Monday, December 19, 2005

The runaway bunny


Today, Elias is in love with this book, a good ole' fashion tragedy of sorts. To me, sounds like the little bunny is trying to individuate a bit from mother bunny, but she just keeps pulling her back to him. It must be hard for mother bunny, but even worse, hard for the little bunny because in the end, he almost hopelessly resigns to never being able to break free from his mom. I wonder why it appeals to Elias?

I do feel like he is my little runaway bunny from time to time, not only because he seems to get into pickles I would often not condone, but mostly I think because my little bunny is growing so fast, there's no way to catch him. He amazes me daily and it feels weird/impossible to try and capture all of the things he does from day to day. Like, how we talk to each other now. Our conversations that he starts from the moment he wakes up until night night time. "Ella? Gar-we? Hei? Pipoo? Juice, yo. Shake shake shake. Sun, up sky bright bright. Toast butt-a." This is how our morning starts. Often, with an adamant request to wear his slippers. He has a word for them, it's close, but it is escaping me. It goes on like this all day, with Elias proudly ID-ing anything he knows the words to, saying "Morn" to passersby or greeting any face with "Hi?" It's fun.

Elias has become quite a quirky little bug over the passed few weeks. It started when my mom came to visit. He refused to take off a certain pair of socks and them further refuced to wear shoes. He HAD to wear his slippers, as if it were a matter of national security. So, he wore the slippers. A battle I need not pick, but the issues are becoming more diverse and with rapid speed. It keeps me on my toes. Like, for instance, today, Elias was very drawn to a certain green crayon while coloring. He wanted desperately to carry it to infinity and beyond. I weighed the pros and cons: happy baby versus drawn upon walls, floors, furniture, etc. The crayon lost and we had to learn to leave the crayons in the kitchen. He got it toward the end and I definitely empathisized with him about how hard it was to not be able to take the crayon with him everywhere. I guess setting limits is my job, it's just most often a very difficult one, especially when faced with an unhappy camper.

Elias has become very lovey lately. He likes to cuddle with me at night, sometimes I sing to him. Currently, we are singing Christmas songs. Off season, we were singing Mary had a little lamb, Ba ba black sheep, Twinkle Twinkle and ABC. The last three all carry the same tune, and I often find singing these lulls momma to sleep. He's been doling out lots of hugs and kisses to friends, family and the like. Not to Santa, however. Never to Santa (or Satan, is it?). Yesterday, Brad was hugging me on the couch and I asked Elias if he wanted to come up on the couch for some love and up he came, first to rest his head on my chest and give me a kiss and then to rest his head on Brad's chest. It was very sweet.

Oh, recent discovery is that Elias likes to play tea. Last Friday at indoor park, Elias played with a toy tea pot and tea cup for hours, pretending to pour and drink and offering to others. He also carried one in each hand, even when he was trying to get into the fire and police cars. It appeared quite a challenge, but Elias seems to grasps the concent "you snooze you lose" thus never letting anything he truly cares about out of his possession until it is time.

Thursday, December 01, 2005

"Bright bright"

This morning, Elias woke up too early in too good of a mood! 5:45 is just too soon for me. Plus, I think I have finally caught the boy's cold. Yeah. When we got out of bed, we walked into the bathroom and turned on the light. Elias said "Bright, bright," just like I had said yesterday morning when the lights hurt our sleepy eyes. He's really getting it, on so many levels.

Just lately, he has been starting to count to six, repeat words in songs, and identify letters all over the place. He knows O, Y, N, A, at the very least. He is amazing me everyday with what he can do, like beginning to use objects as tools to achieve some end, like standing on the diapers to get to the sink. I even moved the diapers to the other side of the bathroom, thinking Elias would be outwitted (because standing on the diapers to peer into the sink is a dangerous game). He couldn't be foiled. He just walked right up to the diapers, picked them up and put them back in front of the sink to climb onto. He's an industrious one. His brain is developing so fast, it is crazy, I am amazed more and more each day.

Elias's teeth are coming in faster than I can count. Just before Thanksgiving, I realized that it wasn't just the molars that were poking through, but also one canine. And today, it looks as though all four canines are pushing there way through. He is really doing well, emoitonally and physically considering the pain he must be in. The upside to teeth is that he can pretty much eat anything now. Meat, bread, oranges, etc. And, I am less and less having to modify the food to make it "safe." Elias has taken, all of the sudden, to throwing everything, food included, however, we're not too psyched about that. I think before he starts using a spoon, he'll have to master the art of flinging his food.

Elias's favorite new pasttime around the house is emptying out the pantry. Soup cans and cocoa tins go flying! He also ejoys stacking the contents of the pantry, which can be super funny if, for example, he tries to put a huge tub of Crisco onto a box of Jello, or something. I although he does enjoy the pantry, I think he wears a little pin that says, "I'd rather be emptying out the fridge."

Outside of the house, Elias has been enjoying the company of several lady friends. At the indoor park last week, he was spotted smooching and hugging Ashlin, a baby from our playgroup. It was very sweet. Elias was sitting in his Little Tikes red and yellow coup when Ashlin strolled up the driver's side and leaned her head in for a kiss. Elias graciously reciprocated and flashed a big grin. Ashlin then went in for a big hug. Very cute. Elias has also been enjoying the company of a Miss Piper. I think he and Piper are best buds. He really lights up around her and interacts with her more than I have seen him interact with any other child. Yesterday, he allowed Piper to feed him some tasty snacks, isn't she just the sweetest little nurturer? It was too darn cute! And, of course, they both seem delighted to kiss each other goodbye upon prompting. It is so sweet, I could just explode! On the lovey note, Elias has also been hugging and kissing his toys, his babies. When he was sick, I offered him his fuzzy duck to hold, he grabbed it and hugged it so tightly, it was just so sweet. He is such a sweet boy.

Elias is sleeping now. And, as I was putting him down for a rest, I was thinking how remarkable it is that he has been in my life for 15 almost 16 months! Time has really flown by and geez oh man, how much has he changed? Craziness, wonderful, wouldn't trade it for anything in the world craziness! He looks so peaceful sleeping. He reminds me of Brad.

Wednesday, November 16, 2005

Tooth update

As of this morning, all of Elias's first year molars have broken through. Three of them have all four points out. I'm surprised how smoothly these teeth have come through. And so thankful for Elias, obviously, poor guy.

