saluting you all

summer 2010

It's been a while since I posted any pictures of Elijah, so here are some.

day eleven

Ephrem saw his doctor again today to make sure he was gaining weight adequately. He is. He weighed in at 9 lbs 7 oz. Up over a pound since exactly a week ago, and way over his birth weight, which was the goal for today.

day eight

Around day eight of having the new baby at home Elijah started showing some concern about having to share a home with Ephrem.

E: Mommy, when are we going to get rid of him?
M: We are not. He is going to live with us.
E: Oh, I thought we were going to get rid of him.
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E: Mommy, when is the baby going back into your tummy?
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E: Maybe we can give the baby to somebody who doesn't mind the crying.

E.D.F.

Ephrem Daniel Ferguson joined our family on the "outside" on August 5th at 12:06pm. He weighed in at 8lbs 10oz (3.9kg) and was 22in long (56cm).




He lost a lot of weight in the first day and was only 7 lbs 13 oz at the time of discharge, but gained 2 more oz by the next day (Saturday, Aug 7th). We took him to a pediatrician on Aug 7 and had his tongue clipped. The milk came in that night and two days later Ephrem was 8 lbs 5 oz. Apparently, babies normally gain about 1 oz a day. Ephrem averaged 3 oz during those two days.

imaginary friends

Elijah has several imaginary friends. We are hoping that it's a normal stage of development and not the result of him being ignored by us. Until today they were: Hour, Minute, and Sniff Curtis. Sniff Curtis is a girl. All four of them go on long airplane trips almost every day. Curtis always wants to sit up front. She doesn't understand that that's where the pilots sit: Elijah, Hour and Minute.

Today Elijah announced that two more friends were joining them for their next airplane trip. Their names: Kimbovana and Condorica. Kimbovana is a boy and Condorica is a girl.

let's chat

Elijah: "Daddy, let's sit around and chat!"
Daddy: "OK. What do you want to chat about?"
E: "Oh. The stuff you and Mommy chat about."
D: "Like what?"
E: "Oh, like budget and stuff..."

where's YOUR number?

Elijah: "Daddy, where's your number? The one that tells you how old you are. Is it in your tummy?"

He later asked me (mommy) the same question. I told him mine was in my head. He then said his was in his legs and feet.

russia 2010

As is our custom (sort of) we went to Russia to visit grandma and grandpa since it's been 3 years since our last trip, which is how long grandpa hasn't seen Elijah. Unlike our last trip of only 6 days, we splurged and spent 8 days in St. Petersburg this time. The weather was cooperative for the most part, especially considering that it was still late April / early May.

Elijah mostly loved the modes of transportation we had to take to get to Russia and then to get around in St. Pete: planes, air train in NY, trams, metro and buses in Russia. Ever since we came back one of his favorite games is to re-enact the entire trip to Russia: a short flight to NY, a long flight to Helsinki, another short flight to St. Petersburg, a car ride to aunt Ira's house, then a tram ride to the metro, a metro ride with a transfer, and finally a bus ride to grandma's and grandpa's house. Oh, and how could I leave out going through security before getting on each flight, complete with removing your shoes and having a bag to put on the belt. He always has to have one of us "come along". We move from one bedroom to another, from the living room to the kitchen, from the first floor to the second, each place signifying another stage of the journey. The stairs are the escalators. The bathrooms are trains. I am thankful that the long flight to Helsinki usually happens in the rocking chair. The whole adventure has been known to take over an hour and a half. Once we are finally "there", he wants to do the whole thing in reverse order, but by that time I am usually done role playing for the day (and for the week!)

Here are some of Elijah's favorite pictures. We had them printed and put in a little book. Those of you who live nearby have already seen them (sometimes multiple times).

Riding the metro train one of our first days in St. Petersburg.

Alexander Nevsky Lavra

Alexander Nevsky Lavra close up. Elijah likes to call the monks on the left "dudes" and then laugh his head off. :)

At the Kazansky Cathedral with grandma.

