Elias ate with chopsticks tonight!

Sleep at last

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!

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

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...

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...

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

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

"Baby born soon?"

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

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

The dangers of daylight savings

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...

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

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

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

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

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"

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

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...

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!