Tuesday, November 15, 2005

If you're happy and you know it...

Elias is really amazing me. Today, I started singing this song to him. He clapped his hands, he stomped his feet, and he said "Rah!" for Hooray. Brad also noticed that he can name every picture in one of his baby sign books with his words! (baby, bird, cat, dog, fish, flower, book) He can say "cool," too.

Another thing Elias did today is that he went poo and pee on his potty!! This is the second time, but today, he actually told me when he was pooing and when he was peeing. Brad and I both agree our son is a genuis!

Monday, November 14, 2005

Trouble in the mouth and other tales...

Two weeks ago this Wednesday will mark the anniversary of Elias's first ER visit. While playing with his buddy Piper, Elias lost his balance and fell on his wooden kazoo. He puncture the back of his upper palate quite severely, it bled alot and I am certain it hurt quite a bit. He was a real trooper through the whole expereince, however. He was basically back to his old self at the emergency room, and only seemed kinda fussy that night. I think his mouth was sore, understandably, and he had a hard time having milk. By Saturday, the hole was almost completely healed and Elias was devouring a variety of hard, crunchy foods with no hesitation. Yeah! Brad and I are both a bit leery of the kazoo these days. It stays on a shelf and can only be played while Elias is being held by someone. It's probably going to take us longer to get over this one than Elias.

Elias has really been chatty these days, and extremely flirty with people. Still not interested in kissing or hugging anyone other than Brad and myself, but definitely interested in trying out his charm with strangers and others. He's saying "Hi" and "Morning". He's kinda a little parrot. He'll pretty much try to say anything I can say. He also tries to have conversations by pointing out the things he knows. For example, if he sees leaves, he says "leave" and gestures in the direction of the leaf he is interested in. He says "pho" for phone, "har" for heart, plane, and so many things. He can moo, bark, baulk, and meow. He says "Whoa" and "Ouch" just before he pinches my arm (not so endearing). He's really becoming a big boy.

Today, we went to the indoor park to play. He can now walk all the way from the car to the gym. IMPRESSIVE. We are still working on staying with mommy and not wandering off into the grass. While walking in today, Elias knelt down to pick up what I thought was a leaf. I was mortified to see he was trying to grab a hunk of dog poo, yikes, nice intervention there. By the time we got inside, Elias had procured a nice pine cone. In the gym, we saw Story and Liam. Elias's pine cone was sorely desired by Story, so he went for it. I was impressed with how well Elias fended him off, not with any malice did they interact with each other, Story just tried to grab his pine cone and Elias kept pulling his hand away. Eventually, Story's mom intervened and that was that. I would have thought the two boys would have worked it out just fine, with Story eventually getting the picture that Elias didn't want to give up his pine cone. I don't know why adults have to interfere so much. I guess some parents may have been very offended. I also assume Story's mom was wanting to teach Story something about respecting other people's property. Lessons to be learned in whatever route is taken, I guess.

At dinner today, Elias engaged me in a game of pat-a-cake. He started by clapping his hands and saying "pa-eee." Then he started rolling his one arm, as he likes to to. But today, he also chimed in with "E" when I said sign it with an E. Impressive. He's really growing up. Very verbal little guy.

Sunday, October 30, 2005

Baulk Baulk?

On Thursday, Elias and I had lunch with Brad at an Indian Restaurant. I handed Elias a piece of tandoori chicken and asked, "Do you want some chicken?" Elias took the chicken and with a puzzled look, relied, "Baulk Baulk?" That's his word for chicken. It seems he was a bit taken aback by the form of this baulk baulk.

In other news, Elias is really such a happy baby, falling on his face doesn't seem to break his stride!

Tuesday, October 25, 2005

Accomplishments of the day...

1. Kissed his baby glow worm.
2. Said "cue me (excuse me)."
3. Very excitedly noticed and continued talking about a helicopter spotted during a walk.
4. Practiced standing on his head.
5. Showed significant, pointy evidence of a new tooth! Molar, top, right.
6. Said "geen (green)" each time we passed through a green street light.
7. Demonstrated that he knows what sounds a cat, cow, dog and chicken make.

Whew, busy day!

Sunday, October 23, 2005

Overload of pumpkin fun!



This weekend, Elias, Brad and I embarked upon a voyage of pumpkins. On Saturday, off to the pumpkin patch to hang out with Oscar, Piper, and Charolette. Elias had loads of fun, enjoying the animals, riding the pumpkins, and, of course, getting very dirty! (as Superman, no less).

Today, we met with August, Sylvie and Eli for another adventure at a different pumpkin patch in Corbett, where Elias enjoyed seeing a variety of animals, geese, pig, rabbits, horses, cows, goats and chickens! He also had as many stones at his disposal as the eye could see! Fun was, again, had by all. Whew... what a busy weekend. I am hoping the pace slows down quite a bit for next weekend!

We saw our friends Trey and Khris today. Trey is 7 months and just so sweet. he has such a cool mom, so calm and confident! She's good energy to be around. Elias seemed to be really comfortable with Trey, even trying to get a game of peekaboo going with him from around the corner in their kitchen!

Tuesday, October 18, 2005

Elias, the cheeseball!




Elias is a cheeseball! When he sees a camera, look out for big cheeseballs flying right at ya! These three pictures are from our weekend trip to the coast. Elias had a great time, loved the beach and the sand. The beach literally made him giddy! And, of course, he ended up covered in sand by the end. He wasn't so much a fan of the hike part of our trip, but he did cheese it up really well for the camera, you'd never know it!

Brad and I have decided that Elias is just painfully cute. Today, his little faux low top black converse arrived and oh my god does he look beyond adorable clomping around in them. Tonight, he sat naked with the exception of a bib and a diaper at the dinner table and he was a sight for sore eyes, just cute, cute, cute.

Elias is getting so smart with the signing, as well. He is really trying to make different signs. This morning, I showed him the sign for toast and he tried it. I showed him the sign for grape today too, and he also made an effort. He has been making the milk sign more when he wants to nurse and is very good about asking for more when he wants more of something. At first, I had just thought that he wasn't going to be into the signing, but over the past few days, I am wondering if I shouldn't keep on with it, mostly because he really does have a short fuse and is very impatient. If he had the words through his hands to communicate, good god, please do, anything but the screaming!