At home with grandpa.

Watching a metro train leave.

Riding the escalator in the metro.

Grandma's friends. They say it takes a village to raise a child. This is part of the village that helped raise mommy.

A tram and a bus.

Eating breakfast with Misha.

name suggestion

I was at an airport restaurant in Chicago getting dinner while waiting for my delayed flight. A waiter came up and after the usual "What would you like to drink" etc he glanced at my big stomach and said:
Waiter: Boy or girl?
Me: Boy. (I was expecting him to ask what I'd like to eat, so a though crossed my mind that I generally don't eat children for dinner.)
Waiter (pointing at his name tag that said 'Constantine'): You should name him that! It means "born to be a king"! ... Or a waiter. What can I get for you? (Who knows how many times he'd used that joke, but it was still funny.)

After dinner as I was paying my bill:

Waiter (pointing at my name on the credit card): Not many people named that here, but a lot in my country.

He turned out to be from Bulgaria. I happened to spend a summer there about 20 years ago, and it was a beautiful country. I told him so. He went on to tell me about studying Russian as a kid, and that one of his favorite memories was memorizing Russian poetry. I don't know if he was telling the truth. He went on to quote Pushkin for me in very good Russian:

Я помню чудное мгновенье:
Передо мной явилась ты,
Как мимолетное виденье,
Как гений чистой красоты.

We probably won't name our second son after a Bulgarian waiter from a Chicago airport who quotes Pushkin in an unaccented Russian, but he did make an impression.

stomp rocket

Wide screen version available here. (The one below is somewhat truncated.)

grackles

We have two bird feeders outside of our windows. A small one and a larger one. The larger one is meant for birds like cardinals, but some other birds, particularly grackles and blue jays frequent it as well. Daddy told Elijah that he should scare the grackles away, but let the smaller birds eat.

One day a small bird was feeding at the bird feeder. Elijah ran up and scared it away.

Mommy: What kind of bird did you scare away?
Elijah: It was a grackle!
Mommy: No, it wasn't. It was a little bird. You are not supposed to scare the little birds away.
Elijah: Yeah, but it was going to turn into a grackle!

of little brothers and dogs

Here's a story recounted by a friend from church:

"I was talking to Elijah about having a little brother, and that my little brother is now so big that he has his own baby. This is what followed:

Elijah: Was he in your tummy?

Me: Who? My brother?

Elijah: Yeah.

Me: No, he was in my mommy’s tummy.

Elijah: Oh. (thoughtful pause) What about your doggy? Was she in your tummy?

Me: (suppressing laughter). No, she wasn’t in my tummy. Baby dogs come from mommy dogs.

Elijah: Oh. So nothing was in your tummy?

Me: Nope. Nothing was in my tummy.

He seemed truly disappointed that I couldn’t have puppies. Maybe he was hoping for one of his own?"

a boy or a girl?

Someone at church: "Elijah, do you know if Mommy is having a boy or a girl?"
Elijah: "She is a boy!"

feeding birds

who's who

Elijah (to Mommy): "When I am 20 and I am a daddy, what will you be?"
Mommy: "I'll be a grandma."
Elijah: "Will Daddy be a mommy then?"
Mommy: "No, he'll be a grandpa."
Elijah: "Oh, will you have a dog named Allie?"

kitchen

Daddy (to Mommy): We need to pick up that kitchen.
Mommy: Which kitchen? :)
Elijah (pointing to the kitchen): THAT kitchen, Mommy!

Isn't HE helpful?! :)

good morning

Elijah: "Good morning, Sweatshirt! Good morning, bear! Good morning, cat! Good morning, Daddy! Good morning, Mommy! Good morning, baby in Mommy's tummy!"

sweatshirt doesn't have teeth

Daddy was brushing Elijah's teeth. Sweatshirt, as always, was accompanying Elijah. Daddy threw it over his shoulder so it wouldn't get wet. The following is the narrated account of this even by Elijah.

