Ready, Set....Go!

It has been so long since I lasted posted, I almost forgot how!?!  It has been a crazy month or so in the Baldwin household as I am sure it is with everyone else too.  We have had 3 bachelor parties, 2 bachelorette parties and both of our 32nd birthdays.  And before you know it, baby Elliott is now a walker!!!  Here are some updates by topic:

WALKING
Around 9 months, he started to take 1-3 steps, AKA shuffles, with his feet while standing by himself.  Then on Monday, April 11th, when I picked him up from daycare, he turned around from the changing station and took 5 glorious steps towards Momma!!  Saying I was SOOOO happy and proud is an understatement!  By the end of the week on Friday, he was taking 5+ steps several times a day.  He has always been a confident mover from rolling over, crawling, climbing, standing, cruising and now walking.  He never seems phased.  He climbs our 3 steps (before the gate) all the time and in daycare, he walks up the incline play gym on his own (yes, the teachers race to stop him).  I've said it before, but Momma knew he was going to be active when baby was still in my tummy.  It felt like a fish out of water with all the flipping around in there.

EATING
He is still not feeding himself puffs but he does feed himself cookies, Mum-Mums and moon pops (anything that he can grab with his hand) so not all is lost.  He'll get there eventually.  As for eating yogurt and the pureed food - fruit, veggies & protein, it still takes him a little bit to gear up but once we get him in a rhythm, he is a pretty good eater.  We resorted to sending all his meals to daycare to have them feed him 3x a day.  Sure enough, that did the trick.  At first I felt like a sell-out having daycare do our work but 1) I didn't have the patience and 2) I remembered how much we pay them.

SLEEPING
Elliott typically goes to bed between 8 and 8:30 PM (sometimes as early as 7:30 and as late as 9:30) and sleeps until 6 AM.  That is when we bring him into the bed so I can nurse and then I wake him up at 7 and take him to daycare for the day.  Sometimes he is still so sleepy and it makes it physically difficult to put a diaper on and get him changed because he wants to lay on his tummy and stick his butt up in the air.  Part of me (90%) wants to let him sleep til he naturally wakes up and the other part (10%) knows we have to get the day started.  That is probably my least favorite part of the day.

NAPPING
He took 3 naps a day from the beginning through month 9.  Lately, he has been transitioning to 2 naps a day but maybe once or twice a week, he will get 3 naps in the day.  Sometimes he falls asleep in the car ride home and that cat nap is just enough to let us play with him, give him a bath and get him off to bed again for the night.

TALKING
Lately, he went from "mamamama," "dadadada," "babababa" and "byby" sounds to a bit of a curl in his tongue.  Now it sounds more like "derderderder."  He has been playing around with his tongue a lot in his mouth, pushing it against his teeth, gums and overall exploring.  Right now, mama, dada, baba (dad in Chinese) and byebye are the only words he knows but he doesn't always say them.

LEARNING & DEVELOPMENT
Elliott is so much fun to watch as he figures out how to play with his toys.  We have some toys that he puts the pieces in the bucket, some balls you have to push through the holes to make them go down the tower and eggs you place to make a sound.  You show him a few times and he gets it!  He also started to have a bit of an opinion.  Before, we could take the remote or towel from him and he would not fuss, just look a bit confused.  Now, he tugs back and makes a "ahhhhh" sound. 

THINGS MOM & DAD LOVE
Elliott gives kisses and it is the sweetest thing!!!  You say "qin qin" which means "kiss" in Chinese and he will lean over and give you an open mouth kiss!!!! 

Okay, that is enough of an update for now.....onto the pictures!!!

Look Mom!  No hands!

 Elliott's first time standing in the grass.  Like most kids, he is not a fan.

 Great Great Aunt Lu came in town and Elliott got to meet Fritzi

 He got a kick out of Mia

 Fritzi was more his size

Matt and I at Rudi Lechner's celebrating his 32nd birthday.  Join the club old man! 

Elliott loved the balloons!

Saturday, April 9th, was Matt's birthday and we met up with the playgroup from the Heights Kids Group at the Houston Zoo for the morning.  Everyone had a good time!!

 The 5 babies - Akhil, Amelia, Levi, Harper and Elliott - in PG10 at the zoo.

The whole gang at the zoo.

 If you were ever wondering what Matt would look like as an Asian, Elliott is it.  Don't they look alike?

 Lao Yie came to visit Elliott.

 Proof of Elliott feeding himself.

 One of the onsies we bought for him in Maui.

Our family headed to The Motherhood Center on Saturday with the Weatherly's and their boys Cole and Luke.  They had some chicks to pet and an Easter Egg Hunt.

 Matt with Elliott and Michael with Cole and holding Luke.

 Elliott was more interested in playing with Rody than riding him.  The only time I've seen these were in Taiwan back in 2008 at the Sogo mall.

Elliott took two of his eggs home.

That is it for the last few weeks.  Lao Niang, Rosa A-yi and cousin Abby have been in Taiwan for the last few weeks so we will all see each other this coming weekend.  Abby will be turning 2!!  I can't believe Elliott is almost 10 months old! 

Elliott is 9 months, 3 weeks and 3 days old.