birthday party (2 yrs old)

Elijah's official birthday party (theme: doggies) took place on Friday afternoon right after his nap. (It took an hour and a half to convince him to take a nap that day, and, fortunately for us all, he did, albeit a short one.) It was a small gathering: the two grandparents, aunt Chelsea, the three MI Tolls and the two parents. Oh, yes, we can't forget Allie the dog, especially since she too wore a party hat. Elijah, by the way, didn't care much for his, so we took it off as soon as the candle was blown out (by Daddy). But I am getting ahead of myself. It all started with opening the gifts.

One of the first gifts opened was a pair of Curious George slippers. Perhaps we should have waited to open that present, because from that point on we had a hard time keeping Elijah focused on the task at hand. He'd pull off a strip of paper, then turn around to hold his new slippers and make a monkey sound. We'd get his attention again, only to lose it once more to the slippers 10 seconds later. Finally we hid the slippers behind aunt Chelsea and got back to opening the rest of the presents. However, shortly afterwards he opened a stuffed puppy, and that proved as distracting, if not more, than the monkey slippers. There we were back to 10 second attention span periods punctuated by excited "Goggie!" exclamations and love expressing hugs (see below). The situation was exacerbated when Elijah opened a second identical stuffed puppy. Double joy! Double love! Double distraction.

It took us half an hour to open the presents. For the record, in addition to items mentioned above, Elijah's loot from the party included: a magic drawing board, Wedgits (played with mostly by Mom and Dad so far), Toysie Snappers, a couple books (a musical book and Spot's Magical Christmas), two CD's by Gemini, and a couple coloring books. I think I remembered it all.

Predictably, a doggie themed party had to include hot dogs for dinner, and hot dogs go well with fries. A Russian beet salad is an excellent, although not traditional, complement to them both. In honor of the occasion I baked a cake (my first one ever!) using a Jello Cake recipe. I am pleased to report that it turned out rather well, although Elijah refused to even try it. I don't take it personally. He refuses everything and anything that even remotely looks like bread.

Well, that's about it. Perhaps those who were present at the event can share their own accounts in the comments section. :)

french fries and ketchup

Elijah likes french fries (who doesn't?), but have recently discovered that he likes them with ketchup, too. Or, should I say, he likes ketchup.

Ryan, aunt Chelsea, Elijah and I went out to eat a couple of days ago. After Elijah ate his chicken and vegetables, we let him have his fries. He happily ate them for a few minutes before he noticed a small cup of ketchup sitting right there on the plate. He took his fork, dipped it into the ketchup, and tasted it. We didn't want him to eat the ketchup straight, so Daddy showed him how to dip fries into it. Elijah took to it right away. He'd dip the fry into the cup with ketchup, and then slowly and carefully suck the ketchup off of it. Then dip the same fry again. Suck the ketchup off. And again, over and over, the same fry, until it was soggy like a wet noodle, at which point we'd give him another fry and continue trying to teach him to bite the dipped end off. But our efforts didn't amount to much.

colors

Elijah knows his colors. We think he has known them for a long time, but couldn't say the names. It makes me wonder what else he knows but can't say yet. Anyway, here are the colors in Elijah-ese:

green - ghee (his favorite color)
blue - bhue
red - e ("red" minus the "r" and the "d")
yellow - ee-oo (once again, "yellow" minus the consonants)

second birthday

Elijah turned TWO on December 11th!

We started the day with a delicious Eggo waffle, followed by the first round of opening birthday presents, which included a toy telephone and a new outfit from Grandma and Grandpa Ferguson. Then we played together till lunch. While Elijah was napping, another set of presents, this time from Grandma Shannon, arrived at the door: cars, a spider man, blocks and more outfits. Of course, Elijah wanted to play with them all as soon as he got up. He knew what cars were and what to do with them, but he wasn't so sure about the spider man. The blocks looked neat, but when it came right down to it he didn't quite know how to build with them. But he happily set on my lap while I played. :) Afterwards, he selected several color cylinders from the set and carried them around for a while.

