Amy's Eli

Elias the budding scupltor

2008-02-10T21:49:00.000-08:00

Not too long ago, Elias made his artistic mama very proud by presenting her with his first, spontaneous and representational clay (okay, not really, just playdough) sculpture of Mount Saint Helens erupting. See how proudly he stands by his work! Well, actually, he can hardly keep his eyes off of the cone cup he procured from the Dr. office after visiting for a diagnosed double ear infection!. As many of you who follow this blog may know, Elias has a explosive fascination with Mt. St. Helens, volcanos erupting, lava, the earth's crust, etc. Two dimensional drawings of this event started early in the fall. Now, this progression into the 3rd dimension really marks something developmentally fantastic, don't you think?? Let's do have a close up, shall we? Impressive, I know. Let me tell you about this art piece, according to Elias, the gray portion is Mt. St. Helens before it erupted with the point intact. What you are seeing with the yellow and white is actual lava spewing out from the top of the mountain. The blue portion underneath the mountain is a lake and the green and turquiose points protruding from either side are trees in the forest around the mountain.

It really was a lovely accomplishment and Elias felt so proud. What an amazing pleasure to be derived from creating something with your very own hands!!

Decorating the tree

2007-12-07T22:49:00.000-08:00

Elias has become quite the independent little man since starting school. It has astounded me in many ways over the past few months what he is both capable of and what he is doing. It's has been wonderful, I really feel like we are converging. For the longest time I can recall feeling like I didn't know him at all, what he was about, what really motivates and drives him? I don't know if he has made more sense of that for himself and it is apparent or if he has really allowed me to get to know him better. However it came about will remain a mystery. The outcome, however, warms my heart each and everyday.

Although one thing does remain a mystery...what is happening in school? It's my desire to not let go of him that keeps this need to know all of the happenings for each of his waking moments alive, I'm sure. But when he comes home and tells me, grinning very innocently from ear to ear and reporting that he "lost the opportunity" to do some activity, I cannot let it go. I need to dig at it until I can get to the bottom of it. He reported, "I was playing a game with Ira and I said "oinky oinky," then Mary Jo made me sit and do nothing." How horrible this sounded! I dig deeper but the story goes on the make even less sense and become more confused. UGH! I find myself frustrated at IRA, who is this character, anyway? Why does Elias always return home with stories of Ira being a stinker? Then, I imagine poor Elias sitting all day at a table, staring out into space doing nothing and blankly wondering, "Why?" My rage turns to the teachers. Aren't they teaching any basic problem solving skills? We do that at home ALL OF THE TIME with Dahlia and Elias...time outs are the absolute last resort, when all else has failed and the violence simply must stop. Then, as if from out of nowhere, frustration turns towards Brad. Why can't he write a letter to the teacher and tell her we are paying a boat load and the very least she could do is give us daily reports of Elias's every interaction? Why do I ALWAYS have to look like the irrational, overly protective freak-o mom? Poor Brad, that was really from out of nowhere and completely unwarranted. I'm sorry, my sweet. I guess the answer to the last question is that I AM. I may always be. I'll accept ( or at least try) that sometimes I may be reactive and other times, I might just blog it out, like what a complete bitch that parent was that would not relent in remarking in front of Elias that Elias was wearing pajamas to school. Bitch! (Forgive me for swearing in your blog, my love)

On a more glorious note, Brad and the kids picked out the best christmas tree ever last night while I was working. This christmas is so magical for Elias already, I can feel it. The day I brought up the decorations, he immediately found a bag of little painted wodden ornaments and stashed most of them away in his stocking only after spending much time creating an "ornament train" along the floor.

While Elias was at school today, I sorted through all of the ornaments and put aside those that were unbreakable. I decided that with Dahlia being the "messing with everything" enthusiast that she is, maybe this year, we'll keep out only the unbreakable ones. While I put Dahlia down for a nap, I invited him to hang some of the ornaments. To my amazement, he hung them all and then did a little rearranging of the "fragile ones" I had placed higher up. The tree is an all of 5 feet tall noble fir which Brad says Elias picked out. It has a stubby, wide load at the bottom and a tall, pokey top. It's wonderful and perfect. And, Elias did a beautiful job decorating the tree. I so enjoy decoratng the tree, too. I hope he always will.

For the past few nights, I've been going to sleep with Elias and then Dahlia. I usually camp out with Dahlia and Brad with Elias. We've been doing things this way for so long, I had forgotten how much I miss being with Elias at night (even though he did torture me). We have had several lovely evenings of reading Peter Pan. Then, as we are falling asleep, he asked, "Can I touch your ear all the way until morning?" "What do you think?" I reply. "I think I can," he says and then when touching my ear gets too rough, he holds my hands, and then, much more quickly than I remember ever happening when he was just a wee bit younger, his hand relaxes in my hand and I can hear his breathing become very deep and rhythmic, and he is asleep. Oh, how I love this little man. More than words can say!

First day of school and other happenings

2007-09-18T21:36:00.000-07:00

As the title suggests, today was Elias's first day of preschool, starting at Two Rivers Montessori in the Sunflower Cottage. His teachers/guides are Anna and Mary. Yesterday, we went to the classroom for a visit and Elias jumped right in. He took Anna around the classroom and showed her what interested him. When they took his first work to a little table, Anna brought a stool over to him to sit next to him. As they moved on to something else and another table, he proclaimed, "Wait, I have to bring you stool over!" How sweet is he, really, how darn sweet? This morning, we talked about the steps of our routine again as we drove to school(get out of the car, walk through the gate, walk down the stairs, up the path and stop at the mat in front of the cottage. I'll get down on my knees and give him a super big hug and kiss and wish him a good day at school and say I'll see him at 12PM). We were so early, I had to drive around the lock about six times. We walked into school and ran into Eddison and Mercedes along the way. Eddison was running up the path and Elias followed suit. Then, he stopped by the path in front of his cottage. He waited for me and then we walked up to the door. He said, "Mom, you acn go with me," and then I remembered that we weren't on the mat. We jumped over to the mat and hugged and kissed and Elias went up the stairs to school. I stood up and he turned around. I thought he might just run after me, but instead, he just said, "Bye!" and in he went. His teacher called this evening and said he had a wonderful day, that he was very interested in the materials at school and that he talked with other children and was in general in a very cheerful mood! I'm so glad for him. I knew he was going to love it.

