Christmas Mass

Mema and PopPop arrived early to celebrate Christmas with us!  While I was helping unload hundred of presents from the van, Elliott crawled towards the door.  Blocked by Jonah and a pile of gifts, he started crying inconsolably.  I worried he was hurt (run over by Jonah, most likely), but when that wasn't the case, I couldn't figure out if he had become hungry, tired, frustrated, needed a diaper, etc. As I was at my wits' end, Elliott spotted PopPop again and was completely happy to be swept away in his arms!  He knew exactly what who he wanted.

I pointed out baby Jesus lying in the manger in the church's creche.  Jonah pointed and exclaimed, "He came out of her belly button!"  At least I'm spared the question about how babies get out of their Mommy's tummy...

Favorite gifts from Santa were:
Elliott - a wooden hammer (which he holds and looks like Thor while pushing down the pegs on his pounding bench with his thumb)
Jonah - monster trucks

Grandpa, Aunt Ashley, Uncle Leon and Uncle Kevin also joined us after Mass for gifts, dinner and a little chaos.  We missed you, Aunt Lindsay!  Feel better soon!

We also Skyped with Cailin and Declan, which was fun for the kids to show off all their new toys.  Jonah was a bit too worked up and spent the entire call jumping and doing flips in the living room.  It's amazing to watch him going wild, and then later when asked a question, learn that he had been listening and watching everything.

Merry Christmas!

And he's off!

Elliott did it!  He got up on all fours and crawled forward!  So far he had only nudged slowly backwards by repeatedly pushing up into cobra.  He never quite mastered an intentional scoot or army crawl.  I guess he wanted to master the proper form.  It is so amazing to watch the concentration as he thinks about moving each arm and leg.  And you can tell he's reached his destination by the plop down to his tummy, as if to say, "I have arrived!"  He's so proud, and so am I!

Jonah on where we live

Dad: Jonah, do you know what state we live in?

Jonah: The blue one!

(He was referring to the map painted on the pavement at the playground, but oh, so true!)

Puffs

Elliott enjoyed some sweet potato puffs for dinner tonight!  First non-liquefied food!  He appeared to like the puffs, and had a good time smacking the tray until they all stuck to his hands.  Yet, he never associated picking up the puffs with moving them to his mouth for consumption.  Maybe next time.

Sleepover

By the end of the long weekend with his cousins, we gave Jonah the chance to "sleepover" in the kids' room instead of in the basement with us.  Cailin and Declan had been looking forward to it for so long!  They all were amazingly well behaved.  They were quiet before the end of giggle-time was enforced and slept through the night with only a short water-break for Jonah.  Wow, if only we had kicked him upstairs earlier in the trip we would have had better sleep!

At least!

Finally, at seven months old, Elliott has decided that he will sit on his own!  And roll tummy-to-back and back-to-tummy.  AND scoot backwards.  All that progress was made in the course of one day visiting his big cousins.  They attribute it to the "magic crawling rug".  I need to get one of those!

1.  Elliott has been choosing not to sit.  He'd much rather push back to a reclined position and chill out supine.  Couldn't care less about trying for more than a few seconds, or less if he isn't restricted from lying down.  Yet, when we put a ball down in front of him today, he was more than happy to sit and play with it with both hands and both feet!  As if he could have done this all along, there just wasn't enough incentive in the books, teethers, take-alongs, electronics, blocks, stuffed animals, towers, cars, etc. I had been giving him.

2.  Really, I think Elliott has been rolling for a couple weeks now, but not very prolifically.  He would rather fuss when he's done with tummy time, and if I don't help him roll over, he just falls asleep in place on his tummy.  He doesn't seem to realize that he can fix it himself!  I have noticed that he will roll over at night, but in the morning he always seems in the same spot I put him when he went to bed, (he rolls onto his side to sleep).  But from the vantage of a bed right beside his, I would awake to find him in a new position all night long - and back where he started by morning!  Stealthy.  And here I thought he would be fine without a confined crib, since he doesn't move around much at night anyway!

3.  The scooting thing is also new in that it is intentional.  Elliott has made some progress before in translational movement, but always as an accident of repeatedly lifting up to cobra.  This time, he seemed to understand that he was making himself move and got very upset when a couch or ottoman snuck up from behind to halt his progress.  Such freedom!

Aloud

Jonah: Can we go in there?
Daddy: I don't think we're allowed.
Jonah: I CAN BE LOUD!

