18 Months

Well Elijah is actually 19 months now, but I took these pics when he was 18 months and wanted to jot down a few things he has been doing.  I’m mostly still disconnected online so haven’t been able to update this family blog at all, but still wanted to include this update with my other ones. 

Personality:  Elijah continues to be a bit reserved and generally very calm in social settings.  Tonight we went to a carnival and put him on a trampoline with kids 2 and under.  Although he was the oldest and biggest, two of the younger boys where going wild running and jumping.  Elijah sat carefully and explored some balls and checked out the springs of the trampoline.  Once the other kids left and the trampoline was still, he started to crawl around more.  We thought he wasn’t enjoying himself until it was time to take him off…he was quite upset!  Although he is reserved, Elijah is very kind and pleasant to other people.  If someone drops something, he often picks it up and hands it to them, even if he doesn’t know the person.  He also has gotten bullied around by more aggressive kids a few times, but he never hits back.  He also still enjoys being held in new settings, like the nursery.  When Elijah is tired though, a new side comes out!  He gets energetic and wild…sometimes fun wild and sometimes tantrums!  In our home though, Elijah always is much more outgoing.  He loves to have fun and goes crazy having fun in the bathtub, even by himself.

Loves: Cars, trucks, bikes, trains…anything with wheels this boy is obsessed!!!  He constantly makes engine noises when he sees anything that has wheels and even when he rides in the backseat of our car!  The joy of his life is when we let him sit our parked car and pretend to drive.  He loves to play with toy automobiles and point them out in books too.  And as of the past few days he has even been distinguishing trains as having “toot” noise.  This kid’s getting smart!  He also LOVES Curious George episodes.  He has even watched the whole hour plus Curious George movie when we were in a meeting and didn’t move!  He also loves reading books, is starting to understand wooden puzzles, playing in his kid pool, pancakes (he ate 3 ½ of them for breakfast the other day before we cut him off!), “helping” to cook by stiring, coloring (including coloring on the walls of our house!!!), his green frog blanket “pickles”, riding his trike, our cat, and riding/jumping on Jeyson’s belly like a horse.

New: Finally saying a few things – uh oh, quack, and “ba” for both me and Jeyson.  Occasionally he will also say moo or toot for a train.  Can’t blame the guy with some many languages to learn!  Having a few mini conversations, such as the other day he heard a car drive near our house.  He said to me “Ba?” asking if Jeyson was arriving.  I said, no, it’s not Ba.  He looked at me insisting and made a car noise to show that he had heard a car and who else could it be??  Very fun!  He can also now get himself into the car and into his seat and back out again.  I still have to buckle, but what a help!  He can now match up pieces of a wooden puzzle to where the go (when the picture is the same under), though he can’t put them in yet.  He can put matching shapes into a shape toy if I show him which whole they go in.  He can peddle his trike forward and pack using his feet on the ground.  He eats really well with a fork or spoon and often does it with his booster seat at the table.  He can understand when we tell him to help clean up his toys or get something and bring it (when we use gestures), he uses his snack cup, loves his music table (even loads snacks into it himself and pushes it around the whole house so he can eat his snack while he plays!) and he even ate a banana out of the peel the other day.  He’s really becoming fun and interactive, a little buddy to have around as I go shopping or do things around the house.

Struggles: Temper tantrums when he wants something and we say no to it.  The need to get Elijah involved in some activities.  Not wanting to hold hands in settings where he needs to for safety.

Routine: Wakes up at 8 eats breakfast, plays till about 10:30.  10:30-11:30 I try to give him a table activity like coloring and spend time reading and coloring with him.  11:30-12:00 lunch.  12-1 play, sometimes some Curious George.  1-4 nap 4 – snack, blanket time, play 5 Curious Goerge if he didn’t watch before while I cook dinner.  5:30 Jeyson arrives and they play together.  6-7 dinner 7-7:30 bath, books, 7:30 bed

Don't want to forget these little things

This boy...what's he not up to these days?

He's all about coming with his own ideas these days...like putting dad's hat on while "mopping" the garage!

Here's what life is like on a typical morning:

Breakfast going great....he always STUFFS himself!

 And he's all about the point these days...he points at EVERYTHING!  Even at nothing in particular just to see what options might possibly be offered at him.

Then when I'm not looking....he sticks a piece of cheese on his head!

Where did this kid come from???

Then it's all about bringing me shoes.  He constantly does that because it's his signal that he wants to play outside.