Today, after taking Elias to school, I felt quite a void. I wondered all day where has the little whirlwind that seems to propel me here and there each day? Dahlia was the same way, asking where Elias had gone and picking up remnants of his toys around the house, holding them up to me simply saying, "Elias?" I counted down the time until we could pick him up, and was so touched, when we did arrive, to see him returning from the playground, walking through the gate standing in line with the other children, and then when it was time for me to pick him up from the classroom, seeing him sitting right in front of the teacher, gazing up at her as she read and held up a picture book.

I miss him, but I am so happy for him, too. He is much different than I thought he would be...I really expected him to be resistant to going, and I never pegged him as being so outgoing because he is often wanting to be very close to me and cuddly, hiding in our wings. This gentle nudge out of that nest seems to really afforded him an opportunity to soar as his own person.

In past news, Elias turned 3! We had a great party at the Children's Museum where friends make sock snakes and played pin the tongue on the snake well into the lunch hour. It was really good fun!

We also went on a great camping trip at the beach with all of our friends from playgroup! Elias caught his very first fish, which I hear was quite a delight! He also roasted marshmallows and have plenty of fun running after his friends and playing on the beach.

Whoa!

2007-07-16T23:30:00.000-07:00

Summer, summer, summer...

2007-07-16T22:31:00.000-07:00

My goodness, the time has really been flying. Well, for the month of June, we were all pretty sick at one point or the other. Elias had an awful bout of Tonsilitus...followed by an allergic reaction to penicillin. He was so sick! I think he maintained a fever over 102 degrees for a solid week. There were several days where it was hard to get him to just drink something. AND, we sat on the couch pretty much all day and watched Pooh's Heffalump movie about 10,000 times, which would make anyone feel a little cuckooooo.

Sometime in the past month, we have entered into a phase of toddler/preschooler-hood. It came quite unexpectedly, and brought with it the end of the afternoon nap. It's been an adjustment. There's a fair share of unsolicited screaming and yelling, running away and tantrums. It has been interesting, trying both our faith in humanity.

On the more wonderful angle, Elias is even more fun to talk with. He has started to do more imaginative/creative/ pretend play. And, his memory continues to be out of his world, and he has totally maxed out on cuteness.

We went camping at Silver Falls last week. Camping is so much fun, but it is also very hard for little people. It tired Elias out after one night. The second day, we went on a moderate hike and Elias peetered out on the return and was pretty much spent for the rest of the day. He was a live wire. Camping, to me, presented a million dangers for little ones. It was stressful for me as the only there. I think we might try it again in a few weeks, though. Turns out, Elias's favorite part of camping are the marshmallows and chocolate for smores! :-)

Toddler OCD

2007-04-17T23:25:00.000-07:00

Elias has an obsession for order. Well, it's not quite and obsession, but it's big. Things, he sees things and decides they must be somewhere specific and mostly out of context. Train tracks need to be on the green chair, especially the "little" track. something is generally lined up on the corners of the tables, like tonight, a snake tower of wedgits, which seems really normal. The other day, he had a complete breakdown because he was trying to line up some magnet letters with a photo that just wasn't working out right. The dinger with the red handle for the little triangle is frequently found hidden behind the mail on the mail table. I pull back the curtains to discover train tracks and matchbox cars on the window sill.

I really could go on and on. I'll find little gummy bear vitamins sitting at the conrer edge of things all around the house...the sink, the tank of the toilet, corner of the kitchen counter. Every morning, he requests one red bear and one orange bear, of which each morning he eats the orange bear and places the red bear around somewhere special. I convinced him to eat the red bear by telling him that the bears keep him healthy and strong. That's incentive!

Anyway, toddler behavior is so odd, it's enough to worry any parent a little.

When I returned from Ohio, I brought back with me my little rocking chair from when I was a squirt. My mom says it was my brothers, but as I remember it, from pictures, it was mine. Elias seems right at home in it. He had just ransacked my luggage and scored some special travel headphones, which he insisted on wearing while sitting next to his book and rocking in what he will likely always remember as his rocking chair. Ain't he sweet?

This week has culminated in a great sense of relieve regarding Elias's immediate educational future. We now have heard back from two schools that he has been accepted, both schools that I strongly approved. What to do, what to do...at least he will have somewhere to go now. I will miss him so, but I think it will be good for him, a great opportunity for learning, socializing and growth.

We've been all sleeping together lately, which has it's advantages and disadvantages for sure. Last night, Elias wriggled to where his entire body was across all of the pillows at the top of the bed. And then, later when Dahlia stirred, he stirred too and found his fingers to my back and started Rub-fest, 2007. You would think that getting a backrub would be relaxing and enjoyable. Not from a 2.8 year old, I can assure you. It's paniful and annoying at best. At 7:00, when Brad's alarm went off, he started in again. He's got really sharp little nails and he tends to catch them repeatedly over bumpy moles...not fun. When Brad got back from his shower, I sent Mr. Touchy-feely over to Dad, who get's to sleep in his own full-size bed alone across the room, I might add. Something is wrong with this picture. I think we need a bigger bed to share the love.

Green popstickles and blue Elias eggs

2007-03-19T23:14:00.000-07:00

Boy, tis the season for lots of special holiday activities. After Christmas sugar cookies and Valentine's heart taping were such a smash hit, I decided that all we could celebrate with zealous all holidays. On Friday, we made green "popstickles" with lemonade and green food coloring. PROBLEM 1: Never let a two year old manage the food coloring right out of the gate. He squeezed the bottle with such great force, green sprayed all over the counter and none in the cup. PROBLEM 2: Never let a two year old pour green lemonade into a "popstickle" container without some sort of precautionary tray beneath the project to catch any spills. And, also, never let a two year old pour green lemonade on the counter in front of all the kitchen drawers. Sticky yucky mess everywhere! Mission was accomplished but at a cost to mom.

On Saturday, we put on our green. Elias was green from head to toe and very delighted to wish everyone Happy St. Patrick's day! We had green milk for breakfast and the "popstickles" for dinner!

Today, we dyed easter eggs! After having the boxhalf eaten by a special little guy, we decided it was time. Boy, did he get into it! I did a demonstration, and before I was through, Elias had several eggs in each of the three bowls of dye. He swished and stirred the eggs around with the little metal stick that comes with the dye. And of course, had his fingers in each one too! (Those little wire things are impossible to use). He used the little magic crayon to scribble out some lines and I put all of our names on our own individual names, which he really enjoyed. Dahlia sat across from us in the highchair and ate the crayon I gave her to use to draw on her egg. Fun was had by all! Elias scooped out most of the eggs, but decided that three eggs needed a super long dose of the blue dye. He's three eggs turned out the very coolest!