"Daddy put sweatshirt over his shoulder, and then sweatshirt was trying to fall down and brush his teeth, and I said, 'Sweathshirt, don't try to fall down and brush your teeth! You don't have any teeth!' And then sweatshirt was like 'Naaaay!'"

where cereal comes from

Elijah: Daddy, do we have Life cereal?
Daddy: Yes.
E: Did you buy it at the store?
D: No, it fell from the sky.
E: Oh.

Jesus' birthday

Elijah (at breakfast, between spoonfulls of cheerios): Mommy, is today Christmas?
Mommy: No, today is Monday, and Christmas in on Friday.
(We have previously discussed that Christmas is Jesus' birthday.)
Pause.
Elijah: So, how old is Jesus?
Mommy: Oh, about two thousand years or so.
(Thinking pause, then back to his cheerios.)

things we love

Elijah: "I love balloons, presents, bears, lady bugs ... and girls!"
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Elijah, watching a girl in a pretty dress pass by at church: "Mommy, see, there's a girl over there!" Then, shaking his head: "But I don't know what her name is."

pre-school nativity program

Elijah was one of the three wise men at his pre-school Nativity program. Grandma Rachel, aunt Chelsea, aunt Doris and Kathryn came to witness his first on stage performance.

four years old

Elijah turned four! We celebrated twice: once on the actual birthday and then again a couple days later with Grandma, Grandpa and aunt Chelsea. Elijah also celebrated at pre-school and then at church school. He loved the whole thing this year! He joined in the Happy Birthday song to himself every time and requested it later whenever we'd pull out the leftover cake.

how to tell a girl

Elijah: "Mommy, you are a girl! Girls wear dresses, you wear dresses, you are a girl!"

Pretty good logic, I'd say. :) It's a good thing I recently started wearing skirts on occasion. :) Or we'd have one really confused boy!

counting bites

At meal time:
"Elijah, you need to eat two more bites, and then you can be done."
"OK! Zero... One... Two."

Heather and her dress

Elijah, after coming home from pre-school: Heather did NOT wear a dress today!!
Mommy: Really? What did she wear?
E: I don't know...
M: Did she wear pants?
E: Yes, maybe she did. But she will wear a dress next time! Yes, next time she will!
M: Do you like it when she wears a dress?
E: Yep.

a real turkey

The teachers at Elijah's pre-school asked the kids what they would do if they heard a knock at their front door and a real turkey was standing there. Below are their responses. I thought you'd get a kick out of them.

- Play dress up with him.
- Climb on his back and fly over the trees.
- Play games with him inside and then tip him over and smash him like a bug.
- Poke him in the eye. (A girl said that!)
- Play basketball with him.
- Trap him and put him in the garage and then dress him like a baby.
- Play outside with him. (This was Elijah's response.)
- Throw him in his cage in my garage.
- Say hello and play baseball and football and basketball with him outside.
- Tilt him over and hid him under my bed.

Sweatshirt

Elijah's pre-school teachers asked the parents to bring in a picture of their child with something or someone they are thankful for. The children are learning the concept of being thankful and the picture will be used as an aid since it's not an easy concept for 3 year olds to grasp.

We spent a few days trying to decide what/who should be on that picture. Mommy and Daddy? Grandparents? The bunk beds? The book "Mouse Soup"? They were all plausible candidates, but in the end, Sweatshirt won. Yes, Sweatshirt is now a proper name and is therefore capitalized and used without an article. It (often referred to as "he" in English and "she" in Russian - Russian nouns are gendered) continues to be a constant companion in times of trouble, a soothing friend, and a compliant playmate. It is so important in Elijah's life, that Sweatshirt is not allowed to ever leave the house for fear of being lost. I shudder to think what would happen then.

But what do you do when you best friend can't go with you everywhere? Well, you get other friends. Elijah has two other sweatshirts that are allowed to travel with him. One goes to church with us, and the other is used for overnight trips.

