Tino likes to say that Elias always wakes up with a new idea. It is amazing to watch that clothes and pajamas that fit him yesterday, I was squeezing him into last night. When he wakes up, he calls to us, and stands up in his crib, peaking over the rim, smiling at us. He eats well and sleeps well and grows well and at 10 months no longer fits into his 18 mos pajamas. And he always wakes up with a new idea. He has always smiled sweetly at his stuffed animals, but now he picks them up and cradles them! He likes to repeat what we say, and, while I thought we would be using the sign, or the word for milk in whatever language, he now distinctly says 'bottle.'
We are so lucky, again and again. Not only is Elias the healthiest baby, he is the happiest, and whenever we go out, he is filled with smiles and songs. When it comes to mealtime, he will eat anything, but he needs to feed himself or be fed only what we are eating. He's a big boy. His favorite finger food right now is peas or edamame.
We read to him of course... all the time, and his favorite books are:
Brown Bear, its a favorite for all of us. He loves to hear it, but you can't trick him and read it twice! Since he was a few months old and we would read it, as soon as you start up again with Brown Bear, Brown Bear, he would shut the book on you! He slaps the pages to the rhythm of the book, he will imitate a 'woof woof' and a 'meow' and sometimes a 'quack quack' but not consistently yet, and he will point to what I point to, but not what I say. I feel like pretty soon I will say 'Point to the yellow duck,' or 'Point to the nose,' or 'What does the dog say?' and he will be able to answer all of these.
He has a wonderful sense of humor, and when he goes to bed at night, I'll put him in his crib and we will smash out faces against the mesh walls and give each other kisses and giggle. I don't get to put him to bed every night, we all get a chance, even Grammy sometimes. I put the puppy to bed four nights a week, and its a total treat. We do our bath ceremony, massage, reading, playing in the crib, and then we say a prayer of gratitude and love for the world.

Thanks Elias for putting me to bed right.