Later in the day we read his favorite book for a very long time, and practiced sounds for geese, donkeys and sheep (these are the animals in the baby-Jesus-in-the-manger picture). Exciting though it was to learn the goose and the donkey sounds, nothing compared with the joy on his face when he saw pictures of puppy dogs (see bottom left picture above where Ryan captured him in the middle of saying "goggie!")

After dinner Elijah took a long celebratory bath, and he got to open one more present before bed, this time from Mommy and Daddy: doggie pajamas (oh, the bliss!) Life could hardly get any better, and yet the official birthday party was still coming a few days later. But that will have to be a separate post.


P.S. I should mention one other birthday present that had to be given to Elijah about two weeks early because he accidentally saw it and wanted it immediately. It was a baby MP3 player (the only one of the kind I was able to find) sponsored by his Russian grandparents.

kid in a basket

Just chilling.

What is Christmas?

Elijah's favorite book of the season is, appropriately, a Christmas one, called What Is Christmas? He received it from Grandma Shannon last Christmas, but hasn't really gotten into it until now. He wants it read to him over and over and over and over (and over). I've been known to ready the book more than 10 times straight in one sitting (and then suppress an urge to destroy the book :)). We are not sure what attracts him so much, but our bet is that it's a picture of a puppy on every other page.

cookies

We held out from giving Elijah cookies for almost two years, but how can you resist the temptation to give your child a homemade oatmeal raisin cookie? Naturally, we gave in. Needless to say, he loved it. Mmmmmm, cookies and milk! He liked it so much that he said the word right away, "Cookie!" and asked for another one. (That is probably the only word he says that's absolutely right; "goggie", meaning "doggie", is a close second.) We said later.

We kept our word and offered another cookie the next day. He got all excited, but didn't finish it. Not sure if it was a big lunch or he got distracted by a toy, but he left a small piece on his tray and said "Ah-dah!"

The next (third) cookie got eaten only about half way. His eyes lit up at the sight of the fourth, but when it came right down to it, he pushed away my hand and shook his head. I guess two years of training in vegetable appreciation are paying off. ;)

rare specimen kept behind glass

toddler bed

The new bed arrived on Monday and was immediately put together by Daddy, and none too soon! After we ordered the bed, for a while we felt like we might have over reacted and that perhaps there was no need to jump the gun. One escape attempt doesn't mean he is going to try it again any time soon, so what's the rush? But it turned out it was a good thing we acted quickly. It took about 10 days for the bed to come, and the last two mornings before it arrived Elijah tried to get out of his crib (one time to retrieve a blanket that he had just thrown out of the crib, and the second time he just woke up, said "Ah-doh", and wanted out right away).

I read somewhere that it's a good idea to keep the crib handy when going to a toddler bed just in case the child doesn't take to it well right away. It wasn't really an option for us, but it worked out just fine anyway. Elijah LOVES his new bed. When Ryan showed it to him for the first time, he immediately knew what it was, and wanted to play "going to sleep" for a while. He'd climb onto it, lie down, then get off. We were concerned that since he could now get up himself he wouldn't stay in bed when we put him down for the night or just his nap, but he hadn't gotten up once in the few days that we've had this new sleeping arrangement. Although we can no longer prolong our mornings in bed. As soon as Elijah is awake, he gets out of bed and turns on the lights.

Funny enough, finding a top sheet to fit this toddler bed turned out to be quite a chore. I finally found one at Amazon, but I feel like they are overcharging, so we are using a twin-sized pink-striped one for now. :) As for a pillow, Elijah seems to be plenty comfortable without one, so we figured no need to worry about that one quite yet.

