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August 28, 2006

Elias is six months

Eli, you've come into your sixth month squealing and rolling with delight. Not only are you rolling with ease, you flip immediately to your stomach every chance you get. Once there, you're pushing up, often lifting your middle off the ground.

You need to stop doing that. You're only six months old. I absolutely demand you stop acting like you're going to crawl tomorrow.

Then there's the whole solid food thing. You took to the spoon like it was second nature. The second time I presented a spoonful of sweet potatoes to you, you opened your mouth so so so wide. It was a total 'bring it on' message. Loud and clear. We're trying out apricots, and with that you've truly experienced your first taste of sour. Do I win the bad Mama award for finding your sour pucker face adorable?

You love it when Gus plays around you, and you're easy to give him the laughs. Of course, this makes him even more excited and we often have to pry him off of you. Since you've been with us, you have always seem to take the physical attention Gus gives you in stride. Maybe you know, deep down, that you're going to be taller than Gus, and what comes around goes around. Be nice, boys.

Gustav's favorite question these days is, "What's your favorite part?" If he asked me that about you, I'd say, hands down, your smile. It comes so easily and would make any cranky person within a mile smile in return.

Posted by janna at 10:07 PM | Comments (0)

August 22, 2006

Elias is definitely still growing

I took Eli to the doctor's this morning for his six-month check up (SIX MONTHS this next Sunday!).

Drum roll...
last month he was 18 lbs 10 oz, this month he was 19 lbs 10 oz (still 90th percentile)
last month he was 28 inches, this month he is 28 1/2 inches (still 97th percentile)

Eli would not stay on his back. The minute we put him down, he flipped over, pushed himself up, then realized he had this crunch paper underneath him to attack. He mauled it. And squealed. He was in paper heaven. I did my part by trying to remove parts of paper from his mouth. Good mama.

Posted by janna at 12:38 PM | Comments (0)

August 20, 2006

forget you, cereal


sweet pea, originally uploaded by jannacybill.

Cereal, be gone.

I hate to be crass, but if you went seven days without pooping, wouldn't you be in a bad mood?

Eli wasn't. We should all aspire to have the happy spirit of Eli.

Cereal, while enjoyed on the intake, did not help the, umm, outtake. We've since switched to sweet potatoes. We'll see how it goes. We're on day two. He seems to be a fan thus far.

In a movement update, Eli is flipping stomach to back and back to stomach so easily these days. He's even pushing himself up, often lifiting himself on his knees. This scares me, so I am trying to not put him on the floor anymore. Just kidding.

He can grab anything in one shot, his hand-eye coordination has been perfected. Again, this scares me. He's found my hair and pulls with abandon. It hurts, but I love him.

Posted by janna at 11:26 PM | Comments (0)

August 19, 2006

new playground


new playground, originally uploaded by jannacybill.

Every school day, for the last three months, we drive past the park a block from our home. A large section of it has been fenced off, undergoing a playground makeover. For some lovely reason, someone decided our little dinky park was going to get new equipment and landscaping.

And every day, two times a day, Gus says, "I see the playground, see the progress."

And every day, it wasn't done.

"Where are the big boys?" (translation: the guys building the playground)

"It's not done, Mama."

Tuesday morning, it was still fenced off. Tuesday night.... OPEN. We were all shocked, and I luckily had my camera with me to capture the first moments.

We've been almost every day since.

I guess we deserve it after finding out our property taxes went up over $2,000. I need a drink. Um, hello, Mr. Village President, my husband is going to grad school. Help a lady out!

Posted by janna at 09:55 PM | Comments (0)

August 13, 2006

Practicing his senior picture pose

Eli is out to show that he is not the sedentary type.

The minute you put him in the bouncy seat, he is kicking his legs wildly, squealing with delight. The minute you put him on his back, he is flipped over on his belly. Once there, he is starting to pull his legs under him and often is turning in circles, one inch at a time.

All of this movement is starting to scare me. I'm having visions of having Gus and Eli running in two different directions. I either need to practice my sprinting techniques or plan out my restraining techniques. Probably a mixture of both.

Elias is eating cereal once a day, and maybe will get it twice today. He seems to like it, although his little intestine is a bit confused. Actually, now that I think about it, his energy really went into high gear once we started the cereal. Oh my.

Posted by janna at 07:43 AM | Comments (0)

August 09, 2006

Gusisms (aka. New things Gus says these days)

"What that means, Mama?"
(His form of "Why?")

"Mama, where are we?"

"I have an idea!"

"Let's drive by the playground and see the progress!"
(they're building this amazing playground a mere two blocks from our house... we drive by every morning and every night. It opens next week!)

"I sit on your mountain..."
(...he says as he sits on my belly. No comment.)

I don't think the kid could say "You want to play cars?" any more than he already has

"No, I foorrrrgoooottttt."
(I have no idea why he says it this way, or what he has forgotten, but it's hysterical.)

"I'm three two and a half"
(First he claimed he was three, then when we said, actually, you're two and a half, he made this up. He's totally on the round-up.)

Posted by janna at 11:07 PM | Comments (0)

hello, my precious


hello, my precious, originally uploaded by jannacybill.

Eli has really flipped a switch this week. Not only is he flipping from front to back and back to front in seconds (=no more leaving baby on the couch), he's ready to eat, damn it. I tried cereal for the second time in his life, and tonight it was like I was giving him the sweetest of sweet nectars. He went bonkers. He anticipated every bite, opening up his little mouth so wide, waiting for that spoon to come back in again. I was obviously too slow. I had him sitting in his bouncy seat, which wasn't the best idea since he bounces and thus ended up with cereal in his eye, on his belly, all over his nose, on several occasions.

