Not exactly Buddha

Compared to his sister he is a heavy weight but Eli isn't too far off the growth charts. He started out so big but is more like an average five month old now. He has been showing a strong interest in our food and what we eat. He also nurses ALOT so we decided to try him on some rice cereal. Two days and no reactions except delight. We will take it as a good sign to keep going. Eli loves Maetia so much and when he can't get a hold of her hair or her face, he is content to stare and smile at her. We had a weekend with the VanHattem family and Eli got to spend some quality time with his cousin Erik (born only two days apart!) which he loved. It is so neat to watch babies recognize other babies. It is like they are so happy they see someone their size.
He is sitting up on his own with help but will fall over slowly. We put him in the bumbo chair to hold him in a sitting position so he can play with Maetia but stay safe. He is getting very strong and can jump very high in the jolly jumper. It is a little nerve racking. We also predict he will go to the Olympics as a swimmer because when you get him in the water, he moves like he was born in water, oh wait he was! He does this crazy kick with his legs and flaps his arms. It is all we can do to keep his face out of the water. Luckily for us and his training we have a pool close by so we can keep him focused. We planted a tree for Eli and put his placenta under it as we did for Maetia. As you can see in the photo, it was a magical family event. Maetia was crying about the grass on her toes, Eli was tired and hungry, Michael was hot and tired and I was too dirty to be in the photo. Either way, we planted a special tree for him on our land.
We have been taking many walks with our new stroller (Thank you so much John, Anne, Grandma and Grandpa!!) and also biking with our double kiddie trailer. Both kids love to be outdoors and we are taking advantage of the long summer days.