first birthday

Looking back. We celebrated Elijah's first birthday yesterday. It seems like it was just yesterday that we came home from the hospital with a tiny baby in our arms, whose tender skin was irritated by the diaper and was slightly bleeding, so we let him go without a diaper for an hour and he pooped on me. We thought his cries were so loud that we took him out of the bedroom and sat in the living room so as to not wake up the neighbors above us. Little did we know that those cries were nothing compared to the glass-shaking screams he would be capable of a year later.


Off to a good start. I thought we'd take him to have a professional picture taken, but he fell even before breakfast and ended up with a huge red mark under his eye, so a trip to a professional photographer had to be postponed till the bruise heals.

Gifts. After breakfast we opened gifts. He caught on pretty quickly. A couple of times he tried to eat the wrapping paper, but Daddy took it away promptly.


The box in the video contained clothes, which he threw over his shoulder and proceeded to play with the box :)

(Cup)cake


We debated for a while whether to give him cake on his birthday. He wouldn't have known any better, and he probably didn't need the sugar rush. Plus, we didn't want him to know that cake existed. After all, we are trying to train the young taste buds to like the things that are good for him (it's going well so far - he prefers vegetables to pretty much anything except cheese, with broccoli and green beans being all time favorites). We felt there was no reason for him to know that cottage cheese is different from ice cream and wheat bread is not the same thing as chocolate cake. But in the end we (ok, I) broke down and gave him a carrot cake cupcake. To say that he loved it would be a gross understatement.



He had the cupcake after his second nap a couple of hours before dinner. He still ate pretty well at dinner, but once in a while he'd start screaming. The same thing happened today at breakfast. We think he remembers the cupcake and is wondering why he can't have that instead of the Malt-O-Meal. Sorry, Bud, but your next cupcake is at least a year away, and then only maybe. :)

first steps

At almost one Elijah is almost walking. And he has a little attitude :)



Also, I've been experimenting with two video sites: YouTube and vSocial. Although YouTube is by far better known than vSocial, and has been recently acquired by Google, my vote goes to vSocial. The quality of my videos is much better there, and audio doesn't have an annoying delay the way it does on YouTube.

three more teeth

So far Elijah has gotten by with 5 teeth: two front ones on the top and three on the bottom. After several weeks of heavy drooling and a couple days of fever about two weeks ago, he has something to show for all this struggle. A fourth bottom tooth cut through recently and was discovered today by Daddy's hawk eye. Two more on the top are clearly on their way. So now he'll have a complete set of eight teeth: four on the top and four on the bottom. Meanwhile we shy away from him when he approaches our legs with an open mouth - he is biting on anyone and anything he can get a hold of.

grandma's little helper

Elijah's first Thanksgiving (outside of the womb) was marked by a trip to Arizona to visit Grandma Shannon. It was in the 80's outside, so we took walks, watched Cody (the dog) fetch a stick (Elijah loves dogs, but is, unfortunately, allergic to them), explored kitchen cupboards, and had all kinds of fun with brand new toys. Mashed potatoes, stuffing, and green beans were his favorite at Thanksgiving dinner. And since we don't have a dishwasher at home, Elijah closely examined grandma's.

Elijah's Christmas 2006 list

OK, this is Elijah's Christmas list, which can also be used as his birthday list. However, it doesn't have to be used at all. Since Elijah can't type yet (he is learning typing next month), I typed it up for him. The list will be periodically updated as needed.

1. Discovery toys (he already has the cups called "Measure Up", an earlier version of "Hammer Away," and "Stacktivities")
2. Books (by Sandra Boynton (he already has Moo, Baa, La-La-La), or from this list, or from this list, or any other of you favorite baby board books, or books in Russian).
3. Dinosaur, Dalmatian, Teddy Bear, or plain hooded towels
4. A bouncy ball 4-6 inches in diameter. He has a large one and likes to play with it, but it's a little too big for him and hard to hold on to.
5. HotWheels cars, or any other cars that are small enough for little hands.
6. Diapers (Pampers Cruisers size 4)
   

11 months old

Wow. It's hard to believe it's been almost a year. Here he is, 11 months (and a couple days) old.

"Christopher Columbus"

Exploration of the apartment is now in full swing. First it was just the living room, then the dining room, then the kitchen. A few days ago Elijah took off down our very long hallway and turned into the bathroom. The bathroom has become one of the most fun places to hang out. Today he discovered the toilet lid and everything that's hiding beneath it. I was there just in time to get him out of the bathroom before he took a dive into his private swimming pool.

P.S. "The new world" that Elijah is discovering has, of course, been already "discovered" and inhabited by others way before he was even aware there was a world out there to discover.

standing up

Elijah has known how to pull himself up to standing for a couple of weeks now, but he felt content to just stand on his knees next to a couch, a chair, or a coffee table. He would remain standing if we stood him up next to something, but he did not really want to do it himself. Until today. All of a sudden, pulling up to standing became the thing to do. And not just that. Once he pulls himself up, he likes to hold on with just one hand, steady himself, and then very slowly and cautiously let go. He balances for just a second, and then either grabs something for support or plops down on the floor. Still, I was so proud of him I almost cried :)

favorite colors

Every morning (and sometimes after naps when I remember), we spend some time looking at books. This is our first activity of the day, since that's when Elijah is quietest. One of our favorites is a book called Happy Baby Colors. If the amount of time spent per page has anything to do with his color preferences, then blue, pink, and gray are his favorites. He usually briefly pauses on the blue page, spends a little time touching a picture of a flower or yogurt on the pink page, and just stares for a while at the gray page (I think he is staring at a big teddy bear there). But he quickly turns the pages for all the other colors.

library boy

When Elijah crawls up to a book shelf and starts touching the books, we just watch and remain in stand by mode. When he starts licking my The Bread Bible book, we discourage him. But when the books start getting pulled off the shelf and thrown on the floor, Daddy takes the baby away, saying, "You can't check these books out, you don't have a library card!"

