Each day since Eli has started smiling, he has developed an increasing awareness of his face and the fact that we have faces too! Not only does this lead to some of the cutest faces I have ever seen, but it also lets me distract him. When he starts to get fussy, it is sometimes possible to make him reconsider when I contort my face into something silly and speak in an abnormally high voice. When I throw in some french, his eyebrows shoot off his head as he tries to understand..."Ecoute mon cher, ne crie pas, mon petit elephant!" His favorite face to make uses as many facial muscles as he can: he raises his eyebrows, crosses his eyes, flares his nostrils, and squishes his lips like he wants to whistle. I'll give you a minute to try it out.

Of course, throughout the course of a day we get many variations of "the face," for example:

Along with the smiling and the faces has come the cooing. So far I have heard coos that resemble the following sounds: Kapowie! Grrrr! Uh Uh! (as in No way!) and Moooooom! (as in how he would say it when I show this picture to his first girlfriend.)

And finally we have Eli striking a vogue pose as he models his pants and socks. He hardly ever gets a chance to wear them in the heat, but the church nursery is cold!