Elias has been doing this weird thing lately, gagging himself for no apparent reason. Usually it seems to happen when he is bored in his seat at the table, but what a weird behavior, don't ya think? He hasn't actually caused himself to throw up, and I am hoping that he doesn't and that this behavior isn't an indication of a future eating disorder!!

Saturday, October 08, 2005

Elias as Superman!




This Halloween, Elias is SUPERMAN! I made this costume for him...boy was it fun! He looks pretty happy as SUPERMAN, don't you think?

Oh, yeah, and by the way, Elias totally started walking today. Serious business, no more stops and starts. He's pretty fast (and quite a bit unstable) but he can really go fast for awhile without crashing into the ground. He also doesn't seemed to be at all phased by falling. He just pops right back off and goes for it! It is so awesome! Brad and I are both in awe of this amazing talking, walking little boy!

Elias with his buddies at the Pumpkin Patch




Duane and Jim are so loving and caring toward Elias! I love to see him interacting with them because he is always so happy with them.

Thursday, October 06, 2005

Word verification

Okay, so it seems that almost every post, I receive some sort of weird, unsolicited comment from bizzarro land. In effort to not have this happen, I have turned on the word verification thing, and hopefully this will put a stop to comments that include links to porn sites. For christsake, this is a blog dedicated to my 13 month old son! Have advertisers/mass solicitors no shame?

Oh, the things he can do...

It has occurred to me that gee wiz, Elias has been doing alot of new things. He can grab my nose ears and mouth when asked. He also knows where my eyes are and likes to poke at them. He mimmicks me like a parrot, and of course, only a loving mother could translate.

Today, we started a baby art class. Elias was surprisingly well-organized and into the paint. Sure, he was a little sloppy, but he didn't try to eat it, like alot of the other kids and he didn't try to smear it all over himself. He appeared very directed and goal-driven. He really seemed to just enjoy creating paint-lines on the page. This, of course, as many of you know, is a wonderful discovery for me!! Even more incentive to finish the basement and create a little art area for the boy, our future Bach AND Michealangelo.

Oh, that's right, the whole point of mentioning the art class was that when it was time to go, I asked Elias to hand the crayon back to the teacher and he did! Of course, once he realized what he had done, he did have some words for me as we left the building, but overall, what a cooperative, supreme listener! Am I going a little overboard? Probably. He also tried to share cheerios and to give a flower to Piper yesterday, which were both very sweet gestures.

Sunday, October 02, 2005


Elias playing with August at August's birthday party. Posted by Picasa

Torture in the mouth, revisited

Poor Elias. Teething pain is back and came on with avengence. One day, he was his cheery little self, the next day, snot streaming out of his nose, drool covering his shirt and a grump in his bump as big as Mount Everrest. Poor guy, it's affected his sleep and demeanor in a major way. After weeks of working on night weaning, I've decided today that that little one just can't take it anymore and really needs some nighttime comfort. I feel better after making that decision. It's really been rough on all of us trying to stop night feeding.

On a positive note, little man took tons of steps this weekend. He walked from the depths of our bedroom to the end of the hallway, probably 15 steps. Today, he took more steps and I think Brad got it on film. He is just so close. I will be so relieved once he is a full time walker. I think he will be, too.

I hope his teeth pop through quickly, my sweet little bug.

Friday, August 26, 2005

walking...

Yesterday, Elias was standing all over the place, in the water fountain, in the kitchen and all around the house. Just before bedtime, he stood up again and took two big steps! He's still quite wobbly. He didn't perform much today, but I suspect it won't be long!!

Thursday, August 25, 2005

standing!

Yesterday, again while Elias was playing with his truck, he stood up in the middle of the floor twice! He was so proud of himself, gosh it was cute!

Wednesday, August 24, 2005

Oh, the things he can do...

On the word front, Elias is currently saying bee, balloon, berry (bear), dog, tree (bree), and baby. The other day, I swear he said kitty and star. He can, of course, say mama and dad and sometimes says nana. He can also say car and whoa. He likes to drive his ride cars around the house at alarming speeds! And, he can play the kazzoo, the harmonica and the flute!! Oh, he has also started pointing and saying "dat" at just about everything he sees. He can do the sign for tree, he can do a sign for airplane, and he has started asking me for milk. Yeah!

On Monday, Elias was rolling his car along the floor when, from out of nowhere, he just stood up, holding the car. I looked at him and said "What are you doing?" and he promptly sat down. Hmmmm, I think something fishy is going on around here. That was the first time I'd seen him stand up unattended without a couch or person's leg to pull himself up on.

Yesterday, Elias was waving hello and smiling to everyone. At one point, I looked at him eyeballing the people behind us and his finger was half-way up his nose as he smiled and flirted with the strangers. Funny.

Yesterday, he also took a step! He was standing arms length away from me and I said "Come here!" With a big grin on his face, he bounded one huge step toward me! He's just so great and fun, changing so much everyday!

Friday, August 19, 2005

Elias turns one!

I feel like I have been stuck inside a whirlwind for the past two weeks in preparation for my family coming and for Elias's big day. Now, things are starting to settle and I can take the time to reflect over the event. It was a glorious day, filled with friends and family. Kind and understanding friends and family who I was dissappointed not to visit with longer. As for Elias, he handled all the hoopla as though he had always been destined to turn one. He stuck close by his pops, but was friendly and sweet with all who wanted to wish him a happy day. Despite all of the practicing, Elias didn't blow out his candle and he was nonplussed regarding his cake. He actually hardly ate anything the whole weekend. I think he was just too amped from all the excitement. He was sweet, boy, was he.

On his birthday proper, we had his pictures taken at Sears. He is certainly starting to look like a big boy! WOW! And acting like one, too. He's just so darn curious about the world these days, pointing at everything, working so hard to eeck out new words, and more and more, being assertive and vocal about likes and dislikes. He seems so solid, I can't help but feel and believe that Brad and I are right on in our parenting. :-) Yeah!

Elias is handling the sudden influx of a gazzillion toys well also! It's just crazy how many goodies he received and how generous everyone was!

Both Brad and I wish that we could have spent more time with Shaun. It was just so hard with all of the party prep. I think we regret that this was our summer visit with him when we ALWAYS look so forward to playing with him and making sure he has a super time. :-(

Sunday, July 31, 2005

Getting the clap

Well, he's got it, he can clap and for three days now. He is so delighted everytime he is moved to do it. His arms straight up in front of his little face, his finger tensely straight, as well, focused entirely on smacking the other hand of fingers. Clap clap clap, high five with mommy's hand, and clap with a big ear to ear grin that beams esteem for his new accomplishment.

