So Many Milestones this Week

During the past week a lot of  milestones had happened in our house. Out of nowhere, my baby boy stopped nursing last Sunday. This is the baby who nursed at least 4 times during the day and once or twice each night. And then, he suddenly stopped, which was exactly what his sister did at a young age of 5 months. However, Elliot never took the bottle though. But since we started introducing organic whole milk to him a few times before in a sippy cup, he now happily drinks his milk 3 times a day (morning, before nap and evening) from a cup, just like his big sister. I think he wants to be like her and copies her and that's why he stopped nursing. I was planning on weaning him by the end of November anyways, but this came quite sudden and unexpected and did make me a bit sad. My baby boy is no baby anymore.

At the same time, I noticed that he had another mental growth spurt this week and is acting so much more like a toddler now instead of a baby. He wants to be independent and doesn't like to be told what to do because then he has a mini-tantrum. He also started to fight back when Amelia takes things from him. There is for sure some sibling rivalry going on here and some jealousy too. Especially when I sit down to eat something, they both come right away and fight for the spot closest to me. So funny...they are both mooches.



Standing by himself and singing a song

And then two days ago he took his first few steps all by himself. Since a few days now, he is standing on his own and does a good job at it. But seeing him walk by himself was a big milestone. In only 3 short weeks, he went from not being interested in walking to taking his first steps by himself. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to get it on video yet, but hopefully soon I will. Until then, I just post a cute video of Elliot pushing his sister around in her car. Such a strong, little boy.



Yesterday afternoon, we had another first: his first haircut. It was definitely necessary as some strands grew already over his ears and his front needed trimming too. We decided to give him some snacks and do it outside. He sat still for the most part. Daddy thought his bangs should be very short so we kept cutting and cutting as he moved and it was uneven. In between, he looked very funny (aka dumb and dumber funny). I really had to laugh hard when I saw it.

During the haircutting, he looks like Dumb and Dumber..lol

Luckily, after finishing the job it doesn't look bad. A little short for my taste, but it will grow back quickly. For sure though, the haircut makes him look older. Afterwards: Styled like a rock star and then how he would normally wear it. 

Elliot is becoming more and more independent and it makes me proud but also sad. He is growing up way too fast. Sometimes I wish I could stop time and hold on to those precious moments of babyhood. But then I know that I should be happy and thankful for the good things in life, not sad and mournful. As bad as I want to shed some tears because this means he is growing up,  I'm fighting back the temptation and instead thank God for allowing us to reach these precious milestones. Like every mother, I try to savor every moment of my life with my baby before he is no longer dependent on me.

 

On another note: We had a pretty quiet weekend as we all were feeling a little sluggish. Somehow the kids are having a low grade fever, but no other symptoms. And because of that, Elliot felt a little down today. Yesterday, he felt fine and so we played in the backyard and rode our bikes outside. Elliot has been pushing his little princess sister around in her car, but then she returned the favor and pushed him on his bicycle. They are so sweet to each other (of course, not all the times but mostly).  The weather was nice too, not too hot and not too cold. Just perfect.

Today it's a different story: pretty much rain all day and a cool front arrived this afternoon, which means we can open our windows again. So, we just relaxed, watched some football and Amelia enjoyed doing Play-Doh. She loves Play-Doh but I'm not so fond of it as I usually find some pieces of it scattered around the living room.

We hope you all had a good weekend too. I pray that the kids feel their normal self tomorrow and that we can have a fun week. Until then, I enjoy cuddling with my baby boy as he seems to need me most when he is feeling sick (I'm still needed after all :)).