Friday, January 5, 2018
Saturday, March 11, 2017
You're Now Almost Five?
Dear Eli - In just a few weeks you will be turning 5. You are my favorite boy in the whole world. You are a good boy. You are cuddly and loving and you give me so many hugs. Your hugs are so wonderful - I can't wait for the next one. You are so talkative and inquisitive and completely genuine. I am so lucky to be your mom. I thank God every day that I am your mom. You are extremely engaging and take a lot of attention, but I know it's going to a good cause... that is, with each question you ask - and there's often 20 in a row rapid fire - I know you are learning and remembering so much. I am so proud that you are reading. We have been through all the "Dick and Jane" in the house and have moved on to the "Anything Can Happen" book. My favorite thing to do is to read with you. And my, what a game player you are...Monopoly, Sequence, Sorry and War are your favorites. I think your Grandmas Hillary instilled the love of games in you. You go to her house every Wednesday and she spends the whole day playing with you. It seems to have passed now, but you always used to call her your "best friend." It was the cutest thing in the world. YOU are the cutest thing in the world. You amaze me every day. I am so lucky to be your mom. I love you all the way to heaven and back - that's what you tell me too. You are so amazing. I am so proud of you for who you are - you really are an exceptional individual and I can't wait for the world to see... but not until I'm done loving on you some more... You're the best, my boy...
Wednesday, January 2, 2013
Little Eli. The baby. My baby. Today is the second day of 2013 and I haven't written much about your infant stage in the last months. Probably because you keep me so busy.
So, let me say a few things about now and a few things to catch up a bit. You are cute and adorable. At almost 9 months old, your fun and inquisitive little personality is really beginning to show. You are enthusiastic about moving and learning -- especially when it comes to playing with cars and chasing balls and balloons around the floor. You crawl at lightning speeds. You became a MUCH happier baby when you learned to crawl. Up until that time, it just seemed like you had a big chip on your shoulder because you were the only person in the house that couldn't move themself from Point A to Point B. You have been cruising around furniture for about a month now and manipulate your rolling walker all throughout the house with expert turning and navigational skills -- your navigation is especially amazing through doorways in which your big walker has to be turned just right in order for it to squeeze through.
You are constantly in motion--always go-go-going somewhere or turning around to see what is going on. You love being involved in whatever is going on and are so happy to sit and eat little bits of whatever we are having for dinner directly off the table in front of you. You love to EAT. And eat. And eat. I have never seen a kid your size eat so much. You chew food amazingly well. You also love chewing on your toothbrush (both ends).
You got your first tooth on November 1st and your second tooth on November 10th (both top front teeth). In about mid-December, the 3rd and 4th teeth came in and currently, you are working on the 5th one, which is adjacent your top two.
You wake up about every four hours during the night--still. I remember the girls sleeping through the night around four months.....I guess you must be special. Each night, I get up with you around 1am and then again around 5am (Daddy takes the 5am on the weekends). Each time, I walk in, turn on the projector mobile, prop up your bottle and leave the room for you to finish it on your own. Your father and I anxiously await a time when you sleep through until morning.
Up until recently, you cried and cried unless I held you or were in the room. The minute I put you down or walked out of the room, you'd cry and scream. Searching the Internet during nights of insomnia has done me no good in trying to figure out how to curb this. Now, at almost 9 months old, your "separation anxiety" is getting better, but it is much worse than what I remember with your sisters. Only in the last few weeks have there been short instances of you entertaining yourself for 3-5 minutes at a time before you look up to discover I'm not there. And THEN you cry. I suppose I should concentrate on feeling lucky that you love me so much.
Speaking of love, you love your sisters and they both love you. Sonia is the little momma extraordinaire. She carries you around and plays with you a lot. She runs for diapers for you and is the biggest help to me. Myah is always watching you and reporting to me if you are in danger, such as when you are about to fall off the couch or put something in your mouth that you shouldn't.