Friday evening, Brad went to a wedding and I put Elias to bed. I usually don't relish this task as it is long and tedious and at times seems impossible. I've had a lot more patience these days and understanding for the workings of this little guy. Being around good mommas, like Piper's mom and Oscar's mom, really helps me stay on track! Anyway, we'd been at the sleep thing for 40 minutes and he was really fighting it. We were bouncing around, he, struggling to keep his head off of my shoulder, leans away from me to get a good look into my eyes and starts clapping. "Yes, I know you can clap now, good job! But, now it is time to go to sleep." I really had a big grin after that one. What a sweet sweet boy.

I've been working with Elias to prepare him for his birthday celebration. I sing the last line of "Happy Birthday" to him and then say, "Okay, now you blow out the candles." And, I blow in a very exagerrated way in his direction. He thinks it's pretty silly. He can blow but not sure if he'll do it on command. He's pretty much like a sponge now, though. Like when I do the four and 20 horses rhyme, he will stick out his tongue on cue, out popped the red bull... He's good.

Yesterday, when we were going to PAO, Elias look across the street and said "bal" at a bunch of balloons. I'm fit to burst with enthusiasm for all of this remarkable growth! Hooray!

Wednesday, July 27, 2005

Clapping for the lovie!

Elias walked around all day yesterday with a ping pong ball firmly grasped in his little hand. I think this is his new and first ever lovie. Cuddle up!

He is so close to clapping his little hands. He was clapping his hand to a block and then clapping two blocks together. His final hoorah was clapping his hand to his fist! It was very exciting, very very.

Tuesday, July 26, 2005

If I had one wish...

...it would be to put an end to the carseat screaming. Not world peace or the end of famine, or even scurvy (I just throw that in because Brad thinks it's funny when I bring up scurvy), just no more misery coming at me from the seemingly terrorized little person behind me in the car. This may seem drastic but unless you have experienced it for as many hours over the last 11+ months as I have, understanding this is lost. For me as a mother, there is nothing worse than Elias crying and me being unable to soothe him. The carseat successfully accomplishes both of these. When we're driving down I-5 in rush hour traffic, I can't pull over, take him out to help alleviate his frustration, sadness, anger, despair. It's not safe and it gets us no closer to the end of the screaming. I've tried it before. It lengthens the torture and maybe even causes more pronounced screams. Once one has tasted freedom, it's that much harder to again be enslaved.

Ugh. I try everything, too, and nothing works twice. Sometimes some things work but Elias has definitely been known to "cry all the way home." I think the farthest distance was from Salem to Portland. Talk about nerves being shot? "I feel like I'm taking crazy pills." (a favorite quote of Brad's) I do alot of the following trying to quiet the beast: I sing horrible reditions of Do Ra Me (Duane can attest to this), Six Little Ducks, You Are My Sunshine and a gaggle of other childhood favorites, I rub his fuzz head, stretching my arm around to the back seat and shhhhushhhing gently, I pass him toys, food, and drink, I try a wide variety of musical options from the radio, and of course make up songs to tunes like Farmer in the Dell that go something like, "Elias hates the car. Elias hates the Car. Hi ho the merrio, Elias hates the car..." and "We both wish we were home, because we're going insane. Hi ho..." Sometimes, I cry, too. I can't help it, it's just awful. My emotions are all over the place, probably just like his, frustration, immense helplessness, desparation, ugh.

Today, on the way home from a nice afternoon with Duane, Elias was using his new cry, very high pitched and sounding totally defeated. He started right away, when Duane was still in the car. Duane and I gave singing our best shot, but ended up sounding like dying cows and giggling quite a bit. Our lack of seriousness really rubbed Elias the wrong way and made his crying all the more intense (I believe he can sense insincerity with the singing. If he feels I am really enjoying singing and giving it my all, he calms down. If he senses he is being placated, this seems to anger him and add fuel to the fire). I really felt awful for him all the way home from Duane's house. Nothing worked until I started improvising with my own lyrics to a few songs and combo-ed that with gentle fuzz head massage. About 15 blocks shy of home, there were some breaks in the hysterics. As we approached the light at 33rd and Fremont, all that was heard was my stupid, nonsense song to Farmer in the Dell. I looked back and Elias was asleep, letting out a little sob every few breaths, you know when you are crying really hard and can't really breathe properly anymore. Poor poor sweet boy. I vowed to him to keep car travel to a minimum tomorrow.

I wonder if turning him around, when he's older and big enough, will make a difference?

Sunday, July 24, 2005

Elias's acrobatics and the breast

I think Elias is finally starting to enjoy breastfeeding. For the longest time, it seemed to me that breastfeeding was more of a thing he would do to placate the frantic mother, concerned that her baby wasn't getting enough to eat, who presented her breast to him hourly for most of his life. "Do you want some milk?" Relentless as I have been, giving in was the only way he assumed he could get some peace and quiet.

These days, Elias climbs up into my lap, buries his head in my chest and pulls at my arms and shirt. I ask, "Do you want some milk?" (doing the sign for milk, of course) He flops down into my lap and opens his mouth, hands ready to grab the prize. After several sips, he pulls away, holding on firmly to the breast but surveying his surrounds. Has anything changed since I started? Nope, not yet, and back on he goes. Then, his body starts to turn and twist. He puts his leg on my shoulder, he pushes up with the other leg. He's nearly UPSIDEDOWN! He gives a good wiggle to check his foot hold. He brings his legs down and moves them and his torso out of the middle of my lap. As far as he can and still keep slurping down the milk. He turns onto his knees, rotating his head 30 degrees or so. He is kneeling in front of me, now standing, now kneeling, now standing..."How in the world is this not killing my breast?" I think. Brad walks into the room, looks at us and scowls. "You're both weird," he says and walks off.

Then finally, after no more than five minutes, he breaks away, looking refreshed and cheery, and off he is again to playing with whatever he happens upon. Yeah, I think he's really hooked.

Wednesday, July 20, 2005

Crazy day

Just as it sounds, todays was nutty!