Of course, we had to sample one egg that had cracked. Elias had quite the technique of literally smashing the egg with amazing force unti lthe yolk was completely squished! I thought for sure he was going to have nothing to eat but a handful of shell mashed into egg white. He was able to peel the shell quite well, and then nibbles away at the white. Fun was had by all!

The Opossum and other spooky tales

2007-02-24T14:43:00.000-08:00

Last week, whilst getting ready for a walk in the cart, Elias wandered about the garage as usual and then asked, "Momma, what's this thing sleeping here?" I asked him what thing and walked closer to where he was standing. He was right next to a nasty, HUGE disgusting ole' opossum. I freaked and practically left him there in the garage. I scooped him up and he was terrified by me. By the time we made it into the house, I had composed myself and was able to apologize for scaring him and explain what I had saw. Yuck Yuck Yuck. And, we had one hell of a time getting that sucker out. Pretty much we didn't get it out as much as it left on its own accord at dark. That was great topic of discussion for many days following.

This has been a challenging month in the life of Elias. We continue to chip away at the potty training. His is a question of will, I think. Often, when he's "making feces" in his pants, he'll look at me first and I'll asked the inevitable question, to which he will yell back "NO!" Oh well, can't blame a girl for trying. We are trying to be strong. Well, at least stronger than him, otherwise for sure, we'll all flop. He's doing well and is overall quite cooperative, especially when he feels that we are consistent and enthusiastic, too. Tough work.

We were going to start preschool this month, but that didn't pan out, which is just as well. I was really feeling like it was too soon for him to be away from me for so long. So, we adjusted a little with the babysitter so that Elias and I can have some alone time while Cheryle is here. I have really been enjoying it. I am learning a lot from him. Learning how to just accept him for who he is and letting go of my own agendas. It has been a challenge, but one from where growth all around has occurred.

Elias is such an amazing and funny little creature, too. He's been impersonating Dahlia's cry and her babbles quite a bit. I think he is really feeling the shift in her needs and how it is affecting the attention he receives. 2 1/2 is really so hard because they are always testing limits and sometimes I find him so aggravating, but getting upset only makes things worse. I have to stretch my patience and reframe the situation, remain calm and try to make a learning lesson out of everything. It is hard.

Elias is 2 1/2. What's going on with him? He wants to get into everything, he wants to do stuff he shouldn't. He's curious about what happens when he does stuff, like toothbrushes down the drain (one out, two more down). He likes to splash water and spit water from one cup to another. He likes to splash around in his pee on the floor. He likes to pat his sister on the head and squeeze her until she cries (sorry Dahlia).

We've been doing bath time lately, he and I. I'll fill the tub up and close the curtain (which is clear) and he'll splash and chat and tell me what he's doing. He'll ask me to hold things or ask me to put things into the tub. He'll ask me how things work or tell me about something he's thinking about. He'll tell me he's going to do something I've asked him not to and he'll tease me. There is often screaming because I won't let him do something dangerous (like jump up and down in the tub) or because I haven't done something right (like not put on his towel correctly following his bath). Here's one funny thing he did recently in the bath: he pulled his penis out of the tub, peed in measuring cup, and handed it to me to pour into the toilet. Silly. All in all, it's such a nice time together, and I love that little stink bomb. He's such an amazing little mind.

Being a parent is hard

2007-02-05T14:01:00.000-08:00

Oh, you cute sweet thing, why must you torture me so? Today is the day of torture, worse than any bamboo chutes under the nails. Constant whining crying pick me uping. Constant disregard for every word I utter. Constant testing of the limits you know so well. Why god why!?! What have I done so horrible to deserve such torture?? What do I need to do to make it stop?

Tiger and Tag, II

2007-01-23T12:20:00.000-08:00

After our last go around with the fish, we were gun shy, to say the least, about having another go. This weekend, Brad and Elias went out and got two new fish, with the same names, and even consulted with the goldfish expert, who recommended drops to purify tap water for the fishes. Well, Sunday evening, things started to look bad for both fish. And, in Brad's effort to help save the little fishes, I think he may have inadvertently and through no fault of his own, sped up their demise, as when I awoke in the middle of the night, no trace of either fish was left. I searched all the rooms and eventually, found the empty bowl in my office, nicely cleaned and dry. I was so curious, I wanted to wake Brad up, but I waited until the morning. I found out that they had met the same fate as Tag and Tiger, I. Elias seemed relatively unfazed, as he was parroting my predictions from the night before that the fish were dying, right from the start. Brad says we try a Beta next. I agree wholeheartedly.

On another note, we are headlong into the beginning phases of potty training or "independence in the bathroom" as Montessorians call it. What a fun time! (tongue in cheek) Yesterday, Elias pooped in his diaper (cloth) and took the liberty to release it onto the kitchen floor. He was very excited and sat his poopy bottom down on the floor to enjoy the looks of his poo, leaving another nice smear, and to top it off, he then stepped in it and started to track it around. Yeah! I didn't freak out, but I did have some panic attacks that we might all come down with schistosomaisis or something. The real icing was during the bath, when we were enjoying friendly waterplay, Elias takes a poop right in the tub and then, as I frantically scoop out Elias first and all of the toys and then little floating turd, Elias proudly pees on the rug right in front of the toilet, despite my urgings to actually place his penis in the toilet and pee. I felt kinda gross after this one.

On a more pleasant note, this morning, I truly enjoyed watching Elias interact with some other children from music class. And I was proud and sad at the same time to see him engaging in the Pelelay game on the other side of the parachute. He is growing into such a wonderful little boy, and with bittersweet reflection, will not much longer rely on mommy being by his side to enjoy the world!

New Hair Guy hanging with his buds

2007-01-07T21:18:00.000-08:00

Merry Christmas!

2007-01-07T20:49:00.000-08:00

In memory of the mullet

2006-12-30T20:44:00.001-08:00

CIMG1432
Originally uploaded by amykwelias.

On Brad's birthday, he convinced me to cut Elias's hair. Elias has been sporting a very trendy mullet since around December, 2005, and it has just been getting better and better with back hair growing longer and longer and front and sides in a steady holding pattern. Brad had brought up cutting the back a few months ago, but I think what sealed the deal for him was when Santa called him a girl. I don't know why it would bother Brad, what with him in long locks for so many years, but it did. So, on Brad's birthday, he convinced me that I should cut his hair so that Elias can see that it doesn't hurt and then, if all goes well, cut his hair too.