Your Dad is so happy to have a boy and you seem to know it because whenever he walks into the room, you stop everything and smile and gaze at him. It's the cutest thing. You should also know that I love you and I can't wait to get to know you better in the coming years. I can't believe that you are here, but I'm so happy you are.
-Your Mom
So, let me say a few things about now and a few things to catch up a bit. You are cute and adorable. At almost 9 months old, your fun and inquisitive little personality is really beginning to show. You are enthusiastic about moving and learning -- especially when it comes to playing with cars and chasing balls and balloons around the floor. You crawl at lightning speeds. You became a MUCH happier baby when you learned to crawl. Up until that time, it just seemed like you had a big chip on your shoulder because you were the only person in the house that couldn't move themself from Point A to Point B. You have been cruising around furniture for about a month now and manipulate your rolling walker all throughout the house with expert turning and navigational skills -- your navigation is especially amazing through doorways in which your big walker has to be turned just right in order for it to squeeze through.
You are constantly in motion--always go-go-going somewhere or turning around to see what is going on. You love being involved in whatever is going on and are so happy to sit and eat little bits of whatever we are having for dinner directly off the table in front of you. You love to EAT. And eat. And eat. I have never seen a kid your size eat so much. You chew food amazingly well. You also love chewing on your toothbrush (both ends).
You got your first tooth on November 1st and your second tooth on November 10th (both top front teeth). In about mid-December, the 3rd and 4th teeth came in and currently, you are working on the 5th one, which is adjacent your top two.
You wake up about every four hours during the night--still. I remember the girls sleeping through the night around four months.....I guess you must be special. Each night, I get up with you around 1am and then again around 5am (Daddy takes the 5am on the weekends). Each time, I walk in, turn on the projector mobile, prop up your bottle and leave the room for you to finish it on your own. Your father and I anxiously await a time when you sleep through until morning.
Up until recently, you cried and cried unless I held you or were in the room. The minute I put you down or walked out of the room, you'd cry and scream. Searching the Internet during nights of insomnia has done me no good in trying to figure out how to curb this. Now, at almost 9 months old, your "separation anxiety" is getting better, but it is much worse than what I remember with your sisters. Only in the last few weeks have there been short instances of you entertaining yourself for 3-5 minutes at a time before you look up to discover I'm not there. And THEN you cry. I suppose I should concentrate on feeling lucky that you love me so much.
Speaking of love, you love your sisters and they both love you. Sonia is the little momma extraordinaire. She carries you around and plays with you a lot. She runs for diapers for you and is the biggest help to me. Myah is always watching you and reporting to me if you are in danger, such as when you are about to fall off the couch or put something in your mouth that you shouldn't.
Your Dad is so happy to have a boy and you seem to know it because whenever he walks into the room, you stop everything and smile and gaze at him. It's the cutest thing. You should also know that I love you and I can't wait to get to know you better in the coming years. I can't believe that you are here, but I'm so happy you are.
-Your Mom
Friday, August 3, 2012
Catch Up
Today is the last day that I can say that Eli is three months old. It was over two weeks ago now when he began rolling over--July 18th to be exact.
A few days after that, I just couldn't wait any more to start him on cereal, so I did. And all before the recommended '4 months old' - what a rebel Mommy he has. The good news is that he eats splendidly and loves every second. He gets all upset and fusses to high heaven if the bowl runs out before he is full, so you have to make him another bowl to quiet him down. When he gets full, then he starts spitting it out, but up until that point, he doesn't spit out much at all. He eats it right up like a champ. The hardest part is keeping his hands out of his mouth while I'm trying to shovel in the food.
A week ago, I took out the little 'saucer' that he can sit/push his feet on. It has toys around the outside of it for him to play with and he's liking it a lot so far. Mostly, I think, he likes being upright so he can practice walking. A few days ago, a friend walked him all the way across a room....maybe thirty steps, by just holding his forearms. He is so strong and loves to practice standing up. He holds all of his weight on his own legs...quite amazing, really.