Not any more! Elijah now does have a library card! In order to sign him up for baby story time (called Baby Business), our local city library requires that the child have their own library card. Now the only person in the family without one is Daddy.

We attended the first half hour session this morning. We sang songs, recited nursery rhymes, had story time and made a craft. OK, Mommy really made the craft (a three-piece snowman that had to be glued together and then decorated with stickers), but Elijah helped chew on it. And, while all other children were contentedly sitting in their mothers' laps during most of the time, Elijah felt compelled to crawl around non-stop.

spoon wielder

In honor of All Saints day we had a special dinner: hamloaf (in case you don't know what that is, here's a recipe; we use pork instead of turkey, but otherwise it's identical), mashed potatoes, and home made french rolls (we were missing a vegetable to make it a well rounded meal, but I was too tired after a day of cooking, so we decided potatoes would have to pass for a vegetable this time.) However, what made the meal really special was our first spoon experience with Elijah. He and I picked up some baby bowls at the store during our morning walk, so as soon as he was done with his hamloaf (which he absolutely loved; thanks for the recipe, Doris!), we placed a bowl of mashed potatoes in front of him and handed him a spoon. We thought mashed potatoes would be a good dish for this. Elijah will only eat the things he likes, and he likes mashed potatoes. The spoon was discarded almost immediately, the bowl was turned upside down after just a few seconds (fortunately, the potatoes landed on the tray, and not on the new carpet), after which Elijah proceeded to eat the potatoes with his hands. I would have never in my wildest dreams considered mashed potatoes to be finger food, but whatever works!

the longest nap

Yesterday Elijah and I went to visit some friends on the north side of Chicago. We left the house in the morning, and my plan was to be there by the time Elijah would want to take his first nap, so he could sleep in my arms. We were going to head home shortly after lunch, so he could take his second nap in his crib.

Well, as usual, things didn't go the way I planned. It took a little longer to get up north, and the humming of the engine lulled Elijah to sleep in the car for about 45 minutes (not a good nap). On the way back he once again fell asleep for about 30 minutes and woke up as soon as we got off the highway. Once we came home, I was thinking about keeping him up for a couple hours and then putting him to bed for the night early. But he curled up in my arms, put his thumb in his mouth, and I saw his eyes rolling back, which pretty much means "All I really want to do is be put to bed right now." It is not unusual for him to go down for his second nap as late as 3:30 pm, and still go to bed between 6 and 7. So, without much hesitation, I put him down, and he was asleep within 15 minutes. The time was 3 pm.

When we sat down to dinner around 5 pm, Elijah was still asleep. The dinner was over, the dishes were done, but the boy still slept. Daddy went back to church to work on his sermon, and I did some work at home, and still Elijah slept. When our bed time rolled around, he still hasn't woken up. We checked up on him one more time and turned in for the night.

We found Elijah at 6 am the next morning quietly sitting in his crib. His diaper was so full you'd think he had rocks in there, and he needed a bath pretty badly. But other than that, after 15 hours of continuous sleep, we had one quiet, happy, rested, HUNGRY baby.

All of this happened on the eve of All Saints day, so, needless to say, we did not go trick-or-treating (not like were planning on it anyway). But if someone asked us what Elijah was on his first Halloween, we could say that he was, somewhat literally, a sleeping beauty.

mac & cheese

A couple of days ago Elijah was introduced to the finest of our home cuisine: macaroni and cheese. None of the boxed stuff for us! Only the finest cheddar cheese will ever touch our macaroni. The recipe comes to us from Ryan's paternal grandmother via Ryan's mom. Ryan's mom tells a story of dropping off Ryan and his younger brother at a baby sitter's, and the baby sitter asking what the boys like to eat. "Do they like mac & cheese?" "Oh, yes, they LOVE mac & cheese!" Needless to say, neither Ryan nor his brother wanted anything to do with the mac & cheese that the baby sitter made for them out of the box. The little detail that the boys have ever only had home made macaroni and cheese did not get communicated to the baby sitter :)

We are proud to present to you a new macaroni and cheese snob in the making. The video was taken after he consumed about a ton of this delicious dish, so he may not look very excited about it here. When I tried to take another video the next day earlier during the meal time, my batteries ran out, and by the time they were recharged, there was no mac & cheese left. But even if Elijah may seem to you less than absolutely excited about what he is eating, trust me, he loved it!



P.S. For those of you familiar with this outstanding recipe, in case you are wondering how Elijah handled all the hot stuff we put on it, we made a pepper-less corner just for him.

can you baby a baby?

At Elijah's 9 months check-up, the doctor asked if his pincer grasp was developing. Well, it wasn't. Why? It's simple, he never gets a chance to practice! All food is delivered straight into his mouth in order to minimize the mess we'll have to clean up. Having come home we made a new resolution: cheerios for breakfast from this point on. Three days later the pincer grasp was in place, and two more days later he was able to put them in his mouth.

A few days ago, I gave Elijah a bunch of cheerios for lunch, about ten. The first one went straight into his mouth. While he was chewing it, he placed another one into the cup holder. A few minutes later, about a third of the cheerios were eaten, and the rest securely stored in the cup holder. I pulled them all out, and he proceeded to do the same. Again, when they were all either eaten or put in the cup holder, I pulled them out. The picture below is the third round of this process. (BTW, don't be fooled by the cute innocent look here. The child is as willful as... well, his parents...)


Having been satisfied with the pincer grasp progress, we once again relaxed and continued to work hard on keeping our lives as sterile as we possibly can. But exactly a week ago, we once again became concerned with his development. The new resolution was: finger foods at every meal. Elijah loved it! All that independence! He quickly got the idea that anything placed on the tray is meant to be put in the mouth (unlike things found on the floor, which we are still working on). The first day he happily played with the food he wasn't chewing at the moment, but the next day he immediately stuffed his mouth so full that food was falling out and he couldn't even chew it. That pattern continued for a few days, but he eventually figured it out. Now he seems to prefer finger foods to being spoon-fed.

