Eliana's April Fool

I'm not a big one for pranks on April Fool's, but I guess I played one on Ellie. It came in the form of giving her broccoli for the first time. The first fifteen seconds or so on the video is the best.

I think she prefers other foods. Just a wild guess. And, no, it really wasn't too hot. I tested it three times before I gave it to her, just to make sure. I think homemade broccoli gives her texture issues.

I haven't gotten a picture of it yet, but she's starting to get up on her knees. She's been working on it for a few weeks now and seems to be at a breakthrough. She can make a little bit of forward motion, as well as improvement on getting her little fanny in the air. She did an army crawl for the first time today. She's figured out that she will make progress toward what she wants on her tummy and will arrange her body to make that possible. The process includes spinning on her backside until she is facing the proper direction. Then she leans forward until she throws herself off balance enough to fall on her face. She learned quickly that it's best to keep your chin in the air and avoid a faceplant. Sometime after I get a picture of it I'll post what her attempt at crawling looks like. Until then, here's and older picture (about 3 weeks ago) of an attempt to get around by herself.

Another recent achievement is pulling up to standing. Last Friday (the 27th) I sat Eliana down in the crib in front of her crib toy. Before I knew it she had grabbed the top of the bar and pulled herself up to standing. I didn't know she could do that. She was very pleased with herself. We have since lowered the mattress so she doesn't launch herself out the crib because she wants to see what's on the floor. Now she is entertained for long periods of time just by standing and holding on to something. She's tried to pull up on the couch, but there's not much to grab on to. Mommy is another favorite thing to try to pull up on. It is rarely successful, as Mommy doesn't stay still for very long.Finally, the last picture is what it looks like when a baby in a walker goes on a rampage around a clothing store. Eliana liked the shirt display so well that she took one with her. I ran to grab the camera while she was playing with the shirts on the rack (very cute), but she was done by the time I got back. Oh, well.