First, Elias slept in until 8:30AM! He never does that, but he did and we felt pretty darn good after that! This is not so crazy, I guess. In the afternoon, however, Elias fell onto his face onto Heide's toe and got a bloody nose! I worried that it might be broken so we scooted off to Kaiser and low and behold, it was not broken, just scratched inside. Poor boy, what a scare for the both of us! And not to mention a big surprise to Heide's toe.

Then, something kinda gross happened. I've been letting Elias be free of the confines of his diaper around the house because the heat has been giving him an awful behind rash. Today, he pooped and peed right on the kitchen floor. What a shock to turn to him and see him closely examining his feces on the kitchen floor. No big crisis. Our floor is poop friendly. Crazy, a bit, though, I thought.

Elias can shake his head no. It is super cute. He is also crazy about his tongue. I also think he can walk but is holding back because he likes to be carried. What I have observed from him is that he may be lazy. I could also consider it efficient, though. He likes to find an object he can slide around. Then, he puts it in one of his hands and slides that had whilehe crawls, thus evading the act of using both hands to crawl. As a matter of fact, I witnessed him pushing along a magazone while crawling, entirely eliminating having to pick up his hands at all. I think this approach may have precipitated his nose injury today, though. Efficient but dangerous.

Thursday, July 14, 2005

Entering into month 11

I can't believe that tomorrow, Elias will be 11 months old! It is in some ways, very hard to believe that he is almost one. On the other hand, I can hardly remember life without him, therefore, I'd expect him to be 2 or 4 or 15. He seems much older to me than a 1 year old and when I look at him in comparison to other one year olds, Elias seems like an old soul, I don't know why. Someone recently speculated that I must be sad because the baby days are quickly passing. I don't really think I am, though. It's not like a kitten, all soft and fluffy and little, pouncing around and being sweet. Watch his mind grow has been one of the most amazing experiences I have been given the gift to observe and to nurture, but mostly to observe.

In the past few weeks, Elias has been trying to say words and trying to stand and walk. He has figure out how to put things into other things and to take things out of other things. He is a master at flipping pages and his pincer grasp, unfortunately, often demonstrating this on mommy's arm (OUCH!). Elias is not a conventional man. He is industrious and outside of the box for sure. Instead of being in his exersaucer, he likes to crawl under it and push it around the house. He has started playing give and take games which is also very cool. When he likes something (foodwise), he can have a monsterous appetite. His little teeth bite pretty hard and effificently, too. He's eating bigger and bigger pieces of things, and sometimes, when what he has devoured is something he isn't supposed to eat, he will take it out of his mouth and give it to mommy, if she remembers to ask nicely.

Elias is very good at expressing his emotions. He doesn't hold back, which is soo good! He loves a smiling face and can be quite a little flirt at times, too. He's waking up from a nap....

Tuesday, June 14, 2005


Elias enjoying the water squirts at the pool! 5-27-05 Posted by Hello

"I like to get messy when I eat...it's good for the complexion!" 5-19-05 Posted by Hello

Family portrait, 5-15-05 Posted by Hello

Baby boxing 5-15-05 Posted by Hello

Enjoying the deer and scenery at the lake. 5/14/05 Posted by Hello

Riding high on Mother's Day Posted by Hello

Baby Guitar on Mother's Day Posted by Hello

The days of danger

Today, I awoke to the sound of wine bottles clanking together in the dining room. Where's my little boy? At 5AM no less, he had flown the coup and was in the process of moing his play yard to get to the forbidden wine rack. That's how I started my day. I brought him back into bed and tried to nurse him back to sleep. This must have worked for a few minutes... I then woke up to a thud and a cry, Elias has fallen off the mattress which he can usually slink off with ease. Not starting out so smooth. As the morning progressed, so did the accidents. The table in his bedroom, down on top of him, the nightstand, a near disaster. And, finally, the slip off the piano onto the window sill. This little man is crazy!

I have to mention also that yesterday, while eating his breakfast, and while I was putting away silverware next to him, he swiftly grabbed the drawer and pulled himself into the drawer, toppling the highchair, with me left hanging on to his head (it was the only part of him I could grab!!). The whole chair with him in it fell down, but I think I broke the fall.

Despite the daredevil stunts, no injuries have bee sustained, well, except perhaps the slightly traumatized momma. Daily I grapple with what I should and shouldn't let him explore and figure out. Let's face it, he does have to learn that he should take his time getting out of bed, and that if he grabs the drawer while he's in his highchair, he could fall over. Actually, though, these things he is doing I could not have foreseen the outcome, although I can now, that's for certain. I don't want him to get hurt. It sucks. But, aside from caging him in up, it seems inevitable! I think he could hurt himself on a cotton ball if he tried, I really do. I try to look at this as Elias teaching mommy a thing or two about child-proofing. Achieving it is so much more than just locking drawers and plugging outlets, it's like Zen...

Sunday, June 12, 2005

Elias waves bye bye, for real!

Today, as we left Brad's grandparent's house, Elias put up his little hand a waved farewell as we left. It was so exciting, Brad said he almost shed a tear.

He's been practicing standing quite a bit over the weekend, he may be taking his first real step anyday.

Elias is pretty funny. He likes to blow bubbles in the glass of water while "drinking." He also likes to make fart noises on my arms and legs. Sometimes he bites my arms and legs...that's no fun.

The other day when walking with some friends, Elias got down to the stroller tire and started picking the dirt off and eating it! He loves to eat his books and paper of any kind. In the sandbox, he'll stick his slobbery hand in the sand and come up with a handful of sand. Guess where this goes? Right into the mouth! Ugh! His oral fixation kinda grosses me out. I hope we move past this phase someday.

Sunday, June 05, 2005

Walking Man

Elias attempted his first steps this weekend. He's a bold little man with relatively little balance. He is determined though, and twice on Saturday, he decided to pull away, while standing, and take a stab at this thing we call walking. Landed square on his bottom, but he sure does get an "A" for effort!

Thursday, June 02, 2005

Elias:strong brain and body

I've been watching Elias use his brain power and physical might lately. For example, he can pull his playyard all around the dining room. It looks pretty impressive! He has been toying with the idea of standing, recently, and has stood freely several times for several seconds! The latest time, we were at the pool in the water! I was like "What are you doing?!@#$#!!?"

