Half a year?! I still can’t believe it!  Though I can still remember the days just glacially crawling by during your first week of life, time is now flying at warp-speed. No, light speed ludicrous speed we’ve gone plaid! (Spaceballs reference, Eli. Make sure you watch this!)

You got your taste of solid foods for the first time (sweet potato). Though I technically could have introduced it when you were four months old, but Dr. Mayo suggested waiting because of your eczema. It was difficult waiting because you showed interest in eating very early; you were following my spoon all the way from the bowl to my mouth. The first thing you grabbed was my bowl of green curry! I wonder if you will like spicy foods … 😀 Your dad fed you your first meal, during which you were already grabbing for the spoon and attempting to feed yourself! (And though all the books I read suggested that you might resist some foods at first, and to keep trying, but so far, that hasn’t been a problem! *Fingers crossed*)

When we got back from our walk the evening of your first meal, you did something else new. You got on all fours and started rocking (powered by sweet potatoes, perhaps?)! As the weeks progressed, you started propelling as you rocked — like, practically off the changing table! Seriously, we are practically playing catch with you these days!

You’ve also started drinking water for the first time.Just like Momma, you seem to love it! (But thankfully, unlike me, you are not refusing milk in favor of water!) The satisfying gulps you take lead me to believe you have also be yearning for that for a long time! You’re also drinking freshly pressed apple juice, which you’re not wild about, but it helps move things along … you know, bowelfully. 😉

You continue to be extremely observant of your surroundings. You have the sweetest giggle while watching Riley do her tricks before dinner. You stick your hand out when she walks by so that you can pet her (except you still like to grab and pinch). Lucky for you, Riley is super sweet and patient. 🙂

Another thing you’ve become acutely aware of is the mirror. Though you’ve always loved playing with your own reflection since month three, you’ve started noticing other people in the mirror, too. See, there is a mirror on the door of the bedroom. And lately, you’ve been starting to try to pull yourself up. Since the fourth railing of the crib is still off (so that your mattress is connected to our bed), I worry about you crawling out of your bed, so I stay outside of the bedroom until you start getting drowsy. (I can’t sit on the bed, or you’ll start playing with me and not fall alseep.) So, anyway, I’m standing just outside the door, checking on you through the reflection in the mirror, when suddenly … you stare right at my reflection and start giggling. No, could it really be…? So I get Bà to try, and the same thing! “Hey!” you seem to say, “Come play with me!” Ông tiptoes up the stairs and keeps his head low as he approaches the mirror. *Giggle!* I might call you eagle-eyed Eli from now on!

Speaking of your eagle-eyedness, every once in a while, as you become quiet, I tiptoe up the stairs to check on you. Sometimes, you’re not actually asleep. And as soon as you hear the rustling of my pant legs, your head springs right up! Well, not only have I gotten quite adept at noiselessly walking up our creaky stairs, I’ve become also ninja-like in reacting to your jack-in-the-box pop-up head! Immediately, I throw myself (silently, mind you!) to the ground and remain still for a while. I can hear you turn your head left and right, looking for the source of noise that roused you from your drowsiness. Confused, perhaps convincing yourself that you must have imagined it, you place your head back down. That is my cue to inconspicuously crawl out of the bedroom. Can you just picture that? A adult person crawling out of a room? Silly as the image may be, it saved you from becoming fully awake on at least two occasions!

Dec 18 (26 wks) – I spent so long trying to figure out what to do for your cake that I forgot other celebratory artifacts! So you got a half-birthday hat made from the Bed Bath & Beyond 20% Coupon! Amateurish mistake!

Dec 19 (6m) – Such a happy 6 month old because Ông and Bà are here!

Dec 19 (6m) – Are you sensing a theme here? You should know that the 6-month picture was taken in the winter when it was very cold (hence your hat!!). It was too cold to be wearing purple short-sleeved shirts, but anything for a good picture! 😀

Dec 19 (6m) – You were really trying to grab the phone I was using to take your picture!

Dec 19 (6m) – Really elf-sized! At your 6 month appointment, it turns out your weight and height gain had stalled. You had only gained 0.8 lbs and 0.5″ in two months!! Agh!

