more bad news from the ENT

Today we had our supposidly last appointment with the ear-nose-throat doctor, a year after Elias' ear tubes were put in.  At the last appointment he had a nasty ear infection and the left tube had come out, but he seemed recovered and I fully expected him to get a clean bill of health this time.  Not.  He said Elias still had fluid behind his eardrum that was stopping him from hearing well, and it wasn't going to go away by itself.  That, plus his heavy snoring and constantly runny nose, made him say that Elias needed followup surgery, to replace both ear tubes plus remove adenoid glands.  In general I am very much against any "ectomy"--God put stuff there for a reason, even if we don't know the reason.  Medical history is replete with examples of surgeons removing "useless" parts, only to discover later their important health role.  I talked to the ENT quite a while, then his nurse, and now am going through the literature.  I am convinced it will help him; I'm just not entirely sure it won't also hurt him in terms of immunological function.  We can use your prayers for a correct decision.

a burst of firsts

I am sooo tired...but wanted to brag a bit about Elias' afternoon before tomorrow's antics cause me to forget.

Elias attended his first concert:  Maennechor's German Christmas concert and diner.  A friend of ours is a member.  They were really good--the singers and Elias.  Elias was a bundle of energy, but was mostly contained at our table, and mostly not very loud.  J* especially helped entertain/watch him.  They may've thought he was crazy hyper, but I was very pleased at his good behavior--after all, I was asking a 2 year old to listen to a bunch of men sing for 2 hrs in German.  Into the 2nd set, though, I did take him out to play in the gym, because he started shouting out his own song request:  Jingle Bells.  He had a great time running and jumping around in there.  We rejoined our friends just before Father Christmas (decked out German style) made his grand appearance.  He stopped and blessed Elias, who then followed him up to the front.  He sat on his lap--his first Santa-sitting.  Elias wasn't talkitive, but did give a big smile when I said our private joke, "applesauce!"

We got home around his bedtime.  While changing into PJs he got that strange look on his face so I asked if he wanted to sit on the potty, and he said yes.  So he did.  THIS time, though, unlike the seemingly hundreds of other times, he actually pee'd in it!  First time!  Hooray!  He seemed pretty pleased at his achievement as well.  We called Nanna to tell her.  She asked if he was going to go in his potty tomorrow too, and he confidently said "Maybe."  It was so cute and funny, and the first time I heard him use that word.  I asked, "You're going to go in your potty tomorrow, maybe?"   "Maybe," he answered.  "And maybe not?"  "Maybe...maybe not."  I guess it's good we both have honest and reasonable expectations.

In getting ready for bed at last, he said something and for the first time I think used "am"-- like "I am all finished now."  Usually he says "I finished now."  I wish I could remember the sentence!  He sounded so grown up.  I am facinated by how well he grasps grammar, which is confusing to everyone at some level.  He always says "I" when referring to himself (it used to be "Elias," in the 3rd person), even though I mirror back "you."  Tonight he said he was "good" (as they teach him at daycare) but then immediately corrected himself and said "well" (as I always model for him when he asks how I am, although I've never corrected his "good").  The one thing I noticed him missing lately, is that sometimes he'll switch the word order for adjectives, so that "sock puppets" become "puppets sock."

[Addition:  I guess I *was* tired!  I fell asleep last night writing this so am just mailing it out now.]

little squirt

Last night I almost forgot to give Elias his Saturday night bath.  So it was late and I was pretty tired after a long week.  He, however, was full of energy and loved splashing around, pouring water over his head, and trying out his technique from swim class.  At one point he stopped, looked me dead in the eye, then spit a huge stream of water right in my face.  No, I didn't see it coming, and his aim was good; I was soaked.  At least I had changed into a tank top beforehand.

Winter Weekend

More often than not, I feel like I'm barely keeping my head above water as a mother.  The spirit is willing, but the body is weak, and the days are far too short.  Yesterday I felt like I was gaining ground just a bit, rather than treading water & sinking.  A good portion of the morning Elias was happy entertaining himself--a transition from his former extreme clinginess, for which I am very thankful.  In this case I got to sleep in then do 3 loads of laundry.  We drove into town to get my TB test read (negative), picked up some frozen dinners for the babysitter, then stopped for lunch at MacDonald's.  He was constantly moving like a, well, like an energetic 2 year old, but was generally well-behaved.  Going out with him no longer takes every last drop of energy I have.  We got home and he said he was sleepy and it was time for a nap(!).  While he napped I cleaned the kitchen and did a little winterizing outside, but when I came back in for some quiet time myself, he woke up. 

They've been reading about gingerbread men at daycare, so I decided to make some with Elias.  He loved rolling out the dough and especially pressing down the cookie cutter--preferably many times over the same cookies, so it was tricky rescuing intact cutouts.  He insisted on circle and dinosaur shapes as well, like one of his books has, so I improvised.  Elias liked dropping little cut-up pieces of dough all over the floor.  His offer of I clean up! while knocking the mop into walls and counters was well-intentioned but not very helpful.  When it came to cleaning up the huge collection of toys and books scattered in the livingroom, he was definitely not well-intentioned.  He ignored me or blatantly refused to help clean up, resulting in about 5 rounds of "time out" in his room and a few times of me moving books not back to the bookshelf or wndowseat, but instead to the mantle where he can see them but can't reach them, eliciting mini-tantrums each time.  Eventually the livingroom got picked up and no one was hurt:  point scored for Mommy.  Then I vacuumed, and Elias was brave in the face of that scariest of all noises.  Because of his waning interest, we didn't end up decorating the gingerbread cookies, but that was OK.  We read books and colored and had a nice dinner and generally enjoyed each other.  When he went down to sleep at what is becoming his new bedtime, 8pm, I frosted the cookies and checked email, where I discovered a few preview pictures from our photo session last weekend.  Didn't quite get to ordering Christmas cards, though.