So, I start cutting Brad's hair with Elias on his lap. Brad is saying, "Don't cut there. Cut here. Okay, cut Elias's hair. Cut where your fingers are." Before I knew it, I was cutting off all of Elias's back hair. :-(

I really hadn't planned on it. It's like, I just want to push away all of those firsts, I guess, because the more firsts that pass, the more he moves away from being my baby to being my little boy, to being my boy' to being my adolescent, to being my young adult, to ...you get the picture. It's all just going by so fast. I think he does look just adorable, still, but there will never be the first haircut again and his hair will change and never be the same and I will miss it. And his mullet was beautiful, and there's nothing wrong with being called a girl. He's just beautiful and soft and sweet.

Christmas

2006-12-30T15:49:00.000-08:00

Christmas came and went at the William's household. It was fun, but what can I say, the kids still think Santa is a freak and they are more interested, in many ways, in the bubble wrap that comes around the present than what's inside. There were some winners this year for Elias, depsite having to really coax him into unwrapping his gifts:

1. The triangle instrument (Elias wants to carry this around with him whenever we leave the house. He doesn't play the triangle, though. Mostly just holds it.)

2. Mousetrap-The Game

3. Replacement sugar bowl for his tea set

4. Basketball hoop and net

He's really enjoyed the books and puzzles and other toys, too, but has really taken a liking to these.

Yesterday, we went to OMSI with Oscar and there were literally 20 billion people there. It was a chaotic mass of miniature humans running to and fro, away from their parents beckoning them back. Ugh. This was not the day to go to OMSI. However, despite the crowd, we did fairly well until the very end when Oscar and Elias got into a tussle over some dehydrated peaches. First, Oscar throws himself on the floor because he is not allowed to hold the original bowl of peaches. Then, when offered some peaches in a secondary bowl, grabs the bowl and flings the peaches all over us. He proceeds back to the original bowl that Elias is still clutching. I intervene, to help stabilize the bowl. Oscar's mom comes to the rescue and removes Oscar from the bowl. But then, from out of nowhere, I find that Elias and I are now in a tussle over the bowl. I'm thinking, "NO! THIS ISN'T WHAT I'VE MEANT TO HAPPEN!" Elias is looking at me, screaming at me. I try to release the bowl to keep it from exploding everywhere. It's too late, Elias pulls the bowl and peaches are released into the atmosphere! In the midst of all of this, Dahlia is trolling around the floor eating peach and cheddar bunny debris. Nice, nice ending.

Funny little guy

2006-12-19T23:56:00.000-08:00

While waiting for Daddy to show up at the restaurant this evening, Elias was entertaining himself with the packets of sugar. He was shaking them and respecting what we had discussed that shaking them and pretending to use them was okay. He excited shook the granulated sugar and looked at me and said "That makes a beautiful sounds!" tee hee.

sleeping prince

2006-12-18T20:06:00.000-08:00

After being denied access to mommy's milkshake, things started going downhill this evening. He's been up there with dad for about 10 minutes crying, shrieking, shrill-screaming. I have debated going up, but feel as if I may have already done enough. Ugh. I believe yet again, we are moving into another phase.

Today was a great day. We got lots of errands done and everyone stayed pretty much together through it all. Problems began at nap, with an inordinate amount of kicking and hitting (what it this about?). After a great deal of rearranging and discomfort, Elias settled in to a position and gave in to sleep. He was holding onto my earlobe at the time. His limbs lighten and eventually, his hand just flops down on my face. I stealthfully sliver from under the blanket and look at him sleeping. Everybody always talks about watching their babies sleep. I know I haven't done this nearly as much as I should. He looks just like Brad when he sleeps. And, it's hard to image that he was so frustrated just a few minutes prior. So peaceful, my sweet.

Grandma Jean, Tiger and Tag

2006-12-04T15:55:00.000-08:00

Today, we had one of our conversations about Grandma Jean and how she isn't here anymore. It started with a Christmas Tree Ornament, one that we had inheritied from Jean's vast Christmas decoration collection. It was a monogrammed one, and when we were putting it up on the tree yeaterday, I told Elias that it had belonged to Grandma Jean because it had her name on it. This morning, he pulled it off of the tree and said, "Momma, this one is Grandma Jean's. She's not around anymore." And this led to Elias remarking that she was at her house "cuz she's not around." We talked about how Grandma Jean was very sick and died, like the fish, which I had already forgotten the names of, but he chimed in with "Tiger and Tag (MAN, that boy has got a memory)." We talked about how Grandma Jean doesn't have a house because she died and is no longer around. A few minutes later, while I was in the kitchen, Elias followed me in, still holding the ornament and really trying to understand what it really meant to have died, he said to me, "Grandma Jean is not around." I said that was right. Then he said something like, "Grandma Jean loved Elias very much," and I said, that was right too.

Here we are

2006-11-17T19:49:00.000-08:00

Ball begins with "B"

2006-11-17T19:40:00.000-08:00

Elias has started to do the most amazing thing...he has started to identify the first letter of some words by sounding them out. It started with Zoo and Zebra and Organic. We just kept going from there, identifying Bowl, Baby, Popcorn, Pear, Refrigerator, etc. A whole bunch of words! He's pretty amazing! That amazing mind!!

Q: How many hours does mommy have to spend putting me to sleep?

2006-11-09T22:40:00.000-08:00

A: 3.5 hours

Tiger is DEAD! A very sad evening for the Williams house

2006-11-06T19:45:00.000-08:00

Craziness, goldfish and more craziness

2006-11-06T16:07:00.000-08:00

Elias has been pushing my limits of sanity lately. Last week was the first week in a long time that I felt like there was no way in the world I would survive his toddlerhood. Alas, this week seems to be off to a bit of a better start. Maybe it is partially because Brad and I have decided after watching the hurricane of last week pass through our house, that maybe Elias is ready to turn this whole independence thing up a notch. Our first move in helping to build/foster independence in our toddler: purchasing a goldfish and bowl with the hopes of teaching/giving opportunities for caring for something (feeding, cleaning, etc) as well as learning more about fish from first hand observation.

