Mother's Day - Day 19

My boys got me flowers and both Adele CD's and they accompanied me, along with grandma and grandpa to brunch.  The hour or so wait was worth it to spend some time outside with my family.  After brunch we got to spend some time with my best friend and her family.  As much as I began my day somewhat disappointed that I wasn't being more pampered and being better taken care of, I realize that the biggest thing about being a mother is taking care of my family.  Why should I take a day off from that?  It's what I love!

I'm very lucky that I was able to spend an entire day with Sam and Elliot - who could ask for more!

So Damn Cute - Day 17

Sam and I took Elliot to run an errand last night. We went to World Market to pick up some things for Elliot's teachers for Teacher Appreciation Week. I shopped while Sam took care of watching Elliot. All of a sudden, I hear this little voice from a couple of aisles over - "MaMa, Mommy, Hi mommy!" I responded, "Hi Baby", to which he responded, "Hi Baby". My goodness is he cute. He's a heart melter and I love it! He was so well behaved last night, very different from his norm. My little boy is growing up. Enjoy the proof:

Mini Milestones - Day 15

It's amazing how my baby can have so many changes in one day. Take this morning for example. Usually, he wakes up, talks to himself for a bit and then starts calling for Sam or myself (Da, Da, Da!!) and then he cries within seconds if someone hasn't raced into his room. This morning he woke up and spent the better part of 20 minutes talking to himself and giggling. It was only after his talk fest that he called for us, and he never cried. He's becoming so much more verbal, talking almost nonstop, in full gibberish sentences. I wish we could understand half of what he was saying.

But the biggest milestones happened tonight during the bedtime routine. About 6 months ago, Elliot began screaming bloody murder every time we put him in the bath. He would cry through the entire bath and couldn't be engaged in playing with bath toys, splashing or anything fun...until tonight! We tried something a bit different tonight, which leads me to milestone 1.

About a month ago, Elliot picked out a Sesame Street potty. Mostly we use it as a step-stool so he can brush his teeth. Lately he has been very curious about using the potty, following me into the bathroom every chance he gets and trying to see what I'm doing. Every night or every other night we try putting him on his potty, just so he gets used to it. We ask him if he wants to sit on the potty and usually he'll back his tushy up to it and sit on the side then get up. Tonight was different. Not only did he sit on the potty repeatedly, he actually sat and stayed on it for about a minute. Just like mommy and daddy, he did have a book with him while sitting on the potty. Either way, pictures were taken and I actually had a tear in my eye - my baby is getting so big.

Milestone 2 - Elliot enjoyed his bath tonight. I mean he really enjoyed it. He splashed about, he played with bath toys, he didn't cry when water was poured over his head. We had a hard time getting him out of the tub. What changed?? We thing that going to the splash pad at Sea World this past weekend made all of the difference. I personally think that it helped that we were a bit slower about putting him in the tub tonight. We asked him to come see the water and then Sam splashed some of the water before ever putting him in the tub. Now mommy has to go buy more bath toys. This is so awesome. We had been dreading bath-time each night, resigning ourselves to the fact that maybe he didn't really need to be that clean. Hopefully now it'll be fun for everyone!

And now pictures to document our momentous evening!

Sea World - Day 12

Today we gathered the family (including grandma and grandpa) and headed to Sea World for Goddard Day (Elliot's school).  We went last year when Elliot was 6 months old and there wasn't much he could do.  We were pretty excited about all of the possibilities this year, especially since Elliot has recently gotten into Sesame Street and they have a Sesame Street Bay of Play for kids his age, that I planned on spending most of our time at.

First stop was to see the dolphins.  They have a really cool pool where the dolphins swim around.  Elliot really liked this last year.  He was just as excited this year.  He got splashed by a passing dolphin, which made him giggle.  He pointed out the dolphins to us and tried his hardest to actually say dolphin.  It was pretty cool - unfortunately pictures didn't do it justice because the little guys were back in the water after a jump when the shutter finally clicked.  Oh well, the memories are still in my head.

