Clothes? For Christmas? Hooray!

Here's a cute picture of Eli opening a present at Grandpa S.'s house. I bet it'll be the last time for about 15 years where he'll open up a Christmas present and be happy about the fact that there's clothes inside!

Drinking Games. But not the fun kind . . .

The other trick that Elijah developed while we left him at Grandma's (for one night!) is that he decided to stop drinking formula – he had only had 7.5 ounces ALL DAY LONG up to when we picked him up at 4 pm. His formula intake had been scaling back for the last week or so, now that he is eating more and more solid food, but nothing this dramatic! He was more than willing to drink his water from his sippy cup, but not formula, and definitely not a bottle of formula! He just would clamp his lips shut and turn his head and then whine until he got his water. I was a little concerned about this, since he still needs formula as the main source of nutrition for the next few months still. Visions of starving baby Eli rushed through my head.

Anyway, Elijah ended up only drinking 17 ounces for the whole day on Sunday (!!) but on Monday he was back up to 24 ounces. I think that’s where he’s going to stay for now. He eats two big meals a day (a half or cup or a little more) and water throughout the day (probably 2-3 ounces total all day), and just shows no interest in drinking any more formula than around 24 ounces. I don’t want to make a big deal out of feedings and create issues, so as long as he still is growing fine and looking healthy (besides that cold that he’s going to have until he’s 21 – I swear!), then I’m fine with it and am not going to stress. I’d prefer no more days of refusing formula completely though! Listen to your mother, Elijah, and be a good little formula-drinking boy!

Sweet Freedom

Not that I don’t love my child, but spending a night without him occasionally is wonderful. Last weekend, Jon and I handed the bean off to Grandma Amanda and Grandpa Terry on Saturday night and headed out for a nice dinner and a movie. After getting Elijah settled at their house we were positively giddy as we walked to the car!

Anyway, we were able to go out for a nice dinner (using our Entertainment Book coupon to get a deal) and than caught The Chronicles of Narnia (our waitress took 20 minutes to bring the bill so we were a few minutes late to the movie, but didn’t miss much). What a wonderful and relaxing evening. And we both got to stay up a little later than usual and sleep in on Sunday morning (until 9:30, WOW!!). We love being with Elijah, but parenting is such a huge responsibility, that it is nice to feel like the weight is lifted for the evening and you can just have fun and do whatever you want, without having to think about what Elijah is going to need next, or what you have to do to keep him entertained, and fed, and changed, and happy, and alive. We were also able to go to church without worrying about him, and that was nice!

Alas, we missed our baby after less than a full day away though, and headed to pick him up on Sunday afternoon. He did okay, though he was more difficult to put down to sleep than usual. Mom said that she could tell Elijah knew he was in a different place and Mom and Dad weren’t there to put him to sleep -- and didn’t care for that! When we picked him up he was kind of whiny and didn’t act happy to see us. An arrow through the heart of Mommy! Finally he was being whiny enough that we just decided to head home. Of course, the minute we got home he turned into “happiest baby in the world” and had a ball with his toys and was Mr. Smiley at both Mom and Dad. Stinker. Guess he was glad to be home and with us again after all.

The Boot-Scoot Boogie

Elijah was on the bed while I was putting away clothes, and the next thing I know, he’s scooting himself backwards across the bed! Now, our comforter is a little slick, so it’s easier for him to push himself backwards, but it was still neat to see him realize what he was doing and keep doing it over and over. I’d pull him back to one end of the bed, and pretty soon he’d be at the other! No more casually turning our backs anymore (Elijah’s never shown a propensity to roll to get anywhere so we’ve never really had to worry about that) – our little guy can scoot!

Does this count as a first word?

Elijah was sitting on the floor playing (January 7th if we need to write this in his baby book) while I sat next to him and folded laundry, and he was babbling, and then said, “baba.” Then he kept babbling nonsense and then went, “baba,” again. Hmm, is that just nonsense? Or is he talking about his bottle (which we often refer to as his baba for some insane reason)?
Then, on the 10th (again, baby book, people), he was babbling and then went “mama.” Now, he wasn’t looking at me, so I don’t think he was talking to me or about me, but still, he said it! I’m not sure it counts though. I would think his first word would have to be in context – to show that he is actually saying a particular thing, rather than just practicing his babbling skills. Further deliberation is needed before we record this in “the book.” :)

Is this Kid Ever Going to Get Better?

It seems like Elijah has had a cold since the beginning of November, and his symptoms just keep switching around. When we went to Grand Rapids for Thanksgiving he started having a horrible cough, which seemed to get better after about a week, but still was kind of hanging on. This was all complicated by his first tooth coming in, and then three days of wonderful sleeping, and then back to teething and being sick again.

Well, after Christmas Eli’s cough and runny nose just kept getting worse and worse, and after a Friday night spent having coughing fits that only stopped when he gagged himself, we headed to the doctor on Saturday morning. The doctor listened and prodded and poked, and said that nothing was wrong. Crap. Now, don’t get me wrong, I’m glad that nothing is wrong with Elijah. It’s just that I don’t know how much more we can really take of him coughing and runny booger globs everywhere, and him waking up over and over again because he can’t clear his nose or his throat. And don’t get me started on the general crankiness which accompanies all of this (both Elijah’s and Mom and Dad’s!).

The doctor did tell us to keep him on a decongestant/antihistamine 24-7 for a while, which was different than what we had been doing. We had been giving him the medicine only at night, since we both felt we didn’t really want to give him much medicine if we didn’t have to. But this time the doctor stressed that being on the medicine ALL day long would help him sleep better at night since it would help with the drainage all day and not just promote drainage at night when he was trying to sleep. So, we’ll give it a try and hopefully things will be better soon!

Hands and Knees!