Since said cereal intake, he has been asleep, IN HIS CRIB, since 8:30. It's 11. PEOPLE!! Why am I still awake?? I should take advantage.

Good night...

Posted by janna at 11:06 PM | Comments (0)

happiness in the shape of a ball

What a fun evening. Sue and her friend (and now our new friend) Jean are visiting us, and after a lovely trip to the Museum of Contemporary Art, they brought Gus back this amazing glowing, whirling ball. The mirrors in our bathroom are such that you can do that whole infinity "I see twenty of me, including my butt" view. How perfect it was for John to hold up Gus and have him experience light in a completely new way. If you click on the pic, you'll see a few more pictures just like it.

Posted by janna at 10:58 PM | Comments (0)

August 05, 2006

happy birthday, Miles


that's the last of you, lion, originally uploaded by jannacybill.

Posted by janna at 10:16 PM | Comments (1)

August 03, 2006

Hold them close

Tragedy is unfortunately a part of the news everyday, but there was one tragedy yesterdaythat really stopped me in my tracks and left me longing to snuggle with my family. A woman with two boys, ages three and one, along with her mother, were killed in a horrible car accident on the Indiana tollway. It's the same tollway we were driving on just five days ago. Her husband said that the last thing he said to all of them before he went to work was "I love you," and as he went to the car one of his sons chased after him saying, "I love you, Daddy."

(stab stab stab to the heart)

I like to think of myself as a functional fatalist. I know we're all going to die, but growing up I always had a plan of what I would do if someone close to me died. These scenarios actually only played around my Mom, which makes sense since she was (and still is) the sun to my silly little orbiting moon. Where would I be when I found out? Who would tell me? Where would I go live? How would I tell people? Would I say something at the funeral (I have a silly brain, stay with me here, folks)? Als an adult, I can look back at little Janna and can totally understand why I did it. It was part security/ part pure paranoia. I think I thought that if I hada plan in place, I can make it through or at least have a script to follow. And honestly, the excercise of planning was so innate, it just would pop up in my mind and I would play through the scenario, then tuck it back into my subconscious for another day.

All of this planning is burned into my brain, but as I got older, went to college, became an 'adult', the planning changed a bit. I still think about it with my Mom sometimes, but not in the detail that I did as a child. The newer thing, really, is going through the planning for what would happen if something happened to me. I can't even 'go there' in thinking about John or the kids. My brain, luckily, won't let the same planning process happen as it did as when I was a child. I want Gus and Eli to grow up with both parents bugging them.

Okay. Anyway. I'll stop. I'm not frozen, these crazy things just make me savor every single look, laugh, hug, struggle, tickle... Tell your peeps you love them, even when they make you crazy. That's the good stuff.

Posted by janna at 10:20 PM | Comments (0)

August 02, 2006

"Papa, it scares me"

Thunder is shaking our house, which has prompted Gus to say in a surprisingly calm voice, "Papa, it scares me."

I just want to protect him forever, you know? I know it's ultimately impossible, but for now, let us snuggle with him to make him feel safe and secure. Makes us feel safe and secure, too.

Posted by janna at 11:09 PM | Comments (1)

He's so easy to love


He's so easy to love, originally uploaded by jannacybill.

Gus! You are Mr. Full-Sentence man. And seriously, when did you learn the words 'edge' and 'slippery'? When did you learn how to say, "Hey, I have an idea!" What possesed you to demand breakfast in bed the other morning by saying, "Mama, I want a waffle right here (patting your bed). You go get it. Go!" I went to the kitchen in a fit of giggles, put your waffle in, but I still made you get out of bed to get it. Mean Mama or just setting a good precident?

Yesterday, on our way to a restaurant that serves popcorn in a basket when you sit down, you were already schooling Papa and I about how we needed to get THREE baskets of popcorn, "One for you and one for you."

"No sharing," you told us point blank.

You've reached a wonderful milestone of going to sleep on your own. For the longest time we had to be with you when you fell asleep. It made sense at first; you were transitioning to a big bed (a really big bed, a full size bed) and it was in a brand new room. Then it became a habit, one that I admittedly loved since I was pregnant and loved falling asleep at 8:30. With the arrival of Eli, however, it was becoming a bit impractical, so we started a new routine. You struggled for a couple of weeks. You weren't so into the lights off and parent leaving bit. But we figured out a routine that made you feel safe and loved, and now you go to sleep often singing or talking, and rarely are there tears involved. That, Gus, is true progress.

Next up, my little strong man, is potty training. I know, I know, you have no interest in doing such a thing, even though you seem to know when you're about to do your business, but let me tell you, we'll find a way to make you feel empowered about doing the deed on the toilet. I'm not worried that I'll be changing a five-year-old's diapers... not yet, at least.

Posted by janna at 06:37 AM | Comments (0)

First bite...at least from a spoon

Elias is five months now. To sound cliche, it seems impossible. As much as I want to sleep a full night, or even more than four hours, I don't want him to grow up so fast. I feel like he's on the verge of so much... teeth (ouch), using rolling as a means of movement (he flipped from his belly to his back last week, and can flip from his back to his belly at times), spitting carrots all over the place (at least we have Zeppo)... Look at the picture, he took his first bite of cereal! He loved it, and welcomed every spoonful, but I don't think his stomach was quite ready for it. He seemed unusually fussy that evening, so we've backed off and will wait a few more weeks to start again. I'm not worried; he is OBVIOUSLY thriving without a bit of oatmeal.

In the same breath, I will say I can't wait to see who he will turn out to be. What will Eli be like when he's Gus' age?

Posted by janna at 06:26 AM | Comments (0)