Then we changed El into water gear to go play at the splash pad.  Along the way we ran into all of our Sesame Street friends - Cookie Monster, Bert and Ernie, Zoe, Rosita, Telly and we even found Big Bird and Elmo.  Unfortunately, most of the "life size" people in costumes scared the bejeezus out of Elliot.  He would high five the characters but wanted nothing else to do with them, even Elmo.  Oh well, maybe by next year he'll enjoy them.  So we found the splash pad and Elliot was not a fan!  He treated the water works just like the bath and clung to Sam, not allowing daddy to put him down.  Sam and I were so sad that the main reason that we came to Sea World scared the heck out of our little guy.  So, we hung our heads down and decided to look for something else to do.  On our way out we found a little splash pad for kids under three.  Don't know why we didn't see this before.  Elliot and I sat in a chair near the little bubbling water spouts.  Then he surprised us by getting down and going over to the water and splashing in it.  Finally - he was enjoying the water.  I got some great pictures and Elliot had a wonderful time splashing about.  He even had fun climbing the giant cargo nets and playing on the "under 3" playscape.  After all of the playing we headed to the car and set our sights for home.  We weren't at Sea World very long and didn't see any of the shows, but my little guy had a wonderful time playing.  That was really the only reason we went.

I can't wait to see how he is next year!

Elliot watching the dolphins

With Cookie Monster

Bert and Ernie with Elliot and Grandma

Playing in the water

Night Night Rituals - Day 8

Every night after dinner, usually Elliot gets to play for a few minutes in the living room. Play for him consists of bringing us books to read to him. He's so funny because he'll bring books and insist that you read them, only to walk away a page or two into the book. After a bit, Sam will ask Elliot if he's ready to go "Night Night". Elliot will walk (or run) to the gate at the bottom of the stairs and slap it until daddy comes and opens it. He then climbs up the stairs, usually saying "bye bye" to me still sitting on the couch. I'll ask for kisses, which he'll blow to me as he is climbing the stairs. Tonight, Sam asked for help getting Elliot ready for bed (Sam cut his finger on the food processor blade and wasn't sure he had the dexterity to change a diaper). I of course obliged, looking forward to finally being able to put Elliot's clean clothes away. Sam helped him brush his teeth and then I change Elliot and Sam gets his dressed in his jammies. We sing the Shema to him and Sam and Elliot settle in for a marathon book reading adventure. During this ritual, we always end with the same book. Elliot knows that when daddy reads Pajama Time, it's time for sleep. So Elliot tends to ask for more books, I guess as a stall tactic before getting to the final book. If he's really tired, we won't even make it through the final book before he has wiggled off Sam's lap and is standing by his crib.Over the last couple of weeks he has had a cold off an on and we have been pushing the fluids. Extra fluids tends to lead to more wet diapers during the night, which leads to Elliot waking up once or twice. We have a ritual for that too. That's where mommy gets to shine! I will pick him up, change his diaper, turn out the light and then we rock. We sing two songs - "You are my Sunshine" and "Hush little baby". I usually ask him to "lay down keppe", which he does on my shoulder while I sing. After that, he is so good at going back to sleep.Tonight Elliot didn't want to sleep. Sam read him at least five books and he even came to me to give me hugs and kisses, but was not thrilled about being put in his crib. So, I had a bit of mommy time with him. We rocked and I sang and put him down, but apparently he still wasn't ready. Five minutes after he stood up at the edge of the crib crying, daddy came to the rescue. Daddy hugged him, told him it was "night night time" and laid him back down. Less than a minute later he was out! My little man is such a good sleeper.After going through a period of time where Elliot would wake up every 45 minutes and we would have to sleep on the couch with him, we tried sleep training and it has been the greatest thing ever. Hence why the nighttime ritual is so very important. This is my favorite part of the day - my son is sleeping peacefully in his bed surrounded by love and I have time to be alone with my thoughts and be alone with my husband.Good night sweet prince!