Seeing how quickly he is catching on, we are wondering if we baby him too much. Perhaps he'd be ready for college by now if we weren't taking away all his opportunities for growth? :) So, we braced ourselves and accepted the fact that life is going to get really messy, and bought a spill mat. As soon as we get a few baby plates, Elijah will be allowed to wield a... SPOON!

crawling and standing

Shortly after the belly crawl video was taken, the hands and knees crawling started to pick up in earnest. He still doesn't venture very far, but he is definitely aware that crawling this way is easier when you have to get over a bunch of scattered toys on the way for more in the toy basket. His belly crawl still comes in when he makes a mad dash for the shoes (everything is relative, of course; the mad dash doesn't get him very far - Ryan and I are still faster :))

He's also pulled himself up to standing a couple of times. Both times it was an "accident." But, just like it happened with sitting up, he will soon be standing up all over the place. He's been working hard on it a half an hour ago in his crib, although he was supposed to be working on falling asleep.

P.S. Check out the awesome stackable train he has! It is marked "2+", but since he pretty much mastered the rings (marked 18 months and older), we thought it was time for a new challenge.

primary colors

Apparently, Elijah shares his mother's love for primary colors: blue pants, red sweatshirt and a yellow vest. This is as primary as it gets!

WANTED: a brain

Some time during my pregnancy I misplaced my brain somewhere at our old apartment. I am not sure if we took it with us when we moved, or if it stayed hidden somewhere there.

A couple of days ago Ryan went to spend a day and a night at a monastery. As is our custom, Elijah and I went for a walk after lunch. Whenever we leave the house, I always check to make sure I have my keys, even if it's just to check the mail and the door is not locked. Sometime in the morning of that day I checked my pockets, and the keys weren't there. They must be in the key box by the door, I thought. However, when I checked the key box later, they weren't there either. Oh, they must be in my pockets, I decided. With that, we left the house. Needless to say, when we came home close to Elijah's nap time, the keys were not in my pockets. Fortunately, we have several neighbors who go to our church and are retired, so they are always home. One of them let us in while we waited for the apartment building manager to come and unlock the door. The time was about 2:30 pm. We left four messages on his cell phone, but as of 5:00 pm he still hasn't called back. I finally contacted the monastery, they found Ryan and we decided he is going to have to come home. Sure enough, shortly after we hung up, the building manager called. As it turned out, he had an emergency of his own (a friend had to be taken to the hospital), and was just then on his way home. He made it here before Ryan did about 6:30 pm. That wasn't how I planned to spend my day, but our 81 year old neighbor, who never gets out, thoroughly enjoyed having a little baby crawl around her house and take a nap on her bed while she and I swapped stories and watched game shows on TV. One of these days we might have to grab some cookies and head over for another visit.

baby shoes

I don't know what's wrong, but for the life of me, I cannot seem to be able to put shoes on Elijah. I could probably create virtual shoes for someone to wear in Second Life without much problem, but when it comes to a real baby, I must be out of my league. No matter what I do, the shoes never get on quite right. And Elijah seems to hate the process. To avoid lacing, (and since he doesn't walk yet,) we bought him a pair of booties on eBay, thinking it will make it easier to put on. Not so! The heals never make it all the way to the bottom of the shoe. The other day we came home from a walk only to discover that one of the boots fell off. We had to retrace our steps all the way to where we came from before we found the missing shoe. So, if anyone out there knows a trick of how to put shoes on a baby, I could sure use some help!

belly crawl

We've been trying to encourage Elijah to crawl for months now. Daddy has been known to construct eleborate structures from Elijah's toys in hopes that Elijah would want to crawl towards them, but to know avail. Even live demos by Daddy didn't inspire Elijah a bit. Every time it looked like he was making a little progress, we made unrealistic predictions like, "I bet he'll crawl in a week", or "I am telling you, he'll crawl by the end of the month". But weeks went by, and so did the months, and Elijah was still happily sitting wherever we'd put him. He did eventually discover that rolling was more fun than sitting as it got him places, but he was still not in a hurry to crawl. Is he lazy, we wondered? We finally concluded that he was just content. Content to be where he was, not "coveting" the toy that was out of reach. That's not a bad quality, is it? And I truly enjoyed being able to just sat him down and read a book for a few minutes.

But as time went on, Elijah (at about 23 lbs now), finally had enough strength to pull himself up on his hands and knees. He now stands up and tries to figure out how exactly one can get around in that position. However, if he needs something fast, he drops the whole "hands and knees" things, plops on his stomach, and...



Yet the quality of contentment can be seen even now. That blue lid from a jar of blocks is pretty much the only thing that he wants bad enough that he would belly crawl towards over a larger distance. (Let me correct myself: it's the only thing of the ones he is allowed to play with; he will crawl large distances towards things he can't have, like our shoes, and we strongly discourage sucking on those.) Everything else is old news, and he'll go to get other things only if they are within a couple crawling movements. Otherwise he'll just play with whatever is near him.

practice makes perfect

We've recently discovered that Elijah figured out how to put his large plastic rings onto a large plastic post where they belong. To make things a little more challenging, we pulled out a set of wooden rings, thinking that he will work on them for a while before he figures it out. Not so! It only took a few days, and now it's more of a thing to do rather than a challenge. Here's a video from a couple of days ago when the wooden post just wasn't cooperating.



This one was taken a couple minutes later. Note how he looks up in expectation of praise :) The audio delay is a little annoying, but bear with it.

of car rides and front seats

Elijah likes car rides. Unless he is too tired. Or unless he dropped his toy and can't reach it. But even then, he is usually quite content to just sit there and think his deep thoughts. Especially now that his car seat has been turned around and he is facing forward. There was some confusion about the specifications of our car seat, so we waited way longer than we needed to to turn him around.

