Elias goes to bed

Elias turned 9 months old on Sunday. It's just a number, but it makes me very happy. We enjoy Elias more, and I think Elias enjoys being Elias more, the older he gets.

I want to record what the nightly ritual is, since it will probably be completely different in a year: I give him a bath at 7pm, during which he sits in a bath seat and fends off wind-up sharks and scuba divers, chews on sponge letters, and screams at rubber duckies. I serenade with Ernie's "Rubber Ducky" song. Then Amy dries him, oils him, and gets him into pajamas. My turn again, I read up to a half-dozen books with Elias. _Huggy Buggy Shapes_ is his original favorite, the first book he liked (and the swirl shape is positively captivating). _Goodnight Gorilla_ and _Goodnight Moon_ are also indispenable. Next I slowly carry Elias from room to room to room, singing "The ABC Song" twice, "You are My Sunshine" twice, then "Rockabye Baby" three times -- repeat. To begin with, he has to have his back to me so that he can kick his legs and swing his arms. It's an exciting time! There's lots of talking and "singing". But within 15 minutes the head is too heavy, so I turn him chest to chest and he slumps down on me -- although there's usually quite a bit more noise ("oooooooo!") to be made as he watches the scenery change. Eventually this stops, the eyes stay shut, and I can either call in Amy, or try to put him down without waking him, which is much harder than it sounds.