Today didn't seem nearly as successful:  reversion towards the mean.  I felt tired out and lazy and uncreative from the start.  Looking back now, though, it wasn't too bad.  Elias enjoyed going to Sunday School, and afterwards he played outside while I finally got his carseat to give up some slack so the poor kid can get circulation to his legs now that he's wearing winter clothes.  I'm surprised how willing he is to wear mittens (unlike his mom.)  Anyway, I also packed up a big box of 18month-sized clothes to donate to church and got him to help clean up the livingroom a couple times without all the drama of yesterday.  He rocked to his CDs (he turns the volume all the way up).  He was getting whiney when I started making dinner so I let him help, which he really enjoyed, saying I help Mommy!  I help dinner.  I taste!  It made him more eager to eat it afterwards, too, I think (spicy Thai chicken with grean beans and noodles, cooked in coconut milk).  I gave him a bubble bath, then we talked on the phone with Nanna and Pappa.  Then after several books he said it was time for bed.

Tomorrow it's back to work.  With only 2 weeks left before we leave for Christmas vacation it's sure to be very busy...yet compared to tending a 2 year old, I expect it will feel relatively relaxing.

EIEIO

Elias sings a lot now.  My favorite (mostly because I can recognize it) is Old MacDonald.  Farms in Elias World are populated with cows and chickens...and lions, tigers, puffins, coyotes, sea lions, and the occasional mommy and semi circle.  (Mommies kiss, but the semi-circle had me stumped.)  Lately it's been more challenging for me, since he started added descriptors to the animals--one bird or a big bear--and wants me to repeat it exactly during the song.

Along with EIEIO he also spells out ELIAS with a little help, and then shouts out his full name.  He also spells ACTION along with his "Kids in Action" CD.

weekend ends

This has been such a great weekend with Elias.  He's been so endearing and entertaining and active.  His language is exploding along with his exploring and making sense of teh world.  His ability to learn new things and memory is simply amazing.  I recognize my own mental processes have slowed considerably over the last 15 years or so, but it's hard to believe I was ever like that.

Elias' speech is getting clearer.  He loves yelling out his entire name:  Elias Daniel! AshenAFI! ****!  He's also pretty pleased that he learned how to say "banana" tonight (rather than "nana.")  "Computer" is now "pooter" rather than "abu."  I still like "burrito," though:  "bee-doe."

He has some definite favorites. 

Chickens:  the rooster, Verdi.  Incidentially, he's the least favorite of all of my friends.

Shapes:  a semicircle.  He'll often nibble off 1/2 a cookie and hold it up, declaring semicircle!

Treats:  He loves vitamin D's, and now daily requests them by color:  White D?  Red D?

Body parts:  elbow

Song:  "The Bear Hunt"--a partcipatory song/story, part of the "Kids in Action" CD

Food:  green beans or cookies.  More often than not, when we get home he immediately starts begging for beans, then carries the can lovingly from garage to kitchen, where he fishes out the can opener and follows me around asking me to open it:  Beans!  Mommy cut?  He eats the whole can at a sitting, then sucks out any liquid at the bottom of the bowl:  I drink bean juice!

I cut my thumb pretty badly tonight and have it all wrapped up.  When reading books with Elias I warned him that Mommy has a hurt thumb, so be very gentle.  He immediately became very concerned and upset.  He showed me one of his fingers he said hurt, too.  Mommy owie? I'm sorry Mommy!  Thank you, welcome, Mommy.  (He often crowds all his "polite" words together for emphasis.)  He kept stroking it, asking if it hurt.  It's sad to think how our hearts get hardened as we grow up.  For now he's still blessedly compassionate.

a traditional black Friday

In some families Black Friday is a day of fighting early morning crowds for me-too "bargains" at the mall. For me, the day after Thanksgiving always recalls a wonderful family time with various cousins' families at my grandparents' house (now, "the cabin") in remote northern California. We enjoy a big breakfast to satisfy stomachs stretched out the night before, then, in our caravan of pickups, drive to the national forest to cut Christmas trees. (All perfectly legal: permits are only a couple of bucks.) We hope for a little snow at the higher elevation--just not rain. We traipse through the woods looking for one that is just right (and invariably too big), cut it down, lash it to the truck, and drive back for turkey sandwiches. Rampant materialism and daily worries are worlds away. Even though I've not gotten to participate in this tradition since moving away, I still cling to it, and typically hole up alone, hiding, that Friday. Today is perhaps as close as I've gotten to a "proper" day-after-Thanksgiving in almost 2 decades.

Elias let me sleep in, happily watching PBS Kids and playing with his new truck. After breakfast he spotted the next door horses out the window and proclaimed "I clean up!" and hurried about, picking up the many toys and books scattered about the living room. This was to butter me up so we could go outside. So we got coats and shoes on. As we were leaving he ran back in and grabbed the bag of carrots in the kitchen for the horses. I let him bring one carrot, supplemented with apple peels from breakfast and some aging celery. He was so cute running over to the pasture with the carrot held out in front. Unusually, though, the horses kept their distance, even the big brown one Elias calls "Happy." We got a few to approach within vegetable tossing distance, and one took a tentative bite of the carrot I held out. When I held Elias up with the carrot I discovered the problem--as the horse took a bite, my arm protecting Elias' connected with the newly-electrified top wire. I got quite a jolt, and from his response, apparently the horse did too, and took off running. Elias didn't understand why they were rejecting his offers and wanted to follow, now picking grass for them (since apparently carrots weren't working). I distracted him by suggesting we walk across the cornfield to check out the tractor parked in the distance. It was a nice, sunny, crisp day and he liked stomping though small puddles which had iced over overnight. After admiring the huge tires on the tractor and a giant abandoned pumpkin, we set off back, Elias forging his way through high weeds at the edge of the cornfield and I following. He suddenly plopped down on his back on a bunch of fluffy dried grass and invited me to join him "I lie down...Mommy lie down?" So we lay there on our backs, pointing out clouds and neat looking plants, and generally enjoying nature. We did that a couple times on the way back. He wanted to visit the mailbox, his thinly-veiled excuse to watch cars whiz by, and was duly rewarded by a couple of fast trucks "Whooooooaaaaaa!!!" Then we played catch and some basketball (he yells "Yea! Mommy!" and claps when I make a basket), and let the chickens out and gave them some corn. What a great morning. I pity the clueless, stressed out masses at the mall--this is what the day after Thanksgiving should be.

fall photos

We got a great, early Christmas present from Auntie Te: a photo session. However, when the photographer cancelled at the last minute last week, I decided to go ahead and do our own photo session at the small farm of a dear couple we know. He looks so grown up!