Jonah-isms

"my parking lot" = driveway
"turning wheel" = steering wheel
"we have ____ together" = we both ___
"I am red team" = wearing red
"make yellow" = pee
"my roof" = sweatshirt hood or stroller canopy

First Tooth!

Elliott was making lots of cute faces with pursed-lips today.  Then he was uncharacteristically upset and the usual distractions didn't hold his attention long.  I finally found the culprit: a new tooth emerged!  Bottom left.  His lips were puckered up as he felt it with his tongue!

Within a few hours we received a photo from cousin Cailin - she had just lost her front tooth!  The world is in balance with respect to the total number of baby teeth.

A Hopeful Improvement

Today was Elliott's ultrasound to check up on his hydronephrosis.  We were hoping to see that things hadn't gotten more swollen over the last few months.  To our great surprise and joy, it looked like his kidney and ureter are actually improved!  The ureter wasn't even visible on the ultrasound (which it shouldn't be, but it was so enlarged that it previously appeared more prominently than the kidney).  So we assume that the ureter isn't ectopic, as it seems to be draining. The nephrosis of the kidney also showed improvement, and more than was expected in such a short time.  We're going to keep watching and waiting, but the signs are good that it is self-correcting and we he may not need surgery after all!

Bath Times 2

In a brilliantly prohibited move, I found a way to bathe both kids at once.  Hallelujah!  The second warning on the side of the infant tub (immediately after 'never leave child unattended') is 'never place the infant tub in a filled bathtub'.  Phooey to that.  Elliott sat safely in his little tub, Jonah splashed in the remaining 3/8 of the big tub and mom gave herself a gold star while the boys played together with buckets and squirters.

Rice Cereal

Elliott tried his first rice cereal today!  Jonah helped mix it in his milk and spoon feed the first bite while Daddy took photos.  Elliott wasn't nearly as interested as the rest of us.  He barely registered the spoon or the food on it entering his mouth.  I think he was busy trying to see what all the commotion was about.

Wheee!

Elliott was hanging out in the Beco while I pushed Jonah in a swing at the park.  The mom next to me was trying to convince her toddler to get out of the swing by telling him that it was for babies and that the baby wanted a turn.  (She was indicating Elliott.)  I totally get it and didn't object.  I'll use almost any excuse to get Jonah off the baby swing and either use a "big boy" swing or do any other activity that requires more of his energy than mine.  But then the toddler leaves in a great upheaval over the trauma and it occurs to me - why not give Elliott a turn?  So in he goes and I gave him some gentle pushes.  Elliott wan't thrilled like the other (slightly older) infants, but he didn't complain either.  He looked completely nonchalant, like he was one of the cool kids.

Yes, I taught him that.

Jonah managed to get rice all over his face at dinner (no surprise) and in wiping it, a piece went in his nose.  So he sticks his finger up his nostril and wedges it in even farther.  Without thinking, I held one nostril and instructed him to blow.  Poof!  Out flies the grain of rice.

Now let's just hope he doesn't decide this was a cool trick to repeat... next time I may take the time to find the nasal aspirator.

Model Railroad Museum

As lame as a collection of toy trains (and trucks) sounds, it was a huge hit with Jonah!  He was in toddler heaven surrounded by model construction vehicles, airplanes, fire engines, and of course, trains!  They even had some interactive set-ups so he got to press buttons to make the engines go.  Mind blowing.

That's Smart.

Jonah was playing on the beach.  Each time a boat passed, he waved and called out, "Hi, Boat!"  A few didn't take any notice (and probably couldn't hear even Jonah's high-decibel shout over the load motor) but finally one captain waved back.  Jonah pointed to the boat and told us very matter-of-factly, "that's smart."  Then he went back to digging.

Waterfall!

Jonah loves waterfalls in any form, including the small spillway at the end of the street or ever water he pours over the bulkhead.  He was enthralled to go to a "big" waterfall where he could even swim!  Too bad to mountain stream was too frigid for his delicate sensibilities.  ;-)

Storyland!

Jonah has always been a little timid about moving rides, but we were eager to take him to Storyland anyway.  So while his cousins were up was the perfect time!  Jonah was very excited about the train, so we headed for that first.  Tame.  Still, he cried as soon as we boarded!  Yes, we were those parents that practically forced him onto the ride anyway.  And he loved it.  And the destination, which had a giant splash pad with a submarine!  This turned out to be a favorite and we spent lots of time in the sub turning the pedals to squirt the water cannon.