All in all, the transition has been a smooth one. It appears it was harder for me than for Elijah. He has slept in the crib since he was less than two months old, and moving him out of it gave me this sad my-baby-boy-is-growing-up feeling. (I took a few pictures of him in the crib after his very last nap in it.) But he doesn't seem to miss the crib at all. And I have pretty much gotten over it by now as well.

a near escape

A few days ago we had one of those break through days when a child all of a sudden makes a leap in his development. Or it least so it seemed. We woke up to a string of impatient "HI, HI, HI, ...". As usual, we hoped to ignore the greeting and steal a few more moments of rest. Our basement bedroom is usually pretty dark, which makes for great sleeping any time of day, but also makes for difficult waking (at least for the two adults in the room). However, that morning Elijah was not inclined to wait. As Ryan looked up at the crib, it looked like Elijah's arm was hanging over the rail, which is often the case. But we quickly realized that it was no arm. Elijah was straddling the rail. We think he got a little startled to discover himself in such an unstable position and froze for just a moment, which gave us just enough time to throw off our blanket and retrieve him before he fell down. Talk about a quick awakening and an adrenalin rush!

About a half an hour later he surprised us by saying two new words: ball (bah), and car (cah). We never coached him to say these words, unlike many others. Yet all of a sudden he just used them like it was normal. And even that wasn't the end of his tricks.

That same morning he finally figured out that he doesn't have to beg us to hold him up so he can turn the light switches on and off (a fascination he's had since before he turned a year, and it doesn't seem to wear out). He climbed on the couch and happily played with the lights for quite a while. Up and down, up and down, like a little monkey. Was it his Halloween character that inspired him?

It was a fun day. I love watching him do new tricks and say new words. You should hear him talk on his toy phone (or a remote control) in his gibberish, and giggling as if someone was cracking jokes on the other end.

And, by the way, a brand new toddler bed is on its way.

animal sounds

You can probably guess which animal sounds he is making, even though the animals are named in Russian. But just in case, they are: monkey, dog, sheep, and snake, in that order.

monkey

It all started when we decided that two pairs of pajamas weren't enough. Somehow we kept finding ourselves out of clean PJ's for Elijah, and decided we needed more. The cutest pair Costco had at the time had monkeys all over it, and for some reason Elijah instantly fell in love with it. His other PJ's have a bear on them, and he likes bears, but somehow doesn't really think it's all that cool to have one on his PJ's. But the monkey pajamas are a whole different ball game. So, when Grandma asked what costume she should get for Elijah for Halloween, it was a no brainer. He was meant to be a monkey this year. (If you look closely, you'll see that even his shoes have monkeys on them.)

Elijah didn't go trick-or-treating, but he did visit Grandpa and Grandma's office in the morning (below), and then helped hand out candy in the evening. He was quite interested in the bowl of candy, mostly for the sole purpose of dumping it out on the floor, but we kept it well out of his reach. And if you are wondering if he got any candy, the answer is no. The only desert type thing he gets once in a while is jello (unless you are counting the carrot cupcake from his first birthday).

last warm days of the year

ma-ma-ma-ma-ma-ma

You may have picked up on the fact that I have been waiting for a long time now to hear Elijah address me as "mama." I mean, it's cute when he says it when prompted with a question, but not quite the same. I imagined what I'd do when it finally happened, how I'd make a big deal out of it, and clap my hands, and say "Yay!" and run to him, and hug him and kiss him. Oh, those were beautiful dreams! They were shattered this morning at 5 am.

Elijah woke up early (5 am) and started by saying "Hi" to us, as he usually does. Then he barked like a dog for a little. We tried to ignore him hoping he'd go back to sleep (fat chance, but one should never lose hope). If he wants to be up at 5, that's his deal. We are not getting up any earlier than six. And then it came: "Ma-ma, ma-ma, ma-ma!" Oh, NO! Not at 5 am! Not when I am half asleep, and don't want to encourage him in his wakefulness, either! Why couldn't it have been some sweet moment while reading a book or playing together outside? How was I supposed to let him know that it was a beautiful sounds to my ears, and that he should do it more, and at the same time make it clear that night (and especially early morning) is for sleeping, not talking? I wish he had picked a different time. But as it were, I ignored the "ma-ma" I've been waiting for all this time. He hasn't said it again all day. Bummer.

new words

Elijah is finally answering "Ma-ma" when I ask him "Who am I?" thus making my day every time. :) But he is still not addressing me as such. How long do I have to wait?