'Dillo empathy

Tonight Elias & I were reading one of my very favorite books: _But Not the Hippopotamus_ by Sandra Boynton. A hog and a frog do a dance in a bog...but not the hippopotamus. It goes on and on like that, the shy hippo just silently observing from afar while all the other animals are out having fun. At the very end they invite her to join them, and joyfully, she does (!)...but not the armadillo. At this point Elias fell silent and studied the armadillo. "Sad," he said, touching the picture. He thought a bit more and said "I hug," and put his cheek down on the book, cradling it. Awww! Then he offered me the book, "Mommy hug?" so I gave the poor armadillo a hug too.

Odds & Ends

I got back from my LONG (well, 2 day) business trip on Friday night, so Elias and I have been spending extra close cuddle time together this weekend. It seems he talks so much more now, although I'm not as good at understanding him as I wish. I find quite often that he is just reciting lines from one of his books or a song. Some common ones that I did figure out:

• "Bob's tea" (left at home when Bob the Builder went to his work site.)
• "Oh, Corduroy! Why didn't [you wait for me? I went looking for a] pocket!"
• "Check out this cool creature." (an alpine salamander)
• "A new fish bowl? No, couldn't be!"

Elias corrected my grammar today. I don't remember the direct object, but the conversation was along the lines of: Elias--I eat carrot. Me--Maybe you can eat two carrot. Elias--Two carrots (looking at me and emphasizing the 'S').

Yesterday I asked him how many horses he saw in the field beside our house, and he counted all the way to 20! Pretty neat...even if there are only six horses. I partially heard a radio program that same day that said kids don't really get the concept of numbers beyond 1, 2, and "many" until about 3.5 years old. Today he counted--or, rather, recited to 12 in Spanish.

Elias loves looking at pictures and video clips of himself on "Abu," his name for my laptop computer. I showed him what button to push to replay them, and he'll sit there watching them over and over, his face lit up with joy as he relives memories of his not-so-long-ago past. His favorites are "pool," "park" and "hokey pokey" (all on YouTube--search on "utubecarrie").

Despite the early false start, I backed off working on potty training. He's interested in the whole potty training issue, but I don't think he realizes what his body's doing yet. He sits on his potty, and tells me more often now when he has poopy diapers--but then immediately denies it, because he hates being changed--but he is quite often mistaken. Recently I was sitting in the living room and he asked me if I had to go potty. When I said no, he ran behind me, pulled out my waistband to peer down, and declared "Mommy no poopy."--so apparently they don't believe him when he denies it at daycare, either.

When he wants me to do something for him he often comes up to me saying "please; thank you. Please; thank you, Mommy." Today he sneezed and said "bless you!" It's soo cute with that little high-pitched voice.

Song & Dance

Elias has always loved music. Poor kid, he landed in a household without much music: my only "sound system" is an old under-the-counter radio in the kitchen, if you don't count my laptop, and that's usually tuned to NPR. I am in the market now for a cheap iPod to use with the speaker dock I bought, to try to satisfy some of his musical longings. I have hopes of him being a great cello player, actually. (No, Pappa, not drums--cello.) Plus, each night I still sing what songs I know to him just before bed. Despite his love of listening to music, he has only recently begun to sing, himself. Quite often now he'll request songs by name, or just start singing them, breaking off with "Mommy--sing? Mommy sing?" if I don't catch on right away. Dancing, however, was a participatory thing for him from the start. A favorite now is "Hokey Pokey." He'll bait people to start it with him by squaring up in front of them then taking 1/2 a giant step while saying "foot--out? One foot out?"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KWeoYfSDgrs

Halloween

We survived Halloween. It was fun, yes, but also a test of endurance. It was one of only about 3 days that Elias had ever skipped his nap, despite all attempts. I had basically invited us over to friends' house since they live in a nice neighborhood and have a daughter just a little older than Elias. First we all marched in the neighborhood parade, finished by hot cocoa and homemade cookies. Then we went back to their house and I played with the 4 kids downstairs while E made a nice dinner. Elias was in heaven, playing with their Thomas the Train toys. The last several weeks he's been obsessive about Thomas& Friends (AKA "Percy"), begging constantly for our video and/or books. He didn't want to abandon his new-found Thomas delights for dinner. He screamed, he wailed, he bounced up and down, he went limp. It was his biggest tantrum EVER. We "timed out" in the bathroom to try to muffle the noise, but every time he'd get himself under control we'd go out, he'd ask for trains, I'd say no, and we were right back into tantrum mode. That pretty much went on until it was time to suit up again and try trick-or-treating. Sorry, Paulsens!

A nighttime walk in a strange, decorated neighborhood with hundreds of costumed kids roaming the streets can distract someone even from Thomas. I suspect he didn't really know what people were giving him (he doesn't get much candy), but he certainly enjoyed traipsing around with the gang, trying to keep up with the big kids. The second house we came to was un-manned, with only a bowl of candy on the porch. Elias quite naturally took the candy in his bag he'd gotten from the first house, and started to put it in the bowl--aw, my little Robin Hood. He did get the hang if it, strange as it is, and had a lot of fun. He got tons of complements on his costume--one car packed with teenagers even stopped and all inside oohed and aahhed, and declared him the costume winner of the night. With all the stairs in that neighborhood, and the missed nap, and the crying, we were both pretty tired after a couple blocks, and parted company for home. He slept in an hour later than normal (2, really, considering DST) and we both took very long, deep naps today.

rough blessed day

Yesterday was a trialing day, but in unusual ways. Also, it was somehow surprisingly non-stressful. God gives strength for what needs to be done. Too, it was just so nice to be back with Elias after a day away on a business trip to Indianapolis.

