Visiting Family, Indepent Play, and Eliot Hates Breakfast

It has been a couple of days.  Now it is October with full-on fall weather.  I'm not ready for it!  I never am.

Nothing "too" interesting has been going on.  Christopher has had meetings, we've both been grading, and I have done mountains of laundry.  I've been trying to figure out a good "breakfast" for Eliot, but he doesn't like anything breakfast-y.  Just like me.  Oatmeal?  He hated it.  Apple cinnamon oatmeal?  He loves apples and cinnamon, so I thought this would be better.  He ate some, but wasn't going for it.  Blueberry and pear yogurt with brown rice?  That was another battle.  He doesn't have to eat something breakfast-y first thing in the morning.  And maybe it is more the time that I am feeding him than the food itself.  I'll wait until a little later in the day to give it another try.  Food is so funny with Eliot.  I fought for a month to get him to eat solids.  I think he was ready from the beginning of my attempts, but seriously still hates everything I tried:  rice cereal, avocados, and not really a fan of sweet potatoes.  It was that squash that finally got him.

Yesterday, we saw Eliot's great-great aunt Vivian and great-great uncle Jim--for Eliot, it was the first time.  They were on their way down to North Carolina for a family reunion and stopped by to see Christopher's grandma.  I was very happy that Eliot was in very good spirits.  He let everyone hold him and smiled so happily.  He talked some for them.  He walked some (with help) for them.  It was a good visit.  We took Elizabeth with us so she and I went to Target while Chris had a meeting later.

Sometimes I can't believe how independent Eliot has become with playtime.  We play and read together a lot, but he is so happy to explore on his own.  While Chris and I made dinner last night, he stood at the baby gate and watched for a while.  After a little bit, he took off for the rabbit cage and played with her water bottle--his favorite toy right now.  Then when we ate dinner, he crawled into the other room, pulled all of his books off of the shelf, pulled out his basket of toys and emptied it.  The whole meal, he sat by myself looking through books and playing with toys.  I guess that is only a good thing, right?  He has independent play down!

Eliot's fall mittens came in the mail just in time.  We took an evening walk last night and must have been a sight.  Chris carried Eliot on his back and Eliot wore a dinosaur sleeper, his mittens, and a blue hat (one that Chris calls his "Elmer Fudd" hat).

Did I mention that Eliot stood up without any help (and not pulling up on anything) and stood for about five seconds?  He did it while sitting on the couch with me, so my mind is saying he must have somehow leaned on the cushion or something and probably can't do it yet on the ground, but I don't know.  We were watching Yo Gabba Gabba, and that show gets him pretty excited.  Either way, I think this guy is going to be walking around at Thanksgiving and eating turkey and pumpkin pie.