September 30

Eli is 35 weeks old today!

He was born when I was 35 weeks pregnant.

It's a trend right now to do "40 weeks in/40 weeks out" pictures - you know, if you can remember. Usually they show a big pregnant belly, and then a mom holding a 9.5 month old.

Unfortunately, Eli came early, and we don't have any pictures of my big pregnant belly with him. It's just one more sad aspect of the prematurity thing. 

So instead, I have pictures of brand-new baby Eli, after growing in my belly for 35 weeks, and present-day baby Eli, after growing in the world for 35 weeks. Chris and I gave these our best effort, despite the fact that we took the pictures after dinner, in the dim evening light, with crazy children running around underfoot. Our images aren't nearly as lovely as Amber's amazing newborn photos, but they certainly do tell a story.

We were lucky - very lucky - that Eli was a healthy preemie. He spent no time in the NICU, and he came home from the hospital right away. Still, he was a five and a half pound preemie, and now he is a healthy, normal baby boy. These pictures stand as evidence of all that we have to be thankful for. We are blessed.

Do you remember Eli's awesome forehead wrinkles? The loose, baggy skin around his arms and legs? Now he is plump and wrinkle-free and juicy and delicious.

Oh! That little hand grabbing Chris' thumb? The dark hair?

Now he's chubby and has knuckle dimples and his hair is much lighter, with a hint of curl.

Ha! This pose was the hardest to mimic. See his feet up by my neck? He's so big now!

I totally couldn't even reach him to kiss him for this one. I am so thankful for how healthy he is, how much he has grown, and how normal he is now.

In fact, I stopped in to weigh him today, and he clocked in at 16 pounds, 15 ounces! For the past four months (half his life!) Eli has been hanging out just below the 15th percentile.

Today, he actually reached it! Our little man is officially in the fifteenth percentile!Way to go, Eli!

Eli also took two great naps today, despite having his whole morning disrupted by errand-running and a playdate. (Have you guys been praying for me?) His second afternoon nap happened right when it was time to get Caleb off the bus, so I let him sleep and brought the baby monitor along with me.

No Eli = room in the ring sling for Lily.

She was so, so happy!