No is the new Black - Day 5

I have a toddler. With that comes lots of exercise from chasing him around the house. It brings lots of detective work in trying to decipher what it is he's trying to say. It attempts to teach patience when your loving child learns the word "no". It's cute at first, and usually meaningless. "Elliot, do you want to take a bath?" "No!" That I can handle, that makes sense to me. However the word "no" has taken on new meaning. "Elliot would you like some milk?" "No!" (As he's reaching for the milk). We thought that maybe he wasn't understanding the meaning of the word and was just enjoying saying it, but at least 8 times out of 10 he's right on target. At least we're getting a glimpse of what it will be like to have a defiant teenager! He's also turned into quite the climber. We have been child-proofing more and more as he gets bigger and to be quite honest, we're running out of places to put things so that they are out of his reach. This afternoon I was sitting on the couch and he was playing in the kitchen. He likes to bang on a metal chair in our kitchen, so I let him have his fun. Things for quiet for a minute and I turned to look in the kitchen. You can imagine my surprise when I saw Elliot's head over the half wall. It clicked to me that he was standing on something and could fall. I don't think I've ever moved faster than I did into the kitchen to snatch him before he fell off the chair. I then watched him a number of times climb on the metal chair to a standing position. My heart almost stopped. Now the metal chair must be folded when someone is not sitting in it. So scary! I guess this is what I have to get used to with boys. He has no fear!

Happy Birthday Israel - Day 2

Tonight my little family visited the Dell Jewish Community Center for an Israeli Celebration, in honor of Yom Ha'atzmaut! They had seven "cities" to visit with arts and crafts at each city. We were given a passport and at each city, we received a stamp. When all our cities had been stamped we received a t-shirt from the PJ Library (the wonderful people who send us books each month). Elliot recently received the book Good Night Israel, which he wants read to him at least 10 times a day. The book takes us on a trip through Israel, stopping at all of the sites. It's really cool. We were hopeful that the "trip" tonight would jog his memory of all of the places in his book. Wishful thinking on mommy's part. He was too distracted by all of the older kids running around, and all of the other little kids, and all of the things to destroy, and all of the places to run!!Unfortunately, it was poorly conceptualized by the JCC folks and even more poorly executed! Oh well, we got falafel, we made art and we got to see lots of other kids Elliot's age. I think the highlight for Elliot was playing outside on the Elliot-sized playground. As soon as we got home, Elliot ran for his book. I'm sure after the 500th reading, both he and I will have it committed to memory. Only a few more reads....So, Happy Birthday Israel! You look fabulous for 64! We hope to visit you someday. And now for some pictures of my little traveler.

Should I be Angry?

As parents it is our job to protect our children, right? We childproof, we childproof some more, we move scary objects up above where our children can reach, but then they get taller and we childproof again. In addition, we yell "no!" an awful lot! We are trying no to be the parents who just yell "no" at our kids to get them to stop. We want him to understand why he shouldn't do something and that it's dangerous, breakable, ours, or just not his. His school uses "walk away" to get children to stop what they're doing and basically walk away. We decided that we should also try this at home. My friend also uses "danger" to get her son to stop what he's doing. So far, neither of these are working with our very independent toddler.

Case in point - Elliot has a fondness for both the oven and the dishwasher. When he first was able to climb onto the open dishwasher it was cute. I'm sure we clapped - I know we took pictures - but basically we did nothing to dissuade this behavior. Elliot also has an affinity for the knobs on the oven. Scared that he would accidentally turn on the gas, ignite the flame, etc., we removed the knobs. Effective for him, annoying for us. Ah, the joys of childproofing. Currently, he will run to the oven and still try to open it, turn the knobs (or where the knobs were). I will say to him, "Elliot, walk away". After the 2nd or 3rd time, he will run to me for a hug. I love the hug, but unfortunately it's a game to him. He will hug me and then race right back to the oven. This evening he has his foot wedged on the drawer at the bottom of the oven and was attempting to climb it. I must mention that we had just finished baking so the door had to be at least somewhat warm still. "Elliot - danger!"...nothing. "Elliot, please listen to mommy - walk away. Hot!"...nothing. At a much higher volume, "Elliot - no!". This finally got his attention. He at least turned his head at me, but still he went back. Any ideas faithful few followers?