The day started early, around 12:30 am when I finally returned from our marathon trip (12 hours crammed in a van with 5 men, for a 6-hour meeting with the big guns at a big company). I didn't wake him up when I got in, but did stroke him a little, and was glad to hear his wheezing seemed a little better. Elias was so glad to see me when he did wake a mere 5 hrs later, which was heartwarming. I must've looked really bad, for Elias even paused in the midst of his normal dash towards the TV for his morning video, to turn, point at me and say "Mommy tired!" Yes, indeed. Work was long & hectic, again, and I was really hungry & tired afterwards. I opted for spaghetti with (dare I say?) canned sauce for dinner. Well, I added hamburger and fresh tomatoes, but still I felt uneasy, if not quite guilty, for not making "real" sauce. But then, it was really good! We both ate lots. But then poor Elias threw up! Well, I'd planned a bath for him anyway, so it was straight off to the tub. It was there I discovered that the house didn't have water. There was enough to finish the bath, but just barely. (Elias spent most of it laying down to get maximal water coverage!) When going to bed he liked saying "God keeps us safe!" with me--his Sunday school message this month. Then it was house stuff again. I'd never before considered the difficulties of cleaning up vomit without any water. Despite some father-led troubleshooting I couldn't find the problem, and it was far too late for a service call. With Elias asleep I went out into the windy, rainy night trying to catch enough water out of my too-low, plant-covered rain spouts for some minimal personal hygiene and be able to flush toilets, until I didn't CARE if I had water anymore, and went to bed. It was nice to have Elias soundly sleeping in the next room (hardly wheezing at all), while I read some Scripture and snuggled down in my warm flannel sheets. It's nice to sleep when it's stormy out.

P.S.-- Elias' repiratory problems are mostly over today, I'm starting to catch up a bit on sleep, and someone came out to replace a bunch of electrical stuff for my well this morning, so we've got water inside the house now too.

O, those boundaries

Today I got another one of those notes from daycare, that Elias "had a hard time listening today." This time he refused to clean up a toy to the extent that he didn't get to make cookies with the rest of his class--harsh!...but I'm glad they stick to their guns. He's got to learn that he doesn't dictate the rules, and there are consequences to his choices. We encountered a similar situation when we got home. He asked for his Thomas video ("choo-choo train?"), and I said if we clean up the living room then we can watch Thomas the train. He worked through around 1/3 of the books while I tackled the blocks, but then he lost interest and decided to climb on Mommy and the couch instead. He adamantly refused to pick up his books...so I picked them up myself but put them on the mantle when he can't get them. Last time that worked really well. This time he didn't seem to care as much, but still ended up running crying down the hall rather than clean up. I counted that as a marginal victory. Then when making dinner he brought me the phone wanting me to pretend to talk in it, but when I didn't he dropped it on the floor. I asked him to pick it up and he ignored me. I asked again (I'm not supposed to do that), and he said no. So--off to his room! He cried; I went back to making dinner. Soon he finished crying and came out, running to me, smiling, and we hugged. I asked if he was going to put the phone back and he ran right over and did it, eagerly even. Yea! This stuff is hard for both of us at the time, but wow, it seems we both know it's the best thing. I think he does feel more secure and in control when he figures out the rules. Actually, I'd be worried if he didn't test boundaries. I know I'm not as strict or consistent as I should be, but I'm working on it--and Elias is providing more and more opportunities for practice.

catch up

Blog entries are the offspring of inspiration and opportunity, which for me have not been coinciding. It's been a month now. Elias has done so many blogable feats, but of course now I'm having trouble recalling them. Alas, that's a prime reason I do this: to try to capture in some shadowy way those magical moments that would otherwise slip through my poor memory. Here's a few snipets I recall.

A couple wees ago he was counting like he often does, methodically pointing at objects and saying "one..twwoo...three..." when he shocked me by switching to Spanish! In the same measured way he counted all the way to 10 in Spanish, with darned good pronounciation, too. I guess he IS learning something at those Spanish lessons in daycare. Today I heard him count to 17 (he kept pointing to reach 20, but the pronounciation pretty much deteriorated to be unrecognizable.)

The floor in Elias' room is covered with those foam puzzle pieces with letters, numbers and shapes. I love it when he takes out a letter, holds it up and says "uh-oh, S!" or "Uh-oh, I!" Then inevitably he asks for help putting it back, then I say "no, you can do that yourself," then after some fiddling he does, and proudly proclaims "I did that!"

He asks for most book by either title or the opening few key words. For some of them he enjoys reading key phrases along with me. He often comments on the story or pictures.

It's been really hard to take pictures of Elias because he always rushes over to me, either for myself or (more often) to look at himself on the preview screen on the camera. Lately though he's been cutting me some slack. When he sees the camera now he yells "smile!" and stands in front for about 5 seconds...then runs around to look at the results on the back of the camera. I took a couple pictures of him by our pumpkin, so last time when the camera came out to capture his dragon Halloween costume he rushed over to it "Elias--pumpkin sit?"

Over the last month or so for the first time Elias' daily notes from daycare don't always read glowingly "I had a good day today," but sometimes say things like "I had a hard time listening today." Hm. Yea. Well, yes, he's 2. Really, though he's still pretty amazingly "good." His trials nowadays seem mostly to be frustration at not being able to do what he wants and/or be able to verbalize it. For example, tonight he was hungry and mad that I was making dinner rather than reading him a book, and stood in the kitchen, screaming. I told him Mommy was making dinner, and he could go cry in his room if he wanted. After pausing a moment to take that in and catch his breath, he did a crisp military turn and went to his room, where he continued wailing. A little while later he wandered back in, all tear-streaked but calm. I gave him a hug and he said "All done crying now Mommy." Awww! And by then dinner was ready so everyone was happy.