Another change came along with the new car seat orientation. After visiting our friends Peter and Tina the other day (who are also Elijah's God parents and our former neighbors), we were getting in the car and I decided that now that Elijah is facing forward, there's no need for me to sit next to him in the back seat. So I got in the front passenger seat, and realized that the last time I sat in that seat was over ten months ago, on a cold December night (a Saturday night), when we pulled out from this very location on our way to Swedish Covenant Hospital because I was in labor.

10 months old

Here's Elijah's 10 months old picture. He was too wiggly when we were trying to take the picture, so most of them turned out very blurry. This is the best we've got.

baby toothbrush

Ever since Elijah was a tiny baby of just a few weeks old, one of his favorite things has been to watch us brush our teeth. It fascinated him and made him smile. Now he has a toothbrush of his own and, as you can see, he is all over it. That's how good habits of dental hygiene start! At my last dentist appointment I was told that as a baby chews on a toothbrush, his teeth get cleaned, and that will do the trick until he is old enough to use toothpaste. Thus, a baby toothbrush has replaced the rubber ducky as a bath time toy. (We need a toy for pretty much every activity these days, from meal time, so he is occupied and doesn't scream because he is too bored, to diaper changing, so he keeps his hands out of his poop.)

Last night the toothbrush was too new, so he mostly kept it in his mouth (see picture). Tonight, however, he attempted to clean a wall and a window sill with it. Is he trying to make a statement about the condition of our apartment? :)

Did I mention he has five teeth? He's had them for a couple months now. We are waiting for the next batch, but his other teeth don't seem to be in any hurry to come out.

he sat up!

While talking to my mother on the phone today, I was kind of staring at Elijah. Not really watching what he was doing, but just looking at him, while my mind was on my conversation. All of a sudden, I realized what was happening. Elijah rolled over on his tummy (he's been rolling around all over the living room in the last couple of weeks), pulled up his knees under his belly, lowered his butt on the one side, and then pushed himself up to sitting with his arms. I couldn't believe it! He then did it again when Ryan came home for lunch.

amen

Meal time prayer:

Mommy: "Give us grateful hearts, our Father, for all your mercies, and make us mindful of the needs of others. Amen."
Daddy: "Amen."
Baby: "Uhm-nya."

The first time it happened, we thought, "What a cute coincidence, the timing, and the sound." The second time it happened, we just looked at each other. But the third time it was pretty clear that Elijah was trying to repeat the word after us. Each time we pray before a meal, he stops doing whatever he is doing, and watches us rather intently. He is obviously recognizing that there's a pattern, and that it always ends with the same word. Should we, perhaps, consider "amen" to be his first word?

legacy

A couple weekends ago we traveled to WA for a family wedding, and Elijah had a chance to meet his great-grandparents on Ryan's side (all the great-grandparents on my side are no longer living).

Great-grandparents Ferguson

Great-grandparents Lindley

Four generations

Just a dressed up baby

say cheese

After feeding Elijah Gerber foods, I decided it was time to make my own. Four dollars bought a TON of veggies at the local Farmer's Market. Armed with some boiling water and a newly purchased 14-cup Cuisinart food processor I set to work. First I made carrots, then butternut squash, then broccoli. But my enthusiasm was short lived. Elijah ate my carrots mixed with applesauce once, but that was it. He emphatically closes his mouth and will not open it (even in the face of suffocating - he has a stuffed nose) neither for carrots, nor squash, nor broccoli. I can understand broccoli - it's kind of bland and Gerber doesn't make it. But carrots and squash are familiar tastes, and I take it personally that he will eat Gerber's but will not eat mine! I may not be an accomplished chef, but I can mash carrots and mix them with water just fine! I am hoping that his lack of interest is at least partially explained by the fact that he is sick and hasn't been feeling particularly hungry lately. However, not all is lost! Elijah did eat my mashed potatoes and pears!

When he is not sick, meal times start with meat or veggies, since these are things he will eat when hungry, but may refuse once a little full. Then comes a little fruit. He only accepts pears. Applesauce, bananas and prunes are out of the question. Finally, when he can't eat any more pears, we bring out yogurt. He loves yogurt! One container of yogurt later, he is pretty much done. Unless... we bring out cheese. There's always space for cheese. And when he refuses cheese, we know he is really really really done. Medium cheddar is his favorite for now, but this is probably because it's also Daddy's favorite, and thus the one that is offered to Elijah most often.

nine months + 48 hours old

The recent posts are a little out of order, but I guess that's how it goes. Here's Elijah's official nine months old picture. We were traveling on the day he turned 9 months, and then we forgot to take a picture the next day, so this one is dated Sep. 13th, but it's close enough.

nine months checkup

Weight: 22 lb 10 oz
Length: 29 inches

No wonder my back and arms hurt from carrying this kid around!

good bye, bumper

Sad day. Elijah is getting bigger, and his crib mattress had to be lowered today. We don't want him to fall out of his crib, so we are taking measures before he figures out how to pull himself up to standing. But that means that his crib bumper had to come off. There's no good way to attach it any more. Such a bummer. Elijah loved his bumper. He would lay there and talk to it and play with the ties. He was always happy to be put in his crib, because the bumper was always there. It was his best night/nap time friend. Sometimes after a nap we'd find him peeking out from under it taking in the world (well, his bedroom). Yet tonight he had to go to bed with the bumper gone. I was concerned he would realize something was different and cry, but he was too tired after a day at a zoo and went right to sleep.

