Mama's days

I'm a night time person, always have been, always will be.  This complicates my life with an almost-toddler.  Elijah usually wakes up between 7 and 8.  When I didn't get to bed until 2 the night before, I have trouble getting out of bed and getting into the nursery to get him.  It helps that he's waiting for me holding his paci out because he knows pacies are just for bed and naps now.  It always makes me laugh.

But he's going through a rough time, getting in some of his back teeth.  All he wants is to be held--all day.  I love him, and I love to carry him around and snuggle.  But he's almost 14 months old.  He's heavy, he needs to play and figure out the standing and walking thing.  So, occasionally, I put him down.  And he screams.  So, I pick him back up and he starts pointing at things he wants to play with, but only if I'm holding him.  It makes for a long day.

His new favorite toy is the cats.  They are less fond of him.  Once again, this complicates life.  He loves to "pet" the cats.  Usually this means he grabs handfuls of their fur and skin and pulls.  Or, he pulls on their ears.  We're trying to teach him about gentle.  But he's young and still doesn't quite get it.  I usually don't let him pet Hecate because she's much more likely to bite him.  Hyperion just glares at him and deals with it.

Since he's teething, his napping schedule is all off.  He takes a morning nap and an afternoon nap.  Morning nap usually between 8:30 and 10.  Afternoon nap between noon and two.  That's not how long he sleeps, that's just he time he goes down depending how long he slept in.  But even if he's been rubbing his eyes and yawning for an hour before hand, he still jumps in his crib and screams after I put him down.  Then, I end up hating myself until he actually falls asleep.


Elijah is trying to work on words these days.  He knows what sound a cow makes, but he seems to think that's the sound every animal makes.  When I ask what the cow says he pulls his mouth tight and blows air across his little teeth it sounds like a tractor sound.  It's too cute.  He also tries to mimic what the cats say he makes a high pitched little "ah."

He is the cutest, funniest little guy ever.

7 Quick Takes

one

Today is Nathan's 32nd birthday!  For his birthday this year I did something completely unexciting and let him pick out his present.  We had a date night last night, which was awesome, and we stopped at Best Buy where he picked out a new set of super spiffy headphones for his computer.

Elijah's all bundled up because that was the day we took him sledding.

two

Check out how grown-up this kid looks!  I can't get over it.

three

Please say a prayer or two for my sister's friend Taryn who is trying to pay off the last thousand dollars of her student loans so she can join the Discalced Carmelites in Buffalo where she was recently accepted.

four

My car is officially fixed.  It's out of the shop and back in our garage.  I won't get into all the details of what was wrong, mostly because it was my fault and it's embarrassing.  But I will say that for all I hate to drive in general and even though I get mad at the car when I do something stupid and it has to be worked on, I actually do love that little car.  I drove it home from the shop yesterday and was very happy to have it back.

Nathan's car is a stick shift and I really hate having to drive it.

five

  I don't think anything has caused me more "first time mom" anxiety than what to feed Elijah now that he's eating regular food.  We have the chart about serving sizes and what he needs nutrition-wise everyday, but I keep wanting to feed him more.  He usually gets bored of sitting in the highchair before I think he's really full.  I also need to figure out better snack foods than just giving him Gerber crunchies and Goldfish.

six

As I said, last night was date night, so Nathan and I went to see the new Oz, the Great and Powerful.  I have to say I was surprised by it.  The plot did things I didn't expect and it was actually a pretty good movie.  A big thanks to my father-in-law for babysitting last night!

seven

Are you as excited as I am that the conclave starts Tuesday?  I can't wait!  

For more 7 Quick Takes, check out Conversion Diary.