Jokes and Serious Fun

Elias has started telling jokes. They're very much insider jokes, consisting of a question then affirmation of something blatantly untrue. Now that I think of it, that's very much akin to some of my jokes ("How much was the offer? But Aova is worth a kaJILLion dollars!") His first was:

• Elias: "I go outside?" while one of us was still in PJ's--obviously NOT going to happen.
• Me: "Nooo, you're not going outside now." Smiling, but with you-should-know-better tone.
• Elias: "I go outside!" followed by lots of laughter.
  

He still uses that one to good effect. Sometimes the initial question is serious, and sometimes it's just a lead-in to his punchline. Last week he came up with another when he was eating an apple at Ski Hi orchard with Nanna and I:

• Elias, holding up his apple: "Applesauce?"
• Me: "Nooo, that's not applesauce; it's an apple!" (He knows very well the difference.)
• Elias: "Applesauce!" HaHaHaaHaHaaHa!
  
  

Now he'll just come up to you randomly with that spark in his eye and either ask or yell "applesauce" and crack up laughing. I used this to good effect at the photographers' last week, when I just said "applesauce!" whenever I wanted him to laugh. Here's one of the resulting photos.

Although now he is quite expressive and even giggly, Elias seemed rather stoic until he was about a year and a half old. Especially as an infant, he was very reserved, giving the impression that he was just observing everything, to be thoroughly processed and mulled over, and brought to bear at some appropriate time in the future. This came through again last week at the zoo, when for the first time we rode the train. He loves trains, and was so excited, the waiting made worse by the fact that we didn't quite make it on the first train ride, so had to wait the entire cycle first in line for the next round. He fluctuated between eager pointing and frustrated whining. However, once we got on it his face went blank, eyes wide and mouth drooped open, despite any encouragement from the conductor or us. It was like he was so intent on taking it all in, there was no energy to reflect back out--a little black hole of experiential pleasure. Someone else would probably misjudge that he was bored or clueless, but I knew it was just the opposite--Oh, how he loved that train. Right after that he rode the carousel, and had some of that look too, but not like the train. I'll have to make it a point of riding that each time we get the chance.

Happy New Year

Happy Ethiopian New Year!

11Sep2009 over here is actually 01Meskerem2002 in Ethiopia. It sorta "sneaked" up on me but I did make some doro wat (chicken stew) and lentils last night using some of the spice I brought back from Ethiopia. I did not try serving it with the (northern) staple of injera (pancakes)--having learned from my past failures--but rotini noodles stood in just fine. Elias thought it OK, but much prefers black olives and green beans.

Tonight we had the pleasure of attending the Madison Ethiopian community's celebration. True to form, it featured lots and lots of very tasty, very traditional ET food (along with American additions like spaghetti, popsicles, and cake) and music. Many people wore traditional dress. Like always, I was struck by their hospitality and love of children. I met several new people in the process of adopting. We danced at the end. I even love how they dance: Not terribly active overall but with a lot of shoulder work. Elias not only did his traditional ET dancing, but, encouraged by some new friends, added a lot of arm waving and stretches of the "hokey-pokey."


Here's a picture early on, of Elias absconding with someone's stroller, about to run into Almaz, a wonderful, grandmotherly Ethiopian whom we see at each event. Here's also a link to a slideshow someone posted of the event: http://bluenileimages.com/images/eslide/index.html

It was at a beautiful park I hadn't been to before, right on the lake. It's right across the street from the big Middleton park we normally go to, so I assumed it was that one. After finding a place to park and trekking over to the shelter, already 1/2 hr late, I found it was reserved for a Pagan festival. Urgh: crowds of tattooed, unkempt, unfriendly, scary-looking people sitting cross-legged in weird T-shirts, hawking incense and chanting "balance to you!" I asked a very large bearded man with a "STAFF" shirt and a gadget belt like Batman if he knew anything about an Ethiopian New Years party and he begrudgedly told me only that they had the place til 10pm. Then finally I spotted two Ethiopian women and a girl arrive who looked just as confused as I, so we stuck together. One of them had a cell phone and called around, speaking in Amharic, until finding someone who knew where it really was. We went back to our cars, and I followed them to the right celebration. What a contrast. The pagan "celebrants" just seemed lost, insecure and lonely; the Ethiopian celebration across the street was joyous, welcoming, natural, unified, confident, safe, and fun.

Ahead of me again

How wonderful to be continually, delightfully surprised by my son's personality and development. Two years old is really the best age yet!

Today was a day of readjustment after Grandma's visit. He seems to have bounced back to an even more exuberant version of his "normal" self. His whole body just lit up when I picked him up from daycare. Immediately upon coming home he asked for chalk--orange chalk--and ran to where his name was written on the driveway, and cried "E!" and tried to trace over it, then "S!" and tried to trace that! His literary achievements are being hampered by still-developing motor skills. Today's daycare sheet said "I had a very good first day back! I surprised my teachers by pulling down my pants and sitting on the potty!" Wow--and surprised Mommy too! Since he's been telling me when he "has poop" for a week now, I have started looking into buying a potty and getting a potty training book, but haven't done it yet. This is just like Elias: always just a couple weeks ahead of me. This happened with the alphabet, and counting, and now potty training and I might even say writing. Genius!

It was wonderful having my mom come visit for a week, but Elias was challenging at times. We were both sick, me with that cough and Elias with an icky, runny ear infection (which, in a reversal of the normal order, I gave to him.) Elias was additionally discombobulated by the increased flexibility of our vacation schedule. His sleeping schedule was all messed up and he didn't eat as much as usual. He clung to the familiarity of his library, insisting either Mom or me read to him ALL the time. He also had a quasi-meltdown in a fabric store. Still, with the 3 of us, we did so much more than we had before, in terms of going out to eat, out to other places, and riding a long time in the car. He especially liked riding on the train at the zoo.

