Restless Baby

Man, I tell ya, the best thing we've taught Elliot so far is how to fall asleep at night without crying. I recall a brief week or so where we had to put him to bed and just let him cry it out until he passed out from sheer exhaustion. But now, as long as it's bedtime and he's gone through the bath/pajama/boobie/song routine we can just put him down and walk away. He might wiggle around a bit but he'll put himself to sleep by 8:30, and that means mom and dad can relax (well, by 'relax' I mean making baby food, getting ready for work, cleaning up toys, bundling up recycling, doing dishes, and that sort of thing). Unfortunately though this does not work during the day for naps, you have to hold the kid down in a bodylock and then be forced to nap with him lest your movement wake the beast. I'm beginning to realize Elliot is what you would call a 'handful.' I mean this kid just goes and goes and goes and goes and goes. I've observed enough other babies now to see that not all of them are quite so restless.

He just has to see and touch and throw everything on the floor and put it in his mouth constantly. He's not even walking yet! Although he's getting close, he can easily pull himself up and stand if he has something to lean on, and he can walk pretty fast too if we hold his hands. And with crawling, damn he's fast! He can scurry across the kitchen floor in no time chasing cats. Here are some of the ways we keep him entertained while still trying to also do other things:
-High chair, he can sit in it and watch baby einstein or just nibble on his toys for up to 30 minutes before he gets antsy and whiney.
-Riding around in his walker, as long as someone is in the kitchen with him and there are plenty of hand towels, newspapers, or other things for him to roll up to, grab, and quickly roll away like an excited little bandit. If there's not enough things for him to steal he'll get frustrated and bored and whiney.
-Baby buffer zone, Josh is an expert in this but I don't do it because it's too much set up and clean up, but he arranges furniture and pillows around the living room floor so that the bambino is somewhat contained.
-When all else fails to entertain and our aching backs are too tired to keep chasing him around at home then we strap him into the stroller and go for a walk.

What a cutie, I can't believe we're making plans for his first birthday already!!

my first mother's day

My first mother's day was quite a lovely day. The weather was beautiful, I had just found out on Friday that I got a new job and I was feeling pretty good. Josh didn't have anything planned really so I made him do laundry while I took a walk with Elliot, and other housework/watching Elliot when I went to a yoga class. And then he gave me a good massage at the end of the night. Yes, he could have made sure to have the necklace I specifically requested to arrive on time, yes he could have planned some fancy dinner, but actually what I got was a relaxing day of leisure and I realize that is the best gift of all. Time to ignore the to-do list and just have a relaxing Sunday. This is a rare thing for a working mom, because weekends are usually reserved for cleaning, food shopping, baby food cooking, and maintaining some semblance of a social life.

Speaking of appreciating moms, here's my grandmother with Elliot, quite the pair :)   I called my own mom too but I think the meaning of the day was lost on her, they don't have this holiday in Lativa, mothers are taken for granted there, but I hope it's the thought that counts.

Oh, just stuff

Hello there members of the Elliot fan club, we have some new updates:

We finally went to the eye specialist to check Elliot's eyes which were occasionally looking a little crossed, but it turns out it's perfectly fine and due to the fact that he's got a big nose! Well, it's a tiny nose for now, but the bridge is wide enough to slightly distort his vision. As his face grows and changes his eyes will look perfectly normal.

He's starting to show his 5th tooth! And those two front teeth are really coming out now and he's starting to move food around with his tongue and smash it between his gums too like he's learning how to chew. And when it comes to eating, I'm not exaggerating, the kid eats almost regular adult sized portions these days! I have to prepare twice the amount of food for him on a daily basis as I used to. He's still getting milk 3 times a day, in the morning, before bed, and once during the day and in a few weeks I'll stop the daytime feeding so it'll just be morning and night for another month or so.  I still enjoy the nursing but the whole pumping thing is getting old and I'm tired of my boobs being in need of so much maintenance too. In other mama news, I'm back down to my pre-baby size, I'm wearing small's and size 6's again - which is actually annoying because I went on a shopping spree a few months ago and now all that stuff is too big. But I got my first 'oh, you're so skinny' comment the other day which made me yearn for my plump and rotund days. 

