Month 12 (draft)

Today was your first birthday little man.... and what a long day it was. We are all exhausted so your 12 month post will have to wait until tomorrow!

It is hard to believe that you are one year old already. The last year has been the most exciting, challenging, and rewarding year of my life. 

 We celebrated twice, first in Connecticut at Grandma and Grandpa's house with Mama's side of the family, and then again here at home with Papa's side family. You were fantastic at both of your parties! Your big 'cousins' and 'friends' were happy to help you open you presents and you were more than welcoming of their help. Mama made you a little lion cake (modeled after the cover of one of your books). It took you a bit to figure out what you were supposed to do with it, but once Papa handed you a spoon you seemed to be all set.

The Birth Story..... a year later. Part 1

 (A post I actually began writing a month after Elijah was born is finally making it's way out a year later. This will be split among several posts. )

It was a Thursday night. Tony was at work and I was home, busy crocheting... something I picked up in the last month of pregnancy to help pass the time. i had been having contractions but hadn't paid much attention to them as it was nothing new. I had been having contractions since I was around 20 weeks pregnant and these felt no different from those. It was around 8pm when I thought i would time them..mostly out of curiosity.... I really didn't think that it was the start of labor. I found some online contraction timer and timed them as I continued to crochet tony a hat. For nearly an hour I recorded the start and finish of each contraction. They were all about 4-5 minutes apart and just about a minute long. I decided that I would ignore them for a while and then re-time them in an hour. They weren't really uncomfortable at the time. It was around this time that Tony called to check in. I mentioned what was going on and he asked if he should come home. I said no, that I didn't think it was really anything. I timed them for a bit again around 10pm and they were still abut 4 minutes apart...still I dint think much of them. I figured they would go away when I went to bed. I went to bed around 11:30, tony got home from work and joined me in bed around 1am. It was a bit after 2am that I got up because the contractions were becoming really uncomfortable. I told Tony I was going to go stand in the shower for a bit. He followed me to the bathroom and began timing my contractions once again. I leaned against the shower wall, more and more uncomfortable and would say okay when the contractions started and stopped. This proved to be a confusing way to let tony know how to time them. After a handful of 2-3 minute apart contractions, I decided that we didn't need to time them anymore. It was time to call the midwife. Tony made the call to have her paged. About 10 minutes later the midwife Ellie called back. Tony explained what was going on and she asked to speak to me. I talked to her, while still in the shower. She said it sounded like early labor and that it was up to me whether or not I was ready to head into the hospital. We decided that since we live an hour away it was probably best to head in. I got out of the shower and tony and i dressed, grabbed some last minute items (cameras, snacks, laptop), feed the cats, took out the trash, and we were off.

I had been dreading what the car ride to the hospital would feel like for weeks...afraid that every bump would be excruciating and hating the idea of being constrained. In reality it wasn't so bad. It helped that it was 4 something in the morning, so traffic was at a minimum. The worst bumpy back road in our area had just been freshly paved, so it was no longer bumpy. It was still dark out, and I remember wishing tony would put on the high beams because I was afraid of deer or moose running out in front of us. unfortunately something did run out...a raccoon...and we couldn't stop in time. That part sucked...and I tried not to think much about it. The hour long ride consists off about 40 minutes of back roads followed by 20 minutes highway time. Reaching the highway was a relief and left me feeling a little better. i remember tony attempting to talk to me a few times, but don't think I ever really replied to him. when we reached Portland I made a quick call on my cell to let my mother know we were heading in. my family lives about 4 hours away, in Connecticut, but had been planning to make the drive up for the birth. As we got closer to the hospital I became more uncomfortable. we sat at a red light just a few blocks away from the hospital for what felt like forever. I finally told Tony to just go through it.

Month 11 (draft)

Little Boy-

Happy 11 months! I absolutely cannot believe that you will be a year old next month.  The time has flown by and my sweet little baby boy is turning into a sweet little toddler. 