Horrible & Spectacular

As motherhood goes, yesterday was simply horrible and today was spectacular. Friday night and until about 3:30am I spent vomiting, apparently with a bad case of food poisoning, along with chills and muscle aches. The only other time I was so sick was a similar episode my very first night with Elias, in Ethiopia. Like then, my physical misery was compounded by the emotional anguish of worrying that I was utterly incapable of caring for my baby. I felt very alone and helpless. (Amazingly, both times Elias slept soundly through the whole ordeal. How anyone could sleep through that happening just a few feet away is completely beyond me--perhaps God put him into that same deep sleep that got Adam through ribcage surgery.) Come morning, with my GI tract completely cleared out, I no longer felt poisoned, but was very weak and trembly. I was disappointed I had to cancel grand plans to go to the Sun Prairie Corn Festival and maybe Farmers' Market. Elias was his normal, healthy, happy, active self. I was able to spend a good hunk of the morning in bed, between diaper changes, getting him food, and restarting his blessed Elmo video. Still, he was constantly checking in/jumping on me. When I drug myself to the couch for some "quiet" reading time he was just a sqirmy hyper whirlwind climbing all over me, which was oh-so-painful. It was like he had a pathological drive to jam his toes and knees into my legs, backed by his full 30lbs. I tried to fend him off, but he had the advantage of boundless energy and pure motives, for really he was just happy & excited to be with me, such as I was. How could I scold him for that? Once again, I wouldn't've been able to cope with a less perfect child, for I'm not sure how I could've handled bad behavior, whining or crying. After a long-but-not-long-enough nap, a friend from IL came to visit, which got me through the rest of the day. I and the house were a mess, but I was too thankful for the company and help with Elias to be too embarrassed. We even went to Hubbard Street Diner for dinner where I was finally able to eat something.

What a difference a new day and 10 hours of sleep can make! I woke up much stronger today, although still queasy around food. We made it to church, then spent an hour at a park. He has largely abandoned the "2 to 5 year old" playground equipment in favor of the "big kid" structure. It makes me a little nervous because he climbs up far beyond my reach, but he really likes the challenge and the faster slides. He took a nap just long enough for me to mow the lawn; when I came back inside he was clapping for me. We wrestled a little, cleaned up a little, and talked a lot. He's still outpacing me in adding new words and partial sentences while I'm trying to understand them. Then I decided that I was up for our first trip to the pool. I logged on to my laptop to look up info on it, and Elias was immediately there, asking to see pictures of himself. So we viewed pictures from June and July, which he loved, pointing out people he knows. Then it was snacktime and off to our first pool experience. We encountered some friends there, who helped us learn the ropes. Elias was very reluctant at first. I had finally cajoled/pushed him to wade a little in the "zero-depth" pool when they called a 10 minute "safety break," when all the kids have to leave the pool. Of course, then he wanted to go in, and it was all I could do to keep him on dry land. I told him we had to wait until the other kids went back in, and when he saw them go in, he immediately started off as well. We waded out until the water was up to his chest. Then he started kicking off and bending at the waist so he was underwater with his butt up, then bobbing back up to take a breath, all giggly! Twice I put him up on my shoulders and he "jumped" off into (and under) the water. He went underwater intentionally many, many times but never sputtered like he'd inhaled any, and always came up laughing. He had a blast, and it was a joy to be with him. After just a little while, though, he started to get really cold and said "all done," so we came out. He was really cold, even though I was OK. I wrapped him in a towel and just held him close for a long time while his shivering died down, at which point he declared "home," and we left. We made detours, though, to those same friends' house to get lots of fresh corn (they had gone to the corn festival), and the grocery store mainly to get bedtime milk (where he was exceptionally good, even though still wet and around dinnertime). After dinner, we read books for nearly an hour straight. He still carefully selects each one, but now often "reads" key phrases to me, having memorized them all. What is that myth about toddlers' attention span? Tonight, like virtually always, it is me, not him, who insists on stopping reading. I was yawning and Elias declared me "tired." Yes, indeed. He had his milk, I sang a couple songs, and he went to sleep without a whimper. Then I got to clean the kitchen (sooo much better now), do 2 loads of laundry, and make a taco salad for tomorrow. Ah, life restored.

A few other tidbits:

• Elias has discovered pockets. Today I felt something hard in his jeans and pulled out a bunch of crayons, which apparently he'd swiped from daycare. I let him put them back in there to hide.
• In a related story, only about 1/2 hour later I discovered him happily and exuberantly drawing large circles in brown crayon on the dining room walls. I said "No drawing on walls!" and he broke into tears. He didn't get that crayon back. I'd wondered when my first drawing-on-the-walls episode would happen. Apparently, though, it happened 2 or 3 days ago, as I just discovered another area of green marker on the living room wall (and had noticed guilty green hands and a missing marker 2 or 3 days ago).
• I think his favorite number is 2. He likes grabbing pairs of things and declaring "Twwwo!" He counts to 10...well, without using 7. Well, who needs 7, anyway?
• He kept yelling "you! you!" at mealtime one day, holding up a slice of hotdog. Then I saw that he had eaten out the center, so indeed it was shaped just like a U. I turned it on its side, and then we celebrated the new-found "C."
• He has now turned his attention to learning "little" (lower-case) letters. He renewed his interest in his Seuss ABC book but now carefully points out and identifies the little letters in particular. Again, this is entirely self-driven; I just do capitals. I have mentioned he's a genius, right?

sick, bleh.

Here's a cheery start for a blog: I just spent the last hour or so vomiting up all vestiges of my dinner. Thankfully, Elias is sleeping peacefully. I guess I'm glad now that he didn't eat much of my cassarole at dinner, if that's what it was. Ugh. I'm hoping a few Cheerios will calm things down so I can go to bed. In the meantime, though, it's good to stay upright and think about better things...like Elias!

This morning when having his diaper changed he informed me that was "poo" and his diaper was "poopy." That must be another daycare word, since I don't say that. Recognition is the first step to potty training!

