eli" how much I love him and how I will love him no matter what's going on in his adult life as he watches these videos. Rob says boys don't care so much about this type of stuff, but I know in my heart that I am raising the kind of boy that will. So, I will keep on recording and writing to the one that has opened up my heart in new ways!

Eli became 3 months old this past Sunday (10/21/12). He laughs now! I do something that I like to call "Baby Great America" and I lift him way up and then way down, I walk fast around the house with him in my arms, we dance together and I sing (badly) to him the entire time. He loves it: ) He's so interested in people. He really looks at them, he's so aware. Mornings are my favorite. We wake up for the day and I nurse him, change his diaper then we go downstairs make coffee and sit on the couch and talk. I talk slower, he watches me so intently. I tell him about his sisser (this is what we call Emily), and his puppies. I say their names slow. He's paying attention. He's right on track with his developments. Saturday night he graduated from his Pack and Play insert into his Pack and Play (for sleeping at night). The first few nights were a little rough, he's used to sleeping on an incline ... now he's flat. But, we're transitioning and last night went better.

He has a sturdy little head and continues to love his baths! Our favorite is when we put him on his stomach and he props up on his arms and holds his head high. He seems like such a strong baby. The past few days he started doing this screaming thing. It's not unhappiness, it's almost like a squeal - but, much more piercing!

Every time he cries I ask, "What's the matter, Mater?" Mater is the rusty tow truck in the movie Cars. I'm pretty sure I call him Mater more than Bear now. Poor kid.

Eli is waking up one to two times in the night, but more often than not he just wakes up once in the night ... and it's always at 3am which Rob's Aunt Pat informed me is Divine Mercy hour. Based on that, I am going to start using that 3am nursing time as time to pray. It just makes sense to me.

It's so easy to love my baby. He's just so perfect and sweet and untouched by life on Earth. But, I am realistic and know that he (like myself) will become more human and with that comes all kinds of stuff. This is why I am doing the videos ... so, that "Future Eli" will know that I love him not only for his perfection, but for his imperfection as well. The way that I think God loves us.