Another case in point (I felt horrible about this one) - I spent this past weekend as a single parent as Sam was out of town for a few days. (TMI coming at ya) I have realized that there are things that you must include your toddler in if there is not a safe place to put him and no other adult in the vicinity. Unfortunately, I had some sort of stomach issues that kept me running to the bathroom. This was fine while he was eating or napping (he was contained then), but became a problem when he was awake. So what's a mommy to do - I took him with me. So there he was, playing with everything he could put his hands on in our bathroom when he spied a gross penny from behind the door. In true Elliot fashion, he picked it up and in even truer Elliot fashion, he gave it to me. I attempted to toss it in the trash but missed and it lodged itself in the funk at the baseboard of our sink. Elliot once again felt it necessary to retrieve the nastiness. I began with "Walk away", which led to "danger", which went to "yucky" and finally ended with a scream from me to get his attention. My poor child sat on the floor of my bathroom with a quivering lip for a few minutes, which then erupted into tears, lots of tears. Tears that could only be helped by holding him...while I was on the toilet. Not my best work but it got the job done. He left the nasty penny where it was.

In addition to attempting to climb the oven tonight, my darling son "the mimicker" mocked his mother. This is where I address the title of this post. In response to "walk away", my son gives me his version of "walk away", with much less annunciation. "Danger" received more of the same. The kid sassed me! I'm so proud that he is learning new words daily and can repeat what I say, but should I be angry that he is mocking me? He tests boundaries and it's hilarious. After being told to "walk away" from the dishwasher, he ran to me for a hug, then returned to knock on the open dishwasher door once, all the while staring at me and going in slow motion. I fought hard to stifle my giggles. This kid is so damn smart it kills me.

It's too soon to expect that a toddler has the ability to listen to me, right? I have learned that I can't reason with him, so I guess I can't be angry. He is, after all, only 16 months old....going on 17 (years)!

New Words

Elliot is becoming a little mimic. Which for us means we need to watch our mouth. I swear "that's bullshit daddy" came out of his mouth the other day. Who knew that he actually pays attention to the things that we say (ha!). So the other day, Elliot was doing this funny little walk in the living room. He was raising up on one toe and kinda limping (?) and we didn't know if he was hurt or epileptic or just developing a bit of a pimp walk. Then we listened to the fact that he was actually saying something along with the limp. A faint little "dump, dump" came from that determined little boy. Then it hit us, he was jumping! He must've learned this in school, because I don't recall teaching him how to jump or the word jump, but jump he does. I really need to get it on video, because it's the cutest thing. It's evolved a bit over the weekend as well. Now, he raises both feet up on his toes, swings his arms and looks as if he's trying to take off. All the while saying, "dump, dump".

Back to the mimicking - this morning he looked at me and said "hi" (hi and bye are his new favorites) and I replied, "hi baby", to which he replied, "hi baby". Oh my gosh is he cute! Today he said "eyes" and actually pointed to his eyes. He very clearly said "Grandma" the other night and I thought my mom would have a heart attack. For those who don't know, since the day my child was born, my mother would say to him, "say Grandma". Our of pure stubbornness, he would reply "daddy", "mommy" and even "grandpa" (and sometimes even "bubbe") but he finally got out a grandma. He points to his belly and says "beh-yee". Oh, my heart is melting. He leans back in your arms and squeals "whee". Where is he getting this stuff?

The word count is getting extremely long as he is learning at least one new word every day. He repeats just about everything. His response to "I love you" is "Bye" (methinks he has picked this up from listening to phone calls). He still gives great hugs and now he blows kisses and makes this cute little fish kiss by sucking in his cheeks. I love this little man...

Mr. Independent

My son turned into an independent little man today. His new favorite "toys" are all of the new Sesame Street books that mommy found at Target (Dollar Section - what, what!). I've gotten somewhat exhausted from reading them over and over and over. I practically known them by memory. However, Elliot does not get tired of them. It definitely warms my heart that he's loving books, but when he wants to be read to, you must stop what you're doing, sit down, put him in your lap and read. Today was different. Today, he handed me the book, asked to be picked up and put on the couch (in Elliot-ese), moved from my lap to next to me on the couch, took the book from me and started "talking" to the book and turning the pages. I can only imagine that he was "reading" to himself.