This evening he was upset that I made him come in for dinner after playing outside, and showed his frustration by whining then throwing his sippycup of milk across the room. (He might be the best baby in the world, but he's still mortal, after all.) Well, that called for a timeout in his room, where he stood and really cried for about 1/2 a minute, then abruptly stopped. So I led him back out, and he went over to the sippycup and declared "mess." He picked up the sippycup and gave it to me, I gave him a paper towel, and he went back over to the couple drops of milk on the floor and wiped them up. Awww...so good-natured and cute!

Birthday

Today is Elias' second birthday. I was actually sort of sad last night, thinking he's no longer my little baby. It's weird missing someone who's right there, and who is ever more wonderful as he grows up. Part of it surely was exhaustion from the party.

We celebrated the big 2 with a party. We hosted our new neighbors, a family from daycare, his babysitters, and some little-seen visitors, as well as the usual cohort, for about 15 adults and maybe 10 kids. I don't think he really knew it was for him (and, really, it was more for me, in celebration of him.) However, he liked singing happy birthday and his Elmo cake, lots of helium balloons, and the general chaos. He succeeded in blowing out one of the candles (the other just wouldn't go out despite lots of huffing and puffing.) The kids enjoyed playing in the water via sprinkler, pool, and hose, and some adults joined in for frisbe and laddergolf. It got better as the evening went on, especially when the cake and food were over, shyness was overcome, it cooled off a bit, and everyone could just kick back and visit and relax.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mx2DMbH3Cy8

Afterwards people were really nice about helping clean up, which was especially appreciated since I was sooo sore and tired! I ached everywhere and between general exhaustion, my broken toe and nerve pain radiating down my leg, I could barely walk at all. I was really a pitiful, old, fat mess, but I don't think Elias noticed at all.

Birthday week excerpts

Elias' vocabulary is taking off and he's constantly surprising me with new words--several a day I recognize (and who knows how many that he earnestly says, but I can't recognize.) The thing that gets me the most is when he uses words or refers to things that he hasn't heard/seen/done in months. For example, it took a long time before I figured out "road-toe-tata", until he finally pointed out my rototiller stashed away in the garage. I didn't know I'd ever said that in front of him, at least not since spring, and why would it come up in daycare? He also identifies people by name whom he hasn't seen in weeks, even though before he didn't use their names.

Here's some phrases that I remember from this week.

"I go outside." As he picks up a favorite toy and heads over to the door. I love the high-pitched, confident voice and clipped, distinct syllables.

"Icky!" as he investigates the windowsill above my bed and discovers a dead fly. He immediately went over to the tissue box, got a tissue, and went back over to pick up the fly with it, then give the whole thing to me, declaring again "icky." Sorry my housekeeping isn't up to his standards, but really I'm blaming lots of it on him.

"I know my ABC's!" chanted again and again after finishing the alphabet song, usually said while laughing and shaking his head back and forth, acting proud and silly. He DOES know them, too!

"Song! Song!" requested each night before bed, and oftentimes throughout the day anytime we both sit down. Unfortunately, he often has a particular song in mind, and shakes his head and says "no" at the begining of about 70% of the songs I try. He often requests by name of the song, but aside from "Row row [your boat]" and "ABCs," I can't tell what he's saying. On some songs he likes suggesting the next verse (like "beep-beep" for Wheels on the Bus and "cow" for Old MacDonald.)

Just Saturday

With the help of an Elmo video this morning, Elias (mostly) let me sleep in until a luxurious 7am, after a very tiring week. It was dark and rainy all morning, perhaps contributing to my sleepiness and Elias' general whiney mood. He kept insisting on being read to and even when I did, that wasn't good enough--he apparently wanted me to read multiple books at once to him. Much of the time was spent downstairs where I was doing laundry and getting ready for his birthday party in a week. I also wrapped his present and unwrapped the one from Grandma & Pappa, from Christmas--a tricycle. He was very impatient during the assembly. Let me attest that it is very difficult to put one of those together with an injured index finger and an energetic, easily frustrated 2yr old climbing all over you and constantly trying to ride it. It finally got together though. He still quite can't reach the pedals, but likes scooting it around.

One great thing this morning was that for the first time he let me know that he wanted me to change his diaper! I couldn't understand the words he used, but I got the gist of it, and unlike virtually every other time in which he cries and squirms, he laid there quietly while I took care of (his) business. It's good that he's showing the first signs of being ready for potty training, but *I'm* certainly not ready. Pretty clueless, actually. I also wish he had a male role model in this respect. I don't exactly feel comfortable asking any of my men friends "hey, do you think you could pee in front of my son?"

Elias was eager for his nap today, and slept over 3 hours! I myself slept deeply about half of that, before rousing myself for some housework. Hope he's not getting sick. However, he was in a much better mood this afternoon, although the weather had turned hot and muggy. We played outside a little. I tried to take pictures but met the usual obstacle that he rushes to my side of the camera when he sees it, asking to look at pictures of himself. I resorted to holding him and pointing the camera from arm's length back in his general direction; some of those actually look OK. I lament that I can't better record his antics before he grows out of them; I just have to do what I can. Here's a couple YouTube clips from today.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vuoe0L2XtYM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z9G6vewu5s0

one of those days

I woke up sick, with Elias crying. I've been struggling with a cold or mild flu the last few days, but it slammed me today. More, my great fear was realized: "the cough" is back after a respite of a couple months. This is a nasty cough that started in April 2008, and plagued me most of the time since then, stumping a whole slew of doctors. It's gotten so bad that I couldn't catch my breath such that I had to rush to urgent care, and a year ago it jarred a disk in my back out of place, essentially crippling me in probably the worst physical pain I've ever experienced (while still having an infant to care for). I'm relating this to give weight to my claim that this "simple" cold scares me. Yet, life goes on. Elias was uncharacteristically crying because he'd soaked through his super overnight Huggies, and top & bottom pajamas, and sheets. Ugh. On the way to work I missed my offramp. Over lunch I looked down and discovered this:

I had a busy day at work--fortunately, busy doing things, not needing to think much. By 4pm I called it quits. On the way home I stopped at Costco and bought WAY too many things I didn't really need, including a pizza. Then I hit a bunch of new road construction, but still able to get Elias before the daycare closes. He was pretty excited to see the pizza (alternately "zzha" "ussa" "pee" and "pee-uh"), and we both ate too much. The rest of the evening was reading books, doing laundry, taking care of the chickens, making tomorrow's dinner, and, after he went to bed, some rare TV veg time.