Sweatshirt has multiple nicknames. Some of them are sometimes applied to the two substitues, but most are reserved for the real thing. Here they are, in the order of preference and usage frequency: Ney, Gofe (a take off on the Russian word "kofta"), Wha-ha (Sweatshirt's first name dating back to when Elijah just started to talk) and Si (I couldn't tell you where this one came from).

The picture you see here is the one that was taken to pre-school today: Elijah and his best friend Sweatshirt relaxing on a red bean bag.

smoothie-mobile

Elijah made this little car all by himself and proudly announced, "This is car-smoothie!" I think he meant something like a "smoothie truck" (similar to an ice-cream truck), but I like to call it the smoothie-mobile. I was thoroughly impressed with his little creation (thus the picture and the post!), complete with a chef driver, a driver's seat, a steering wheel, a blender (that's the yellow cone with a black lid) and a green start button! He informed me that that's the button you need to push to make a smoothie. Everything else in this smoothie-mobile is completely symmetrical, except for that one start button. Can't you just see this thing zooming around town selling freshly made smoothies? Yum!

he likes me, he likes me not

Daddy: "Elijah, I like you!"
Elijah: "No, you don't! Because I don't taste good!"

breakfast

I was getting my breakfast downstairs when my work phone rang on the second floor. I didn't think running upstairs with a full cup of hot tea was a good idea, so I yelled to Ryan over my shoulder as I dashed up the steps, "Ryan, would you bring be my breakfast, please?"

Later that day Elijah was talking on his toy cell phone. He went around a corner and yelled from there, "Daddy! Would you bring me my breakfast? I am on the phone!"

a doctor, a crayon, and cookie monster!

After Daddy did an impersonation of Cookie Monster (while reading a book to Elijah), our Cookie Monster toy moved from the bottom of the toy basket straigh to Elijah's bed, where he's been spending every night (and a good part of most days, too). Not only that, but Cookie Monster gets a good night kiss from Mommy and Daddy right after Elijah and Sweatshirt (his favorite pal of all times, pictured below for your reference). To top it off, Elijah consented to wear a Cookie Monster costume for all of our Halloween events, albeit only after we would solemnly swear to take it off him as soon as picture time was over and not a second later.

plymouth apple orchards

Elijah's pre-school class went on a field trip to Plymouth Apple Orchards this Fall. They learned about how bees pollinate the apple trees, took a wagon ride, and got to pick apples and pumpkins. Oh, and did I forget to mention cider and donuts? Yum! The best part is that parents got to come, too!

another visit from Russian grandma

Grandma from Russia came to visit us again at the end of September. We had two weeks full of travel and visits with friends and family. We started off by spending two mornings downtown Detroit trying to get her a Canadian visa. Upon success, we took off to see Niagara Falls in Cananda. Our friends Marvin, Doris, and Kathryn joined us for this two day adventure. We saw the Falls, swam in the pool, hung out in a hot tub, ate out, and generally had a great time. Elijah's Russian once again improved more than I expected and he continues to speak it far more than before the visit. I also hear him jabbering and singing in Russian to himself. It is music to my ears!

uncle Tim's and aunt Billie-Jean's wedding

In the middle of September we took a trip to Suffolk, VA, to be at uncle Tim's and aunt Billie-Jean's wedding. While the rest of us enjoyed special time with family and friends, Elijah was mostly occupied with grandma Shannon's iPhone.

wheels

pre-school reports

"Heather wore a pink dress!"

"Dawn has a brother AND a sister!"

"We had cheese-it's for a snack. I said, 'Mrs. Workman, may I have some more cheese-it's please?' And she said, 'Thank you for asking me nicely!' And she gave me more, and I said thank you!"

no surprises here

Daddy, kissing Elijah Good-night: "I love you."
Elijah: "Do you?"
Daddy: "Yes, I do."
Elijah: "I am not surprised to hear that!"

trip to WA

We took two weeks to visit family in Bremerton, WA this July. Below are some pictures from our trip. But first, here are some fun things that Elijah said during the trip.