So, on Friday after a very mediocre nap, the kids and I venture out to the pet store. Once inside, we take pause to adore the little white mice running on the wheel and sleeping little pink noses pressed up against the glass. Elias took quite a tumble off of a little step stool, he was so excited to watch the mice. Next, we walk over to the fish. I was aghast by the living conditions of the poor common goldfish. Literally thousands swimming on top of each other! I tracked down a guy to scoop us out one, but at 29 cents a pop, sprung for two! Mr. Independence decided he wanted a "black" goldfish. So, the guy, seeming a bit exasperated by the fact that we were asking him to select specific fish among the thousands, first scooped out a gold fish with black fins. We decided that one could be for Dahlia. We sent him back in for another. This time, he was able to bring out a nice, black goldfish, along with a few dead ones that were floating at the surface (gross). The luke warm fish guy put the fish in a plastic bag (tied ridiculously, I might add) and sent us on our way. At home, we excitedly prepared the bowl and poured the fish into the water. "What are their names?" I asked Elias. At first, I don't think he understood. He was calling them both "Tag" or something like that. After asking for more clarification, we decided that the orange one was Tag and the black one was Tiger.

Both fish had been acting peculiar since we put them in the water...they didn't want to eat! Then, the orange one started to swim to the surface to breath air. Then, the orange one started to form white dots. YUCK!!! Then the water started looking pretty bad, and still, we had yet to see a fish eat. Well, today, when we arrived home from the indoor park, the orange one, Tag, was laying at the bottom, dead, not resting, DEAD after all of three days in our home. What in the world??? So, it's sad because we hardly got to know her/him, but it has provided an opportunity to talk to Elias about death and when he wakes up from his nap, we are going to have a flushing ritual for Tag.

When I told Elias the fish was dead, he said something like that we could go to the store and get another fish for Dahlia that was "NOT DEAD." I tried to explain that "NOT DEAD" was actually "ALIVE." That sparked alot of talk like "Mommy is ALIVE, Dahlia is ALIVE." I chimed in the Elias is ALIVE, too. To that, he said "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO." Then, he would move the bowl around, causing Tag to shift a little and he'd say "Tag is swimming! Tag is swimming!"

Oh, yeah, and before Elias accepted Tag was dead, he told me we could give him some medicine and put a bandaid on him.

So, the moral of this story may be to splurge for the $3.29 fancy goldfish. We'll see how long Tiger makes it.

Crackin' me up these days...

2006-10-22T23:05:00.000-07:00

It's official, Elias IS something else! He has really been blowing my mind with his actions lately and making me laugh all the while!

Big discovery of the day: flopping down face first on the bed is mucho fun!

Aw, POOO!

2006-10-19T00:16:00.000-07:00

Early on in the Peace Corps, I accidentally kicked my much coveted apricot facial scrub, smuggled in from the US, down the pit latrine ("kamo"). It was one of those moments where you're filled with such an urge for a "do-over" at the loss, but really, can do nothing but laugh at how silly it really was to a.) try to pee in the dark without a flashlight, and b.) set things of such great value so close to the hole.

We had a repeat situation State-side this morning. Elias managed to drop his adult size battery-operated tooth brush down the sink. In my and Brad's scurry to accomplish morning tasks before Brad heads to work, we took our eyes off of the little silly stinker for a few minutes while brushing his teeth. The next thing we hear is his little sweet innocent voice chirping, "My toothbrush feel down the hole! My toothbrush fell down the hole!" Our response, "What hole??" only lead to the discovery that yes, in fact, and quite frankly, against all odds, the adult size battery-operated toothbrush is lodged just out of reach in our bathroom sink drain. Who knows how long it may remain. Water seems to pass it just fine.

Elias and his carving bud

2006-10-16T13:50:00.000-07:00

Brother and sister wagon ride

2006-10-16T13:43:00.000-07:00

Elias at the pumpkin patch

2006-10-16T13:42:00.000-07:00

hello, i'm cute

2006-10-09T14:38:00.000-07:00

2006-10-09T14:33:00.000-07:00

Sinatra in the making

2006-10-09T14:21:00.000-07:00

Elias has started singing like crazy lately. All of those songs I've sang to him over and over and over are being chirped back to me over and over and over again! Ba ba black sheep, red is rojo, bingo, old macdonald, itsy bitsy spider, Gigantic, etc. He likes to sing it loud and proud!

Elias has also started to put puzzles together. Although Brad says he's been doing it for awhile, I disagreed. He picked up pieces out of the box - without any help - and searched for the match. The last time we tried, he was just jamming random, unmatched pieces together...real progress.

There are lots of things Elias does that amaze me everyday. I'm so lucky to be home with him to witness all of the amazing feats as he develops.

The continuing battle between head and concrete...

2006-08-25T14:54:00.000-07:00

...concrete appears to be maintaining a strong lead. PLOP! Down on the head again today. Dang, I swear it's been three weeks running with kerplunking on the same spot right in the middle of his forehead, not fun. Thank goodness his head appears to be built for that kind of abuse, so far. I can't figure out why he doesn't use his hands yetto break the falls? Hum?

Oak's Park

2006-08-22T21:00:00.000-07:00

We went to the amusement park today. Elias didn't ride any of the rides, as I expected, but he got a real kick out of the roller coaster, and spent much of the morning running away from me (boy, was that fun). He had so many accidents today, tumbling down some stairs, bonking his nogin once while shielding Dahlia from his new scratching her cheek thing, and having two ZAM!s while walking home from the park, resulting in two bloody body parts (elbow and knee) and three other scratched up parts (other elbow, knee and cheek). It was almost more than I could bear.

To make matters worse, I forgot to ask for a decaf, had a super large caf coffee and still feel buzzed up on the caffeine, almost to the point of being sick most of the day. We had a pretty awful napping experience with lots of crying and poor Dahlia, feeling he effects of the caffeine. What a poo day!

Two stats for the big guy

2006-08-21T20:54:00.000-07:00

Weighing in at 28 lbs., 36 1/2 inches tall, Elias Roark Williams! He's a funny little bug who, oddly enough, seems to nap better when Dahlia and I snuggle up next to him. Hummmmmmm...haven't figured that one out yet.

Elias on top of the world

2006-08-15T23:15:00.000-07:00

Elias turned two today. How amazing??? His b-day proper was rather status quo. We went to the children's museum with Nana and cousin Shaun, out for pizza and home for a nap. His party this weekend was super eventful fun. More will follow about that once Brad downloads the pics. This picture depicts last week's outing to the zoo with Grandpa Ron and Grandma Dea. Ron hoisted Elias up on his shoulders when we went into the Elephant hut, just in time to see the elephants being hosed down and fed. He was just crazy about the whole day, Grandpa and Grandma were great!

Elias is really becoming the best big brother ever! And Dahlia adores him, would rather watch him than anything else. It's exciting seeing this relationship blooming!

