3.23.07 Evolve (Daddy)

Elijah is definitely changing again. He's doing more and more little boy type things. He will now sit when we tell him to "sit down" - very dog like this boy is.
'Lijah will also put things back, however, not all the time. If he isn't supposed to have something and he knows it, and we tell him "no, put it back" or "no, put it down" he will frequently do what he is told. He is also showing some more advanced thinking. Tonight, for example, he took one of his board books and put it back in his toy basket. Does this mean he's a type A personality? No idea yet, but I'm hopeful. The putting back of the book also co-incided with my working with him to go put his juice back when he didn't want it. He has been trying to hand things to us when he is done with them, and we'd rather he not do that. I've instructed (yes, I'm instructing a 14month old) him to put his juice back on the dining room table when he is done. He's gone back to the dining room table to get it again after he put it there, so I think it is working a little. Seems funny already that he's tall enough to place things on the dining room table. Next he'll be mowing the lawn.
'Lijah is also being incredibly observant. He sees Becca and me kiss and has "gone in" for a kiss a number of times now. Just tonight when we put him to bed, he moved his head toward my face. He got a kiss from Daddy as he expected. It was pretty clear that was what he was doing. He went after Mom's face with mouth wide open on Saturday. Oops.
There are a number of other things to mention, but I'm kinda drawing a bit of a blank right now, except for the playful growling.
Becca and I were upstairs today and were trying to figure out how much money we owed "the man". We finished that part, but while we were figuring it out, we had the gate up so the boy wouldn't walk all over the paper on the floor. He was walking in the hall, moving his toys around, and taking some from his room and bringing them out to show us. The funny part was his trying to walk quickly, and then suddenly roaring at us with a big smile. We actually have this game where we growl at him and chase him and then we eat him - all in good fun. He's picked up on the growling and we heard many a "raaaaaarr" today. Becca and I just look up at one another and smile. It is pretty cute.
I don't know how my schedule is going to shape up for the next few months, but I'm going to try and blog some more again. Elijah has been moving on and we haven't been extra good about making note. I'll try - I promise.

3.23.07 Yup, that's me!(Mommy)

The moment I have been waiting for over the past 7 or so years has finally come. My child called me "mama". And my heart slowed.... time just seemed to melt away. I had just gotten to June's to pick up Elijah and I sat him on my lap to say hello. And then I heard "Mamamama". I asked June's daughter if she had heard it and she looked up ever so briefly to tell me that "Yup, he said mama" before going back to her math homework.
So then while we were in Target, whenever I would step away from the cart for a second, Elijah would call me back with his "Mamamama". Like a silly softie of a mother I immediately responded to his herald each and every time in hopes that he was making the connection between "Mamamama" and myself. Well, it didn't take him long. Today he decided to see if "Mamamama" would work when he was fussy and just wanted to be coddled. It didn't, but I was impressed with how quickly he learned how to use it against me.
I still love hearing it. I will answer him back with an equally babyish "Mamamama" just to get him to say it more. He has made me into such a puddle. Between this and his new "Lijah hugs, I am a goner.
This parenting thing just gets better and better.
I truly cherish every moment. I could spend hours just watching him sleep or holding his little hand in mine when he is in his crib. I love how perfectly it fits in mine. I love looking at him and knowing that this child, this being, this unique and special individual snowflake is the product of the love between Andy and myself. I find that amazing.
All those years of hoping and praying... I should have known that my body would not let me create a child with someone who didn't love me. I feel like I am a forest that was through a horrific 7 year forest fire. Andy found me charred and burned to the ground and I am slowly but surely starting to grow back. I have so long to go to repair that damage caused be another person's carelessness. But seeing how much care and thought and love that Andy puts into me makes me feel like I really might be able to know about this whole "love" thing someday. In the meantime I am soaking up every blessed minute of the amzaing salve that is my little boy and his amazing dad.

3.20.07 The Stats(Mommy)

So here are the stats for Elijah's check up. Weight: 25 lb and 13 oz. Height: 31 3/4 in. Head: 49 cm around. Again, he is in the 95th percentile for head circimference. He is 75- 90 percentile for height and weight. My big boy.
He stayed home with his dad today and was a bit depressed and feverish. When I came home he actually sat in my lap and cuddled with me for 20 minutes. I like how cuddly he is. He was never so cuddly. Usually he wants to be up and about, now he will spend more time cuddling with mom and dad.
The doctor thinks that his lack of speech is him choosing not to speak and that it speaks highly of his intelligence. I would like to agree, but I am the worrywart mom right now who wants to know what I need to do get my baby to speak up. I have no doubt that he will be very vocal later on. He already makes his wants and needs known.