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Daddy: Elijah, we are going to Seattle to see great-grandma and great-grandpa.
Elijah: Yes, we are going to see Attle!
Elijah (upon leaving the plane in Seattle): So, is this where Attle lives?

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Elijah (after one of the first visits to great-grandma's and great-grandpa's): Where's great aunt Chelsea? (Explanation: In Elijah's mind, aunt Chelsea always goes with grandma and grandpa, so if we are seeing great-grandma and great-grandpa, there has to be a great aunt Chelsea somewhere nearby).

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Elijah: Mommy, I don't have a question for you. I need to go buy one at the store!

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Elijah (having just gotten on the plane in Seattle to go back to Detroit): I want the clouds down!

Elijah on the plane on our way to Seattle with a monkey stuffed upside down into his seat belt.

Swinging with great-grandpa and Daddy.

Watering great-grandpa's tomatoes.

Stop and smell the roses.

Picking cherries.

Eating cherries.

Swimming with Nathan.

Elijah with great-grandma Lindley.

At the ocean with Mommy.

At the ocean with Daddy.

At the ocean.

what starts with an L ?

Elijah and Mommy were playing with Russian alphabet letters and finding words that started with them.
Mommy: Elijah, this is the letter L. What starts with an L?
Elijah: ALlie! (That's grandma's and grandpa's dog.)
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Mommy: This is the letter B. What starts with a B?
Elijah: May Be!
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Elijah (the next day playing with the English alphabet): Mommy, this is the letter Y! What starts with a Y? Y did you go potty in your underpants!

colorful questions

Elijah (at breakfast, exploring the word "question"): Mommy, I have a question for you!
Mommy: OK.
(silence)
M: Do you have a question?
E: Yes!
M: Well, what kind of question?
E: An orange one!
M: Really?
E: Yes! And a blue question, and a red question, and a yellow question, and a green question, and a purple question!

pk no more

For those of you who may not know, PK stands for "pastor's kid" or "preacher's kid". Elijah officially qualifies to bear the title since his Dad is an associate pastor (and does preach about once a month). Elijah will maintain the title for a little longer (until the end of June), at which point he will have to lay it down, perhaps for good.

The reason is that Ryan has resigned his job as an Associate Pastor of Trinity Church in Livonia, MI effective the end of June in order to ... become Orthodox. And yes, that was a capital "O" - Orthodox as in Eastern Orthodox. As soon as we begin attending an Orthodox church in early July, he will be a layman like the rest of his family, and Elijah will no longer be a PK.

what's your name?

We were at an upholstery shop ordering new cushions for our glider (the old ones were ruined in storage). The lady at the counter made conversation with Elijah, "And what's your name?" "Elijah," replied Elijah, but it sounds more like "Eyidya" still. She tried to clarify, "What was that?" He looked at her very seriously and spelled, "E-L-I-J-A-H. Elijah!"

ducks in the pond

We have two small ponds in our back yard. Two ducks come to splash in them every day. Elijah checks up on them several times every day and lets me know if they are gone or if they are back. One morning I overhead the following conversation:
Elijah: "The ducks are back!"
Daddy: "Yes, there are two of them! A mommy duck and a daddy duck!"
Elijah: "Where is Elijah duck?"

countries

Many years ago, when I first came to the U.S., I bought a place mat with the map of the world, thinking it would be kind of fun to brush up on my political geography. My plans never materialized.

A couple months ago we dug out that place mat to use for Elijah. It's laminated and easy to clean. Daddy showed him a couple of countries and it was an immediate hit. He can't get enough of it! We learned the big ones first (he liked the big orange one - Russia!) and then moved on to smaller ones. We even made it a little more challenging by naming each country in two languages. The two videos below are both in Russian, but it shouldn't be too hard to figure out what's going on.

two grandmas

Two grandmas came to visit us in December '08 and January '09, one of state and one out of the country. Their visits overlapped for a few days in January, during which Elijah had no lack of attention. Here are a few videos from their visits.