Elias has a brilliant mind. He has started singing songs and telling stories. I love him so much.

2006-07-25T22:19:00.000-07:00

Elias ate with chopsticks tonight!

Sleep at last

2006-07-09T22:41:00.000-07:00

Elias has been really struggling around the sleep issue. He just resists and resists so seriously trying all of our patience. During naps, I've been resorting to cradling him in my arms and stroking his hair after a good struggle. His head will rest on my chest right beneath my chin, it's very sweet. And, after 10 mintues or so, his little hands and legs will start to twitch, letting me know that la-la land is close by. He doesn't resist my holding him for long, he settles in and sometimes strokes my arm, too. This evening, I settled him in with the story of his birth. His limbs were twitching before he was even born.

Oh, the wonderful adventures of being two!

2006-07-05T21:07:00.000-07:00

Okay, so it's not official yet, but boy oh boy does it feel like we have ourselves a wonderful, emotional roller coaster, precocious little stinker of a two year old. He's curious, independent, driven, demanding, loving and caring, rageful, testing, articulate and wonderful, yes wonderful, even when he just screams and screams and screams all day long and the neighbors must be thinking I am engaging in some form of toddler torture. I love him to pieces and especially when I have and take the time to just be with him and watch his little mind go. It is quite amazing. Patience, that's the key and I have to remind myself of this a million times a day. Then I can appreciate him for all he is: the purest little being on earth.

We've been keeping a low profile these days, trying to adjust all of our changes and to reestablish our relationships. It's been hard but good. It gets better all of the time.

Elias has really started playing, hard core. Playing catch, playing with his kitchen, exploring objects around the house. He has started chosing his clothes, if he feels like it, requesting to play certain games or eat certain fruits, especially this (I offer him an apple, he says "How about a plum or apricot or pear??"). This morning he told me that he wanted to do art. When I asked him what kind of art, he told me he wanted to use stamps. So, we went to the store, bought some stamps and went to work. This is great fun!!

Elias has started to take some interest in potty training, too, which I am delighted and also exhausted by because of the vast number of accidents that are, to say the least, more unpleasant to clean than a dirty diaper. We are going with it, though. He is really very aware of when he has to go and also has exhibited self control. Now, it's just a matter of him rememvering to do it and us being consistent about helping him to remember. Some days, I just don't have it in me. I guess I don't want it bad enough, yet.

Elias has started showing some fears about certain things, fears about noise and unfamilar things, like we went to a music show for kids. The band was a pirate band, and Elias was so afraid that we had to leave. Any loud situations he heads for the door. He also has some trouble around sleeping, fighting falling asleep, in particular, but I think it is pretty standard at his age. I think it is the separation, lately I've been holding him and stroking his hair until he falls asleep, that closeness seems to help.

He's as cute and sweet as a pea. H ereally loves Dahlia so much. He loves stroking hair and holding her hand, especially when I am reading him a book. He always says hello to her first thing when he wakes up and is always excited to introduce her to people who have not met her. When he needs attention, he knows how to ask for Dahlia to be put down, though. I can't believe how much he has grown. I miss the little, chubby cheeked baby sometimes, but feel excited all the more for what is to come with him with each passing day.

fun in the sun

2006-05-23T21:10:00.000-07:00

one recent sunny day, poolside fun turned silly when elias started filling his potty with cold water and then sitting in it!!!!

the dust settling...

2006-05-23T20:54:00.000-07:00

finally, things are getting back to normal around here. and it shows with elias. my, how we treasure our little routines. it is amazing how much independence elias has had to take on. some days, he manages, others, like this morning, he really starts doing stuff to make me nuts! like today, he threw cheddar bunnies all over and then "cleaned them up" he said, by flinging them all around the house. he took forever to leave the house, but once we did, the day was good.

we played at heide and piper's place today after music class. elias was looking pretty tired once we got home. so, we all three ventured upstairs to nap. it was a three ring circus! boy, can i perservere. after an hour of shielding dahlia from kicks and trying to quiet down grunts from all around, both were asleep. i amazingly rolled out of there with dahlia without waking elias, who went on to have a lovely 2 hour nap. i felt kinda guilty for making him stay up there and lay down, but a friend and fellow mother of 2 assured me that we all do it. whew.

and enters Dahlia...

2006-05-06T14:24:00.000-07:00

Elias's sister, Dahlia, was finally born one week ago today. Elias seems quite smitten with her. His adjustment to sharing me and Brad is a different story. Actually, I think he is doing okay, but there has definitely been an increase in crying and acting out. Might as well correlate with being 20 months. Nonetheless, Brad and I spend alot of time worrying about how we may have potentially ruined his life.

Brad's been home all week and it is pretty scary thinking of how in the world I am going to do it! I think we will all work it out, it just scares me.

One (of many) cute thing Elias has been doing is wearing Dahlia's polka dot socks. They are a little small, but I think it helps him feel more connected to her. We also recently purchased a little guitar for Elias. He has started to play "I love you" song for Dahlia. He also likes to play the Buenos Diaz song. Speaking of which, his spanish is really taking off, faster than Brad and I can keep up! He's really an amazing sweety.

Rocks

2006-04-21T14:21:00.000-07:00

Elias is feeling a bit under the weather today...way to cooperative, a little lovey and very snifflely and snotty. Although he put up the good fight around nap time, I really don't know how the nap thing will work with baby. Maybe it will go away which will be very sad because I know he needs it. We'll have to wait and see, I guess.

Anyway, I've been noticing more and more around the house little piles of rocks. And the other night, Brad said, "What's this rock doing up here?" I believe the rocks are Elias's first collection. He picks them up from the yard, from on walks, or from the park and sticks them into his pockets, into my bag, or just carries them around and eventually, they end up somewhere around the house. Last night, I gathered all of the rock piles from around the house into one bowl! Practically filled it! He's really pretty clever, isn't he?

Family and friends

2006-04-19T07:27:00.000-07:00

"Baby born soon?"

2006-04-11T14:49:00.000-07:00

Waking up is always a crap shoot with Elias. Some mornings, he's happy and playful, others, he's demanding and grumpy. This morning, I awoke to little boy whispers (I forget what he was saying). Then, he crawled over to me, laid down in the nook of my arm and put his hand on my huge belly. "Baby born soon?" he questioned. Then, he talked about hearing the heartbeat, doing a little, beat beat beat impression, he reviewed how my blood pressure had been taken at previous doctor's appointments, and then just wrapped his little arm around my massage lump and cuddled with me for a little while. He giggled as I tickled him under his chin and called himself my tickle bug, too.