He also sleeps a lot...more than I remember the girls sleeping at this age, but I'm not complaining. I figure he needs lots of time to rest because he's growing so much. He coo's so happily now. He'll have whole conversations with you and his eyebrows go up and down while he talks - it's the cutest thing ever.
Sunday, July 15, 2012
Chunky Smile
Eli is now three and a half months old. Morning is my favorite time with him. Our morning routine is as follows:
Before babies can talk, parents wonder what their baby is thinking and try to put words into the baby's mouth to describe what they see. I think, that if Eli had words right now, he would say, "I wonder how THAT works....Oh, and that over there! How does IT work?" Eli looks like he's trying to figure everything out. It appears that he thinks about the mechanics of nearly everything he sees...."How did it do that?" he seems to say.
The other thing about Eli is that he often seems frustrated....and his dad and I think we know why. We think he's frustrated because he wants to run and jump and play and his little body just won't allow that yet. He spends long periods staring at his hands and feet, undoubtedly wanting them to move and trying to MAKE them move. It seems that of late, he is having more success, which is good. He can now, with some mental effort, get his hand to go up to his mouth so that he can suck on his fingers or thumb. He has been doing this for about two weeks. He doesn't much care if he sucks on his fingers or on his thumb, so long as there's something in his mouth to suck on. He's taking the pacifier less and less over time. Today, it didn't console him at all and he won't even latch on to try.
He's got great upper body strength and leg strength for a baby his age. I can no longer put him on his belly on a bed and expect him to stay there....rather, as early as three weeks ago, he'd travel half way across a bed fussing the whole time as if to say, "Why can't I just get up and walk like everybody else? Why do I have to do this the hard way and scoot on my belly?" On that note, he's quite a determined little fellow too. He does not give up easily.
He loves kicking in the bath water, however, when I tried to take him into a friend's pool, the water was a bit cold and he did not like that at all.
Nursing is going well. A mother's typical soreness for the first 4-5 weeks is long gone and Eli and I stay pretty much in sync with the making and the drinking of the mild. I supplement with formula occasionally - perhaps a bottle every day or every other day. He takes either just fine, so that is good.
He sleeps through the night about half of the time now. If he gets up, it is at 3:00 a.m. and he wants to eat and then go right back to sleep. From about the time he was 4 weeks old he has generally gotten up only one time per night to eat, always at 3:00 a.m., and has always then went right back to sleep.
He slept with us all night until he was about 8 weeks old. Then, one night, I decided that I wanted to try and see if he'd sleep in his crib in the next room over. I missed him a lot as the nighttime sleep together brings a special closeness and bonding. What I quickly realized however, was that not only I, but Eli slept better in his own bed and after a couple nights of being sad that he wasn't next to me, I adjusted and started being able to get more sleep.
Not to digress, but my pregnancy with Eli was filled with many sleepless nights; about every third night I'd be up most of the night. The insomnia stopped when Eli was born. When he moved to his own bed, it was the first time in about five months that I felt somewhat human and rested in the mornings. While we are on the pregnancy topic, I gained 13 lbs. while pregnant with Eli. Half way through the pregnancy (in December of 2011, I was layed off from my job and became a stay-at-home mom, which was a good thing for both my mental and physical and health. At that point, I began working out at a gym twice a week, so that was a big reason why I didn't gain too much weight. Six weeks after Eli was born, I was 20 lbs. down from the weight at which I had him, which made me feel good.
Eli is definitely his own person; not a carbon copy of one sister or another or of his dad or I, but a whole new person with his own thoughts and personality. I look so forward to getting to know him better in the decades to come.
- He wakes up in his crib
- I bring him in our room and feed him
- I play with him for usually 30 minutes or until he starts fussing
- I put him back in his crib to go to sleep
Before babies can talk, parents wonder what their baby is thinking and try to put words into the baby's mouth to describe what they see. I think, that if Eli had words right now, he would say, "I wonder how THAT works....Oh, and that over there! How does IT work?" Eli looks like he's trying to figure everything out. It appears that he thinks about the mechanics of nearly everything he sees...."How did it do that?" he seems to say.
