All the things we know

This little bubbie is becoming quite the little chatterbox, here are some of the words he knows (although I'm sure I will leave some out because nearly every day he says a new one, plus he knows many more that he can point to but just hasn't felt like saying yet), here goes: yes, no, up, down, pee, wait, stop, dish, truck, batman, bus, bye, hi, book, baby, elbow, head, hat, bike, big, uh-oh, mine, shoes, fish, bear, bed, eyes, watch, pee, nine (the #), puzzle, clean, train, choo-choo, balloon, kiss, juice... oh I give up!

Elliot surprises me every day with how much he can understand and respond to. He knows what he likes, he knows when it's time for bed, he knows that he should pee in the potty and has to tell us when he has to go (because he can't quite pull his own pants up or down yet, or just doesn't want to), he knows when he did something wrong, he knows that the cats are mostly not interested in him but he still loves them, he knows how to get extra sympathy out of adults, he knows how to push our buttons, and he knows that if he looks out the bedroom window for a little while he's sure to see a BUS (his favorite thing in the world).

The thing that has been making me extra fuzzy inside lately is his affectionate nature. He loves to give kisses, and not only to people! He gives kisses to the cats, even when they're clearly trying to get away from him, he gives kisses to objects he likes, and he even gives an air kiss and waves goodbye to his poopies when we flush them down the toilet.

Then there's this toddler behavior, lining up all his cars in neat little rows, back-to-back or side-to-side. He's so proud when they're all lined up he'll call our attention to it :)

Oh and every night, after we put on pajamas, he climbs happily under the covers and waits for me to join him there to read two stories before bed.

It's incredible how I can see his true nature, from while he was still in my belly he's had this fiery energetic essence and yet such a sweetness and curiosity too. I imagine that it'll be hard for me to be surprised by what sort of person he'll be. He'll probably be athletic and focused and incredibly kind, oh now I'm just getting ahead of myself. 

With the whole hoopla of the outrage of 'Attachment Parenting' making news recently I can't help but think about what sort of parens Josh and I are. While we are certainly loving and nurturing, we are also probably less attached than some 'attached' parents. We are totally comfortable with letting him do his thing because we want him to learn to do things by himself, explore the world on his own, and develop his own way of seeing and thinking. We're always there to give love and support and teach him things, but it wouldn't be good for either of us if I, or Josh, were to be at his side constantly, doing everything for him and praising every little action. He is not an extension of us, he is a completely independent individual who happened to have come into the world through our union, but our job is not to continually create him. It is to nurture his natural growth and encourage him to learn on his own and do and be whatever he wants. The ultimate goal is a happy and healthy individual who is caring and kind towards others and his environment, and is a productive contributor to society. If we can do that, I'd say we did a pretty good job.

Bye Bye Binky

Major announcement, we are 100% completely and utterly pacifier-free!  We were a bit fearful of the withdrawal and tears that would result from taking away our precious comfort item but it was time, really. I used a little trick I read about online, which required cutting off the nipple part so that he could still hold the stub of the pacifier between his teeth but it was unsuckable and would just fall out. The first time I gave it to him he was like 'what the...?' and looked at me and said 'uh-oh!' so I played along and said 'oh no, it's broken! I don't know how this happened, let's try a different one' (which was also nipple-less) and thereby convinced him that all his pacifiers were unexpectedly damaged and he'd just have to do without them.

All it required after that was one awful naptime where Elliot cried and cried and began to hyperventilate a little before we finally gave him a real one despite our decision to 'stick to our guns'. We thought that night would bring more tears since we gave in but we thought, let's let him cry about it for a bit and see what happens. But he didn't cry at all that night! The couple of days after that were a bit cranky but he's basically gotten over it and moved on with his life. 

Speaking of which, potty training is going pretty well, thanks to papa Josh for his patience and clever tactics!

In other updates, Elliot eats kale! Ok, it's in homemade chip form, so most of the nutritious elements have perished, but still, it's kale!! AND he likes to snack on raw carrot sticks these days! Like a true organic baby making his Health Counseling mama proud :)

Next stop: toddlerhood

For anyone who might think that Elliot is still a baby, we've got news for you, he has definitely entered toddlerhood! Not only is he running around causing all sorts of trouble, but he's starting to show his dissatisfaction when he doesn't get what he wants by whining, crying, and making his body go limp (he especially likes to 'plank') when he'd rather be carried than walk. Oh yes, the terrible two's are approaching!