 

7 Quick Takes

one

Does anyone else dread the development questions at the pediatrician?  Seriously, I always go in there a nervous wreck that he is going to tell me Elijah is way behind or having a problem or something.  Yes he's a year old and not walking or talking (beyond 'Mama' and 'Dada') or pointing.  We're working on clapping.  But he is an adorable, funny, rambunctious baby who loves to give kisses and wave hi.  Why are these not on the question list?

two

The day before his first birthday, Elijah got his first pair of real shoes.  This picture cracks me up.  I put the shoes on him to wear around the house and get used to today.  He acted like I was holding his feet to the fire.  I tried explaining that they were not, in fact, a torture device, but he didn't seem to care.

He looks so much like a little boy now!

three

We bought my laptop in 2008 because we had tried sharing a computer for the first year or two of marriage.  This experience taught us we need separate computers to function as a happily married couple.  Slowly, over the last year and a half, the laptop has been falling to pieces.  For Christmas this year, I asked for a new lower-end desk top.  I told Nathan exactly what I wanted and picked it out.  

The thing about Nathan is, if he is going to buy something like a computer, he's not going buy lower-end.  He has friends who mess around with computers and components as a hobby and a brother-in-law who works in IT.  So for Christmas I got: a wireless keyboard and mouse, a new monitor, and the promise that at some point in the future his former desktop tower would be cleaned up with a new hard drive and ready for my use.  That day has come, my friends!  I can't wait to finally have a computer I can use without fear of it falling apart on me.

four

A little while ago, my dad started a blog.  He has been hearing from several sources for a long time that he needs to write.  I will always remember when his parents used to go to Texas for the winter; my parents would sit us all down every month or so with a piece of paper and have us write them, what I'm sure were painfully difficult to read letters about the ups and downs of life in an elementary school family of six.  My dad would write two to four page letters.  It's a gift he has.

His most recent post is about my nephew Brian and it's adorable.  Pop over to prairiecurmudgeon.blogspot.com  

five

Please know that I am neither complaining nor bragging, I'm just curious.  Elijah still takes three naps a day.  Is that normal?

six

Today is my last day of vacation.  *tear*  Apart from Elijah teething and getting shots and running a fever these last few days, it's been pretty great.  I even got to extend it two days.  I can't tell you how much I'm looking forward to next vacation at the end of June.  I finally managed to arrange vacation around one of my absolute favorite days of the year, Ribfest.  My sisters will be in town, we will go to the best party, and eat all kinds of foods.  I am so excited!

seven 

Who else is scarred by last week's Downton Abbey?  I mean really!  If they had to kill someone why couldn't it have been Thomas or O'Brien?  And why can poor Daisy not catch a romantic break to save her life? 

 For more Seven Quick Takes, head on over to Conversion Diary!

Oldest child perils

It must be very difficult to be an oldest child.  I am the second of four, so I don't really have much frame of reference for it.  But, based on how many times a week I pose a question about our son's life or upbringing to my husband and we both say, "I don't know," I'm sure it's no barrel of laughs.

I picture an adult Elijah one day speaking with friends, or a spouse, or a psychiatrist saying "My parents are great (at least I hope he says that) but when I came along they really had no clue what they were doing."  NO FREAKING CLUE

The biggest quandry right now is feeding him.  We have moved away from exclusively feeding baby food and are introducing different solid foods.  My problem is, now that it's not just a matter of getting to the bottom of a puree cup and being finished, I really don't know how much to feed him.  Today at lunch, for instance he had a couple spoonfuls of corn, a crumbled piece of cheese, some Gerber crunchies and his milk, which he took out of a sippy cup for the first time today.

Elijah is a child who will eat until he pukes, so I really don't know when he's full and just eating because it's there.  Thank God we have his year check up with the pediatrician on Wednesday!

Elijah turns one!

It's entirely possible that at this time last year, I was sleeping.  I had been awake for at least 24 hours you see.  Nathan and I had driven 7 hours and stood in a hospital room in awe as our son Elijah was born.

Yep, Little Guy is one year old.  It's still surprising to me.  We spent the day in high fashion with a party with friends and family at our house.  We felt very blessed that so many people came to help us celebrate Elijah.