Meanwhile, he learned to say "Wow," which sounds pretty much as it should, and krug, which is Russian for circle, but sounds something like "kgh." No matter, I know what it means. We are now working on "rectangle." :)

the boy and his horse

Unlike Allie, the horse is Elijah's. He got it a few weeks ago, and was not quite sure what to make of it for the first few days. But that didn't last long. He soon mastered mounting it and rides it a few times a day now. And, as all real cowboys do, he carries his milk with him every time.

I took about a million pictures of him on the horse, and noticed that Elijah was actually posing for each picture! That was a first.

the boy and his dog

Well, Allie is technically not Elijah's dog, but I am sure he wishes she were. She is definitely his favorite, and not just among dogs. Many mornings the first sound he makes when he wakes up is "Awoo, awoo, awoo" - his very own imitation of the dog sound. When we come out of the bedroom to say Good Morning to Grandma and Grandpa, he completely ignores them, looks for the dog, and does more barking imitations and "dog" signs. He also likes to pet her, but he is not allowed to. The problem is, the child is allergic to the dog. Claritin is keeping most of the problems at bay, but we still don't want to push our luck. He tests the boundaries, and Grandma once caught him rubbing Allie's back with both hands while no one was looking. But most of the time, he is content to just sit next to her, especially outside. Allie has a spot under a tree with a good view of the road, and Elijah comes over and sits nearby on the grass. It's rather adorable.

When Allie was away this weekend, he kept looking for her everywhere. They had a happy reunion. Allie sniffed Elijah, and Elijah giggled with delight. Then he brought her a friendship offering: a dry leaf. The thing is, Allie likes to chew on leaves, and Elijah is happy to keep a steady supply coming (below). The picture above is from a time when Allie got a new toy, and Elijah was pretty jealous. He followed her everywhere and kept wanting to take the toy when she wasn't looking. But we told him it was the doggie's toy, and he seemed to understand that that meant he couldn't play with it, just like the doggie was not allowed to play with his toys.

lunch time conversation

If you ask Elijah, "Can you say Mommy?" (or any other word) he will just stare at you and say nothing, even though we know perfectly well that he can say it just fine, and he knows what the word means, and we've heard him say it in the past. He just plain won't perform on demand. He will, however, say things when he decides it's time.

Daddy (to Elijah, showing him a plate with a hot dog on it): "Elijah, what is this?"
Elijah (beaming with delight at the sight): "Hoh-gah!"
Daddy (to Mommy): "It will be fun when he starts talking more."
Mommy (to Daddy): "Yeah, it would be nice if we could start with a simple Mama."
Elijah (without the slightest pause, looking at Mommy with the broadest smile): "Mama!"

doctor in training

Elijah wearing scrubs.

reading

Elijah likes his books. He loves it when we read them to him, but he also likes to page through them himself and look at the pictures. One of his favorites is an "I Spy" book. The video below was taken back in Oak Lawn, shortly before we moved. I heard him saying gibberish, but there were clear "sentence" divisions, and each sentence started with a long "Aaahhh." As I looked into the living room from the kitchen, I saw him sitting there with his "I Spy" book (each page of which, of course, starts with an "I spy..."), turning each page, and saying his "sentence." By the time I got my camera out, he was almost done, but I caught the end of his "reading." Here it is.



The next day at church, he read a printout of the church business meeting agenda to himself out loud, following the same sentence pattern, tracing the lines with his finger, and holding the paper upside down. :)