Elliot is getting so close to saying his first real word with actual intention, sure he's said mama and some other maybe-words but he's vocalizing all sorts of letter sounds these days and making different sounds when he's happy, excited, curious, or sad. We've been a little lazy with the sign language but we do still do it for some of the more common signs but he hasn't shown us any yet.
He just keeps growing and growing, most days I'm used to being a mom now but sometimes I still look at him and think 'wow, this is really happening, I had a little bubbie and he's all cute and perfect and I'm his momma!'

Our little minnow

We had a little New Hampshire getaway recently and while we mostly lounged, shopped, and cooked, the highlight was definitely going down a snowy hill with Elliot in a toboggan.

It was hard to tell whether he truly enjoyed it because he didn't have a major reaction when we reached the bottom, he just looked kind of rosy-cheeked and stunned. We realized, when his cheeks were still rosy hours later, that actually the cold wind rushing at his face might not have been the most fun experience because it sort of gave him a wind burn. But it made him look very wintry and cute and he got over it so it's ok.

Oh and an update on the sick day thing, the next day he was completely fine and happy as can be and at the end of the week his top two teeth started to break out so that explains it. You can really see them now and they're looking pretty large, with a little gap in between, so soon he'll actually be able to chew things... like a little chipmunk! He's eight months now and it's incredible how much this kid can eat! I keep adding more and more to his servings and sometimes I make what I think will last him for two meals or at least one and a half, but the more I make the more he'll eat, down the hatch it goes, the question 'he ate that whole thing?' is one that's frequently uttered in this household. Not only that but he's developing quite a sophisticated taste, he likes roasted peppers, chamomile and green tea, quinoa, pasta, hummus, and usually whatever we're eating. I am still nursing but only in the morning and night during the work week, and also once during the day on the weekends. Pretty soon I think I'll cut it down to just morning and night, the best way to wean is to slowly give my ducts the signal that they should produce less, so I'm not planning on stopping cold turkey, I'll cut out feedings gradually over the next couple of months, probably mornings will remain as the last boobytime until I stop completely. But we'll see how it goes, right now I think the combo of breastmilk and solids is in just the right balance.

We are also taking a weekly swim class! Josh and I are alternating being the pool parent and we've only had one turn each so far. The first class was pretty good, mostly content with just a few whimpers. But the second class was a cry fest, he just was not having it. I think it'll take a few classes to get used to it and there was a combination of factors that added up to cranky this week. The pool room is pretty warm but the water is surprisingly cold so he shivered a little bit, plus he didn't nap on the way so he was tired. The class mostly involves singing songs and guiding the baby in swimming motions, bouncing up and down and spinning, and moving his legs in a kicking motion. They have all sorts of rubber toys in the water and that definitely helps to distract, if you show him a toy floating in front of him he'll instantly stop crying and reach out for the toy. It's a good motivator, just keep pushing the toy further and further so he'll swim towards it without even knowing he's swimming! I think in a few more weeks he'll be a natural :)

Sick Day

Well it was bound to happen eventually and I'm glad it didn't happen when he was younger, but Elliot had a sick day today. He woke up completely drenched with sweat and with a high fever and occasional cough, but otherwise he was active and hungry and I was concerned but not worried. He basically behaved the way any person would: he slept a lot - in short 20-30 snoozes - and was whiney when he was awake, and mostly just wanted to be held the entire day and that's exactly what I did (Josh was on his way home from the big tour). He fell asleep in my arms several times and actually that was really tender and sweet and I enjoyed it because, as previously mentioned, he's so active and wiggly that those calm content moments are a treat.

 I happen to have had some chicken broth because my mom visited recently and had made soup so I fed him that with some crumbled bread mixed in and he enjoyed it, he also ate some yogurt, banana, carrots with string beans, baked squash, and boobmilk of course. A testament to his appetite which is strong even under conditions of illness. I tried several times to make him smile when he was awake but he wasn't in the mood until the end of the day when the fever went down a little and I finally got some chuckles. What a real person he is, I could really tell that he just felt crummy and I felt bad for the little guy.