So, I made this.  I wanted to do a lot more crafting for the party.  I even attempted to make my own invitations, but it did not go well and I gave up.  I was going to give the party a "farm" theme, but decided that themes didn't really matter that much to me this year since he won't remember.  Though, I did find a bunch of farm themed items at Party City later.  Instead we just went with a blue/green color scheme.  The cake was delicious and made by a friend of mine from high school.

My grandmother was one of the first people to arrive.  She is also one of Elijah's biggest fans.  They had so much fun playing together in the relative quiet before people really started arriving. They played peek-a-boo across the room and he loved it.

 But, I like this picture better!

Oh, the smash cake.  Wait for it....

He was a VERY big fan of the smash cake.

He even got down to the cake part.  It may look a little extreme, but I am very glad we decided to strip him to his diaper before the smash cake.

This is what the living room looked like before we settled in to eat and talk and enjoy each others' company.  That's my dad in the chair.

This picture looks hilarious to me with Scout in the high chair.

By the time everyone arrived, more children were at our house than ever before.  Counting Elijah there were six little ones here ranging from 9 months to six years.  It was so neat!

They mostly hung out in the sun room where we had toys and crayons and paper for coloring.  They also spent time in the kitchen where the food was.  We had Casey's pizza.  Elijah got many lovely presents which of course I don't have pictures of because I was opening them.  It was such a fun day!

Raising a boy

Somehow, in my heart of hearts, I always knew my first child would be a boy.  I don't know how I knew, but I think there were signs.  After we started the adoption process and I looked at my yarn stash to start making hats and booties, I noticed everything I had was either blue, green, or brown.  It was much much easier for us to come up with boy names than girl names.  And when I found out Birthmother was carrying a boy, I was elated, but unsurprised.

All that being said, I don't think I was completely prepared for raising a boy.  I rejoiced that I wouldn't have to run the Disney Princess gamut every time I tried to find a toy.  I got excited about trucks, tractors, and superheroes.  I loved picking out clothes with dinosaurs on them.

But I think there are somethings that would be easier with a girl.  How does a mother teach her son what real feminine beauty and grace is?  Does the son even care?  I hope Elijah will want to grow up wanting to marry a good and virtuous woman.  The kind of woman I try to be.  I pray she is less sharp (not intellectually), less malicious and more pious than I.

How do I show him this kind of woman in daily life?  I suppose I start by curbing my tongue more often (never easy for me.)  I continue by praying for blessings on those who hurt me more and thinking about ways to hurt them less.  I pray more: with him, for him, over him.  I hope he learns what real women look like and I hope he appreciates it.  I pray the woman he marries is modest and intelligent.  I pray she is able to see the flaw in modern perceptions of beauty and promiscuity. 

I pray that Nathan and I are able to teach Elijah to love his eventual wife with kindness and gentleness.  I hope he learns from his father what a real man is, what a good father is.  I hope he loves his wife the way Nathan loves me.  I hope he enjoys his family the way Nathan seems to. 

All these things I pray to our Lord Jesus for my dear son, Elijah.

7 Quick Takes

One

One year ago today we got a call from our adoption agency telling us there was a woman in a neighboring state who picked us to adopt her baby boy.  We called her that night.  I can't believe it's been a year since we first talked to Birthmother.  Then I turn around and realize he's walking around furniture now, and I believe it!

Two

I haven't had much to say lately, have I?  I suppose it's because we have settled into a little routine around here and the days go by almost before I realize it's noon or I'm getting ready for work.  Elijah is into everything and I had to rescue him yesterday from eating Christmas ornament hooks we had forgotten were on the coffee table.  (oops!)

Three

Ever since we finally went down to only streaming on Netflix, I have actually been impressed with what they have online.  I've heard a lot of people complain about their online selection lately, but I've found just about everything I want.  Not only that, but they recently added Wallander, the English version which aired on PBS.  It's a very well done series, but I will say, don't watch it unless you want to be traumatized.  Seriously very dark stuff.  I wouldn't be watching it, but I 've had a silly crush on it's star, Kenneth Branagh since I was like 5, so I deal with it and pray for no nightmares.