Mostly, it's pretty fun. He's starting to say more and more almost-words and generally do more funny things like spinning, gesturing, and emulating what we do. Man, it's fun having a kid. I mean, sure it's exhausting, especially with this particular wild child, but it sure makes every day more charged with life :)

We're also starting to potty train and he's been pretty good at going in the potty, although sometimes he gives us a sign that he wants to go and then when he gets on it he doesn't go. Sometimes he sits on it backwards. Sometimes he cries just at the sight of it if he's not in the mood. And sometimes he actually just goes and then says bye-bye as we flush the pee down the toilet. Now we just have to teach him how to hold it and use toilet paper.



Yesterday, I had the day off and we got an early start to our family fun day because SOMEbody decided to get up at 6am and not go back to sleep. It worked out well though because it made the day seem longer when we went out to lunch, and then to the Museum of Natural History where Elliot very efficiently ran from one display to another. He's not one of those boring people who pretend to read the description, oh no siree bob, he just comes along and goes 'ahhhh' and then just as quickly runs along to the next one. The true highlight of the day was down in the marine life area, on the kid floor beneath the giant whale where there was an adorable little girl named Eden who was running around in circles and enticed Elliot to do the same. They ran around like a couple of electrons, then did some weird yoga stretches, then hugged and kissed, and then ran around some more. It was pure entertainment.

I don't know how or why but boys naturally take to violence. My mother opened these water guns and went 'pew pew' once and from then on he's been shooting up the whole house! He's shot me multiple times, although he now knows that he has to bring me back to life with a kiss after doing so. And he picks up other objects, aims them and makes the shooting noise too! Why is this so natural?

Happy Valentine's Day bubbie, I love you!

Elliot's first symphony

A special treat from our little composer :)

The latest updates

Our little bubbie is growing up so fast, some of his current hobbies include: throwing things on the floor, eating snacks, planking (on floors), disorganizing the recycling, playing harmonica, poking the cats, looking out the window, emptying the bookshelves of those pesky books, putting cat food into the cat water bowl, eating more snacks, taking baths, going to the park, and staring at other kids.

We've had 'look into the daycare thing' on our fridge to-do list for about a month but now that it's Thanksgiving and Christmas is right around the corner, we figure eh, lets wait until the new year. But after that, it's probably time for him to start spending more time with other kids, at least once or twice a week to start. He's absolutely fascinated and loves to play with them (and steal their toys), and it's interesting to see their social dynamics play out when the parents just stand back and observe. Overall he's been having a good time spending the days with papa, doing who knows what (I would be insane by now so kudos to Josh for having survived the daily grind for this long!).

Elliot's latest few developments are that he enjoys CLIMBING things, like the coffee table, chairs, stairs, basically anything he could grip and hoist himself up on. He's also saying 'uh-oh' lately, I'm not really sure where he picked that up, we didn't really say it all that much. He also likes kicking. I blame papa for all that futbol training, now he deliberately kicks at things like the couch, me, the cats, toys, etc.. and the whole 'sternly saying Elliot don't do that!' thing doesn't really work, he just laughs and kicks again, is a little tap on the tush really that bad? I dunno, but discipline sure ain't easy, I wonder if it gets harder or easier when he reaches an age when I'm more certain he does actually understand what I'm saying. Oh and he also loves singing, usually when rolling in the stroller or trying to fall asleep, and of course continuing to dance at ANY musical opportunity.

Pacifier-wise, we've gotten to a point where he basically only uses it for sleeping, which is pretty impressive for 15 months, or is it? I don't really know, but I know pacifier package labels cut off at 18months so that's our goal: to be 100% pacifier-free by then, 2.5 months to go! I think we can do it, imagine if we were those weirdo parents who's 4 year-old still needs one? 

As the weather cools down it's going to get a little tougher to entertain him indoors all day, going outside is usually the remedy for antsy behavior, so we'll need to get creative with our indoor entertainment so advice is welcome here!

Finally, as the day of giving thanks is upon us, I just want to share how grateful I am for all the good things in my life from family to friendships to career, I truly appreciate how lucky I am and I hope you are too, wherever you are in life. Happy Thanksgiving!

Cute pics

I've said it before and I'll say it again, THIS is the most fun age Elliot has ever been! He's babbling all the time (doobe-doobe-doo), copying our behavior, adding new moves like spinning to his expanding array of dance styles, interacting with other kids at the park, doing the downward dog yoga pose when he's upset, and generally doing more fun stuff.

Elliot sings

We knew it was only a matter of time before he discovered where the REAL glory is!




Apparently our apartment is the perfect musical laboratory for future minstrels :)