I can't remember everything else he had to say, but it was just one of those mornings that reminds me that everything is really going to be great for our family. :-)

Funny little one

2006-04-07T14:54:00.000-07:00

I wanted to write about so many things, but it seems like when I have the time, all of the funny, quirky little elements of your personality, Elias, blend into something non-specific. Responding to your Dad's latest post reminded me of something funny and clever you do right now. I think I started, but you have taken it to new heights!! Here's how it goes:

I've said things like "Pee-you, you are smelly, Smelly Smellerson." or " You've made quite a mess, Messy Messerson." Well, now, you do it, with just about anything! When I say I love you, you say Lovey Loverson. When I call you bub, you say, Bubby Bubberson. Stinky Stinkerson, etc. It just blows me away how you have started to make these generalizations on your own, and it is just too darn cute!

The other thing you do, especially around eating, is that when you ask for something, like a fruit leather, but I don't have any, then you start negotiating and say back to me "How 'bout cheddar bunnies?" I guess I must do that to some degree with you, when I am trying to negotiate around eating. It's just too funny to hear it coming right back at me! Much love my cuddle bug.

Cute pics of sweet boy

2006-04-06T23:40:00.000-07:00

The dangers of daylight savings

2006-04-06T22:44:00.000-07:00

I never really cared either way about daylight savings, but having a child changes everything! Elias's adjustment resembles that of a person on a mission in space or maybe of someone displaced to Alaska in total light or darkness. Nonetheless, Elias is holding firm to one hour earlier, especially around bedtime. Tonight, I finally went upstairs after a good solid hour of crying, loud, determined crying with Brad. Elias did not want to go to bed. His body continues to believe it is 8:00PM instead of 9:00PM. Finally, at 9:47PM, he gave in, stopped crying, and fell asleep to my very boring rendition of The Little Red Hen. THANK GOD! The irony is that he continues to wake up right on schedule - 7:00AM. Where is the justice in that?

Elias has also been unbelievably unsteady. I am again going to blame this on DST. On Monday, I think he fell, head first on his latte spoon. It's a lovely shade of green, at present. No amount of arnica could stave off a good, solid bruise. Yesterday, he pressed against a peg board in the garage and knocked off a wrench that clipped his eye and nose. How awful it is to be a parent sometimes. The overwhelming responsibility. The constant worry. I really worry about all of the potential hazards, most unforeseen, no amount of babyproofing can protect him from the dangers of the world. Phoey! Maybe documenting these moments will help Elias not to suffer permanent scars. Oh, yeah, here's another recent incident that freaked all of us out: We were at Lowe's, Elias was walking around the aisle we were in and apparently found an on/off switch on an air compressor without us noticing. Of course, as any good 19 month old would do, he flipped the switch, unleasing the loudest, most alarming noise, really, really scaring him, and both Brad and I. I swooped him up and ran away from the noise and checked all of the his fingers, face and arms. He will still bring it up, talking about how I turned the noise off and about how loud the noise was.

That settles it, I'm going to have a custom sound proof, puffy, bullet proof, slash proof suit from head to toe fashioned for the little man that will grow with him until he is at least 18! Then we can focus primarily on protecting his mind from evil.

The spoon recedes...

2006-03-30T14:16:00.000-08:00

For about a month now, Elias has been wielding a great, black plastic spoon that came with our espresso machine. It's almost a scoop but more rounded. Anyway, I've noticed over the past two days that he's been getting a little careless with it. Before, he would have sooner been caught dead than without that spoon death-gripped between his little fingers. He's been leaving it lying around, unattended and not even thinking of it. Is his passion for the spoon, the "latte spoon" as he refers to it, on the dwindle? I guess we will see.

I've thought for some time that the spoon really makes sense as a transitional object. It's just so darn functional! He can eat with it, dig with his, catch water in and drink water and mud and other substances from it. He can hold objects in it, it fits in his pocket. He can also touch objects with the spoon first that he's not sure he wants to touch with his fingers (like the doggie next door or mommy's belly- once he rubbed lotion into my beach ball belly with his spoon). I guess the limitation, that I think he's beginning to realize, is that it is often difficult to hold the spoon and climb up/down stairs, or use crayons with the spoon, etc. It just gets in the way. I'm sure it will play itself out in a few weeks.

Big changes

2006-02-27T14:55:00.000-08:00

Elias stopped breast feeding one week ago today. He came down with a cold and was, I think, struggling to breathe and just threw in the towel. "What was the point anyway," he must have thought. "Nothing's in there for me." As a result, we've had challenges on several fronts, primarily the nap front. And, not to mention the emoitonal challenges that this end has brought up in me, like how my role changes, what do I have to offer him anymore, what does he need me for? (That's probably the biggest) Next thing you know, he'll be asking to sleep in his own room. And as much as that might be a dream for some parents, I'm just not there yet. What's the rush, ya know? He'll be sleeping most of his life away from me. I'm in no hurry to speed up the inevitable. For me, I think Elias's growing up and growing more independent will likely be a difficult load to tow.

On the nap front, we are averaging about 1 hour of work to get that boy to fall asleep. Of course, Brad can do it much easier since he can walk him around until he nods off. I can barely carry him at all given my lumpy baby belly, and not to mention the tremendous pain I am currently experiencing in my back. So, I sttruggle to read him a book in the dark (black-out curtains are crucial for nap) and then sing to him as he wiggles and squirms and fits sleep with all his might. I know he's tired, he can barely keep his eyes open, so he struggles to sit up where it is only natural to open his eyes. It was better today, less angst. I'm glad for that. When Elias is expressly unhappy because of something I am doing, it is very hard to not be filled with question. I'm quite certain that he needs a nap, so I need to keep reminding myself that it is for his own good and he'll be better off for it, for sure. Hopefully, we'll work out the kinks on this process just in time for his baby sister's arrival!

Elias brought home the very worst cold last week, from which Brad and I were both struck down. I fought it as long as I could and just caved on Sunday morning. I still feel as though my head in stuck in a fish bowl, but I do feel so much better. I am determined to not be sick again. It's time for operation hand sanitizer! When we went to grocery store today, I washed Elias's hands both before the cart and after and wiped down the cart. I HATE being sick and just can't go through it again. What an awful position to be in!@?