Four
Can you really look at this picture and tell me this child doesn't need a haircut?  His father seems to disagree.

 Five

I'm on the second day of my last week of work before vacation.  I can't wait!  We are not going to do anything but stay home and have a party for our one year old little boy!  

Six

My very good friend Bonnie in her 7 Quick Takes today has expressed a desire for snow so that her science teacher husband can have a snow day.  I have to say, Bonnie, this is one of the only times I'm glad you live two hours away.  I pray for no snow...ever.  Seriously, I hope it never snows again.  And I'm not out to get the farmers who live around me.  I pray for rain.  It can rain every single day for all I care.  But no snow. Not. ever.

 Seven

 For more Seven Quick Takes check out Conversiondiary!

7 Quick Takes

one

I haven't had time for a big "Christmas Post" but we hope you all had wonderful Christmases.  Thankfully, I had Christmas Day on my weekend, so I got to spend the day with my family.  We opened presents at our house and then went to Mass where I lectored.  Then we went to my mom and dad's to open presents with my sisters and parents.  Elijah got all kinds of new toys and I enjoyed my traditional "Christmas stack of new books."

Then we headed off to Nathan's parents' where we enjoyed another meal and spending time with his sister's family.  Elijah got even more new toys and clothes.  It was a wonderful day, vomitting infants notwithstanding.

Elijah's two big gifts from us were walk/ride and a new sled...maybe we'll get some snow so we can use it, but I won't be heartbroken if we don't.

two

If you have any regard for musical theater, or even just Les Miserables in general, you should go see the new movie.  It's awesome, more awesome than I expected. 

three

One of my much-hoped for Christmas gifts this year was a day planner featuring Saints I saw at our local Catholic bookstore.  Everyday features  whose feast day it is and every week one saint or feast day is highlighted.  I looked into it, and if we went by the old tradition of naming our son based on whose feast day he was born on, we could have named him Timothy, Titus, or Polycarp. 

Most votes so far have been going to Polycarp.

four

Speaking of my son and the day he was born: in about three weeks, he will be one year old.  I cannot believe it.  Actually, considering that he wants to hold his own bottle all the time now and can just about stand without holding onto things, it's pretty believable.  

five

About a month ago, I lost my cellphone.  It's in the house somewhere, I just have no idea where.  Since then, Nathan and I have been sharing his phone.  He only keeps it with him on days Elijah and I aren't going anywhere, so, usually just my weekend.  But I had an incredibly productive Wednesday this week and I managed to buy a new phone.  Not only that, it's actually a smart phone, something I never really wanted.  The only reason I actually have it is so that I can take pictures of Elijah and text them to his aunts and uncle who live in different states.  

It's still a Tracfone, so it actually costs minutes to send and receive texts, which is annoying.

six

Wednesday was also the day Elijah and I and my parents went up to Woodstock and applied for his social security card.  I tried it once before, taking with me his birth certificate and the final adoption decree we received from our lawyer when everything went through.  However the copy we had was not certified.  So I had to ask the lawyer to get us a certified copy.  And all that means is that the courthouse in Chicago stamped it.  Very annoying but over with.  Now we just have to wait.

seven

So this news is probably not new to you and I stole it from a Facebook post by a good friend of mine, but please pray for 7 Quick Takes' host Jen Fulweiler who is pregnant and in the hospital with pulmonary embolisms in her lungs.

A little cold

I don't know why, but hearing the pediatrician say Elijah "just has a bad cold" feels worse than if he had said "it's an ear infection" or something else that can be effectively medicated away.

This is about the 6th cold this year.  The last one was a couple weeks ago and did not last long and we didn't even bother the pediatrician.  But this time, it felt like when he was sick in March with bronchiolitis. 