You continue to be more and more fun each month. This past month is no exception. You are really beginning to understand things these days and love learning. Books are still fantastic in your eyes. We read several books every night and you will often flip through books on your own during the day. You are excellent at turning pages and lifting the flap in peek a boo books. You especially love books when we point to pictures and tell you what they are. You can say Mama, Papa, Bobo and Ah (for Thera-cats), out, hot, meow, bok bok (chickens),  ball and bye bye. The last few aren't super clear to make out, but they are pretty good. You understand so many words now and point to things when we say 'where is ____'. We can ask and have you point to outside, kitty cats, puppy dogs, fish, trees, lights, fans, mama, papa, grandma, grandpa, grampy, your aunties, babies, chickens, cars, trucks, the mail, spoon, cup, book, certain toys (dragon, seahorse, animals (your mobile), crib, window, door, water, tub, your diaper, mouth, eye, hair, belly..... I'm sure there is more.

Month 10 (draft)

Well Elijah..... your 10 month post is going to have to wait until tomorrow. You were a wild man tonight and were up until 10:30. Mama is ready for bed now too.

Sweet boy-

Happy 10 and a day! Tonight was much smoother with you in bed by 7:15. This whole bedtime deal needs work lately. Some nights you are down at 7:30 while others you are going strong until 10:30. I'm pretty sure it hard to do in part with you still taking 3 naps on some days. Within the last week or so I have been doing what I can to help eliminate your last nap of the day. You sleep well through the night however have been stirring at 5am here and there. Otherwise you are normally up between 7:30 and 8:30 am. You are still in the bed with Mama and Papa simply because we haven't felt the need to do otherwise. I do think however, that we will be lowering the mattress in your crib in the coming weeks and making an effort to transition you to sleeping in there on your own.

You still eat like a champ; there is really nothing you will refuse. You are showing less and less interest in your purees and more interest in Mama and Papa's 'real food'. Aside from the regular old baby food you are eating Mum Mums, yogurt melts, puffs, cheese/veggie munchies, shredded cheese, deli meat turkey, yogurt, rice, oatmeal, blueberries, watermelon, banana. You get bites of some of our meals too, like toast, corn on the cob, and barbecue ribs (haha). You had been nursing before I went into work, then 2 bottles, then nursing 2 or 3 more times when I got home from work. Now that school is out for the summer we are just about back to exclusively nursing. This is good because I was experiencing a pretty dramatic decrease in my milk supply which is resolving itself with all of the nursing.

These months continue to be more and more fun with you. You have improved on your clapping and waving. There are lots of words you understand and respond to. You know: clap, wave, dance, splash, outside, kitty, trees, mama, papa, grandma, grandpa, auntie, diaper, mouth, nose, kisses, milk, and  high five. You dance when you are happy or excited, such as when you eat something yummy or mama sits down with you to play. You also dance when you hear music from your toys, television shows/commercials, or when Mama or Papa sings sometimes.

You are without a doubt mobile now. It is a combination of crawling and scooting. This means trouble for the cats as you are obsessed with them. You LOVE love love Bodhi and Thera and squeal at the sight of them. You are determined to be right on top of them all of the time. Your 'pet' them, smack them with your toys and lately pull on their tails. You have also recently started leaning into them with your head to give them a 'kiss'. Thankfully they are pretty accepting of your 'love'; especially Thera.
You pull yourself up on whatever you can get a hold of: the couch, your highchair, toy basket, laundry hamper... You are also constantly grabbing for our hands to help you stand so that you can walk around. Even if you are just holding onto a finger or two you are getting around pretty well. 

swimming
biting
doctors appt...............
..........

First Father's Day

Happy Father's Day to my husband.....
You are an amazing father and we both love you.....so much.

Month 9 (draft)

Happy number 9 my boy!


What a fun, fun month this has been with you. You have such a great little personality and have been learning all sorts of new tricks.

You surprised Mama on her first Mother's Day by waving hello to her for you first time.  I was so impressed. It was pretty funny how beside myself it made me feel. I kept saying to Papa "that was so cool". I was so proud of you and look forward to feeling this over and over as you grow and accomplish new feats. You are getting pretty good about waving when we tell you to say hi or bye bye.

