Steps and teeth

I only have a short time but wanted to share a few photos and some info. More than three weeks ago, Elliott took his first five steps... and then freaked out about walking and got pretty clingy in general. In fact, he stopped even standing on his own for a little while (I noticed when it came back). Last Sunday we attended a party in a friend's back yard, at which he hauled off crawling toward the baby pool so fast we couldn't get his clothes off before he stepped one foot in. He had a great time. There were tons of babies his age and younger walking (plus older kids), and John accurately predicted that this would motivate Elliott to try biped life. Once we got home he took a few steps . The next morning he took a few to me after a library program, and now I would say he's walking for about 15% of his movement, maybe a little more. He still isn't totally stable, but I think his arms are so well developed that if he falls forward he easily transitions into crawling, and there's also the old fall-on-the-cushy-cloth-diaper trick. I laughed when I came into the living room to find him standing on these two yoga blocks.


We got a used toddler chair a while back and now he is really liking to climb into it and grab a book to look at. It's quite cute. Today he even fell a little getting out of the chair to grab a book on the floor but he kept right on going and climbed back without missing a beat.

He has 13 teeth now - the eight in front he's had forever, three of the four 1st-year molars (check out that big lower left molar in the photo!), and the top two eye teeth, though those haven't really dropped down much yet. He has been drooling a lot more and chewing on his fist, so I hope those last three (for now) are coming soon.

One of Elliott's favorite things to do is stand at the front door and bang on it. I thought his face smooshing into the glass was so funny I told John he had to come out the side door with the camera.

Elliott has taken to unorthodox eating positions. We put the high chair lower to the ground and allow some creative sitting as long as he seems to be interested in food. He had his first tomato from the garden and kept pointing intently to the plant and going "unh! unh!", so I gave him the other ripe one and even another that was a little on the orange side.