We put him to bed last night and he kept waking up, very congested and cranky.  So, I moved him into the swing that is in his room.  It worked for a couple hours.  But when I went to bed he was awake and coughing and sneezing.  That began a two hour dance of holding him, cuddling him, putting him back in the swing and listening as he screamed his lungs out as I walked back to our room. 

Eventually I held him on my chest while Nathan slept.  But all Elijah did was lay there and scratch my arms and chest for about an hour before I put him back in the swing.  He gave the swing another shot and we all got  a couple hours of sleep. 

The pediatrician assures me it's just a cold, but I'm still a little afraid there is an underlying cause to all these colds.  Something more than, he's a baby and all babies get sick a lot.

A Visit from St. Nicholas

St. Nicholas visited our house last night in honor of his feast day today.  Like many mostly German Catholic families, when I was growing up, St. Nicholas would leave candy and a small toy in our stockings on the night before his feast day.  This was a tradition my mother carried to us from her own childhood.  But we never did talk about the historical St. Nicholas.

So it's only in the last few years that I've learned, mostly from friends, that St. Nicholas was the Bishop of Myra (in modern Turkey) who, amongst other things, anonymously gave money to keep a poor man's daughters out of a life of prostitution.  He also punched out a heretic at the Council of Nicea.  The Church honors him as the patron saint of children.

So this morning we found a Christmas sleeper and book The Stable in Bethlehem in Elijah's  stocking. I feel St. Nick may have overdone it this year.  But, how do you give an infant candy?  However, he did provide circus peanuts for Daddy while Mama got two kinds of gummies.

I think we may have to continue the tradition of Christmas books on St. Nicholas Day.  It seems like a good way to incorporate him into Advent even more.  But maybe he will pair it with candy next year.

7 Quick Takes

one

 I have been waiting for this since I heard it was coming out months ago.  We had a false start on the 9th when it was released selectively, but now it's out even in our little backwater and one of the goals of my vacation is to go see it.

two

We hope everyone enjoyed Thanksgiving.  We were blessed enough to host our parents and Nathan's sister and her family.  We had turkey, ham, stuffing, cheesy potatoes, green bean casserole, fruit yogurt salad, 7 layer salad, rolls, and cherry, pumpkin, and chocolate peanut butter pies.  It was all delicious and we had some much fun visiting with everyone.

Sophie and Elijah matched!

three

Mom and I didn't wake up nearly as early for Black Friday shopping this year as we have in the past.  But we still spent a ton of money and got some really good deals.  I finished up shopping for Elijah, Nate (brother), Brian, and Nathan (except for some stocking stuffers).  I feel like that was a good morning's work.

Lines at Kohl's were ridiculous especially for 1 pm, but moved reasonably quickly.  Hats off to Walmart, who had a price on something that had to have been accidentally changed by someone (because it was way cheaper than it should have been) but they honored it for us before fixing it.

And there were still a few stores unopened when we got up there and the only one that had a line outside was Barnes & Noble.  I so wanted to get in line, just so I could say I door-busted at the bookstore.

four

I've given a lot of thought lately to how we are going to do Christmas with Elijah.  I really want to focus on Advent and help him (and myself) understand that this time is for preparing for the approaching birth of Christ.  So, I considered not putting up the tree and most of the decorations until the second or third week of December.  I thought about how we can make the lighting of the Advent wreath more special in the house.

Then I realized that I actually have time off this week.  There will be time during the day when I'm not pushing little hands away from the  tree or the angels or the candles, in which I can get this accomplished.  

So, in the end, as far as decorating goes, convenience is going to win out.  But we can still highlight the Advent wreath and make a big deal of St. Nicholas Day.