3.19.07 Day Off (Mommy)

I am home with Elijah today because I am taking him to the doctor for his year old check up. I know, I know, he is older than 12 months, but I am SUCH a procrastinator about taking him in. Especially for those shots. I know he has to get a whole bunch. Not looking forward to that.
Elijah is becoming affectionate. It is really neat and really cute. He will come up[ to me and hug my legs. He will come up to me and just lean into my chest and stay there for a minute while I hug him. Then he gets over it and off he goes, on to the next adventure! It is so heartwarming to feel him cuddle into me when I pick him up. It is the best part of being his mom so far. Beats nursing hands down.
Lijah is affectionate to his dad too. But we all know how much that little boy loves Andy. For all the physical traits he has of mine, he has that many personality traits of his father. Hmmmm, a little boy who loves art, loves loves LOVES computers, loves kitties, red wine, and HAS to have music on as much as possible.... that is ALL Andy! One thing he has picked up from me, apart from stubborness (but he really gets that from both of us), is his love for books. I have started leaving a little bit of a light on for Lijah when I put him to bed because he likes to read his books in bed while he listens to his mobile music. I kid you not, I tuck him in and when I poke my head in a minute later he is sitting up looking through his books and listening to the mobile music that HE turned on. This is usually what he is doing when we come in to get him up in the morning too.
For all of his smarts and comprehension of what we tell him, he still won't talk. Every so often we will tell him a new word and he will use it once, and then never again. I am going to ask the doctor about this today. Maybe he is just the strong silent type like his daddy. Great.

3.12.07 Bugs (Mommy)

Things that currently bug me:
a. Crib sheets. Yes, I have mentioned this before...They are impossible to get on! Why do I have to take off the friggin mattress to get the sheets on?
b. Laundry. It never ends.
c. 'Lijah still won't talk. He can do it, but he chooses not to.
d. Living in Las Vegas

I bought Elijah a play cell phone... two actually. One is a red phone that plays numbers and other educational things. It also came with a headset, but he didn't care for that. The other phone is a pink and purple Cinderella phone. He loves it, absolutely loves it.
I love my little boy. He is so cool.

3.11.07 Shaking (Daddy)

The head shaking "no" is here in full force. We put something in front of him, he shakes his head "no". We try to give him something, he shakes his head "no". I've even seen it when we ask him if he wants xyz. Mom says it is the "toddler" phase and he'll be this way for another couple of years. Great. He's in some sort of 'I don't recognize it' phase so therefore 'I'm not going to touch it'. ie: We know 'Lijah likes peanut butter, he really likes it, but he only recognizes it on a rice cake or on a piece of bread. I just finished making myself a PBJ so I took 'Lijah's spoon and scooped a little bit out of the jar. I handed it to him, he looked at it and then shook his head 10 times (or so). I then took it back and held it in front of his face. Again, he shook his head. So. . .
I shoved the spoon in his mouth. He then grabbed the spoon and began sucking the peanut butter off. He finished it, cleaning the spoon. 'Lijah then held the spoon out and went 'duh' (meaning hey, pay attention). I scooped some more for him and handed it to him again. It went right into the mouth. Not sure what this means at this point-in-time, but I'm thinking it means we have to force him to try certain things for a little while.

On another note, oddly paired with the peanut butter paragraph above, I'd strongly urge people of the faint-of-heart, or those with a gag reflex to avoid reading this next paragraph. - you have been warned.

The government decided to change daylight saving time this year, so our clocks were a bit off this a.m.. We kinda thought 'Lijah's clock was off too, as he really didn't make any of his normal noises this morning. We knew he woke up at his normal 6:45am time, but he didn't make continuous whining noises like he usually does. When I got up this morning, I went right into his room to get him up. What I found can be described as nothing less than shocking.
I found our little angel boy, sitting at one end of his crib, completely bottomless, wearing only his shirt. At the other end of the crib was a pile. . . of poop. 'Lijah's diaper was clean, and was sitting in the middle of the crib. What was most interesting, upon reflecting on my first entering the room, he was completely content to be sitting in his crib. Normally he'd be whining and yelling at us - because he poops at the same time every morning and doesn't like to be living in it. Can't blame him.
Mom was called in to see the state of our little boy and if you didn't know better, you'd think Rebecca had a studdering problem. I suggested she go turn on the shower as I took 'Lijah's shirt off. He wasn't covered in anything. He had a little bit on his butt, but had none on the rest of his body. My first thought was "well, you're into putting everything into your mouth, did you?" He didn't, thank goodness.
What we have surmised is; 'Lijah took his diaper off because he didn't want to be sitting in his own feces. So how did he get his bottoms off? Well, he didn't. Mom decided he didn't need bottoms on last night, so he didn't wear any. This isn't the first time he's slept in just a diaper either, so we think 'Lijah actually having taken his own diaper off carries even more weight (no pun intended). There is another odd coincidence here too. On Thursday I had Elijah at home with me for a little bit. He was standing in the hallway and was grunting a little. I snapped him up, pulled his pants down, took his diaper off, and sat him on the toilet. I'm just wondering if he has already put those two things together - you are NOT supposed to poop in your pants. Well, now we may be on to stage two - you are NOT supposed to poop in your bed.