It was amazing! I was so proud of him for being able to entertain himself with the book, and at the same time was a little broken hearted that my boy no longer wanted me to read to him. I tried to take the book from him at one point, saying, "want mommy to read to you?". He emphatically shook his head, saying "no!" and went back to his happy page turning. I guess it helps that he adores "Elmo" ("Ahh-Mo!") and can point him out in every book. So the question is now - why did we spend so much money on toys when apparently the greatest toys are the $1 books? I'll never understand kids!

15 Month Appointment

Sam and I took Elliot in for his 15-month appointment with the pediatrician. I always experience anxiety before these appointments. Because Elliot had such difficulty gaining weight (and I felt like such a failure), I'm always worried that he didn't gain weight and he's not getting taller. However, I had nothing to fear during this appointment. Elliot is 23 lbs, 4 oz and in the 33rd percentile for weight (He gained 3 pounds from his 12 month appointment). He is 30 inches tall, a gain of over an inch from our last appointment and is in the 18th percentile for height. Sadly he will never be a basketball player. And in case you're not aware of the hugeness of my kid's melon, he's in the 97th percentile for head size.

We had to come up with a list of the words that he says and write them down. I was able to come up with 12 or 13 and of course remembered more after we left the appointment. Dr. H watched Elliot walk and was very impressed. He said that he was very healthy and that everything looked great.

We discussed Elliot's picky eating and the doc assured us that E would get over it. Dr. H gave us a pamphlet on potty training, wanting us to start looking for signs that Elliot is ready to potty like a big boy. (That makes me really feel like my baby is growing up!). Elliot was a champ, getting three shots. He was able to be calmed very quickly! We only have one more vaccination at 18 months and then no more until he's 4!

Overall, A really great appointment. Elliot is right on track and Doc feels that we're doing a great job in the parenting department. Nothing like a good 'ol pat on the back to make my day! We go back in June!

Problem Solver

I continue to be amazed at the abilities that Elliot has picked up over the last few days/weeks/months. He's really turning into a real person, albeit it a very small and wobbly one. Last night he amazed me (and had me laughing) at his ability to problem solve. We bought him four new board books last night and he was really into them. My kid really digs books! He had one in each hand and we tried giving him a third. Usually he would have put down one of the two in either hand, but not my Elliot. He's a problem solver!! He just simply opened his mouth and had Sam put the third book there. He then carried all three to his destination. See, problem solver!

A few days ago, he decided that he needed to sort through the three pacifiers (paci's) in his bed. He would take one out, put another one in, and so on, and so on. At one point, he had one in his mouth and one in each hand. I handed him a fourth one and he paused. Then he tucked one to his chest (under his neck) and reached for the fourth paci. Have I mentioned my kid is a genius?? (I'm sure all of your kids have done the same thing, but I wasn't there to see it and I didn't give birth to your kid!)

He's also learning how to use a fork and is starting to venture into new foods (as long as they are on aforementioned fork). He can use a snack bowl without constantly flinging it to the floor. He's really using language and learning at least one new word every day, or at least repeating a new word. I love how the littlest things that he does leave me in complete awe. I hope that never changes.

And now for a few pics (sorry for the blurry one) of my little problem solver!

Nature or Nurture

It has recently come to my attention that my son is very sweet and loving. I would imagine that all children his age are sweet, but Elliot seems to really care for people and animals. He has learned how to hug. We did not teach him this, other than by hugging him...a lot! What we did teach him was how to treat the dogs. Initially, we taught him how to "pat pat", so that he would pet the dogs instead of grabbing or hitting them. He took to that wonderfully. Most recently we taught him to "love" the dogs. This consists of putting his head down on them and essentially hugging them. Within the last month or so, we have asked for "huggies", especially before putting him to bed. He would respond by laying his head on our shoulder. That was his version of a hug.

As recent as last weekend, his method of "huggies" changed. I guess by either watching us or others, he now puts his arms around you and then puts his head on you. He does this to the dogs as well. This morning, he did it to a stuffed dog. Interestingly enough, the dog that he has is electronic and asks for a hug. Elliot took that as a cue to then grab the dog and put his head on it.