My little baby is growing up! Oh, no! ;o)

cookie monster

When Ryan was little, he had a Cookie Monster. Now Elijah (like father, like son) has one too! Once in a while the cookie monster comes alive in Daddy's hands.

touch and feel

Last time we tried to read a book, Elijah was mostly interested in sucking on it. But times have changed! He is now able to somewhat concentrate on what's on the actual pages, although he still makes attempts to explore the book with his mouth. Yet he has discovered a new tool for exploration as well - his index finger! And it works perfectly for Touch and Feel books. His favorite page is in the Pets book - a cat. He loves to pull on the cat's whiskers (pieces of fishing line).

It's fun to see him recognize distinct shapes on a page. In another book we have (Who Lives In The Pond) he likes to point at small pink things (a snail and a salamander). They are marginal unimportant characters in the book, but each time we turn a page that has one of them on it, his tries to scrape it off with his index finger.

eight months old

We celebrated Elijah's eighth month birthday by heading to our favorite park (it also happens to be the one within walking distance, which makes it our park of choice in the absence of a car). Once again, the day was beautiful, the park mostly quiet (at least when we arrived), the swing empty. We had a picnic lunch right there, although Elijah was more interested in watching other kids (who filled the play ground by lunch time) swing, than eat. So most of the food ended up on his face.

In the evening, when Daddy came home, we took our official picture. Here it is.

dessert

Eating solids has been an adventure for us. After Elijah's initial love of rice cereal and bananas, we offered him peaches. He made the funniest faces and we about died laughing, but the sad result was that he refused to take solids for at least two months after that. He would make a face when he'd just see the spoon, long before anything reached his mouth. Finally, a couple weeks ago, we had a fresh start. This time we offered vegetables, and he fell in love with them! We usually start him with a container of sweet potatoes, squash or green beans each night for dinner, after which we offer bananas or apple sauce for "dessert". The veggies go down pretty well, but he would let us know he is done after just a few spoons of fruit. (When he thinks it's more fun to blow food out through pursed lips than to swallow it, we know he is done!) We thought that perhaps he was too full by that time, until one day we gave him fruit first. He ate a couple spoonfuls and was done. That didn't seem right, as he usually eats at least one container. We then offered some veggies, and he ate them up! From now on, vegetables are served for dessert! The only thing he still can't make friends with are green peas.

This is a video of Elijah eating peaches on June 15th, 2006.

life is beautiful

Life with a young baby can be challenging at times. It's not always a walk in a park, but today it was :)

My plan was to have Elijah sit in his stroller at a nearby playground and watch bigger kids play while I read The Economist. But no one else was at the park. Well, almost nobody. There was a dad with a girl of what looked like about 5 years old, plus a couple people (looked like a grandfather with a granddaughter) played tennis a little way off. They were pretty bad, but didn't care a bit and apparently thoroughly enjoyed themselves. Good for them!

Having nothing for Elijah to look at, I had to take it upon myself to entertain him. He spent a little time in a swing, rode a small iron horse, walked a little, and then decided he was tired. I held him in my arms and paced back and forth for a while. It was a beautiful day. A sunny blue sky, a cool breeze, a quiet park, green trees, a squeaky swing, tiny shoes, small steps, a precious little baby boy with blue eyes, a content mother. What else does one need?* Life is beautiful.

The peace was so overwhelming that I couldn't help but hum a little to myself (I indulge myself in singing once in a while, but only when no one can hear, as I really can't carry a tune in a paper bag):

If you want to live life free,
Take your time, go slowly.
Do few things, but do them well.
Little joys are holy.

*All right, one also needs a job, a place to live, something to eat and to wear, and preferably health insurance. But other than that?

tooth #2

We discovered tooth #2 yesterday. We knew it was coming a couple days ago, but could feel its sharpness with our fingers yesterday. It's one of the top front teeth (his right side). While Ryan was trying to feel it again today, Elijah dug his bottom one into Ryan's finger. Ouch!

music lover

One of Elijah's favorite music pieces is Benedictine chant. It's a two volume album. We keep one disk in the car, so that when he gets restless, we just turn it on and Elijah freezes right away, listening. The other CD is kept at home, for all of our listening pleasure.

tooth #1

Yes, we have our first tooth! I could feel it yesterday when Elijah was sucking (or, rather, biting) on my knuckle, but he didn't let me look closely. Today, however, we were able to look and see a tiny little white line in the middle of his lower gum. Razor sharp!

a walk that never happened

Living among boxes for three plus weeks has been a challenge. One of the results is that some things I planned never happened. For example, early in our life at the new apartment Elijah and I were hoping to go on a walk. It used to be that a walk was a matter of tying my shoes and getting out the door. Not any more. Now we need a stroller, a diaper bag, a bottle of water for me, a toy for the baby, a hat for each of us, and the list goes on. Finding all of this among a stack of boxes triples the effort involved. It took me at least thirty minutes to get everything ready, but for the life of me I could not find Elijah's hat! I did, however, find my bandana. When we finally got outside, I couldn't open the stroller with just one hand (something came off while it was being transported from the old apartment), and Elijah screamed in my ear while I was holding him with my other arm. The walk had to be called off, but I figured I'd at least take a picture.

sitting up

I promised a picture of Elijah sitting up a few weeks ago. Here it is. It's still in the old apartment. Elijah learned to sit on the bed as pictured (he practiced with Daddy every morning for a while). He also learned that falling down from sitting position is fun and soft. He still throws himself back with reckless abandon when sitting on the floor. To minimize brain damage, I usually surround him with pillows for now :)

sleepy feet

I am not sure if feet can be sleepy. I know eyes can, but feet? In any case, here's proof that I sneak into my child's bedroom when he is asleep and take pictures of his feet. It may seem a little weird, but I can't help myself. I just find it too precious to go unphotographed.

seven months old

Here we go, Elijah's seven months old picture. Note the presence of hair! It may be short, but it is unmistakably there! :)

hats off!