After that first ride, Jonah was ready to go.  He did a spinney flying whale ride with Aunt Pamela and she was ready with a thumbs down to get off early.  To our surprise, Jonah thought it was great, like riding a helicopter!  After that he was fearless - flying fish, balloon chase, tractor driving.  One of the highlights was driving an excavator.

Want to Ride Bikes Together?

Jonah received a new bike for Elliott's Baptism!  This trike is a lot larger than his fold-and-go, and he looks like such a big kid riding it.  He's really mastered the pedals and can even pedal himself up the (slight) hill on our street!

Now if only he can figure out how to maneuver backwards.  Jonah had an idea of exactly where to park his bike.  It was very frustrating to turn the bike 180deg and move it 1ft immediately to the left.

Zoo!

Why not go to the zoo on a random Tuesday?  So fun!

Up, Down, Up, Down

Caught in the Rain

The sky was darkening as Jonah was out riding his bike.  We stayed outside until we felt the first few drops, when we headed for home.  By the time we reached the driveway (literally 20ft away) we were caught in a deluge!  I told Jonah to go up and wait on the porch (meaning the covered front stoop) while I ran his bike into the garage.  Poor Jonah ran around the side of the house and wrestled to open the fence to reach the screened porch!  He was in tears when I found him and carried him inside.  It was dark and raining HARD.  Scary!  Elliott wasn't so happy either, as he was in the carrier this whole time.

Jonah and I were soaked, so we changed into boots and embraced the rain.  It took all the scary out of the storm and we had a blast stomping in the huge flash-flood puddles.

Next time I'll try harder to convince Jonah to wear sandals or water shoes... I had to pour the water out of his boots!

The perfect place to read a good book?

Elliott's Baptism

Elliott became an official member of the congregation today as he was Baptized at St. Luke's.  He slept like a champ and woke up in time to realize his impending fate beside the water font.  He settled after only a few cries and cuddled with Daddy through the rest of the service... expect during the transubstantiation he let out a few happy "aaah!" cries with each ring of the bells.  The Holy Spirit at work?

Thank you to all the family and friends who traveled near and far to celebrate Elliott's initiation into the Catholic Church.  We were overjoyed by the outpouring of love on this special day.

Are you my Friend?

It is both interesting a frustrating to understand that my son is his own person.  They say kids figure this out around age 2, and thus begin acts of defiance to establish their independence.  I guess a similar transition happens for parents, too.

I suppose I always accepted that there were "clicks" at school, but it is completely rational to play with a couple kids at a time and not an entire class.  But I foolishly assumed they all get along.  We can ask who Jonah played with at school and the answer is always some combination of the same few kids.  Then I ask about some of the other kids in the class, and the answer is a firm "no" or even "he's mean".  Even if grown-ups are always calling all kids friends, toddlers seem to know better.

While it's delightful for Jonah to make friends or recognize a bad apple, it is sad when his judgement differs from my own.  A very sweet, but very shy little girl from playgroup kept asking Jonah, "are you my friend?" to which he kept replying, "no!", crying and running away.  The poor little thing!  I felt so sad for her, but admired her resilience.  She must have asked a hundred times.

I want Miss Jacqueline!

A good college friend came to visit over the long weekend and spent lots of time entertaining Jonah playing ball, cooking, reading, etc.  If she so much as left the room Jonah would ask me, "Mom, where your buddy?"

When we hurriedly dropped her off at the train station today, Jonah gave the loudest and most emphatic cry I have ever heard from him:  "I want Miss Jacqueline!  I want Miss Jacqueline hug me!"  With HUGE crocodile tears.  The poor kid was clearly distraught at her departure.

We took a walk down by the tracks, where five tracks simultaneously pass above a river and below a pedestrian walk, all of which tunnel under the mall.  He loved it... but kept intermittently crying for Miss Jacqueline!  We waved to the commuter train as it passed to say good-bye (although her Amtrak train had departed 20 minutes prior.  Shhhh!)  Bye, Miss Jacqueline!  We miss you!!!

Fast Friends

Happily, Jonah decided to be best buds with the son of my college friend.  They had met before as babies, but now 2 years old they can actually play together.  They immediately found they have a lot of similar interests, including basketball, soccer and bounce houses.  Unfortunately, these hobbies intersected in a rather competitive way.  Even with 6 balls in the yard, they always wanted the same one at the same time, even though the favorite varied throughout the day!  They both did a great job "using their words", but understanding one another was another issue entirely.  ;-)

Surprise!