And, like my mom said, one year doesn't make a tradition.  But I don't think we'll go to any malls or stores to see Santa this year.  Elijah's just a little too young.

five

Allie, if you're reading this, it was great to Skype with you this week.  And again, I'm sorry I accidentally unplugged the monitor when I was trying to unplug the keyboard and killed our video feed.  Your little guy is adorable!

six

I absolutely meant to have a post in between last Quick Takes and this one, but I've discovered the joy of napping while the baby naps, so, I didn't get around to it.  Sorry.

seven

After three days of on my feet: first cleaning, then cooking, last shopping, I am very looking forward tomorrow to spending time relaxing and visiting with Nathan's mother's family, who actually haven't met the baby yet.

For more Quick Takes, head over to Conversion Diary!

7 Quick Takes

one

I have less than a week left before vacation!!  Wa-hoo!

two

Since I will be off for Thanksgiving this year, Nathan and I are hosting our families.  I'm starting to think this was a lot of work to take on while I'm supposed to be relaxing, but I'm excited.  Menu: turkey, ham (because I hate turkey), pie haven't decided what kinds yet, cheesy potatoes, supplied by my mom, and other sides I haven't come up with yet.

three

Elijah has really changed a lot this month.  He is crawling properly now and can say 'Mama.'  He is trying very hard to pull himself up on things and the other day I heard him say 'baba' while looking at his bottle.  He's getting to be such a big boy!

We had his 9-month follow up appointment with the pediatrician on Monday and were given the green light to feed him basically anything but honey.  So we started with real food on Tuesday by putting some plain white rice on his tray.  He didn't take to it at first, but was all about it on Wednesday.

Now that he's trying to pull himself up, I've been trying to give him more play time by himself.  I usually sit with him on the floor all day, but he just comes to me to be helped up.  

four

Does anyone have ideas for baby stocking-stuffers?  I have a beautiful little book about Christmas for St. Nicholas Day and I also bought non-slip socks since he is trying to stand and we have hard wood floors.  Other than that I'm kind of stumped.

five

Please pray for Nathan and his coworkers today.  They are getting a tiny visitor for a few hours.  My father-in-law is busy this afternoon and my parents are setting off for Iowa.  I know the ladies in Nathan's office will be perfectly happy to play with Elijah, I just think it might stress Nathan out.  

six

Apparently this is what happens when you have four kids and they all live in different states.  My poor dad spent this week in Pittsburgh watching my nephew while my Nate's family moved into a new house.  He got back yesterday, I think, and today they are heading out to Iowa City to visit Elizabeth and her husband.  

seven

There aren't too many pictures of Elijah and me, but I think this one is my favorite.

For more quick takes, check out Jen's blog.

Mama needs a drink

Disclaimer: Very much not bragging with these first couple sentences.

 Today has been rough.  Elijah doesn't usually have bad days.  (Again, not bragging.)  But usually he is very happy and calm.  Which is why days like today are even more difficult.

He was cranky and fussy all morning.  I think he's getting another tooth because all he wants is for Mama to carry him around.  Which, I am perfectly happy to do, but the kid weighs 19 pounds and after a while my arms get tired.  So, I've taken to pulling up VeggieTales on Netflix and laying down on the couch with him when he gets really cranky.

He has graduated to the next level in swim class, which means we have it on Wednesday mornings now, so we got all ready and left (late) for swim class.  He had a complete MELTDOWN in the car.  Seriously from my in-laws' house all the way to the class he screamed and cried.  It was awful, made worse because we were behind a very slow moving vehicle.  When we finally got to the gym and I went to get him out of the car seat, I saw a brand new very big, red scratch down the middle of his nose.  Poor little guy!

He tried to drown me a couple times in swim class.  No joke.  We blow bubbles while the babies watch us so they can see how to blow bubbles.  Elijah likes grabbing hair, and he noticed when my face was down by the water blowing bubbles, he could grab my hair.  So, he held my face in the water a couple times.

He was very vocal today in swim class and did not want to sit still. And now he's been asleep for about 45 minutes.

I hate how much we've been watching Netflix lately, even if I do find VeggieTales less objectionable than most little kid programs.