Dec 19 (6m) – But Dr. Mayo said she wasn’t too concerned because what a happy and strong baby you were!

Dec 19 (6m) – You had just eaten your first solid meal hours earlier, and now look, you’re already swaying back and forth on your knees (for the first time)!

Dec 20 (6m1d) – Still not sure about the slide, but definitely not liking the snowsuit! You were as stiff as a board!

Dec 20 (6m1d) – When we took off the snowsuit after we got home, you lay completely still for a few minutes, as though you were not used to not having your movements constricted! Too funny!

Dec 21 (6m2d) – We were walking on the Meadowcreek Parkway trail. Your dad wanted everyone to do this pose because he thinks it looks attractive. (Just kidding, I think he said it looked silly.)

Dec 21 (6m2d) – Daddy was trying to get a smile out of you. Either that, or perhaps he wanted to catch a reflection of me (the photographer)! 😀

Dec 21 (6m2d) – It may have been a little chilly for a smile that day.

Dec 21(6m2d) – We went to Bamboo House (Korean restaurant) after this walk, but I think you were already quite tired here. I just didn’t know that!

Dec 23 (6m4d) – I had wanted to use this costume for Halloween, but you had eczema so I was worried about putting it on. I finally did it just before Christmas (you were fine)!

Dec 23 (6m4d) – That day, there was a gas leak on the road outside of our neighborhood, so the water was shut off! Instead of getting to take a bath, you stayed in this costume, and we got to have even more fun with our little pumpkin!

Dec 23 (6m4d) – Like checking out this Charlie Brown Christmas tree. Halloween meets Christmas!

Dec 23 (6m4d) – And posing with doting grandmas!

Dec 23 (6m4d) – I think Daddy was talking, so you both were smiling.

Dec 23 (6m4d) – Your first time drinking water! And just like me, you love it! Your grandma is convinced I deprived you of this privilege for too long, but the doctors insisted milk was all you needed for a while. Glad to see you love water so much!

Dec 24 (6m5d) – Ahh, we were a little late to celebrate your first Hanukkah, but you were nevertheless mesmerized by the candlelight! I think you kept trying to reach out to touch it!!

Dec 25 (27 wks) – So many occasions in a short time! Merry 1st Christmas!

Dec 25 (27 wks) – You know I had to include a picture of the picture of the picture being taken!

Dec 25 (27 wks) – Our Christmas walk at Riverview. Your Ông and dad were making bird noises with bamboo leaves. And as you can see by your blue blanket, it was sadly not a very cold Christmas.

Dec 25 (27 wks) – You are now sitting up very well, needing minimal support. So, you are playing with the walker from your (my) wishlist that your Bubbe & Zayde got you for Hanukkah!

Dec 26 (6m1w) – At the downtown mall a day after Christmas to get cheap Christmas cards for next year. I think this might have been the first time after a long while that I put you in that carrier. You seemed to like it! We are standing in front of the huge Christmas tree, which now actually looked very weatherbeaten and sad.

Dec 27 (6m8d) – I don’t think you knew what to do about these two crazy people! This was the first time we brought out your high chair. We are at Kokoro, my favorite Japanese restaurant in town. Sorry you didn’t get to eat any food (well, sushi anyway). Soon, Eli, soon!

Dec 28 (6m9d) – Showing off your sitting up skills!

Dec 30 (6m11d) – Aren’t you jus the most adorable ever?

Dec 30 (6m11d) – This onesie was a gift from Aunt Sarah in Montana. Perfect for cold weather, except this winter has been abnormally mild! It was finally cold enough today to don this outfit!

Dec 30 (6m11d) – You seem quite thrilled by this onesie!

Dec 31 (6m12d) – Lying down after your bath contemplating the profundity of the message on your outfit, perhaps?

Jan 7 (6m19d) – Ông keeps clapping his hands to see if you will show any interest in being carried by a certain person (i.e. leaning towards the person you want to go to). Today (Jan 22), you definitely leaned towards him! 😀

Jan 7 (6m19d) – Ông, Bà, and I went out to get some groceries while you slept. It seems like you got up early because when I came home, you were helping your dad do some work!