I love to be surprised by the new things Jonah can do!  Today he sat in the "big boy" swing and pumped his legs correctly.  Then it was my turn and he pushed me in the swing!

After swinging, Jonah did a somersault in the grass!  He thought I should do one, too.  I don't remember it being quite so painful!  Ow.

Greatest Show on Earth

Jonah was terrified, but couldn't take his eyes off the show!  His mouth was hanging open through most of it.  The trapeze was a little too much for him and he wanted to go home, but after a short break he came back to see the tigers!  Jonah loved the tigers and elephants best.

Elliott slept through most of the show, but awoke near the end.  He was hungry, and awfully surprised to find himself at the circus!  The startled look in his eyes was priceless.

1-Second Neck Exercise

Elliott has very little interest in doing a "cobra", or even picking up his head, during tummy time.  It seems lying and sucking his thumb has become a comfortable place to be.  I finally found a trick, which is to lay him looking to the right.  He picks up his head, turns to the left, and lies back down where his thumb of choice is readily accessible.  End of exercise.  This is a little troublesome, since friends and cousins born around the same time have been doing a cobra for over a month now.  All in his own time... and who can blame him with a noggin measuring in the 99th percentile?

Thumb Sucking Extraordinaire!

Elliott has mastered the art of sucking his thumb - always the left thumb.  And unlike the fist, which can be upsetting when it doesn't produce milk, Elliott is perfectly content to suck away, sometimes even while sleeping!

Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeekkkk!

Things that will make Jonah shriek:

• A piece of hair touching him in the bathtub
• An ant crawling on the floor

The piercing nature of the wail may lead one to expect some catastrophic event has transpired.  Nope.

Happy Easter!

I may have failed as a Catholic parent this Easter.  I never want Easter to be just bunnies, eggs and candy.  But how do you explain to a toddler what the celebration is about?  Does he understand death?  Is it silly that death is so taboo in our culture, or a good idea to avoid the topic with a sensitive little mind?  I offhandedly gave Jonah a couple soundbites about God, Heaven and Jesus but it certainly wasn't a theological conversation intended to foster deep understanding.  But you never know... sometimes a little phrase can stick with him.  Last weekend, Grandmama asked Jonah if he would come to her house to help find the eggs the Easter Bunny hid.  All week we've been hearing Jonah excitedly explain, "I go Mema's house, she need help finding eggs.  I help Mema find the eggs!"

Easter was a lovely day of Mass (we arrived just in time to get seats in the vestibule, right behind Jonah's friends.  They were all a little more rowdy than usual... maybe from the candy???), egg hunts (which included a full boisterous and theatrical narrative worthy of a Tony Award) and family.

How embarrassing!

[Bedtime]
Jonah:  I need George.
Mommy:  Here you go. [Hands Curious George to Jonah]
Jonah:  Oh no!
Mommy: What's wrong?
Jonah:  There's poopy coming out his bum!  He need a diaper change!
Mommy: I'll get him a diaper.
Jonah:  He need monkey diaper!
[Mommy diapers Curious George]

Gourmet Fist!

Elliott found his hands!  He makes little batting motions at hanging toys - intentionally, albeit rather clumsily.  Even better, he now enjoys sucking on his fists, at least until something with milk comes along.

Baby? Shower

Elliott enjoyed the pleasure of being the only guy at a cousin's bridal shower yesterday - and a cute one at that!  His even littler cousin Ruby came, too, so (at least at our table) the conversation was far more baby than wedding!  Sorry, kids, the wedding reception will be adult only.  I wonder what we will talk about???

Kitty in the Tree!

Jonah's imaginative play has just flourished recently.  His favorite game is to play firefighter.  He dons the helmet and runs around the house with a long cardboard tube (his hose).  And what does he do with his fire-fighting super powers?  He saves kitties from trees!  On walks, he frequently points out all the kitties stuck in trees along the way.  It's quite amazing our neighborhood is always so full of them!

How far is too far to walk?

Tuesday my car needed to go to the shop, about a mile away.  Since Daddy had abandoned me with both kids for the day, I thought perhaps the three of us could go together to drop off the car and walk back the rest of the way.  The library was on the way, so we planned a stop there.

Elliott did just fine, but he wasn't walking.  Jonah walked a bit until he came down with a mysterious foot ailment that required him to be carried too.  Apparently 1000 feet was too far for a toddler.  It was a long trip back with three bodies on two legs.