Last night (January 2nd), while we were playing with all of Elijah’s new toys, Jon put Eli on his hands and knees. And Eli actually stayed up on them and rocked back and forth! Previously, whenever we would put him on his hands and knees he would stay there for a few seconds and then just plop back on his belly. But this time he stayed there and rocked, and looked up and smiled! He eventually plopped, but Jon kept putting him up over and over again, and Eli kept staying up! How exciting! Now he keeps trying to figure out how to get up on his knees himself. He doesn’t quite have it yet, but it’s exciting that he’s trying!

New Year’s Day, and Christmas with Grandma Amanda and Grandpa Terry!

On the afternoon of New Year’s Day we celebrated Christmas with Jon’s Mom and her husband, Terry, Jon’s Grandma and Grandpa, and Jon’s brother and his girlfriend, Jessica. Elijah went down for a quick nap while we ate dinner, and then was back for his dinner (ooh, peas) in the gorgeous highchair that Terry had refinished for Mom. This was Jon’s highchair originally, then Jeremy’s, and then was passed to various cousins. Terry stripped the finish with the intention of repainting it since they weren’t sure the quality of the wood, but once stripped it turned out the chair was a good quality maple, so Terry re-stained and sealed the chair. And it is simply gorgeous!

Anyway, after prince Eli was done with his meal it was present time. Eli dutifully posed in front of the tree and presents while everyone fawned and adored him (rough life, huh), and then it was time for presents for Eli! And after the morning present session of fun, he was ready for this one too. Uncle Jeremy and Aunt Jessica got him stuffed frogs and books, and Elijah went crazy. He was almost spastic you could say. At one point he kept lifting his books above his head and squealing over and over again, with a huge smile on his face. Elijah’s stocking present was this dog puppet who barked Christmas songs when you moved his mouth. Elijah thought that was pretty amusing as well, though you couldn’t tell who enjoyed it more – the adults or him.

As the opening wore on Elijah started to get tired (he yawned while opening his “Baby’s First Blocks” set), and so he was retired to Grandma’s lap for the rest of the night. From there he opened camouflage pajamas from the Marine Corps. (Grandpa Terry was a Marine), and also a box of books that Jon read when he was younger. That was really cool, and the another neat thing was that Grandma wrote little messages and dates on the inside of each book cover, so Elijah will be able to know that the books were his Dad’s and now are his!

Jon and I had a good Christmas as well (though no squealing from either of us I must admit). I got a yarn winder to go with the umbrella swift I received from my brother (now I can wind my own balls of yarn, yay!), and comfy shirts, which I’m always grateful for, and really cool snowmen trays for entertaining. I’m excited to use that, and I love snowmen, as anyone who is near me at holiday time knows! Jon received a wine opener and foil cutter, expansion sets for a strategy game that we like to play together, and a little footstool for under his desk that Mom and Terry made, and has a big block “M” on the top for the University of Michigan (where Jon and I, and my Dad, and Jon’s Dad, and Jon’s Mom, and Jon’s brother, and Jessica, and Jon’s Aunt and Uncle, all went to school!).
After presents, Jeremy and Jessica took Jon’s Grandma and Grandpa home, and Jon and I and Mom and Terry watched the new Star Wars movie together. Right at the end Elijah started crying, so I went up to check on him. He seemed really uncomfortable so I tried to settle him and rock him back to sleep. When Jon came up to bed though, Elijah kept waking up in his pack n’ play and we were all tired, so Jon went and slept in Jeremy’s old room, and Elijah and I slept in the bed in the guest bedroom. A huge bed for me and Eli, and the little squirmer kept scooting around until he was glued to my side. He’s so sweet and cuddly though that it was nice. Except that I didn’t get much sleep since I was afraid I’d fall into a deeper sleep and roll over him or something. He slept until almost 8 though, and then I woke Jon up and passed the baby duties on to him while I took a nap. We headed home pretty early since both of us wanted to get unpacked and have time to relax at home a bit before it was back to the regular work weeks for us! We had a really great New Year’s-slash-Christmas with family though!

New Year’s Eve, and Christmas with Grandpa Bob and Grandma Sherry!

Elijah, Jon, and I rang in the New Year at Jon’s Dad’s house this year, and we celebrated Christmas together then too! On New Year’s Eve Jon’s aunt and uncle and one of his cousins and her boyfriend came over to Grandpa Bob and Grandma Sherry’s house as well, and we had a rather enjoyable evening together. Aunt Laurie and Uncle Vaughn gave Elijah a little tambourine, which was fitting seeing as Aunt Laurie is the director of music education for a school district around here (I hope I got her title right!), and also some bath toys (he loves baths!) and a huge blow-up play gym for him to sit in! It was cool!

Pretty quickly after opening his presents from his great-aunt and uncle, Elijah headed for bed and didn’t utter a peep the rest of the evening (what a good boy!). The adults then had dinner and opened presents. Jon and I got a Tivo, which was awesome and has been really fun so far, but my favorite present was a mug with a picture of Elijah on it. It’s the picture of him eating his first solid foods, with a big smile on his face, and I love it!
New Year’s morning was Elijah’s turn to open his presents from Grandpa and Grandma, and that was a highlight of our whole visit. He sat in front of his presents in the cutest snowman jammies, and then pushed them around and ripped the paper off them. And he would act soooo excited once he got the paper off, with big grins and squeals. What a goofball! He got clothes (so cute!), a book, and toys – a musical stacker with rings, balls, and a big elephant head, and a LeapStart learning table. He loves playing with both of them! Opening presents with Elijah was so much fun, and he doesn’t even realize what it’s all about yet. Next year is going to be even more fun since he’ll be walking and talking by then. After presents it was time to pack up and head over to another set of Grandparents, and more family fun together!