Conversation this morning while getting Eli dressed.
"You need to wear pants too bubs"
Runs off yelling "Dad dad dad dad!"
"Are you appealing to a higher power?"
"Nope!"
Saturday, May 31, 2014
Tuesday, May 20, 2014
This week Elijah helped put the clean washing away. I handed some to him on a whim, and sure enough he trotted off to his bedroom, opened the middle drawer at his eye level and shoved it in. Now he is convinced that every item of clothing goes into that drawer, but I can live with that. It just makes it slightly harder to find his clothes to dress him! (I did have everything in nice neat piles by type). Also, he unfolded most of it while carrying it!
Really loving how helpful he is now. On the weekend Shane filled my water bottle in the kitchen and then handed it to Eli who brought it out to me. So sweet.
Today he also walked all the way to the car by himself, down the front steps and driveway. Of course he's been able to for months but I tend to carry him whenever we're going to and from the car or in and out of somewhere, not putting him down until we're at our destination. Time to start breaking that habit as carrying two will be hard! Also finally letting him walk into Reggio by himself - I carry him until we get out of the elevator but then let him head to his room. Such a big boy.
Really loving how helpful he is now. On the weekend Shane filled my water bottle in the kitchen and then handed it to Eli who brought it out to me. So sweet.
Today he also walked all the way to the car by himself, down the front steps and driveway. Of course he's been able to for months but I tend to carry him whenever we're going to and from the car or in and out of somewhere, not putting him down until we're at our destination. Time to start breaking that habit as carrying two will be hard! Also finally letting him walk into Reggio by himself - I carry him until we get out of the elevator but then let him head to his room. Such a big boy.
Saturday, May 10, 2014
Another nice weekend. Last week we did the aquarium on Saturday and the local Botanic Gardens on Sunday. This week a bit quieter, but that's what I need.
Had some progress last Sunday on the "hand holding" front. Eli worked out that holding my hand allowed him to walk down steps in the park without having to go down backwards or on his bottom. Still can't get him to hold hands walking along a path though - he seems to think he's being grabbed and protests violently.
He is growing and learning so fast now. Every word we say he understands.
"Shall we go in the car? It's time to go!"
"Out door!" he shouts as he runs to the front door.
Or this morning, I asked him where Daddy was and told him Daddy needed to get him dressed to go out, he immediately ran through the living room calling for "Dada!"
His book obsession continues, although it's slowed down from the 20 books per day we were having a couple of weeks back. He now often stops after four or five! He also now sits quietly looking at pictures and reading to himself, which is adorable. I guess he's always done that a bit - his good ole reading in the car as a 4 month old! But much more seriously now.
Perhaps as a result of all of his recent development - new words, new activities, lots of fun - he is particularly clingy to me at times now. Not always, he's more than happy to be dropped at Reggio Emilia for the day, and loves to play in the yard. But he is convinced the only way to sleep at night is next to me. Quite frankly I don't mind, it's cold and he's a great snuggle buddy! It's been over a week now. And when we ask if he's ready for bed he's running to our bed not his. Even if we insist on him having his bottle in his cot, he will only stay there as long as we're next to him, and as soon as he finishes gets out and runs to our bed - even if he's half asleep. So we'll see how long that goes on for. He has been teething off and on, it may be he just wants us nearby for reassurance. It's certainly easier to resettle him quickly in the night without having to get out of bed!
In other news, this morning we had a gender scan to confirm, and it's definitely 100% a little sister on her way to join us. Scary! I will write my thoughts on that in a separate post.
Had some progress last Sunday on the "hand holding" front. Eli worked out that holding my hand allowed him to walk down steps in the park without having to go down backwards or on his bottom. Still can't get him to hold hands walking along a path though - he seems to think he's being grabbed and protests violently.
He is growing and learning so fast now. Every word we say he understands.
"Shall we go in the car? It's time to go!"
"Out door!" he shouts as he runs to the front door.
Or this morning, I asked him where Daddy was and told him Daddy needed to get him dressed to go out, he immediately ran through the living room calling for "Dada!"
His book obsession continues, although it's slowed down from the 20 books per day we were having a couple of weeks back. He now often stops after four or five! He also now sits quietly looking at pictures and reading to himself, which is adorable. I guess he's always done that a bit - his good ole reading in the car as a 4 month old! But much more seriously now.
Perhaps as a result of all of his recent development - new words, new activities, lots of fun - he is particularly clingy to me at times now. Not always, he's more than happy to be dropped at Reggio Emilia for the day, and loves to play in the yard. But he is convinced the only way to sleep at night is next to me. Quite frankly I don't mind, it's cold and he's a great snuggle buddy! It's been over a week now. And when we ask if he's ready for bed he's running to our bed not his. Even if we insist on him having his bottle in his cot, he will only stay there as long as we're next to him, and as soon as he finishes gets out and runs to our bed - even if he's half asleep. So we'll see how long that goes on for. He has been teething off and on, it may be he just wants us nearby for reassurance. It's certainly easier to resettle him quickly in the night without having to get out of bed!
In other news, this morning we had a gender scan to confirm, and it's definitely 100% a little sister on her way to join us. Scary! I will write my thoughts on that in a separate post.