The problem is every new stage he goes through is also a new stage for us.  I don't know how to play with a little guy his age and that makes the day difficult for both of us.  He no longer seems as enamored of peek-a-boo as he used to and while I've found a winner with hiding his plastic cow and asking him to find it, I don't know what other games to play with him.  He is still very happy and giggly, but it's hard to entertain him as one person. 

He is trying very hard to pull himself up on things and not having a lot of success and getting cranky about that.  I blame the hardwood floors.  When he pulls up, his feet just slide under whatever it is he's pulling on.  Any advice?

My favorite thing now is that he will actually sit on my lap and let me read him a book without trying too hard to pull it out of my hands to chew on it.  And when he's really tired and we sit in the rocker for reading before nap or bed, he leans against me and listens to me read.  Yeah, I love that!

We are NOT the Partridge Family!

I know this is a little late, but Anne hasn't had power in a while and this is for her.



Aunt Anne, can I be your personal penguin?

Little Penguin's Halloween

Elijah woke up and stretched.  He rubbed his little eyes and looked around.  He was in his same crib, in his same room with  the happy piggy on the wall, but he could tell something was different.

He called for his Mama and she came in, her nightgown brushing  the tops of her socks and reached over the crib railing with a big smile.  “Happy Halloween, Elijah!” she said softly as she picked him up and carried him to the changing table. 

Hallo-what? Elijah wondered.  Mama changed his diaper and dressed him in an orange onesie with a black face on it, with black pants.  Daddy came in to say goodbye and gave Elijah as kiss before going off to work.

All day Mama and Elijah played and Mama told him, “In a few hours we are going to dress you up as a penguin!”  He didn’t know what a penguin was, but it must be something important to dress up like it.  He got more and more excited as the day went on. 

So excited, in fact, that he didn’t even want to take his nap.  He laid in his crib and talked to himself about being a penguin, and what a penguin might be all through napping hour.  When Mama came to get him, she shook her head and said with a smile, “You’ll be tired later for Trick-or-Treating.”

He was hearing so many new words today.  What’s Trick-or-Treating­? he wondered.  He tried to stay up all afternoon to see what all the fuss was about, but he just couldn’t make it, and around 2 pm he passed out. 

An hour and a half later, when he woke up, Mama was all activity.  She settled him in his jumpy and packed his diaper bag.  Then, as Elijah was jumping, she looked at him and said.

“Okay, time to be a penguin!”  She picked him up out of the jumpy and laid him down on the floor, pulling the costume over his head.  Then she pulled yellow shoes over his socks and secured a hat on his head.

“You look adorable!” she exclaimed, as she handed him a little metal bucket to carry.  “Let’s go see all the ladies at the library.  Grandma will be there, too.”  Sure enough, as they went through the library door, the book ladies all looked around and said, “What a cute little penguin!”  There were other characters there too.  Curious George and the Man in the Yellow Hat were just saying goodbye.

Grandma kissed him and told him what a cute penguin he was.  From there it was off to see Elijah’s Nonna and Grandpa.  While he was there he got to see his cousin Batman Brian over the computer.  Daddy even turned up there, too!   

As they drove through the town where Grandpa and Nonna live, Elijah saw all kinds of characters.  It seems like everyone was out and about: there were princesses, and brides, and firemen, and even zombies.  

For two towns Mama and Daddy drove Elijah to friends’ houses so people could see the cutest little penguin.  And people put candy in his little metal bucket.  Finally, when he was all tired out and didn’t think he could go to one more house, they went home.   

And just before bed, Elijah’s Uncle Jamie and Aunt Mandy showed up to see the little penguin too!  Then, Mama and Daddy took Elijah upstairs, settled him in his crib and said, “We love you, little penguin.  Sleep well.”  And he knew that he was right, there was something special about today. 

Happy Halloween!

7 Quick Takes

-one-

I am ridiculously excited for the upcoming holiday season.  I always think of "The Holidays" as starting with Halloween.  I have all three of them off work, and I just cannot wait.  We tried Elijah's Halloween costume on him today to make sure it fits still.  It's a hand-me-down from Sophie, but it's just what I've always wanted for my first child's first Halloween.  Stay tuned and I'll post a picture after Wednesday.