Elijah figured out how to take off his hat. It took him a few days to perfect his technique, but he is now quite good at it. He is usually supposed to wear a hat when we go outside on walks, but it appears that he came to a conclusion that hats are overrated, and likes to take his off and throw it overboard. After that the events usually unfold as follows: we run the hat over with the stroller, go for a while without it, then I notice the hat is missing, and we spend the next several minutes retracing our steps looking for the hat. Once the hat is found, it goes back on Elijah's head, and everything starts over.

fourteen days without the internet

We moved to a new apartment! Whether the move was successful or not is a matter of oppinion, but the fact is that all three of us are now reasonably settled in our new home.

It took Elijah a couple of weeks to get used to his new bedroom separate from his parents. The poor child had a rough first night, and perhaps that set the tone for the next two weeks. We didn't make it in on our first day till after 10 pm, which means he was woken up several times after his usual bed time (to get into the car and then to get out of it - he is such a light sleeper sometimes). Once in the new apartment, it took several attempts to put him back to sleep. One of them was a brilliant idea to put him on the floor on his mattrass. He, of course, rolled off of it unto the floor minutes after we left him there sound asleep.

I had all kinds of plans for finding parks, mothers' groups and things to do with babies in the area. Turns out, you (or at least I) can't do much without the internet. I couldn't buy books I wanted, couldn't look up stores near by, or do much of anything for fourteen days! The theme song for me during those two weeks became this (think "internet" where it says "you"):

I can't stop thinking about you,
I can't imagine living without you!

milk carton

Every morning we have breakfast as a family. Elijah, actually, eats first. It's easier that way :) Once he is done, Ryan and I sit down to a bowl of oatmeal with raisins and some milk. Since Elijah is usually very calm and rested in the morning, he quietly plays with whatever toy we give him until we are done and ready to start the day.

Not so during dinner. He is at the end of his day and the end of his rope. He demands attention. No toy satisfies him. Then one day we stumbled upon an ... empty Organic Valley milk carton. I guess it doesn't really matter that it was Organic Valley milk, but the milk is good, so why not mention the brand? Elijah usually wants to get a hold of whatever is on the table, and that time it was the milk carton. A milk carton is not a knife, not a fork, nor Daddy's tea, nor Mommy's Russian salami, so we didn't really mind him playing with it. And what a find it was! It's big enough to keep Elijah's attention, hard enough to grab to keep it challenging, and parts of it are easy to suck on. Best of all, he loves it! We've had a number of peaceful dinners since.

koala kare bear

Turns out, Elijah only likes his changing table, and he is not fooled when he has to be changed on one of those Koala Kare Bear changing stations in public restrooms. We learned it the hard way.

Since we are moving to a new apartment (and what now feels like a new life) early July, we have been making it a point to spend some time with friends living on the north side of Chicago (we are moving to the south side). Tonight we went to Chipotle with my co-worker Bob. While en route, Elijah was making sounds of what seemed like hard straining. We had a guess of what he was doing, and we were right. It wasn't just the diaper, it was his clothes and the car seat that got dirty as well. Chipotle, to my surprise, did not have a changing station, so I had to take Elijah to a Corner Bakery next door.

This was our very first time changing the diaper in a public restroom. The moment I laid him down, he started screaming so loud, I was afraid people were going to come to check out what was going on. My (what I considered to be) comforting whispers had no effect, and I was a little too self-conscious to sing him my Russian cartoon songs. I ended up having to hold the naked screaming child with one arm and clean him with my free hand, all the way hoping he wouldn't pee on me. After all, I still hadn't had dinner at that point. I also learned that those changing station aren't big enough to lay the dirty diaper and wipes out of baby's reach. The thought of other people's diapers getting turned over by their baby's kicking was enough to give Elijah a soap bath.

My dinner, but the way, was delicious. Thanks Bob!

six months checkup

Weight: 19 lb 12 oz
Height: 26.5 inches (according to the doctor's records, Elijah only grew 0.5 inches in the last time, but we all agreed that there's a good chance one of the previous measurements was off).
Head circumference: can't remember (those mind-erasing pregnancy hormones are not all gone yet :-))

We can't wait till Elijah is over 20 lbs, so that we can legally turn his car seat and face it forward. The poor kid doesn't fit in it any more facing backwards. His legs are bent and his feed are pushing against the back seat.

He's been sleeping and eating like crazy in the last couple of days, so we are guessing he is growing. At this rate he'll probably hit 20 lbs before the week is over!

Elijah's first "bonk"

I knew it was going to happen sooner or later. My little baby was going to get hurt one way or another. And so he did. He was practicing sitting on the floor (he is getting quite good at it) and was doing so well. I was right there watching him like a hawk, making sure I'd catch him if he lost his balance. But he didn't need my help. He was busy chewing and shaking his toys. Then, for a few short seconds, I looked away to answer Ryan. The next thing I saw was Elijah's head heading for the floor, and then "bonk!" and a scream. Oh, no! My child will be brain damaged for life!

He cried for less than 2 minutes, and was once again a happy baby sucking his thumb. And it looks like he is going to be just fine.

P.S. Come to think of it, this wasn't the first time he was hurt. A few weeks ago he got pinched by a high chair buckle.

official picture

Help us choose the official six months old picture. Which one should it be: the tongue or the smile? Cast your vote by leaving a comment!

six months old

Elijah turned 6 months today! To celebrate the event, North Park Covenant Church threw a block party complete with food, games, and other attractions! (OK, the party was planned independently of Elijah's big day and just happened to be today, so what?) We spent almost three hours outside - the longest he's ever been outside in one stretch. The activity all around kept our curious boy awake for a while, but he finally crashed in his new backpack carrier (thanks Jim and Norma!)

