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!