But, where his body is growing, so is his brain by tenfold. I recently added a flip the flaps book to his nightitme reading collection and Brad told me the other day that Elias can flip the flaps. So, sure enough, I watched him reading the other night and he can! I never imagined he'd be interaction with books already this way!

Yesterday, we played on the floor in the living room for a long time. Elias was mastering dropping the ball into this hole on this musical light up toy. He's good at it! And, when it falls into the hole, he looks down sideways and tries to reach in through the top to get that darn ball that he knows is inside.

Elias is also very curious about his tongue and the tongues of others these days. He sticks his tongue out and laughs at the sight of other tongues. He grabs his tongue and really laughs when he puts his hands in my mouth and I surprise him with my togue on his fingers.

There are many other things a-happening with this little boy.

Tuesday, May 24, 2005

Eight teeth and other thoughts

Elias has eight teeth, four on top four on bottom. how balanced he must feel! I've been feeling more and more lately our relationship with one another really starting to blossom! I know him which might sound weird because he's been with me ever since he took his second breath and I guess well before that too. Our relationship is starting to become more real, more balanced, too, I guess, not unlike his teeth. I love him so passionately sometimes I fear I'll crack my teeth gritting with love!! He is so good and sweet and truly is the center of my world... I'm glad for that! It's about time someone else held that post!

The weather has been fantastic and we have started this week taking lots of walks. I think tomorrow we may play with Charolette in her little baby pool. I love that he is developing regular playmates. I will enjoy watching them grow into friendships. Elias played with Gus today...they were suprisingly gentle with one another. Sattie, Gus's momma, made a very interesting point about babies and the whole concept of sharing. That the baby just sort of thinks, for the most part, "No problem if that other baby takes my toy. I'll just grab is back!" It's just so simple and balanced in alot of ways. I wonder when it all changed? How nice it would be to be able to just act on an emotion, feeling or desire, without being caught up with how this affects someone else. Clearly, I'm talking about "good intentions," nothing evil or malicious. Maybe I'll start practicing this with Brad, when he's drinking a cup of tea or eating a chocolate bar, just nabbing it for myself!!! He could always take it back if he really wanted to. Is that evil?

Friday we are leaving Elias with Duane and Jim and going to see the Pixies. We are seeing B-sides, which I was pleasantly suprised I am familiar with thanks to ptownpoolboy P-Lohr who has over the years, helped to up my cool factor by exposing me to good tunes. Thanks P! We love ya over here. Anyway, leaving Elias, part of me wants to have a real night out but the other part says race to the show, in and out and home by 9PM. I'll miss him, I think. I know...

Monday, May 16, 2005

Lots of new can-dos

It has been so long since I've last written, partially because our laptop has been down for two weeks and it is not easy to find the time to escape downstairs away from the little bug. He is sitting in my lap chewing a plastic soup ladel, so I'm not sure how far I will get. He has accomplished alot inin the past 14 days. To name a few:

1. Elias can climb stairs
2. He can crawl up onto a trampoline.
3. He can crawl off of the bed without bonking.
4. He can crawl into his toy bin and stand.
5. He can crawl on top of a flipped over laundry basket.
6. He can unscrew a flashlight.
7. Elias can pull the night stand down on top of himself (along with the kitchen chair)
8. Elias has seven teeth.
9. Elias understands the milk sign and can make it if he wants to.
10. He has been spotted pointing with his whole hand.
11. He has been spotted waving bye-bye from across the room.
12. Elias has demonstrated an affinity for my sock drawer.

Elias continues to get stronger and more assertive every day. He growls and sings and knows how to be sneaky.

Very little progress with the hairs.

Monday, May 02, 2005

My little Latin lover...

Elias expressly likes the spanish songs on his Dan Zanes CD. He smiles ear to ear, giggles, squeals and often flaps the ole' arms when these songs come on. Maybe he'll be a linguist or an interpreter? Maybe he'll want to be a matador or a hat dancer?? Lara thinks he might be a Latin lover in the making...tee hee.

Sunday, May 01, 2005

ALWAYS knock on wood.

The other day, our friends Duane and Jim came over for dinner. I casually mentioned to Duane that Elias is just the best baby, no issues whatsoever, and that he sleeps brilliantly, aside from waking up seeral times at night, he usually goes to bed with ease, he takes two long naps each day and he never wants to "wake up" in the middle of the night for play. I vow never to say anything like this again because no sooner did I mention this, then it all fell apart! Sleep is in total disarray since I said that. Ugh.

This goofed up sleep schedule has left Mr. Elias feeling quite sensitive during the day. He's up and down like the "Blue Streak" at Cedar Point. And, his cries, which I think I might have mentioned in an earlier blog, are reminescent to a Teredactyl, seriously prehistoric. Poor guy. I'm thinking all of this change is leading up to something big, like a kanine tooth or free standing or recital of our national anthem. Who knows?

Lately, in watching Elias "on the move," I have come to imagine his future potential. For example, he quite enjoys blowing and yelling/talking into his plastic bead, which creates a neat echo. I recently purchased him a stretch plastic tube that makes a whistling sound if spun around above the head (my best description). He likes to talk/sing/yell through it as well and gets a real kick out of me doing it back to him. So, maybe his calling will be more within the wind instruments than in strings...

Elias also takes great delight in going through his book basket and sampling the books, usually with his mouth. Who am I kidding? Everything still makes it to the mouth. In fact, the other day, when I went to take Elias out of his car seat, he had the address tag from the airlines from our recent trip to Ohio half devoured in his little mouth. I had to dig out the paper bits from his mouth! He wasn't very happy about that, neither was I.

Elias does get extremely excited by his bath, he squeals and squeals and tries to lift his little legs into the tub. We have a tub seat, handed down and passed along to us from Jennifer and he enjoys it! Maybe he'll lead deep sea expeditions!

One definite change noticed lately is that when 5:30PM rolls around and he hears the front door open and close, he knows his Daddy is home and he is sooo excited to greet him with a big smile and some arm flapping!

So much is happening these days, it's hard to remember it all by the time I have some time for writing. He is really growing fast, that's without a doubt!