By the time Daddy finally returned home, I was looking forward to leaving him with the kids and dinner to cook while I took a relaxing stroll to recover my car.  But when Daddy asked if I needed him to go get the car, it took me by surprise and I didn't know what to say.  So I told him: one of us goes and gets the car, the other cooks dinner.

Daddy said he would get the car and left with Jonah for the walk.  Apparently Jonah did a great job walking, being careful when he crossed the street, staying close to Daddy, and not taking too many detours.  He was so excited he stopped a random stranger with a torrent of words that hardly made a sentence.  Apparently a mile was not too far at all.

When they got back, I had Daddy cook dinner.  Thank you for getting the car, but you chose wrongly!

Two Months Gone!

Elliott is now two months old!  He measures 23-1/4 inches long and weighs in at 13lb 3.5oz.  At 16.5in, his head is above the 90th percentile curve!  Prior to the visit Daddy and I had a friendly wager on his weight.  Daddy guessed 12lb 2oz, Mommy 13lb 4oz.  I suppose by TPiR rules I lost!  We retired all the 0-3mo clothes and most 3mo.  His belly button sticks out, but I'm told it's an umbilical hernia that will resolve itself, not a permament outtie.  We're still waiting and hoping the kidney clears, too.

Elliott is doing everything a baby should!  He sleeps well in his moses basket and has even given me a couple full nights until 6am, though not consistently.  Still, I seem to be past the anguish of constant sleep deprivation.  With only one middle-of-the-night feeding around 3am, I'm getting full sleep cycles before and after.  Elliott eats efficiently, and quite frequently in the early morning to make up for lost time.  During tummy time he can pick up his head and chest, but only a few seconds at a time.  Full head control is  a work in progress, and I suuport his head most of the time.  (I think both my boys are a little delayed in this respect, owing to the additional weight.)  Elliott smiles occasionally and tracks movements with his eyes and head - particularly Mommy's.  He found his tongue and will mimic me in sticking it out.  He also figured out how to suck his fist, though it seems to be a disappointment when no milk comes out!

Back to the old grindstone...

I started back to work today.  I wasn't as eager this time around, but I still had a little twitch wanting to check in on my custom clients and other projects.  It's only been 8 weeks, but I'm only working part-time from home through the end of June.  It isn't so jarring since I'm not sending Elliott to daycare or commuting to the office yet.  Instead, I'll just have to be even more organized with my time during the day, and be particularly productive on Jonah's school days.  And at the end of the day, I had designed and drawn a building!  How satisfying.

Back to Back!

At his cousin's baptism today, Elliott had his first opportunity at our family's tradition of "back-to-back".  As kids, this meant standing beside the cousin closest in age to compare height and take a photograph.  Cousin Jonathan is only 10 days younger, and looks to be only half Elliott's size!  Boy, do I envy mothers of newborns with small heads!

Jonah spent most of the ceremony running through the back door, shouting about wanting to use the potty again.  Really he wanted the reward of playing on Grandmama's tablet.

Crack a Smile!

Elliott is working on his smile!  He hasn't quite mastered it, but I can see it in his eyes.  If he's a little cranky, when I go to pick him up he immediately calms down and the corners of his mouth curl up a little.  Cute.  Looking forward to him fully mastering a heart-warming grin!

A Month Gone By...

For all the people that say "Enjoy every moment.  It goes by so fast!" I get it.  With Jonah the days, hours, and sometimes minutes seemed to crawl as I tried to figure out how to entertain, stimulate, soothe, and educate him.  This involved a barrage of noise-making toys, floor exercises, and high-contrast images.  Now Elliott gets only gets a small fraction of my attention during toddler outings, playdates, entertainment and tantrums.  We're lucky if he's awake at the same time it is convenient to do tummy time or other baby activity!  The rest of the time, he hangs out contentedly in his Rock and Play, floor gym or my ring sling.  He's probably better off without all the over-stimulation.  Big brother ensures that there is enough going on in the house for Elliott to watch and listen to.  I don't feel so obliged to go out of my way to narrate everything just to keep his word exposure up.

Elliott is a pretty calm baby, or at least I am a more calm mother.  I spent most of Jonah's infancy giving myself great credit for being a relaxed parent...  I had no idea what I was talking about.  Maybe as a new Mom I was a bit ahead of the pack, (which included those that had breathing monitors in their newborns' cribs and minced their food until age 2) but I was quite the novice!  It is easier to accept now that I can't attend to every cry now that they are coming from two directions.