On the larger front, we moved at the end of January and have just recently gotten internet/DSL again. We are finally settling in, with gobs and gobs of work remaining. I just have to look around and remind myself how bad my back hurts and that things will get completed in time. I'm not a very patient person so this whole experience with the bad back and the cold has been painfully challenging. Oh well, we're all on the mends, with Elias ahead of all in his recovery, so I'll just need to slow down and take care of what it most important. Our family and myself.

Elias the chatter box

2006-01-17T17:26:00.000-08:00

Elias is talking more than I can count words anymore. He asks for just about anything he wants and mostly it is understandable. He can say thank you and please and can also say bless you when you sneeze, except it comes out "blah blue." You get it, though, and he gets it. It has been really amazing because in some ways, Elias hasn't changed that much from my perspective 17 months. But, in fact, he really has and he is quickly turning into my little boy and turning away from being my little baby.

Yesterday, we played with clay for like 45 minutes! I made little balls and handed them to Elias while he placed them on a piece of construction paper and flattened them with his finger, with each one, making a sincere grunt. I was very impressed with his level of attention and interest.

I also am amazed by Elias's memory. He will bring up things that happenned days earlier, and almost always, when I ask him to tell Brad something specific about his day, he will do it. He has also taken to cleaning up quite nicely, and will do things I ask, like take something to daddy or go to the bathroom for a diaper change if I ask him to.

One of the things I am enjoying most is cuddling at night. We will usually start out sleeping in different places, but as the night progresses, Elias stirs and is quickly calmed/soothed by me taking him close to me in my arms. He continues to wake up in the morning with lots to talk about. This morning, the topic was identifying my body parts in the dark: eyes, nose, mouth, leg and knee were priority.

Oh, he has taken to kissing and hugging my belly, the baby in my belly. It is so sweet. He is soo sweet and good. I love him so much, sometimes it is as if I'll burst.

Christmas

2006-01-02T12:11:00.000-08:00

It's hard to believe that Christmas already came and went this year. Nothing about our lives felt like Christmas, at least not to me. The move has really made us bonkers. I will look forward to next year when Elias can find lots of goodies under the tree and in his stocking at home. That will be nice.

For Christmas proper, we went to Las Vegas to visit Dad, Lynn, Jocelyn and Jillian. Elias impressed them with his speaking skills. He called Dad "pa" and could call to Coco and Puddles. He really liked the dogs, except would get bugged by Coco's relentless licking and jumping. Elias enjoyed pulling ornaments off of the tree (which Grandma Lynn did not appreciate), switching the TV and Christmas lights on and off, and playing in Grandpa's rock garden.

All in all, it was nice seeing family, as it seems that as the years pass, it gets harder and harder to connect. I suspect we'll be home next year, with our two bundles, maybe venturing out to Salem for some hours to enjoy the folks in Brad's family.

The runaway bunny

2005-12-19T20:09:00.000-08:00

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.

"Bright bright"

2005-12-01T06:41:00.000-08:00

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.

Tooth update

2005-11-16T07:00:00.000-08:00

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.

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

2005-11-15T21:25:00.000-08:00

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!

Trouble in the mouth and other tales...

2005-11-14T21:58:00.000-08:00

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.

Baulk Baulk?

2005-10-30T10:38:00.000-08:00

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!

Accomplishments of the day...

2005-10-25T19:34:00.000-07:00

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!

Overload of pumpkin fun!

2005-10-23T19:13:00.000-07:00

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!

Elias, the cheeseball!

2005-10-18T19:17:00.000-07:00

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!!

Elias as Superman!

2005-10-08T20:11:00.000-07:00

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

2005-10-08T20:06:00.000-07:00

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.

Word verification

2005-10-06T14:17:00.000-07:00

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?

2005-10-06T14:11:00.000-07:00

Oh, the things he can do...

2005-10-06T13:53:00.000-07:00

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.

2005-10-02T21:07:00.000-07:00

Elias playing with August at August's birthday party.

Torture in the mouth, revisited

2005-10-02T20:47:00.000-07:00

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.

walking...

2005-08-26T19:29:00.000-07:00

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!!

standing!

2005-08-25T07:27:00.000-07:00

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!

Oh, the things he can do...

2005-08-24T08:26:00.000-07:00

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!

Elias turns one!

2005-08-19T11:03:00.000-07:00

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. :-(

Getting the clap

2005-07-31T10:50:00.000-07:00

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!

Clapping for the lovie!

2005-07-27T21:14:00.000-07:00

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.

If I had one wish...

2005-07-26T22:30:00.000-07:00

...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?

Elias's acrobatics and the breast

2005-07-24T21:42:00.000-07:00

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.

Crazy day

2005-07-20T22:38:00.000-07:00

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.

Entering into month 11

2005-07-14T16:30:00.000-07:00

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....

2005-06-14T22:21:00.000-07:00

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

2005-06-14T22:20:00.000-07:00

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

2005-06-14T22:19:00.000-07:00

Family portrait, 5-15-05

2005-06-14T22:18:00.000-07:00

Baby boxing 5-15-05

2005-06-14T22:17:00.000-07:00

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

2005-06-14T22:13:00.000-07:00

Riding high on Mother's Day

2005-06-14T22:12:00.000-07:00

Baby Guitar on Mother's Day

The days of danger

2005-06-14T21:23:00.000-07:00

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...

Elias waves bye bye, for real!

2005-06-12T19:17:00.000-07:00

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.

Walking Man

2005-06-05T23:53:00.000-07:00

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!

Elias:strong brain and body

2005-06-02T08:11:00.000-07:00

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.

Eight teeth and other thoughts

2005-05-24T23:07:00.000-07:00

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...

Lots of new can-dos

2005-05-16T16:15:00.000-07:00

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.

My little Latin lover...

2005-05-02T19:08:00.000-07:00

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.

ALWAYS knock on wood.

2005-05-01T22:43:00.000-07:00

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!

2005-04-26T14:23:00.000-07:00

My boy in late March. Very sweet and smiley.

Time flying by

2005-04-25T22:11:00.000-07:00

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.

6th tooth and other amazing feats

2005-04-14T13:06:00.000-07:00

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.

Tooth # 5 is in!

2005-03-30T15:37:00.000-08:00

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.

2005-03-24T10:58:00.000-08:00

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!!!

2005-03-24T10:43:00.000-08:00

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

Tooth # 4

2005-03-17T13:34:00.000-08:00

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!

Elias is seven months old

2005-03-15T19:59:00.000-08:00

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.

Elias leaves the room

2005-03-09T12:25:00.000-08:00

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.