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!"