Baby Elliott: 6 months!

We've made it through half of our first year with our little guy! So many things about him have now become familiar: his thin-lipped "old man" smile, his contagious laughter and high-pitched excited squeals, his chubby little fingers and Winston Churchill-esque double chin. That chin has got to be one of my favorite things about him; it's just so funny, and one of the first things new people notice about him. On Sunday, a friend commented on how he likes to refer to Elliott as Winston because of that fat little chin, and Martin & I thought it was such a perfect comparison.

I love his little frowny face!

master of disguise!

As familiar as he is in many ways, he always has new quirks about him that bring out his personality that will come out randomly. One day a couple weeks ago, he was laying on his playmat, and just started babbling as if he was having a conversation with one of his toys that hangs above him. I was watching him and couldn't stop laughing; it was the first time I'd heard him "talk" in a way that sounded   most like a normal sentence, and the way he was enunciating was adorable! I took a quick video so I could send it to Martin.

he loves his daddy!

Speaking of videos, my phone lately has been telling me I don't have any memory space on my phone, so I asked Martin to look at it, to which he informed me I have over 1,500 pictures & videos and it's clogging up my phone. As much as I know I can transfer everything to my external hard drive, part of me doesn't want to because I enjoy going and looking at his newborn pictures so often. So much has changed, and it always puts a smile on my face to see the progress my sweet boy has made in just these 6 months alone. God has given us such an incredible gift, and His lovingkindness is so apparent to me through this new stage of life.

what's not to love about this sweet little man?!

Random chatter aside, let's move on to some 6-month-old tidbits! It's hard to come up with a list of what he likes and doesn't like, because in general he is a pretty happy little guy. So I'll just try to come up with some highlights.

Currently, Elliott enjoys:
- Bouncing in his bouncer - he can go in that thing for 30 minutes or longer, nonstop! No joke.
- Being fawned over - he loves his fans ;)
- crinkly toys
- anything he can put in his mouth
- smiling at strangers - this one is a big change! He is still wary of some new people, but mostly he will put on a sweet little grin when people come up to him and want to see how cute he is ;)
- chatting with his playmat friends, or mommy & daddy. Or anyone who will listen, really.
- being read to - he's not quite into Lord of the Rings yet, but enjoys Moo, Baa, La La La. Someday ;)

I woke up like this. 

Elliott couldn't care less for:
- When mommy or daddy leaves the room
- The vacuum - this one is brand new. If he's awake, I can't vacuum because the loudness freaks him out. Ironically, he sleeps through it if I vacuum during his naps.
- Dogs. Could be other pets, but thus far he really doesn't seem to like any of our neighbors dogs or Martin's mom's dogs.

Lastly, I had to share a few of the pictures from our Christmas photo sesh a few weeks back. I thought it would be so cute to put Elliott in a box gift-wrapped, and he didn't disappoint!