Eli's favorite things

So, Eli is about 7 1/2 months old now, and he definitely has some favorite activities! He loves to walk in his walker (and by "walk" I mean that he covers his face and runs as fast as he can, usually into a wall!) He's becoming quite the daredevil! He actually climbed the steps yesterday with me holding his hands. And he didn't even do the typical baby crawl up, he put one foot up on the step and pushed himself up, then the other foot- just like an adult would climb the steps! Crazy! We didn't even show him what to do either, he did it on his own when we were walking around the house! Eli loves the camera, and will smile as soon as you point it at him. Unfortunately, he usually gets so excited that he starts flapping his arms and shaking his head, so most of the pictures turn out blurry!

In the past week, he's learned to open the cupboard doors. I can thank Jason for teaching him this! Jason has a bad habit of opening the cupboard doors to get something out and then leaving them open, and now I have TWO boys that I have to follow around and close cupboards for! I tried to get a picture of Eli the other day after he'd opened several drawers in the bathroom, but while I was getting the camera he almost ran his eye into the corner of one of them. Needless to say, I sacrificed the picture to save my son's eye!

Eli also loves to ride on Jason's shoulders! When Eli is getting fussy, all we have to do is put him up on Jason's shoulders, and Jay walks around and bounces him. He loves it! He especially likes to walk in front of the mirror and see the reflections of everything. We learned today that he's just as happy if Jason is sitting on the couch- bonus!

Peek-a-boo is becoming even more fun, too. Eli has developed object permanence, so he knows that you are still there when you hide and he'll even peek around corners to find you!

Eli still loves to be outside, but now that the temperatures are dropping, we have to bundle him up (which he's not so fond of!) I'm really not looking forward to having to do the whole winter coat thing, because I'm sure he'll throw a fit! But for now, if we distract him, we can get him to leave his hat on and he stays under the blanket when Jason takes him for a run in the jogging stroller.

We are having SO much fun with him these days. It just keeps getting better and better! He gets so excited when Jason or I come home and see him, and last night he actually cried when we left him with his grandma and grandpa Hays. Obviously, I don't want him to be upset, but it's kind of nice that he prefers us to anyone else! Seeing that love in his eyes is definitely one of the best parts of parenting!