8 Months . . . 2/3 a year . . . whoa

In the past month, Mr. Peter Elias has become an unstoppable crawling force with 2+a bit of 1 teeth who can pull up on almost anything he pleases. He cruises around our mini-trampoline anytime he can get there. The cutest thing is to walk in on him as he's standing in his crib after sleeping - the look of triumph on his face is enlivening. He speaks "buh-buh-buh" with much distinction and finds himself hilarious as he completes this pattern: buh-buh-buh, raspberryyyyyyyy, belly laugh huh-huh-huh. Thanks to the teeth, Peter Elias' sleeping has been beyond dismal (think up every hour or more for weeks . . . ). But, this easy-going fella sat through a high school musical without an ado and can be counted to go with the flow. Mommy's thinks he's going to be our family's first climber. PE finally got to standing at the piano bench (his most favorite locale), and immediately his eye went up to the keys. As soon as his hands got to the keys, he looked up again. Apparently, he knows there is more up there and is interested to find out what it is. He won't usually crawl fast for a person, but watch out for a mad crawling dash when the vacuum is left out in sight.

One day, everyone but PE went into the kitchen for a moment. The living room where we left PE playing with toys got very quiet. As we went to investigate, we found PE sitting in the corner of the favorite piano bench and the piano under the keyboard still as a statue looking like he was waiting to be discovered. He's already so fun and playful!

7 Months Old

Our little guy topped 20 lbs this past month and is well on his way to keeping up with his big sister and brother. He's so close to crawling, but for now, Peter Elias mostly gets around by scooting backwards or in a circle. His newest trick is to sit back up after he's been lying on the ground. Nights are full of feedings for this sweet baby who loves to nurse. We still get up together about 3 times a night . . . (please pray that changes by 8 months). He's jolly and smiley and took his first airplane flights like a champ (though once again, he didn't sleep during them . . . )

Now that he's trying to be mobile, even when he's eating, at least one leg bucks constantly or he rocks his pelvis back and forth. He's going to be a mover. He eats three meals a days plus as many crackers as he can get hold of. His favorite foods are pears, banana/carrot/mango and green beans.

Peter Elias took a nap at our friend's house while I was with Myna at preschool - the first of our Bontorno children to nap at someone else's home! While visiting Kansas City, Peter Elias met cousins Daphne, Max and baby Oliver and Abuelo and Lita. He also learned to raspberry really loudly and did so for a week and a half afterwards - it was funny to wake up to the sweet sounds of spit flying through the air in the morning.

Since we have had a pretty memorable year of snowfall (over Mommy's head at the edge of the driveway and to the top of the picket fence in the yard), Peter Elias got to sled a little (when it was over 20 degrees - which wasn't often). He did love to watch the snow fall from the window though. He sit mesmerized for minutes with his wide bright blue eyes. His eyes are like pure blue marbles - so beautiful.

Myna and Milo still love their little brother even though he's starting to get into their things, and he's patient with their love. We love this great spirit and influence in our family.