I think Elliott is going to be a good sleeper (knock on wood!)  That doesn't mean I'm sleeping well.  Boy, what I would give for even 4 straight hours!  We typically feed at 7pm, 10, 1, 4 and 6am.  6am.  That's when Elliott is at his most awake, Jonah toddles in to come find me, and I'm desperate to go back to bed!  Admittedly, we usually all land on the couch in front of the TV until I can convince myself there is no more sleep in my immediate future.  Although Elliott is up frequently for feedings, he seems to understand that night is for sleeping and goes down easily in his bassinet.  During the day, on the other hand, he is more often awake and loves to be held! I'm getting used to tossing him into the Maya Wrap just around the house while I cook, clean, etc.

Good Job, Daddy!

Daddy and Jonah do the food shopping.  This week in aisle 9...

Jonah: "Daddy, you found the pancake mix.  Good job!  I so proud of you!"

Favorite Things: February 2015

Jonah: Flash Turtle.  This inflatable cross between a turtle and slug has been rediscovered after sitting around for 18 months.  Jonah is proud to show off his jumping for any and all guests!

"Little Oink"  This book was intended for Elliott, but Jonah loves this story of a piglet that likes to clean, while his parents tell him to make a mess!

Elliott:  Milk.  All the time.

Mommy: Maya Wrap ring sling.  Elliott loves to be held!  I can quickly sling this on to carry him AND  play with Jonah, clean the house, do laundry, and cook dinner... all at the same time.

Breaking Bad.  Daddy and I have been binge watching recordings from the TV marathon.  Guilty pleasure. It feels so wrong while cuddling a newborn!

Elliott meets Grandpa!

Grandpa came to visit!  Between the constant snow events and his busy schedule, Grandpa wasn't able to meet Elliott until today.  We were so excited... particularly Jonah, who stole the show!  He immediately wanted to show off for Grandpa: his dancing, his trains, his new room, his RC police car, his symphony, kicking a ball, his car, jumping on Flash.  In fact, after showing Grandpa how high he could bounce, Jonah got off the turtle and pointed, "Grandpa, your turn!"  Then he ran across the room to grab the camera, "here, I take your picture!"  This may have been the only activity Grandpa refused, he obliged Jonah in playing with everything else!  The whole visit, I think Elliott only got a couple minutes with Grandpa.

My Turn To Hold Baby Elliott!

Jonah loves to take a turn holding baby Elliott, usually while Elliott is eating.  When we find a more appropriate time, Jonah will climb up in the chair and hold Elliott as long as I take a picture.  And only for as long as I am taking pictures before he is all done and eager to see himself on film.

Jonah Meets Elliott

Though it had been only hours since leaving the house in the wee hours of the morning, we were eager to to see Jonah and introduce him to his baby brother.  In a matter of a few hours, the whole world had changed!  Not only had our family grown in number, but Jonah suddenly grew significantly older.  In a mere moment he changed from my little toddler to my eldest preschooler.

Jonah immediately identified the newborn in the bassinet as "baby brother" and eventually repeated "Elliott" with the cutest pronunciation imaginable.  (aye-ye-it)  Still, it wasn't long before he was in my lap asking to see baby brother, pointing to my belly.  Not there anymore, Jonah!  Something we all have to get used to!

His interest didn't last long before he was telling PopPop, "I want to go home and kick a ball!"  It seems he didn't notice our absence and had been mome than happy to see PopPop when he woke up!  During his visit, Jonah took photos of the whole family:

Favorite Things: January 2015

Fisher Price Learn and Grow Car.  I thought he had already outgrown this Christmas gift, but Jonah loves to climb in this stationary car and drive to the zoo or otherwise make all the noises that come from the buttons inside.

Mickey Mouse Clubhouse.  Almost everything in our house is a Mousekatool!  Finding a big scoop mousekatool was handy in convincing a stubborn toddler to go outside to play in the snow.  And a question mark means the 'mystery' mousetaktool!

Discovery Preschool

Jonah graduated to Preschool this week!  His school offers "Discovery Preschool" as a transition between the toddler room and the preschool classroom.  We received a form letter citing that the teachers have observed his development and feel Jonah is ready, blah, blah, blah.  Really, this translates to: he meets the 2yr 4mo age requirement.  Jonah has been visiting a couple times and seems excited to join some of his friends that have already transitioned.  Some differences I have noticed:

- Drop offs are even harder now that Jonah sees that I am staying home with Elliott.  "No, I want to stay inside!" he screams in full trantrum (meaning he wants to stay home).