 I wonder what caused it, I did have a friend visit the night before who works with kids, and the day before that he took a long trip on the subway, or it could be an unrelated baby-growing thing. Who knows, all that matters is that he seemed better at the end of the day and now he's snoring away - I just hope he's not wide awake at 2am because he slept so much all day! Two days ago I happen to have scheduled a doctor's appointment for him for tomorrow to check on his eyes which may need a bit of lazy correction, so if he's still sick we'll see what the doctor says, although I have a feeling all he'll need is a second helping of my certified TLC :)

Come to my crib

Very exciting news, we finally got a real crib! Our co-sleeping days are over. Here are the reasons this is good:

• Elliot was pulling himself up in the co-sleeper and could fall over, so we always had to make sure he was asleep before leaving the room with him in there. Now we can do the sleepy time routine and put him to bed and leave the room even if he's still squirming and whining a little. He'll put himself to sleep eventually and that frees up precious evening time.
• This bed is much bigger, Elliot is sort of a 'sleep swimmer' so he likes to move himself upwards in his sleep and keep trying to move upwards even when the top of his head is pressed up against the bed edge, now he has more space (although still he nestles right up in the corner in the new bed).
• The co-sleeper as it was pressed up against our bed left a very narrow space to walk through to get to the windows and dresser and the new bed is pushed up agains the wall so there's space between our beds to make the room feel a little more free.

Here's why the new crib will take some getting used to:

• When Elliot woke up on the night, it was pretty darn convenient to just reach over the edge of my bed and soothe him back to sleep without getting up, can't do that anymore... that's really the only reason.

This kid, I tell ya, he's a handful. He never likes to sit still, it's such a rare moment that you could hold him in your arms and he'll just rest peacefully awake and content. He's always squirming, kicking, reaching out for things, grunting, trying to climb on top of you, grabbing, chewing, pulling, crawling, slapping at surfaces, and attempting to do things. Of course this is not a bad thing, it's just the way he is, an adventurer, an explorer, a getter-into-things he shouldn't get into. Watch out for this one world!

Oh, also, he's found it. You know... it. Yep, he likes to give himself a squeeze when it's diaper time right before he puts his toes in his mouth. Oh the wonders of self exploration!

He's a funny guy

Elliot is really at a fun age now, he's so much more responsive and engaging, he has incredible tenacity and curiosity, and he's just a happy little guy who's always interested in stuff. He's leveling out in terms of growth, just as mama had predicted, and he only gained one pound in the last month, which we don't mind at all because carrying around a 20-pounder is still quite a weight. He is mid-sippy-cup-transition and it's very cute to see him tilting his bottle with both hands like he's all grown up.

Here's some other funny stuff he does:

• When it comes to pacifier manipulation he's got it down, he can find that thing at the bottom of a mound of toys or ruffled blankets. He finds it when he wakes up from sleeping, but doesn't really wake up, and groggily shoves it in his mouth multiple times the wrong way until he finally inserts the nipple side in properly, then sucks so happily it makes me long for the simplicity of innocence. He even (when we're lucky) puts it in his mouth when he gets cranky and knows we don't want to hear it! (ok, he only did that once but it was the best self-shut-upping ever!)
• He loves to wave his hands in the air like he just don't care when he's zooming around in his walker, plus the little sound board attached to the front tray makes all sorts of funny noises that are sort of his sound track so that when he sees you coming he cackles and waves his arms and makes a boingboing sound as he wheels himself towards you.
• He is a twister, lately he just doesn't have the patience or time of day to get his diaper changed and simply won't lay still. He'll tilt his head back as leverage and flip his leg over super quick and start crawling away with his bare tush in the air and the nearest grippable object already in his little hand, and consequently in his mouth. If you flip him on his back again he'll just do it again and again quicker than you can slap that diaper on, it's becoming the first real opportunity to assert myself as a parent. I flip him and sternly say 'Elliot, stop' and he seems to understand for a milli-second before he laughs and flips again leaving me to eat my words.

We ordered a real crib this week and I'm going to miss the co-sleeper that has served us so well - especially since Elliot is still not quite sleeping through the night and sometimes need a little TLC/turn on the music box in the middle of the night, which is easier to do without having to get up. But we can't leave him in that bed unattended anymore unless we're absolutely sure he's asleep because he can pull himself up and tries to climb over it now. It's time for a big baby bed. The real hard part is finding space for it though, we had to really put our tetris skills to the test for this one but we are going to make it work and keep the crib in the bedroom. It's definitely time for a bigger place now and we're going to move this summer into a real two-bedroom. 

I'm also really looking forward to Spring and Summer now. We've been cooped up in the apartment for a while since it's been cold, even though we still take him outside all bundled up as often as possible, so the prospect of sunshine and warm days and exploring the outside world as he engages more and more is so exciting. I keep seeing a vision of him running in tall fresh grass and it instantly calms my  crowded mind and makes me happy. And going to the beach! Oh I just can't wait :)