Jan 7 (6m19d) – This is the face of a kid who wants to eat!!

Jan 7 (6m19d) – Doesn’t this look like another selfie? (It remains to be seen whether the word “selfie” will still exist by the time you are old enough to read it. Just in case, a “selfie” is a picture you take of yourself, usually (but not necessarily) with a phone. Hopefully, I won’t have to explain what a phone is …)

Jan 8 (6m20d) – I think you’ve decided that board books taste the best of all the books you have!

Jan 8 (29 wks) – This was a very cold day when we walked to Rives Park! We were only there for a little while. I had dressed you in a footed outfit, with boots over the feet, mittens, and one of those pretty intense sherpa hats.

Jan 8 (29 wks) – And when we got home, and I took you out of the carrier, you lay completely still. Still as a rock. I snapped this picture after you had stayed still for about a minute!!

Jan 8 (29 wks) – It took some coaxing (and taking off the extra warm accessories) before I got a half smile out of you!!

Jan 9 (6m21d) – Yum … potatoes, egg yolk, and peas!

Jan 10 (6m22d) – Here is proof that you still wake up in a good mood! What a sweetheart!

Jan 10 (6m22d) – We went for a walk at the Saunders-Monticello trail with both sets of your grandparents. We were so surprised to find that the pond was completely frozen solid!

Jan 11 (6m23d) – You love water so much, you’ll occasionally hold the bottle by yourself (though most of the times, I don’t think you’re actually getting any liquid … just sucking air?)

Jan 11 (6m23d) – It was a very busy weekend, with Bubbe & Zayde visiting AS WELL AS our dear friends, Matt (your dad’s childhood best friend) + Chelsea with their adorable son, Everett! We had fun at the playground, but you were also getting tired.

Jan 11 (6m23d) – You were a bit cranky a little after this. I remember talking about Everett’s teeth (he’s about 6 months older than you). Little did I know that you, too, were teething! I REALLY felt your tooth the following night when you had a hard time falling asleep!

Jan 12 (6m24d) – Here you are modeling this cute shirt your Bubbe and Zayde picked out for you!

Jan 12 (6m24d) – Mom, why do you keep taking pictures of me? I’m waiting for the next bite!

Jan 12 (6m24d) – Look at that smile!

Jan 14 (6m26d) – You were really fighting nap time today! You kept wanting to play and crawl out of your bassinet. Ông stayed upstairs with you (to make sure you didn’t fall off the bed), when you finally fell asleep out of sheer exhaustion, straddling the adult bed, body pillow, and bassinet. Too funny!

Jan 16 (6m28d) – And this is the first time you slept without your bassinet! (Notice that it’s on the left side of the picture.) You kept trying to crawl out of it (see previous picture), so I finally just took it away. The funny thing was that I had tried to take out the bassinet in mid-December (when Ông and Bà first arrived), but you were so excited by all the space that you couldn’t sleep!

Jan 16 (6m28d) – At Harris Teeter, where we were buying ingredients to make gumbo. You may not seem displeased about this shopping cart seat (your first time ever!), but minutes later, while Ông was taking another picture of you, you burst into tears! I had to get you OUT of the seat!! (We tried again at the Fresh Market on your 7th month birthday, and you were fine this time. Of course, Ông was jogging around the whole supermarket to keep you entertained in the seat!)

Jan 18 (6m30d) – Another one of Bubbe + Zayde’s gift! You wore this shirt the day the Patriots played the Colts and beat them 45-7. Now there’s a controversy that 11 of the 12 balls used in the game were underinflated. What a dramatic way to debut this sporty fashion!!

Jan 18 (6m30d) – On this warm day, you showed off your flexibility in your old friend, the rocker. you can now reach the overhead toys easily, since you can just sit straight up!

Jan 18 (6m30d) – We took a walk to the playground again this evening. We took several trips down the slide, a ride in the roundabout, and sat in the giant bungee swing. I think you were still quite unimpressed! 🙂