He also learned how to sit by himself in the last few days with a lot of help from Daddy and hours of practice. He is not always entirely stable yet, but he's getting there. I'll try to post a picture when I get one. Stay tuned!

watch your watch

If you have a watch, you'd better watch it. Elijah loves watches. If he sees one on your wrist, he will work hard to get it, because he just absolutely must have it! It doesn't matter if it's a fancy watch or not, expensive or cheap, as long as it's within reach.

not embearrassed (or is he?)

wilson

Elijah's new favorite (competing with his keys) is a toy that's good for many things: it makes noise, it has a convenient holding handle, it has a face to look at, and "hair" to suck on. We call it Wilson, after Tom Hanks' island companion from the movie Castaway. Tom Hanks' Wilson started as the first image, and ended up as the second. Elijah's Wilson is starting out as shown on the picture. We'll see what it ends up like ;)

a moving toy

One of Elijah's outfits has feet that look like a ducky's head, complete with yellow fuzzies, blue eyes, and a red beak (click on the picture to get a better view). Each time he wears it, his attention is caught by these two bright moving objects, and he is very curious about what those things are. He reaches for them and tries to grab them with his hand. However, the two duckies are very devious. They keep moving, which makes it hard to grab them. This can get very frustrating, especially if you are five months old and absolutely must have the thing you want, yet lack the hand-eye coordination to make it happen.

two boys

A (former) co-worker came to the office the other day to say good-bye and to show off her four months old baby boy Calvin. He was born just 6 weeks after Elijah. Taking the opportunity, Elijah visited Mommy's work as well, and made a debut at the IS department. The last time the two boys were in such close proximity of each other was back in November before either of them was born. As you can see on the picture, Calvin has by far more hair, and his fingers seem to be a preferred snack.

Who knows, in 18 years Calvin and Elijah might end up as roommates at North Park, but they both have a lot of ground to cover before that (minor things like sitting, walking and talking would be good).

he rolled over!

Well, he sort of rolled over. Ryan put him down on his back. Next time he looked Elijah was playing on his side, as he has been doing for a while. The next time Ryan looked, Elijah was playing on his tummy. We think it was more of an accident rather than a purposeful "I want to be on my tummy so I am going to roll over now" kind of thing. He probably wanted to look at something, arched his back, and ended up on his tummy. He has previously rolled over from his tummy onto his back, but that really was an accident, as he just lost his balance and then looked very surprised to find himself flipping on his back. That was a while ago when grandma from Russia was visiting us. Yet, the fact remains. Today is the official first roll-over day.

a gift from grandma

Before leaving for Russia, Grandma left Elijah a monetary gift to be spent on a walker. After researching what's available on the market, we decided that we are not going to pay a fortune for cheap plastic junk which didn't do what we wanted anyway. Instead, we invested into a "wrap" pictured here. We could've bought a brand name one, or went on eBay and bought a used one for half the price. Instead, we went to Ten Thousand Villages in hopes to buy a good piece of cloth for cheap, and ended up spending way too much money on five yards of very good quality material (again, see picture).

This should now enable us to carry Elijah while cooking without risking to burn him. Even though riding on Daddy's back doesn't keep him happy forever (especially not in the evening when he is at the end of his rope), it does a much better job than the high chair (or even the changing table - sorry Cherith, but the metaphysical connection you were claiming is starting to wear off :-))

five months old

Here it is, the official five months old picture.

love of tables

Lying on your back or sitting in a high chair, or even being on the changing table, is not nearly as much fun as standing at a coffee table or sitting on Mom or Dad's lap at the kitchen table. That's what Elijah is up to these days. He wants to stand as much as possible, and if he can be near a table, all the better. Just think, who whouldn't want that? It's so much fun to bang on the table with your arms (we wonder if it ever hurts), to grab and pull placemats, or just sit around like a big boy.

what is your mouth good for?

As it turns out, there are plenty of fun things you can do with your mouth. For example, you can tighten your lips a little, open your mouth just a bit, and blow through the lips. You can vocalize or not, depending on the mood. This is especially fun if you have some rice cereal in your mouth. If the consistency is right, i.e. your parents didn't make it too thick again, but nice and soupy, you can achieve a great spraying effect! You can also get your parents to say your name in unison, "Elijah!", when you do that.

Another fun thing you can do is pull your lower lip in between your gums. Then you can suck on it if you want. It's not as good as a burpcloth or Daddy's t-shirt, but it will do in a pinch. If you get tired sucking your lower lip, you can always switch to your fingers. The great thing about sucking your fingers is that there are a lot of combinations, so you never get bored.

You can also stick your tongue out of your mouth. You can do it a little bit or a lot, and you can keep your tongue flat or like a little sausage. This is best done when your Dad is holding you facing him and also sticks out his tongue. Then you can both sit there with your tongues out for a while, staring at each other.

When you nurse, or rather when you are almost done, you can firmly squeeze your gums and then pull your head back without letting go. If you do that, however, you risk loosing your nursing privileges till the next feeding. After you are really done nursing, it's fun to smack your lips for a while.

After a long day of exploring what all you can do with your mouth, you can curl up in your Mom's arms in a semi dark bedroom, and fall asleep after your last meal of the day. Then you can smile in your sleep, and your mother will think that you are the most precious thing ever. She will then put you in your crib, and spend the rest of the evening blogging about you.

who is in the mirror?

Before giving Elijah a bath, we put him in front of a bathroom mirror for a minute or two. He first looks everywhere but in the mirror: the floor, the ceiling, the shower curtain, Daddy, the mirror frame. Then, finally, he notices people in the mirror, and ultimately himself. Once his real eyes meet the eyes of his reflection, he smiles and squeals with delight! It makes his parents crack up :) I wonder if he realizes who is in the mirror (I doubt it), or if he thinks there's another person his size in the house. I also wonder if this is how the love of self begins :)

a trying day

Daddy had a difficult day yesterday. To put it in literary terms:
Mr Hyde (Elijah awake) – loud, squirmy, cranky, and manifestly unhelpful in attaining the quiet zen day full of opportunities for restful reflection that Daddy wanted.
Dr Jekyll (Elijah asleep) – a cute little sleeping cherub around 7 p.m. Zen still elusive.