- The teacher already seems more observant.  Jonah brought home artwork captioned, "A choo-choo train, my goning on tracks it go to station."

- He comes home and tells me about playing with his friend James, puzzles and the fire truck.  (which is more information than I can usually extract)

Coming Home

Poor Jonah had a terrible cough the night I went into labor, and got significantly worse during his vacation at Grandmama and PopPop's house.  We were thrilled to have him home with us today, but a little under-prepared for how much attention he would need!  If this continues I'll never make it as a parent of 2.  For now, we are blessed to have a newborn so new that he would rather sleep the day away.

Extended Stay

Already the difference is apparent between having a first and second child.  With Jonah, it was comforting to stay in the hospital under the watchful eye of nurses and experienced hospital staff.  This time around, we were eager to rest at home with fewer late-night pokes and prods.  The nurse was in the midst of completing the discharge checklist when a page from the pediatrician slammed the door in our faces.  Elliott would need a VCUG, which couldn't be scheduled until tomorrow.  Of course his health is our top priority, but it was a little disappointing to be imprisoned another day.  I've been feeling remarkably well and look forward to the beginning of our new chapter!

Uncle Kevin and Aunt Lindsay came to visit and helped pass the time.  And, sweetly, brought dinner!  :-)

Elliott's Birth Story

Welcome Elliott Roy!  Elliott was born at 7:16am on Saturday, January 24, 2015 after a short 4 hour labor and natural delivery.  He came out healthy and screaming, music to a mother's ears!

Now for the long version:  :-)

Friday, January 23.  We're on yellow alert, 3 days past the expected date of delivery, but given my personal history I'm certain we'll be waiting another week.  A pre-natal ultrasound this morning showed good movement and plenty of fluid, so no reason for concern.  The ultrasound was at the hospital, and we complete a successful drill to practice loading the car and driving.  Our next appointment is scheduled for Tues. when I expect to be pressured to schedule an induction by Thurs. (41weeks 2 days) at the latest, earlier if there is any real cause for concern.  I am very hopeful for natural and spontaneous labor this time around and am already calculating in my head the risks of pushing off the pitocen until a week from Monday (41weeks  6 days).  Since I have been more tired than usual recently, I don't wait for my usual 8pm bedtime and head straight to bed.

Saturday, January 24.  I am dreaming about waterfalls and rivers and oceans, when suddenly I realize I am sleeping in one.  I wake up Daddy and call the medical doctor, who tells me I could consider taking a shower before coming in to the hospital, if I'm not concerned about the baby's movements.  It doesn't sound urgent, and I'm not having any real contractions yet, so I go back to bed.  Besides, labor is supposed to take 12 hours or so, so I want to save my strength.

Before I can fall back asleep I am reasonably sure I had my first real contraction, and Daddy calls Pop-Pop and raises our alert status to "Red."  Among the things you might expect, this includes cool "red alert" visuals on our tv screen.  No klaxons, because that would be stressful.  I try timing a few contractions as they grow stronger, but some are less than five minutes apart, and some are like ten minutes apart.  I figure the ones after three minutes are aftershocks and skip them in my counting.  Since they are still irregular I try to relax with a shower.  During the shower though, the contractions get to be all less than five minutes apart, so I end the shower and get dressed.  By this time I have given up on going back to bed, and Pop-Pop arrives to watch Jonah.

Within two minutes, we are off to the hospital.  By now it is a little before 5:30, and it is snowing heavily.  The drive to the hospital is precarious, but Daddy manages to keep us on the road and keep the stress level down with rather mundane topics of conversation.  It doesn't make for good heroic drama, but it was what the situation called for.  Meanwhile I am climbing the walls every three minutes in contractions and don't even notice the crazy truck driver or that an inch of snow obscures all the lanes of the highway.

We get to the hospital a minute after 6am and 8 cm dilated.  Daddy walks me from the curb to the emergency room, where they seem pretty surprised to see anyone come in with this weather.  Pretty soon we are in the delivery room, where nurses, a midwife, and the doctors start wandering in.  Each time someone would come in, they would ask me my date of birth, medical history, etc., even though I had already filled this out in the prenatal paperwork they had me mail in.  Meanwhile, Daddy gives all the insurance information from the same paperwork over the phone to registration.  It just made me sick to my stomach how poorly information was communicated.