Sunday, April 20, 2014
Out of nowhere I thought I heard a soft "mama!" So I jumped out of bed and peeked in, just in time to see Eli pass out asleep on the carpet two feet from his bed. I guess he had decided to get up and come visit but exhaustion overcame him, so he called for rescue. Awwwwww! I put him back but I'll be surprised if I don't have a visitor before morning!
Thursday, April 17, 2014
I can hardly describe how much I loathe the “world’s toughest job” video. Forgetting the fact that they claim to have advertised it as a real job and conducted those interviews so are wasting the time of genuine job seekers – rude and thoughtless. But being a mother isn’t a “job”. Just because it’s time consuming and takes energy and commitment doesn’t make it a job. We don’t have to assign commercial value to everything in life to give it meaning – things can be meaningful without being part of the commercial world! (Don’t get me started on that whole assign a salary to a mother who does 100 jobs meme… unless you can go out and get a job as a Doctor, Chauffeur or Psychiatrist you are NONE of those things).
And if it were a job, I dispute whether it’s the toughest – I personally would find it much harder to be an astronaut, brain surgeon, or pretty much anything that features on that Dirty Jobs tv show. Do we really undervalue being a mother so much that we have to pull this kind of comparative bullshit to make people appreciate it? Because that’s sad. Being a mother is a really, really great thing, let’s not cheapen it with this nonsense. Plus don’t get me started on the bizarre claims that mothers never ever get to sit down and are on their feet 24/7, and never ever ever get a break at all 365 days a year. What the heck?
Being a mother is without question the best thing I have ever done in my life. I don't need any weird validation like this to feel good about it.
And if it were a job, I dispute whether it’s the toughest – I personally would find it much harder to be an astronaut, brain surgeon, or pretty much anything that features on that Dirty Jobs tv show. Do we really undervalue being a mother so much that we have to pull this kind of comparative bullshit to make people appreciate it? Because that’s sad. Being a mother is a really, really great thing, let’s not cheapen it with this nonsense. Plus don’t get me started on the bizarre claims that mothers never ever get to sit down and are on their feet 24/7, and never ever ever get a break at all 365 days a year. What the heck?
Being a mother is without question the best thing I have ever done in my life. I don't need any weird validation like this to feel good about it.
Sunday, April 13, 2014
What a wonderful time in Little Eli's life. It's so awesome this age - his communication skills, his confidence, watching him learn new things everyday.
For several months now when we get to the "H" page on Dr Seuss' ABC he has flung his arms in the air pre-emptively ready for "Horay! Horay!" which depicts two characters with their arms in the air. A couple of weeks ago I was reading a different ABC book (the metropolitan art one I believe) and when I got to H he flung his arms up. That was pretty cool, that he actually knew the letter, not just the Dr Seuss picture!
He had a few bad nights this week, teeth we think - although as usual his teething is so long and drawn out it happens a few times before any teeth appear! Ended up in our bed three nights in a row. One night he was just sitting in his bed howling at 11:30pm, inconsolable, nothing we could do. We took turns holding him and talking to him. Even tried distracting him with cats! Eventually he calmed enough to drift off to sleep in my arms. Poor darling. I am happy everyday with my decision to always give him the benefit of the doubt. He is too little to tell us what's wrong, so unless I know otherwise (and some tantrums are pretty obvious!) I will always assume he has a legitimate need. I hate it when people say "My baby is crying but he doesn't need anything!" - maybe what he needs is his parents? Eli has always been high needs in terms of the love and closeness he wants, but I treasure that.
The past two nights he has been up late-ish, but both nights when he's eventually seemed tired I've suggested bed and he's trotted off happily and put himself to sleep. I know he's capable of it. So I trust that when he's not going down and is crying it's for a legitimate reason. What better lesson can I teach my child than trust? That his parents trust him, and that we will listen to him? I know people have different levels of comfort, but I'm playing a long game here and I'm not going to compromise now on something that in 20 years time won't seem important.
For several months now when we get to the "H" page on Dr Seuss' ABC he has flung his arms in the air pre-emptively ready for "Horay! Horay!" which depicts two characters with their arms in the air. A couple of weeks ago I was reading a different ABC book (the metropolitan art one I believe) and when I got to H he flung his arms up. That was pretty cool, that he actually knew the letter, not just the Dr Seuss picture!
He had a few bad nights this week, teeth we think - although as usual his teething is so long and drawn out it happens a few times before any teeth appear! Ended up in our bed three nights in a row. One night he was just sitting in his bed howling at 11:30pm, inconsolable, nothing we could do. We took turns holding him and talking to him. Even tried distracting him with cats! Eventually he calmed enough to drift off to sleep in my arms. Poor darling. I am happy everyday with my decision to always give him the benefit of the doubt. He is too little to tell us what's wrong, so unless I know otherwise (and some tantrums are pretty obvious!) I will always assume he has a legitimate need. I hate it when people say "My baby is crying but he doesn't need anything!" - maybe what he needs is his parents? Eli has always been high needs in terms of the love and closeness he wants, but I treasure that.
The past two nights he has been up late-ish, but both nights when he's eventually seemed tired I've suggested bed and he's trotted off happily and put himself to sleep. I know he's capable of it. So I trust that when he's not going down and is crying it's for a legitimate reason. What better lesson can I teach my child than trust? That his parents trust him, and that we will listen to him? I know people have different levels of comfort, but I'm playing a long game here and I'm not going to compromise now on something that in 20 years time won't seem important.
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