Tuesday, April 26, 2005


My boy in late March. Very sweet and smiley. Posted by Hello

Monday, April 25, 2005

Time flying by

Gosh, so much has been happening these days, I hardly know where to begin. Elias is getting huge, both physically and mentally/emotionally. He hardly seems like a baby anymore. :-( Lately, he has really begun to demonstrate anger, frustration and impatience. I believe I have a toddler here. He has developed a specific screamy-cry just for the emotions. And, if things go too far, he puts forth such a sad, beaten-down sounding cry, it just breaks my heart. I know this must be a super frustrating time for him. He is developing the capacity for preferences, expectation, etc., but is still unable to communicate any of this, leaving us, in the speaking and even signing world dumbfounded. For example, tonight, Elias took a very short nap and although he didn't wake up crying, was obviously tired still. I brought him out into the kitchen (because we were eating) , nursed him a bit and then put him in his highchair, preparing to offer him some food. I gave him some cottage cheese, and within minutes of spreading it all over his tray and face, was just desperate. He was so sensitive like that for the rest of the evening. He would squirm away and I'd put him down and he'd cry or scream to be picked up. He'd come to me and start feeding and just seem so disappointed for no apparent cause. I think he just felt like nothing was going right for him. It is very hard to see him like this, but I was reading in a book somewhere that it is just that determination and drive to overcome frustration through learning how to communicate and to do things on their own that help them achieve. I try to think of this for hope and understanding during those moments when Elias seems to be ready to cry over spilled milk.

He's cute and lovey. He likes to be tickled under his chin and pretend gobbled on his back. He's a big fan of other people's noses and has also recently learned to grab the cat's tail. Both Brad and I think his hair is really growing in, but to a complete stranger, he's probably still a bald, little baby.

Thursday, April 14, 2005

6th tooth and other amazing feats

Since the last post, Elias has started babbling, first saying "bababababababa" and then "mamamamama" and "dadadadadadada." Ma and da occured while on our trip to Ohio. Ma on April 10th, da on April 11th. Today, he is stringing all of his syllabels together, really chatting away. His sixth tooth came in just before the trip, as predicted. He is really growing up "right before our eyes," as Brad said just the other day and whimpered.

He had a most wonderful trip to Ohio where he met his cousin Shaun and Uncles Matt and Ken for the first time. Lots of first introductions. Also, his first airplane trip, which he just handled so wonderfully. He was a little sick, so we gave him some Benedryl for the trip, which relaxed him and helped his ears and nose. We all had such a great time and were sad to have the fun end. Being with my family really makes me wish I lived closer and could be more a part of their daily lives as well as they of ours. I am looking forward to Elias's first birthday for our next reunion!

Today, we are slowly unpacking and readjusting to being home. He is showing me how he has mastered standing up in risky places. He is also showing with his facial expressions and eyes an understanding of certain words like kitty and ball. He is really amazing me everyday. The vacation was such a nice break from our regular routine, and has left mommy feeling refreshed.

Wednesday, March 30, 2005

Tooth # 5 is in!

It is so funny to be looking at Elias's once toothless grin and to be faced with a veritable mouth full of teeth! They are pushing their way through his gums like gangbuster! Today, while feeding him, he looked up at me and made a silly, open-mouthed grin, exposing his latest prize: left, middle tooth. My guess is that he will have all four on top before going to Ohio.

Elias and I are really having a good time these days. Sure, his teeth are still an issue, but we have found ways around the agony of the teeth. Cheerios, for example, provide a fabulous distraction from the aching gums. He can chomp away at the "o" like nobody's business. Music and dancing also helps. He loves to rock out to Dan Zanes! He crawls up into my lap and convinces me to get up and boogie down! We have fun reading and playing peekaboo, going for walks, and resting together. Again, I am faced with another moment of being so pleasantly overwhelmed with the ever growing love that I feel for this silly little dear creature. I am so glad that I am able to stay home with him during these days and watch all of his beauty unfolding.

We went to Baby and Me group today. Elias was a social butterfly, as usual. I've been noticing how hard he works to grab the attention of others. As the facilator was talking to the group, Elias was staring at her, smiling, and waiting for her to catch his attention. He is also very much showing distinct signs of object permanence, being very, very curious and committed to searching when things are removed from his sight. It's pretty amazing that only a few months ago, everything he saw, no matter if he had seen it a million times before, had a sense of newness to it. Elias is also still so intrigued by the other children and people and TOYS! He is not shy, he'll crawl right into the laps of other mommies, or dig right into their purses. He'll crawl right up to another baby and pat them on the head or grab their toy. He'll also gladly plop someone else's toy right inside his mouth, too. I always try to wait and see if the other parents say they mind or don't mind. Sometimes I ask, especially when he is so persistant and unwavering in his commmitment to mark with drool someone else's toy. I just don't see any ways of stopping it. Kids eat the toys of others.

Elias was also very entertaining during the group to others by trying to climb onto the underside shelf of a cart next to where we were sitting. If it weren't for me holding on to his leg, he would have definitely face-planted onto it! We had fun. It was quite and active time.

Thursday, March 24, 2005


Here are some of the other pictures taken. Elias was so funny and just perfect in "Elias" form. He would not sit for any of the poses, except for one, I guess, where I had to grab the back of his shirt. I'd sit him down and off he would go, my little cruiser. He sure liked that rocking horse!!! Posted by Hello

Elias is 7 months and 1 week. This is his latest photo shoot! Posted by Hello

Thursday, March 17, 2005

Tooth # 4

Yesterday, it was confirmed that tooth number 4 has pushed it's way through Elias's gums. Hehas officially taken on the looks of Count Dracula, both in appearance and behavior.

Today, at play group, Elias bullied a little girl by pinching her neck. He doesn't really have smooth moves with the ladies yet, that's for sure. While doing the Grand Ole' Dutchess of York, Elias smiled at me and out popped his little left top fang. Too cute! A truly precious moment. He really loves that Dutchess!

Tuesday, March 15, 2005

Elias is seven months old

It's so funny that some nights, when I am so excrutiatingly exhausted and have pleaded with Brad to "wear" Elias down to sleep, I feel so lost and lonely in those 30 minutes where I would have been cradling my little one in my arms and gently caressing his cheek as he drifts off to sleep.

Elias and I were playing around this evening and he gave me a bloody nose by sticking his thumb pretty far up my nasal passage. Impressive. He is seven months old today.