This past month you also learned how to clap and will do it when we say clap. Sometimes you do it own your own accord. There have been several times that you do it after waving and we say 'good job'.... we join in and applaud with you.

 The weather is finally turning nice so we have been spending more time outside. You love to go out and get excited everytime we step out the front door. You will kick you feet and make cute little squeals.

You know how to pet the kitty and understand what that means when we say it. Thera has really taken to you and will come up to you and put his head down so you can 'pet' him. This typically looks more like you beating him and pulling out some fur but he loves it none the less.

You still love to eat and often try to get food off of Mama or Papa's plate. We do give you some bites of grown up food sometimes, such as mashed potatoes or rice. You love to feed yourself the few finger foods we have given you which mainly consists of puffs (sweet potato, banana, or kale), yogurt melts,  and Mum Mums. I am pretty sure you could handle some other stuff but I am still pretty nervous about you choking.

 

........

Month 8 (draft)

 Happy 8 months Elijah!
Mama almost missed this today...how could I.

April was a busy month for us. Papa started a new job working in the I.T. department of the bank. This meant he had to be trained and would no longer be home all morning to watch you. Mama refuses to go the daycare route out here in the boonies so thankfully it was Grandma to the rescue. Your Grandma made the trip up to Maine and watched you during the day both the week before and after my April vacation from school. You've done really well with the changes. It took a couple of days for you to really warm up to Grandma, and there is some crying when Mama or Papa leave in the mornings, but you quickly adjust and happily play with Grandma.

We've gone backwards in the sleep department this month. For some reason you spent about two weeks waking up at 4:30 in the morning ready to go. Most mornings it took about an hour or two to get you back to sleep. While you have stopped doing that this past week, you are still waking up a couples times during the night which you hadn't done in quite a while. And needless to say you are still sleeping in the bed with us. I had every intention to try the crib out again during April vacation but unfortunately we all came down with a nasty cold. You were very congested and coughing a lot, so I was much more comfortable having you in the bed next to me so I could keep an eye on you. You are also waking up earlier now that Papa gets up for work in the mornings. Instead of getting up around 7:30, it is now 6:30.........including on the weekends.  :{

You are an eating machine and love just about any baby food we give you. Your favorites seem to be banana, apricots, apple/mango/kiwi, and peas. You are also eating Mum Mums and just within this past week yogurt. We feed you breakfast, lunch and dinner now.

You still have just two teeth. We've been wondering if your top teeth will be breaking through soon as you have been a bit more fussy/drooly lately. Once they do come in you will be dangerous! You bite hurts pretty bad already so I can only imagine.

We are working hard to encourage you to crawl. If we put you on your hands and knees you will hold yourself up for a minute and then quickly roll onto you back. All you really want to do is walk. You do a great job getting around if we hold your arms and let you "walk" around. You haven't pulled yourself up to standing on any of the furniture yet, be will do it if Mama or Papa offer you our hands.

Papa might not agree but I swear you have a first word.  MEOW! You love our kitties and meow or screech when you see them. So cute.

The car can still be a challenge. Some days you throw a fit in your carseat. If someone is there to ride with you and entertain you in the back seat you are fine, but not so much when you are on your own.

easter
toys
falling
outside

Month 7 (draft)

  

My sweet boy-

Happy 7th month Elijah! What a month of milestone March has been. 

Look close

You brought in the month with what we thought was your first real cold; runny nose and a cough. I think what it really had to do with was the fact that your first tooth was making it's way out. Your first tooth (bottom left) showed up in March 2nd. You did pretty well with it, only being a little fussy. 

We gave you lots of frozen sweet potato ice cubes in a mesh feeder to help ease the discomfort. You loved them and would show your approval at the first sight of them. The second tooth was quick to follow, breaking through on March 7th. So far you have been pretty good about not biting mama, though you still try to chomp down on my fingers. I know I used to let you do that all the time, but now it really hurts.

Two teeth!

You're sitting up on your own like a champ now. We still have to stay near by to catch you when you tip over, but you can easily go 5-10 minutes unsupported.

.........to be continued...............