To our wonder and amazement, the new day revealed a new leap in his development. He (once again) seemed bigger, and passed his keys from one hand to another while lying on the bed this morning like it was no big deal! (It's not, but we're so easily amused: we often pass keys from one hand to the other in front of each other for hours on end; never a dull moment!)

This post is the product of an iterative editorial process. Thanks Marvin.

rice cereal

After we fed Elijah a jar of baby bananas (which I consider not worth the money - mashing an organic banana with a fork will do just fine from now on), I decided to do some research online (better late than never). Turns out, it is recommended you feed your child rice cereal for a while before introducing fruits and vegetables. Who would have thought! While I don't think it's that big of a deal, Elijah will be eating rice cereal for a little bit. We mix it with yummy Mommy's milk that has been sitting in the freezer for a few months for just such an occasion. It's perfect! It's not good enough to be eaten by itself as it won't fill him up (turns out the makeup of the milk changes as the baby grows, becoming more filling for them), but it's great to be mixed with cereal for a little (or a large) afternoon snack!

apple sauce and bananas

That's right, we started Elijah on solid foods. We are not really trying to get more food into him, it was just an experiment to see what he'd do. Books say it's good to start slow, give the baby a spoonful or two just to get him used to different textures. We thought we'd get him used to various tastes now before he actually needs them, so that when he is ready for larger quantities it would be an easier transition. We gave him a little bit of apple sauce from our own big jar (not baby food) a couple days ago. He didn't seem to mind it very much. Yesterday he ate some baby food bananas, and seemed to like it. The jar said to refrigerate it after opening for two to three days. I made a mental note to throw out whatever is left on Sunday night.

This evening we pulled the jar of bananas out and sat Elijah in his high chair. He appeared to want the food. A spoonful after spoonful went into his mouth, and he kept opening his mouth. Just yesterday it looked like he wasn't quite connecting opening his mouth with food ending up on his tongue, but today he knew what he needed to do. After half the jar was gone, I told Ryan that I thought babies were only going to take a spoonful or two at first. Ryan's reply was, "That was yesterday!" Today our boy is ready to eat it all! He probably would have if we let him. I don't expect there to be anything left for me to throw out on Sunday night.

When we were feeding Elijah bananas tonight, he started to lean over to his side. We would try to pull him up, and he would lean over again, so that his head would touch the arm rest of his chair. It was so cute and so funny! It's like he is used to eating lying on his side, and he just couldn't fathom doing it any other way. I grabbed the camera to take a picture, but (Murphy's law) the battery was out juice. By the time I put in new batteries, Ryan had the child already straightened out. However, here's another video that was taken a day or two earlier.

tradition

A tradition was born after I took a particularly good picture of Elijah over Daddy's sholder on his first month birthday. Here are the first four months worth of birthday pictures. The plan is to take a picture like this every month till he turns a year, and then once a year on his birthday for as long as he doesn't mind.

tipping the scales - again

Four months checkup:
Weight - almost 18 lbs,
Height - 26 inches,
95th percentile.

grandma from russia

A grandma from Russia came to visit Elijah for a couple of weeks, and what a blast we had! Grandma (locally known as babulya - a diminutive for a well known Russian word babushka) was thrilled to spend time with her first grandson, who seemed a little overwhelmed by her presence the very first night, but quickly adapted and loved every minute of interaction afterwards.

Elijah and Babulya went on walks, sang songs, had tea at the kitchen table, enjoyed tummy time, watched passing cars out of the window, and just plain hung out together.






We miss grandma now that she's gone back to St. Petersburg.

baptism

Elijah was baptized on Easter Sunday, April 17th, 2006, following an ancient Christian tradition. He was baptized at North Park Covenant Church by pastor Paul Corner (one of Ryan's former classmates). Peter and Tina Norland (our neighbors and friends) became Elijah's God parents. Elijah was sick that day, so Mommy had to take him home for a nap immediately after the baptism ceremony was over. She didn't get to listen to the sermon nor join the hallelujah chorus at the end (probably for the best ;) )

he is reaching!

Elijah turned four months on April 11, and things started happening fast! It's like he turned a corner or something. All of a sudden he seems more like a person, he studies faces with great attention, he doesn't get upset as much when we put him on his tummy, and he is reaching out and grabbing things! Every day it seems like more and more lights are turning on in his little head. OK, he's been grabbing things before (my hair for example), but it was always things that happened to be under his hand. Now (in the last two days) he purposefully reaches out and grabs little toys that we hang over him. He has a Mr. Giraffe and a Mr. Lion. We have a feeling that neither of them will keep their legs for very long :-).

Sometimes we give him a toy to hold, and he sticks out his arm and stares at it. We think he doesn't realize that the toy is not a part of his arm, but he does know that something is different.

a morning exchange

"Elijah, how did you sleep?"
"Goo!"

discovering arms and hands

For a few days Elijah was quite fascinated with his left arm. He would stick out his straight arm forward, fist clenched and bent forward, and just stare at it for a while. Now he is into holding his hands together, preferably close to his mouth, ideally in his mouth :-) He tries to stick them both in, but a baby's mouth is a little too small to accommodate two fists, although at one point he almost succeeded in getting one fist all the way in.

thumb

Elijah has found his thumb! He used to suck on his fist, or his wrist, or whatever part of his hand happened to be closest to his mouth, but now he sticks his thumb in his mouth. Here's a picture to prove it!

favorite place

Of all places in our apratment Elijah by far prefers the changing table. We are not sure what he likes about it. We can have the crankiest child on our hands, but the moment we put him on the changing table, he starts smiling and laughing! The changing table is our best baby sitter ever!