The other thing about Eli is that he often seems frustrated....and his dad and I think we know why. We think he's frustrated because he wants to run and jump and play and his little body just won't allow that yet. He spends long periods staring at his hands and feet, undoubtedly wanting them to move and trying to MAKE them move. It seems that of late, he is having more success, which is good. He can now, with some mental effort, get his hand to go up to his mouth so that he can suck on his fingers or thumb. He has been doing this for about two weeks. He doesn't much care if he sucks on his fingers or on his thumb, so long as there's something in his mouth to suck on. He's taking the pacifier less and less over time. Today, it didn't console him at all and he won't even latch on to try.
He's got great upper body strength and leg strength for a baby his age. I can no longer put him on his belly on a bed and expect him to stay there....rather, as early as three weeks ago, he'd travel half way across a bed fussing the whole time as if to say, "Why can't I just get up and walk like everybody else? Why do I have to do this the hard way and scoot on my belly?" On that note, he's quite a determined little fellow too. He does not give up easily.
He loves kicking in the bath water, however, when I tried to take him into a friend's pool, the water was a bit cold and he did not like that at all.
Nursing is going well. A mother's typical soreness for the first 4-5 weeks is long gone and Eli and I stay pretty much in sync with the making and the drinking of the mild. I supplement with formula occasionally - perhaps a bottle every day or every other day. He takes either just fine, so that is good.
He sleeps through the night about half of the time now. If he gets up, it is at 3:00 a.m. and he wants to eat and then go right back to sleep. From about the time he was 4 weeks old he has generally gotten up only one time per night to eat, always at 3:00 a.m., and has always then went right back to sleep.
He slept with us all night until he was about 8 weeks old. Then, one night, I decided that I wanted to try and see if he'd sleep in his crib in the next room over. I missed him a lot as the nighttime sleep together brings a special closeness and bonding. What I quickly realized however, was that not only I, but Eli slept better in his own bed and after a couple nights of being sad that he wasn't next to me, I adjusted and started being able to get more sleep.
Not to digress, but my pregnancy with Eli was filled with many sleepless nights; about every third night I'd be up most of the night. The insomnia stopped when Eli was born. When he moved to his own bed, it was the first time in about five months that I felt somewhat human and rested in the mornings. While we are on the pregnancy topic, I gained 13 lbs. while pregnant with Eli. Half way through the pregnancy (in December of 2011, I was layed off from my job and became a stay-at-home mom, which was a good thing for both my mental and physical and health. At that point, I began working out at a gym twice a week, so that was a big reason why I didn't gain too much weight. Six weeks after Eli was born, I was 20 lbs. down from the weight at which I had him, which made me feel good.
Eli is definitely his own person; not a carbon copy of one sister or another or of his dad or I, but a whole new person with his own thoughts and personality. I look so forward to getting to know him better in the decades to come.
Monday, June 4, 2012
Conversation with the Boy
So, I said:
Me: "Hi, what a handsome boy you are! I would love to see you smile....."
Eli: (pause...pause....) "g" (the hard "g" sound as in "goo-goo")
Me: "Hi, what a handsome boy you are! I would love to see you smile....."
Eli: (pause...pause....) "g" (the hard "g" sound as in "goo-goo")
Me: "Wow! Are you talking to me? Is my baby talking to me?"
Eli: (pause...smile....) "g"
Me: You said it again - that's so great! Can you say "g" again?" (I then make the hard "g" sound a couple more times...)
Eli: (pause...big, HUGE smile....) "g"
And so goes the conversation with my 8 week old baby. Gotta love it!
Friday, May 18, 2012
Mother's Day
Eli's first Mother's Day was spent at a backyard BBQ. We not only enjoyed time with our new little family, but time with friends who are a most important part of our world. Friends are the family that you choose for yourself - and in that arena, we are so blessed.
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