So out we go...he can't get enough of this boy play

Into puddles...footie pj's and all!

He LOVES cars!  This jeep had to do some off-roading!

And then...when you least expect it....

He puts a garbage can on his head and is wielding a stick!!!

Ok...what can I do next??

 A minute later, he's into one of his other favorites...carrying things around under his chin! 

Not with the other pointing pics, but his is a very common pose for him...he bends his wrists and points with one finger on each hand...always making a "humm??" requesting sounds to go with it :)  

 It's these small things...I don't want to forget them :)

Elijah is 1 1/4

Phew!  Two months with no blogposts here...life has been INSANE!  I've barely been able to keep up with life and our ministry blog, much less a FUN blog!  But here we go again with a fresh start, starting with catching up on what Mr. E is up to.

I can not believe this guy just turned 1 1/4!  Where has the time gone?

After our stuff moved out I realized I had sent all my bowls and he had to have cereal out of a measuring cup!

Hair cut from Oma

New:  What isn't new??  Elijah is doing SO much more now than when he was just 1 year.  He is a full time walker now.  He still falls occasionally when there is a wet or uneven surface, but it's getting rarer these days.  He says "bye" and "night night" and "baba" (mama from what we can tell) and "dada" sometimes.  He doesn't yet respond to questions or commands (such as point to daddy or give me the comb) but he talks when he wants to.  Elijah give sweet kisses (again only when he wants to), always with a big mmmmmm sound effect.  He goes to sleep amazingly!  Lately we've put him in the crib with his frog blanket and he literally waves at us and says "bye"!  He also says bye with a funny accent...sounds like he has a southern drawl!  Since he doesn't say any words in Portuguese yet, he says bye in English to everyone and they think it's hilarious!  I even had a woman come up to me on the street and say that she works at a grocery store and heard Elijah saying bye to the cashier the other day! Elijah also loves to point.  He points at everything!  And often says "dat" or "dis" to go with it.  Does it mean "that" and "this"??? Not sure!  He signs more a lot, even when he doesn't need more food, but just wants to know if there are any other options out there :)  He also now has all 4 molars fully in.  He is also getting more cleaver and figuring things out...good and bad.  Recently he figured out he can stuff unwanted food into the side of his high chair!  Tonight though, it backfired.  He shoved his meat down there when we weren't looking.  Then, he tried a piece for the first time and realized he liked it.  So, he started trying to dig it out...not an easy task!

Personality: I can't tell you how many people tell us how happy and smiley and easy going Elijah is.  He really is quite a charmer and so flexible about who holds him and who he plays with.  He is a bit reserved though and often checks things out and looks at us for reassurance before diving in.  At home he can be a bit of a stinker at times, but what kid isn't?  

Routine:  Changes have been that we are now down to only one long afternoon nap which he takes great!  He sleeps from 1-4.  Also, he completely lost interest in nursing at 13 months, so we stopped.  It had become a struggle by the end.  I was a bit sentimental to stop but it was totally time for both of us and we're both enjoying the freedom it has brought.   We have also been doing some blanket time.  He can do about 15 minutes at a time but often gets in trouble for standing up.  If I was consistent to do it every day, I think we'd do better, but life is so crazy right now.  

Elijah loves to "sweep" and on moving day was trying to pack our broom in the truck the whole day!

 Struggles:  Elijah struggles a lot to play alone.  He gets bored easily and wants to be held, which can be really hard when we're busy.  He does great when there's someone to play with, especially another kid, but has a short attention span on his own.  I've recently discovered that he does much much better playing outside, so we spend more of the day in the yard area now, where he plays much better on his own.  I can sit and use the computer or whatever while he's playing.  He also winds up in time out (in the crib because sitting in a corner was not working since he would just leave!) at least once or twice a day or disobeying.  That might include hitting the computer or throwing food from the high chair even after we say no.  But he does seem to get out of time out with a sweet and changed spirit.

Moving day!

One other struggle over the past 10 days has been a horrible and nonstop case of diarrhea!  Not his fault  obviously, but he is on antibiotics now.  Oh and of course there was the hernia situation and surgery just a few weeks ago.

Also, Elijah HATES sitting in his carseat...it's a full out struggle to buckle him every time!  Once he's in though, he doesn't complain.