He understands how to be gentle. He can get a little rough with the dogs, grabbing ears or pulling on their faces, but if we say, "gentle" or "give Janie huggies", his demeanor changes and he is gentle again.

So I ask you - is this something that is inherently within him or is this something that he has learned. I'd like to think that my son is inherently sweet, he does come by it naturally (at least from Sam). I also am hopeful that we are teaching him how to be kind and gentle and loving. The concept of nature versus nurture is double edged. I of course want this to be nature, I want him to be born "good", but I also want him to be able to adapt and pick up on social cues, hence the nurture part. I also want to show him, as a good model for loving and caring, how to be "good". Maybe this is a chicken vs egg scenario - you can't have one without the other. He can't learn to be good unless he has some goodness as a base to build on (nature then nurture). Okay, enough philosophical rambling. The bottom line is - it warms my heart to watch my child hug things...and people, and dogs. It melts my heart when he puts his arms around my neck, lays his head on my shoulder and squeezes. It makes me so proud when he is gentle with the dogs. And it makes me laugh when he tries to hug inanimate objects.

Fearless

Is this a boy thing? Having no fear in a way is like being completely innocent - you don't know any better. When Elliot was learning to walk he lacked the confidence to venture too far from something he could grab onto. He was so hesitant and for a fleeting second that was nice. Then he gained enough confidence to try walking and he was successful. Since he began walking, with that came climbing, sliding, attempting to take multiple headers off of the couch and practically running.

For example: today we went to the park after we picked him up from daycare. He wants to slide down the slide by himself, he wants to walk up the slide. He climbed the playscape steps with no problem, to the point that Sam had to run and jump to get ahead of him so he wouldn't walk off the edge of the playscape. He climbs up playscape tubes which are angled, basically things he shouldn't be able to do. But he doesn't know that. How lucky he is. He's willing to try anything because he doesn't yet know about failure. This is one trait I hope he takes with him forever.

Fearlessness - wonderful for the boy, terrifying for the mother!

My Kid is So Smart!

Sure, that's what every parent says, but I'm serious, my kid is really smart. In reality, we are always comparing our children to others around them. Daycare has some advantages in this field as there are always kids below and above his age level that I can compare him to. For instance, he was a late walker - kinda. I felt that he should have been walking by 12 months but my boy had other plans. You see in order for him to move up from the baby room to the toddler room he had to be able to walk. You can imagine my surprise when they moved up a girl who not only wasn't walking but was two weeks YOUNGER than Elliot. Sure, she crawled sooner and she was much beefier than my kid, but she wasn't walking either. So, fast forward to a couple weeks ago when Elliot was spending all of his time in the toddler room, even though he wasn't walking yet. But apparently, watching the other kids walk was enough for him because my kid is walking and little girl in his class still isn't! That's only one of his many brilliance's - he's a fast learner. He's gone from taking two to three steps at a time, to walking from the kitchen to the living room (at least 30 steps) to practically running tonight!

Brilliance number 2 of about a gazillion - my kid talks like you wouldn't believe! He's always been vocal, loved to make noises. About 4 months ago he started saying something that resembled "tickle tickle". That has progressed to words, mini sentences, and even repeated recognition of items instead of just repeating. Take this weekend for instance - he points to the dog and says clearly "puppy". He picks up a ball and not only says "ball" but "my ball". He knows mama and dada. Brilliantly, the kid says "caca" when he's pooped (the Spanish word for poop). He says "baby" in reference to himself, especially when he's upset about something. When he's excited or proud, he can be heard saying, "I did it". He talks constantly!! I just wish most of the time he made sense. My kid is so cool.

Did I mention he's brilliant?? Apparently they've been working on body parts in daycare. This has been a focus for Sam and I as well. I really hope that I can get the following on video, but as of now, you'll just have to take my word for it. When asked where his "belly" is, he takes one or both hands and pats his belly. When asked where his "nose" is, he promptly sticks a finger up his nose - not the most hygienic but he knows where his nose is. When asked where his "head" is, he smacks himself on the head repeatedly. The other day when asked where his "foot" was, he did two things. First, he took off his sock and second, he put said foot in his mouth. After meals when we go to clean him up, we ask for his hands, and he will give us one but not always the other.