Wednesday, March 09, 2005

Elias leaves the room

Changing Elias has become quite a dance. Usually, if we are changing a pee-pee diaper, he will climb up next the crib and allow me an opportunity to change his diaper as he continues to play with his Whoozit and exercises his new skill of standing up one-handed. For these trivial matters, he prefers to not be interupted from his work:play. The days of lying on the floor during the routine change are long gone. He's got too much to do to slow down enough for that. Lately, he has begun taking note that actually any sort of changing, while standing up or lying down, is just too annoying for him to bear. So, from the position of standing next to the crib, he will sit in protest just as I am trying to put his new diaper on. SMART little hard-headed stinker. In effort not to make a big deal out of his new protest, I allow him to move about his room, unclothed, until he gets bored with it and then I swoop in with something interesting and seize the opportunity to cloth him. It works in theory.

Yesterday, as Elias was tooling around his room naked, in between changings, he crawled off the carpet (kind of a new thing) and toward the door. In the hallway, he spotted Olive sitting on the rug. He used to have a thing for thresholds and rooms, where he was quite reluctant to cross over. Without hestiation however, as if a testimony of his maturation, he headed down the hall after Olive, who baited him by scooting away from the approaching baby monster. Pretty soon, it was just me, sitting on my knees in Elias's room, looking down an empty hallway. I got up and he was in the dining room by the time I caught up with him. I'm glad summer is coming because I fear that all opportunities for changing him are soon to vanish completely. Then, Elias can fulfill his destiny of being little naked boy trucking around the house!

Elias's other top tooth, one off center to the left has started making it's way through the gums, and brings with it a host of unhappy feelings. Really, the pain must just be tremendous. And, as if that weren't enough, teething also brings a lovely snotty cold! I'm sorry to say that the teething has driven both myself and his dad to hit the Full-O-Fat Rocky Road Ice Cream. I must admit, I've been eating it sometimes twice a day just to make it through the day. We'll all be glad when the teething has passed, especially our waistlines!.

Poor guy. On a positive note, however, Elias is really demonstrating some brainiacal tendencies. Like, when he drops an object over the edge of the chair onto the floor, he knows it's fallen and can look over the edge for the toy. He is also awesome at following the direction of a sound. He's pretty amazing.

Saturday, March 05, 2005


Yummy fingers Posted by Hello

"I'm cute!" Posted by Hello

Check out those two bottom teeth. Oh, yeah, and look at where he has climbed to! He's a real mover and shaker! Posted by Hello

Mercilessly devouring an innocent fireman.  Posted by Hello

Elias and Daddy having a fun time in the kitchen! Posted by Hello

"Hello! I'm climbing on a box!" Posted by Hello

Thursday, March 03, 2005

First Cheerio, First Kiss, First Fight

It's hard to imagine all of the firsts Elias must experience in a 24 hour period. Certainly more than the three listed above, although none as significant. Good God!

Yesterday morning, I decided to introduce the Cheerios, since the doctor had said it would be alright for him eat Cheerios and green beans. I thought Cheerios would be more fun than beans. so, I soaked two Cheerios in breast milk. The first one, I crushed into quarters and mashed with my fingers and let him eat the mashed mess off of my finger. He's seemed interested. The second, which was mushy from the milk, I gave to him mostly whole. He was alright at first, moving the Cheerio around in his mouth. Things went haywire during the swallow, with gagging and coughing. Just as I was about to give him the Heimlich, he pulled through. The result of that experiment is too young for Cheerios.

Yesterday afternoon, we went to a parenting group. Elias fell in love with two of the baby girls from his birth class. He crawled right up to one and tried to claw her face off (I intercepted just in time). And, when he went to greet Jenna, she grabbed hold of his head and gave him a big wet kiss right on the crown of his head. It was very sweet. After that, Elias griped and cried for the remainder of the group. I'm not sure, besides the kissing, how crazy he is for that group. I think he felt a little boxed in.

Today, we went to a play group in the morning. Elias really had a great time. He was crawling into the laps of the other mothers and standing up, playing with toys, and just basically, fitting right in like a little kid! He went up to another little boy who is 5-6 months older and proceded to greet him with a smack in the face. The little boy was startled and cried. Elias has a ways to go before mastering play yard etiquette, I guess. Actually, it wasn't a very hard smack, more like a pat, but it's not a very fun way to be greeted, I suspect.

The down side to the play group this morning is that Elias did not get a decent nap in today. He also had a pretty major spill on the wood floor while playing with Julia, which seemed to have knocked lose his goodmood-o-meter. He finally fell to sleep at around 3:30PM, only to wake up with the most depressing little cry about 30 minutes into his nap. :-( He's still sleeping now, and I am hopeful that he'll put the fall behind him.

Oh, yeah, two days ago, Elias started biting me! Yowza! Talk about shocking pain! He's not biting very often, but enough to provoke intervention, which he feels generally depressed about, too. When I "pop" him off my breast, he seems very hurt and sad. I hope he gets the picture that mommy is no chomping ground. I think it's been hard on both of us.

Friday, February 25, 2005

Teething Hell

I've decided that Elias has a very low threshold for pain. At least if I think of it that way, I don't have to believe that he is suffering any more than any other baby. In some babies, I've heard that teeth magically appear from one day to the next with no signs of distress. With Elias, it's like amputation without the use of anesthetics. BAD NEWS. Last weekend, the drool started full force. A friend came over and I showed her his gums. She said she thought they looked pretty bad: swollen and red. On Monday, he was so miserable and sensitive. He would just think of falling on his head and start to cry, although at times he would actually tumble (he's really on the move these days, standing up on anything and everything, and VERY DARING), usually resulting in a good cry and a need for consolation. I finally broke down and sent Brad to the store for baby ibuprofen. Reluctantly, I adminstered the first dose on Wednesday morning. I couldn't take his pain any longer. He seemed relieved. I felt relieved. Yesterday morning, same thing. He started to show signs of pain and crankiness and I did it again, and again, we were both relieved. Today, he got a dose in the morning and one at night. After teething oils, homeopathic remedies, cool teething rings, wet washcloths, plastic teethers, rubber spoons, and baby tylenol, I am so tremendously thankful that something is working.

At present, Elias has two bottom teeth (in the middle) and one I tooth (left of center) on the top. According to the swelling, he may have four front teeth on the top before too long. At this rate, I fear that his adult teeth will be pushing through at around 9 months.

Thursday, February 24, 2005


Elias and Mommy having a good time! Posted by Hello

My little crawler! Posted by Hello

"Piano man" Posted by Hello

Elias in studly get-up Posted by Hello