Eli's Great-Mom Mom feeding him...
An early morning walk at the beach...
There was a pond right outside our beach house where we like to feed the turtles. They come right up to you as soon as they see you walk to the water's edge. At one time, I counted more than twenty, but I'm sure there are so many more. This picture captures both the turtles' heads as they pop up to the surface as well as the houses and their reflection on the water.
A little fuzzy, but I like the picture anyway...
Mom Mom and Pop Pop...
My cousin Jerry Sue and her 9 month old, Berto....
Angela Margaret....
Elias is constantly changing and growing. Everyday, it seems, there's something new he's learned and is putting it into practice. So far, he can roll over from his tummy to his back (nothing new) and his back to his tummy (new) with ease. He's gaining arm strength and hand-eye coordination, so he can grab things from a distance and pull them to himself - usually to his mouth where he procedes to drool excessive amounts of saliva all over whatever it is he's holding onto, and that would be anything that is within reaching distance. He's gaining leg strength: he often tries to stand when whoever is holding him is sitting or when you put him down on the ground, he'll try to stand. He pulls his knees under his body and pushes off. His arms are not yet strong enough to hold himself up while his knees are under him for very long. But he's working on it. He loves to scream and squeal. The other day, no word of a lie, he squealed all his waking hours. I'd lay him on the floor with his toys and he would turn himself over onto his back and just kick and squeal to his heart's content. Yesterday, he learned how to use this new sound when angry. That was not fun. Ah, thus starteth the lessons of discipline - at five months!
Reed Johnson came over to play on Monday night. They've known each other since the day Reed was born, 9 days after Eli. (You can read about it here.) But this was the first time they actually interacted with one another. They are growing up so fast!
Eli has been giving me kisses for a little while now. More recently, he's given Aunt Biff and Nana, and Keegan kisses as well. (Daddy's still a little too scruffy.) It's so cute; he'll grab my face and pull it towards his with his mouth wide open and tongue out. This is how babies do anything. He knows that Mommy kisses his face with her lips, but he's not quite sure how to do it, so he does what he does best, open his mouth and stick out his tongue. Here is a picture of him giving me kisses last night, but I'm afraid it's hard to catch the moment in a digital camera. (They simply aren't fast enough for a "moment.")
On Thursday, Karen and Keegan came up to visit. We normally get together on Thursday mornings to walk, but the boys are generally sleeping. They have noticed each other before and seemed interested in one another, but not like this week. We had them on the floor together so they could play and stare at each other. They were actually interacting - well, as much as 5-6 month olds can interact. It was as if they were saying, Look, Mom! Another little person like me! They were even giving kisses to one another! (It's okay for babies to do that.) At one point, we noticed that Keegan was fussing a bit. When we looked over at them, Elias had a clump of Keegan's hair in his fist jamming it into his mouth! We pulled Keegan away with a soaked head of hair.
We packed up the boys and headed off to the park, about 10 minutes away. By the time we got there, both boys had fallen asleep. We managed to move them to their strollers without waking them and we walked around the lake. All in all, it was a good day.
Intermediate finger sucking...
Empty bowl and dirty bib...
Aunt Biff gave Elias a bath after the messy ordeal.
Elias had his 4 month well-visit this morning. We were in the same room that we had been in at his 2 month well-visit where he received four shots. It was as if he remembered or perhaps had a vague recollection that he didn't like this room. He kept saying, "Mommy, I want to leave." Well, in Babyspeak, that's what he was saying. I think he screamed louder and definitely longer at the doctor when he put the popscicle stick in his mouth than when the nurse gave him his shots. However, the shots linger. He fell asleep promptly when we got in the car and slept deeply for a little longer once we got home. But when he woke up, he felt the pain and let me know about it. The more it hurts, the more he kicks his legs. The more he kicks his legs, the more it hurts. Poor little guy.
My muscleman in his muscle shirt. Muscle shirts on babies are simply so adorable.
Doesn't he look like a cartoon character?
Aunt Biff (Tiff) is living with us for the summer. It's so much fun. We love it. Eli has already gotten used to her being around and he loves her. Of course, a week is half a lifetime for one so young as four months. 
When Angela and Mom and Dad were down here the first weekend of June, Ang got to see Eli for the first time since he was two weeks old. Needless to say, she was quite excited to play with him and spend time getting to know him a little better. We won't go as long this time without seeing each other. She'll be down again this summer. She's actually planning on looking for a job in the area and moving here in August. We're very excited about this prospect too. Four sisters all living in the Philadelphia Greater Area! It'll be so much fun!!