3.4.07 Cuter and cuter(Mommy)

The nice thing about Lijah being a bit under the weather is that he is so much more cuddly. He will come up to me and his dad and bury his face in our necks or chests and just stay there for minutes on end. It is cute, so very cute. I really love him being so cuddly.
In other news, I think Elijah might understand that shaking his head from side to side means "no". When we were at breakfast this morning I asked him if he wanted certain things that were on the table. He very clearly shook his head to a few of those things and reached out of thhe other things that I offered him. Maybe it was coincidence, but later on in the day he shook his head to some other things as well. Hmmm. Maybe it is a good thing that he is not talking because I tend to think that if he were talking that the word "no" would be a huge word in his vocabulary.
Oh God.

3.3.07 102 (Mommy)

Woo-boy has it been busy around here! February brought a plethora of new, exciting, and stressful things. We closed on the house in Portland and we are now past being in debt to our eyeballs and in it three feet past our heads. Luckily we have amassed enough savings to cover the next 6 or so months of Portland house payments. And also lucky has been the amount of design jobs Andy has gotten. I'm so very proud of him. He has developed quite a following down here in Vegas as a tech help guy. Looks like the same will happen with the web design. I myself have been busy training teachers and I actually had a screening interview with Beaverton School District in Portland. Wahoo!!
So in the midst of all of the parents' hullabaloo, there hasn't been much blogging going on. So now for a couple of updates.
Lijah is still not talking! This bothers me for a bunch of reasons. First, we know he can do it. He said up to 10-15 words when we were in New Jersey and now, nothing. Nothing. What is this all about? I don't get it and I don't like it. Fromw whole words to just whines and gutteral utterances. We're lucky if we get a "Dada".
Our boy is, however, coloring with crayons. At first he just made little dots by randomly banging the crayon on paper. But after seeing me and Andy and people at the babysitters coloring, he quickly graduated to scribbling. So now I have some works of art on my fridge. Such the proud mama am I .
The crayons, entertaining as they are, have their own brand of problems. I love having Lijah color because he just sits in his chair with some paper and is happy. But then he does what all little children do. He feels compelled, perhaps by a primal urge of some sort, to put the crayons in his mouth. Last night, I turned away from Elijah to wash some dishes. When Andy came up behind me for a snuggle, we both turned to look at our son and saw him with a blue mouth of waxy bits! Even after rinsing his mouth out I saw those bits again in his diaper this morning! Gross. But hey, I can now say that my kid is so much of an artist that he poops crayons!
In other news, Lijah had a fever last night of 101.8, it is down to 100.5. I have no idea why he has a fever. My theory is that it is our old friend teething, but you never really know. What I do know is that my kid has never had a fever this high before. I immediately felt so guilty: "I knew I should have breastfed longer!" Anyway. I gave him some over the counter western medicine fever reducer for 24 hours. I am not impressed. His fever should be gone and it is not. So I gave him some of his heat reducing herbs in some water and he chugged it down. I will see if this works any better and report back. I promise.

3.3.07 New Attempts (Daddy)

Elijah is being pretty cute this afternoon. He's running around the house, clearly wanting us to chase him. He's smiling and having a crazy good time. I actually gave him some "extra sharp" cheddar cheese and he ate the entire slice. I never would have thought that would happen.

I'm working with the little boy on some things, whenever I have the time to spend with him at least.
a. Actually asking for his milk. I'm showing it to him and repeatedly asking him if he wants his milk. If he just reaches toward it and doesn't make a sound I am keeping it from him and asking him a few more times "do you want some milk?" Eventually I give it to him, as he hasn't asked for it yet. I want to try and solicit some feedback from him besides just responding to his closed mouth whines for something.
b. Coming when we call him. He definitely knows his name and knows exactly what we want him to do, but he doesn't always want to listen. I'm giving him a few minutes each time I call his name. Sometimes he comes, but other times I find him just standing in some room, waiting for someone to come get him. I don't pick him up, but grab his hand and coas him in the direction he needs to go.
c. Getting up on his own. Earlier today Elijah wanted to get up. He had his arms outstretched and was making his grunt referencing "I want something now please". Before now we'd actually pick him up, but I'm just letting him grab onto my hands and he is then pulling himself up. I think this is one of the reasons he has started standing on his own so quickly.
d. Timeouts. Yes, we are already doing time outs. And they are already working! When Elijah is yelling at us for no reason, or just crying because he's frustrated at something, and nothing is working, we take him out of our sight and sit him down on his bottom. He gets to stay put until he quiets down - then one of us goes back to him and chats to him a little and they we go back about our normal routine. The first time we did this it was actually Mom who had to institute the 'you stay here until you stop and don't get up' routine. Now, whenever we put him on his bottom he doesn't move until he stops being upset. He is getting better and better at dealing with some of his frustration. We're also hoping this will lead to him being verbal once again.

In case people are wondering where my blogs have been, I've currently got 3 websites going (a couple more in the works) and was in Portland for a week at the end of Feb. Plus, I have been running my pants off here in Vegas. I have to be busy if we're going to afford two house payments.