Playing in daddy's old beetle that is now for sale

Loves:  Petting, watching, and feeding Sam.  Elijah tries to bring Sam things all the time:  chapstick, coins, etc.  Sam actually lets him pet him sometimes so they're doing well!  Elijah also loves taking trips to the park, anything with wheels and making car noises to go with it, bouncing on Jeyson's stomach, and watching songs on youtube.

Well that's us for now!  Stay tuned more regular updates...I hope!

Mr. E Lately

Elijah is 13 months now and I"m giving myself a break from monthly pictures...getting way too tough.  I just wanted to note down a few new things he's doing lately so I don't forget:

- Taking steps - max 4 in a row and always on his terms (when he stands himself up and is in the mood).  It won't be long now!

- Consistently saying mamamama to me

- Pointing

- Signing "more" consistently

- Playing more purposefully with cars and making car noises, puzzles, putting shapes through holes etc 

- Two molars breaking through on the bottom

- He is also down to one long afternoon naps 1-4pm and it is going great!

- Overall I feel like we're arriving at the top of a long climb up and enjoying some of the rewards!  I just   love this boy!

Bath Time

When we head back to Brazil, we sure will miss bath time here in the US.  (It's very rare to find a house with a tub in Brazil...so it's showers for kids)

 It's been one of the fun highlights of our evenings to see Elijah splashing around having a great time!

Plus then I got to get lots of great embarrassing bath pictures for blackmail in the future :)

Elijah Wesley 1 Year!

Happy Birthday to Elijah!

On our other blog I posted the progression of Elijah growing over the past year, but here I want to add in a few notes of what he has been up to (though right now it's over a week past his birthday so there are a few things he has been doing now that he wasn't doing yet by his actual b-day)

New:  Playing more intentionally such as stacking, putting things into containers, etc, climbing very well up stairs or stairs of a small slide and going cautiously down, paying attention longer to dvds, standing up on his own (but only when he's not noticing - when he notices he gets nervous and sits and goes limp when I try to get him to do it again).  He has also recently has done a few things that have blown us away because he has initiated them completely on his own - blowing kisses and signing more.  He started blowing kisses to a group of our supporters when they were leaving and signing more to Danielle when eating cantaloupe.  I also noticed he seems to be saying mamamama around me lately.  I started to wonder if maybe he was trying to say my name.  Also lately he has been pointing a bit at things.  The other day Danielle asked Elijah where his mama is and he very distinctly pointed at me.  He repeated once and then wouldn't do it again.  In fact, all of these things he can do but he won't do them consistently and some he won't even repeat again at all.  It's almost as if he learned something but has to put it to the side to learn something else new and will come back to it.  This is also true of waving, signing all done, and a few other things.  It's really interesting.

Personality:  When I think of Elijah the adjectives that pop into my mind are: friendly, smiley, cautious, a bit loud and reserved at the same time, discoverer, squealer, mama's boy, a follower (follows older kids' leads), and silly

Routine:  Same as before but only nursing morning and evening.  He has switched to whole milk throughout the day due to his lack of interest in nursing during the day.  He is also recently starting to show the same lack of interest in nursing at night and even sometimes in the morning  so it looks like soon we may be all done.  I am following his lead in weaning and happy with how things are happening naturally and slowly.

Struggles:  Naps - 45 minute ones are still happening sometimes and a good nap is considered 1 hr and 15 or more.  It may be time to drop one.  Another struggle has been boredom.  He loves playing with others and seems to get bored just with me around the house.

Loves:  Stuffed animals and soft blankets, snacks, climbing, playing with other kids or adults, watching videos with music

This past year has been the most wonderful, exhausting, and fulfilling year of my life.  Happy Birthday sweet Elijah!

Halloween Fun

Is it too late for Halloween pictures?  I hope not!  Here's what we did.  We have a few trick-or-treaters come to our house and then we headed over to our church for a fall festival.  It was definitely more fun for Elijah than going door to door in the rain!

I loved this cute shark!

Elijah was dressed as a frog (borrowed the costume) but he was uncertain for quite a while at the event.

He loved playing with this sword that some kid left on the floor 

Elijah perked up a bit when he got to play a game where you picked a duck out of a pool of water.  He won a notepad :)

By the end he was happy and even stole and ate a brownie when we weren't looking!

And he LOVED the bouncy castle

Not big enough to do a sack race, but at least he matched the bag!

Well it wasn't the most exciting Halloween ever, but it's definitely the last we'll have for a while since we'll be overseas, so we lived it up...as much as you can with an 11 month old frog :)