So feel free to compare all of my kid's brilliance to yours - hands down, mine will always win. (No bias here!)

We have a Walker

Last Saturday Elliot surprised us by getting from a sitting position to a standing position, followed by taking a couple of steps before falling into the arms of myself and/or Sam. Each day he has progressed to taking a few more steps. Now, for me, the walking is really exciting. It means that we have more opportunities to play outside and he doesn't always have to be carried, won't necessarily be just sitting around in the dirt and can really begin to experience more of what the world has to offer.

Sam, on the other hand, is scared to death that he has started walking. Sam sees more falls in Elliot's future, a child that is much harder to wrangle and keep still as well as the fact that this is something that he can't unlearn. I have tried my best not to focus on the falls - he's a little boy, they're bound to fall. Besides, scars build character.

What I wasn't prepared for was the confidence that comes along with walking. This confidence has translated into climbing. Climbing on us, climbing on the couch, climbing on his walking toys, climbing over the step-stool. Last night, Sam caught him climbing his dragon walker, standing on the walker's head (about 2 feet at least from the ground) and attempting to climb INTO his pack n play. His teachers at school reported catching him climb to the top of his chair and stand on a tray used for food. Oy, this little boy is gonna give me a heart attack!

So, as much as I look forward to the positives of Elliot walking, I can definitely see Sam's side of things. I plan to try not to be a hovering mom, letting him fall so that he can learn. Unfortunately, I foresee stitches in our future...

Seeing if I can stick to blogging!

A lot has changed since the last post of this blog. My pregnancy went as well as could have been expected. I had gestational diabetes which I managed beautifully and our amazing Elliot Simon Levine was born on Monday, November 22, 2010 at 11:22 am, weighing in at 8 lbs, 4 oz and 21 inches long. Not too bad for our 38 w 1 d baby boy. Elliot had a few complications after birth as he was unable to get rid of the fluid in his lungs. I was unable to see him for about 5-7 hours. My amazing husband stayed by his side in the nursery and my mom stayed by mine as I began to recover from my planned c-section. I had a planned c-section because we were told that Elliot would be well over 10 pounds given that his head was measuring about the size of a 43 week old fetus. His head never descended and as it turns out, this was the best decision for us. My pubic bone seemed to have fused on top of itself, which would have never allowed me to have a natural birth.

I did so great in recovery and was walking less than 12 hours later. So after only two nights in the hospital they sent us home. We came home the day before Thanksgiving, which was such a relief. I really didn't want us to spend our first Thanksgiving as a family in a hospital room.

The day after Thanksgiving, we had an appointment with the pediatrician to make sure that Elliot was doing well. Unfortunately, we were told that he had jaundice and that he was losing weight. They gave me two days to try to feed him more, which entailed waking him every two hours and putting him in the sun for a bit every day. Two days later, he was getting better, but not fast enough. My heart broke when I was told to supplement with formula at least 1-2 ounces every day until we saw the doctor at the two week appointment.

It's funny, weight gain has always been an issue for Elliot - apparently he didn't get that from me. I'm a fantastic weight gainer! Try as I might, my milk supply was low. I ate tons of oatmeal, took lots of Fenugreek and my supply was "ok". I'll tell you, breastfeeding my son may have been the most stressful thing that I have ever done in my life and although at times I felt like a failure and that I wanted to quit, I successfully nursed him for 13 months!!

So, we've hit many many milestones over the last almost two years since I started this blog. We have an amazing family of three now and are even beginning to talk about baby #2 (not this year!!). Elliot is the light of my life and I couldn't imagine life without him. My goal is to try to utilize this little slice of cyberspace to keep an ongoing journal of my thoughts regarding my growing child. I'm sure I'll also include a number of pictures/videos/milestones that my son is achieving.

Looking forward to continuing to share Levine Family News!!