-two-

In keeping with the ridiculous excitement, I already  have Elijah's first Christmas present.

I think he'll probably get mostly clothes because he is already wearing 12 month outfits and we don't have a lot of 18 monthers.  But the Toyland at the Farm and Fleet near our house opened recently!  Nathan tried to ban me from going in there.  Silly husband!

-three-

Up until now, Elijah has taken a morning nap, just about everyday.  Usually between nine and ten, he passes out and sleeps for a half hour to an hour.  But it is his late morning nap at 11:30 that I really count on to get things done or take a nap myself before going to work.  I've noticed that if he takes a long morning nap, his other one is much shorter.  So, I have been trying to abolish the morning nap.  It hasn't been easy, and it's still not everyday, but we're definitely working on it.  

I've been told to just let him nap when he wants to, but he wakes up happier from his later nap if he sleeps longer.  Any thoughts?

-four-

Today is Elijah's nine month birthday!  I still find myself seeking out other moms, mostly those with kids around his age, or my own mother, for advice.  I feel like I should have a better grasp of things at this point, and for the most part I do.  But when he's not feeling well, or if we're getting close to some milestone or talking about changing his routine a little, I start feeling very insecure.

-five-

Love this face!

-six-

I realize this is only going to matter to a few people, but, very exciting news around our house recently.  We have found the blue ring!  The rock-a-stack has been minus it's blue ring for the last couple months or so because we had no idea where it was.  We have an old-style one, so the blue ring is actually the smallest.  I was walking through the living room the other day and looked up at the shade of our floor lamp and noticed something blue in it.  Sure enough, there it was.  There has been much speculation about how it got there.

-seven-

Yesterday we had shift-bid at work for next year.  In case anyone is interested I will be working 2nd shift 3-11 pm for the first eight months of the year with Tuesday-Wednesday weekends.  I will then move to 3rd shift 11 pm to 7 am for the last four months with the same weekends.  I also took my two weeks vacation one week being for Elijah's first birthday and the other, the last full week in June, so hopefully I can be at Ribfest this year.  

It didn't turn out quite how I wanted, but I'm sure it'll be just fine!   

For more 7 Quick Takes, check out Jen's blog!

2/3rds

Elijah is 2/3rds of the way through his first year.  His eyes are lighter than they were when he was born and decidedly blue, not grey.  His hair went through a brief red period around 1-2 months, but is back to blonde with red highlights.

He is very happy, and very fun.  He is working his way through a stage where he doesn't like getting dressed or undressed.  With two front teeth on bottom and three on top, Elijah is a very calm teether.  The only thing he wants when a tooth is breaking through is to be carried around.  He sleeps through every night, even when teeth are coming through.

He loves his food, whether it's a bottle, Gerber crunchies, or fruit/veggie puree.  He holds his own bottle regularly now.  He loves music, rocking back and forth in his boppy when we've got music on.  Books are another of his favorite things.  He reaches for them and loves to flip the pages on his own.

Elijah has a couple new tricks: he picks his head up all the time now, and Army crawls.  He can push himself onto his hands and knees and rocks there for a little.  We'll have a crawler before Halloween!   He has just learned how to sit up on his own and we're working on waving.  He has also turned into something of a ham baby.  Every time he sees the camera he smiles.  It's pretty hilarious.

He loves games with movement, when we hold him and dance or run around.

Nathan and I have discovered that while we both love to play and spend time with him individually, we have more fun with him when we are all together.  Things are changing all over.  The car I've been driving, which used to belong to my grandparents, has become undrivable.  We are going to look at other cars tonight and I've been thinking what I want in a vehicle.  My biggest priority is having enough room in the back for Elijah's car seat.  And then, of course, safety and gas mileage.

We can't wait for Halloween!