Several unpleasant contractions later, the doctor says we might as well start pushing.  I don't really feel any strong urge, but the contractions are uncomfortable and it is something to do.  When I push I don't think anything is happening, but after just five pushes or so, out comes Elliott.  Daddy and I are thrilled he is alive, but Elliott gives us a mouthful about the whole experience.  Eventually I let Daddy have a turn holding Elliott, and even though the cord had been hastily cut already, Daddy gets to trim it a little bit further.  I feel much better than last time, and in fact good enough to make a 10am client meeting in Providence.  However, it being a Saturday there is no client meeting scheduled, so I assent to recuperate in the maternity ward with the mortals and take a nap.

Elliott is a pretty good tempered kid.  He likes his sleep, especially during the afternoons, and feeds somewhat irregularly.  He doesn't like to open his eyes too widely, and prefers to look sidelong at his surroundings than at whomever is holding him.  He has a little problem with one of his kidneys, but most newborns with this issue resolve it naturally in the first few weeks.

Morning Wake-Up Call

Every morning Jonah comes into my room to wake me up.  This wasn't an issue when he was sleeping well past 7, but it seems to get a few minutes earlier every day...  Today it was a little too early and I sent him back to bed.  "No, I wake up now!"  So I gave him my cell phone to play puzzles in his bed while I got to snooze.  :-)  But his morning routine is actually quite enjoyable and I rather missed it:

First I hear his door open with a loud pop as the latch gives.  Then the toddle of little feet into the bedroom and around to my side of the bed.  Then a chorus of "Mommy, wake up!"  I help him climb up onto the bed and he greets baby brother (in utero) by doing 'belly-belly' where both our shirts are lifted to achieve skin-to-skin contact.  This is usually followed by a series of raspberries blown on my tummy.  What comes next is more of a pick-your-adventure of the day, which can be anything from turning on the clock radio to building a fort with the blankets to kisses and snuggling next to me for back rubs.  Not such a bad start to the day!  And oh-so-precious one on one bonding time before the little one steals Mommy's attention.

Circle

Jonah's teacher was very excited to show Daddy Jonah's artwork.  She asked Jonah to tell Daddy what it is:

"J-O-N-A-H spells Jonah!" he announced proudly.  The teacher was dumbfounded.  She had expected him to tell Daddy that it was a circle.  News of Jonah's spelling is now talk of the toddler room!

I want to spell Hepicopter!

Jonah's latest hobby has been spelling words.  For Christmas, Santa brought him a set of colorful alphabet magnets for the fridge.  So while I'm cooking he asks to spell his favorite words, which started with "Jonah", "Daddy" and "Mommy", but soon moved on to "Airplane" and "Helicopter".  Jonah will carefully pick out each letter and place it in a neat row as I help spell each word.  He can even do his own name by himself!  Left to his own devices, mine gets a more creative spelling: "Mmommyy".  We once spelled "Truck", but he was disappointed and wanted it bigger.  I think it wasn't long enough for him!  Maybe next time we'll try excavator.

Jonah is also getting pretty good at using the computer keyboard to spell words.  His favorites to type include "Elmo" and "Big Bird", though they rarely appear on the fridge.  Here's the latest email we sent to Daddy (with deletion help from Mommy when the letters repeated for several pages):
daddy,
helicopter
airplane
jonah

Bounce House Party!

Jonah has been super-exited for the party at the bounce house since I told him about it this morning.  We went to an open house at a new indoor playground.  Jonah wanted the bounce house.  We went to open gym to play soccer.  Jonah wanted to bounce.  We went to the library.  Jonah wanted to bounce.  We went to baby brother's doctor appointment.  And finally, finally, we went to the bounce house party!

Jonah was soooo stoked, he ran back and forth dragging Mommy behind him.  Eventually, he settled on shooting basketballs and then playing with the infant toys set out in a small enclosure.  In fact, the most impressive feat of Jonah athletics of the night was scaling the short infant barrier to reach the baby toys.  Second only to downing three pieces of pizza.  I did coax him into one of the less occupied blow-up structures to jump and run for a little while, but he had no interest in the giant slides, climbers, or getting pummeled by other kids.

Carrying a Baby

Somehow I have avoided most inappropriate remarks this pregnancy.  Or perhaps I've simply become so used to them that rude comments no longer strike me as notable.  However, today I had a cute encounter upon leaving the gym, arms loaded with stuff.  A woman stopped to remark, "oh, I thought you were carrying a baby!"  I moved my armful of winter outerwear aside to assure her, "yes, I am!"