Still, it was not all hard going. When I finished my shower Elias excitedly chanted "all done with shower" all morning--his longest "sentence" yet, I think, and very cute. (He still hates me taking showers.) At work I had the followup meeting with the Birth-to-Three child development specialists, who told me he was at age level or advanced in every category, with the only "lagging" piece related to potty training (which they said was still totally normal, especially for boys.) This is in contrast to their evaluation last fall, when he nearly qualified for remedial tutoring because of his delayed speech. They were very impressed with his gains, and commented several times at how unusual it was to know colors and letters so well, so early. One thing that engenders immediate good will in me is to complement Elias. At night he sweetly asked for a song and went through most of my repertoire to find the songs he liked, shaking his head and whispering "no," or softly clapping his hands and smiling for those few he liked (tonight, Silent Night, This Land is Your Land, and 10 Bottles of Beer on the Wall). Then he went right to bed.

green thumb

Elias is very concerned about my horticultural skills, or lack thereof. He's constantly reminding me to water plants, and the ones on the front porch may owe their continued tenuous existence to his efforts. Tonight he was playing on the deck and asked for water. He very responsibly watered my (very dry) herb garden...then himself...then the unsuspecting chickens pecking about below. I'm pretty sure he was aiming for Verdi.

Kidlinks festival

I am so incredibly blessed by Elias. Everything about him is wonderful, and not just mildly wonderful: really really wonderful. I suppose a blog is an introvert's way of shouting this to the world.

No, I don't have anything in particular to illustrate this today, just feeling a little overwhelmed by his presence in my life. I was able to upload a couple YouTube video clips, 2 from today, 2 from a while back, for those of you who are sadly bereft of opportunities to see him in person.

• dancing today: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bLno35V_aqU
• just hangin with the music: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nqYhc1hg4uU
• 1st bowl of cereal (with SuperWhy, his favorite TV show, in the background): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VEffsbSQUIY
• before-school scene: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iBlPRmZZitQ

Today Elias took a really long nap--hope he's not getting my nasty cold. I finally woke him after 4pm to go to the Kidlinks Africa festival at Capitol Brewery, a fundraiser for S.Africa, for mostly HIV kids. It was pretty good. Elias wore his Ethiopian adoption ceremony outfit (after over a year, it now fits), although we just missed the childrens' costume contest where he'd surely have taken the "most international" award. Made him a little easier to keep track of, too! He alternated between having fun and disengaging a bit. At our own little table on a deck in back he practiced his yelling (but fortunately not screeching, a new practice reportedly encouraged by a friend in daycare). When another few families with Ethiopian kids about the same age joined us, Elias, then the others, went to play in a corner. I think they wanted to see what Elias was up to, but Elias was really just trying to get away from them to some degree. He is definitely not standoffish with 10 year old boys, though. When a band started performing, he chose a boy to chum up to, and at one point when he sat down, Elias just plopped himself right onto his lap and settled there. This isn't the first time this has happened. When I thanked the boy afterwards for being such a good temporary big brother, he said how surprised he was when he did that. I'm surprised how willing and "motherly" these little boys have always been when Elias attaches himself to them; that wasn't my picture of boys that age. Then again, perhaps Elias is just an astute judge of character.

Tootle

What is it about little boys and trains?

Elias' current favorite book is "Tootle," a Christmas present from his aunt & uncle. It's actually a "big kid book" with paper pages, some of which are almost entirely text, with minimal pictures. I'm not sure why he likes it (I'm not particularly fond of it myself), but there's no doubt he does. When I ask if he wants to read a book he'll often say "Tootle?" and run to get it. He sometimes spells out the title for me, pointing at each letter in sequence, and occasionally picks out favorite letters from the text. He seems to grasp that I'm getting the words I say somehow from those letters on the page. He likes pointing out the horse "horse: neigh!" and the mayor "mayr," and on the first page, half-way through the first paragraph, saying "ToooOooot!" with me, at precisely the right time. He also usually counts out the red flags in one picture, and yesterday even used words as he slowly counted them off: "one...two...three...(ugh)...five...six..(ugh)..eight"!

When I dropped him off at daycare yesterday that he ran and got a Thomas the Train book, brought it to his teacher, and plopped himself down on her lap to be read to. So I guess I should get more train books. I'm not even sure he's seen a real train. Will he be disappointed when he discovers they don't really have faces on the front engine and talk?

Full weekend

This weekend with Elias was fun. Saturday morning we went to work to care for our trial fish. Elias made a big mess with the water. We both took a blissfully long nap, which for me was wonderful after a week of little sleep. Then in the afternoon we went to the waterpark. He'd gone there with daycare this week, and everyone said he had a blast, jumping right in whereas the rest of his class was more timid, mostly just watching him. Yesterday, though, Elias was less engaged. Part of it was that it wasn't very warm out, and the water was COLD. He kept wanting to go over to join the several family picnics going on, and finally just asked for his shirt back on, and went to play in the jungle gym part. He climbed and did a balance bar surprisingly well for his age. I was really proud of him when he made a run for the pond, but stopped dead and waited for me when I called out for him to stop.

Today right after church we went to my favorite restaurant, Quivey's Grove, with a couple friends. It is "restaurant week," with special menus. I wanted to try a kobe burger. I must say, it was incredibly good, and Quivey's did it right with bacon and aged cheddar...and the raspberry fool dessert. Although our friends may've thought Elias was messy and loud, I judged him as doing pretty well: good mood, no dropping things, and no food on any adults. After a nap (yeah!) I was able to do quite a bit of cleaning with him around, and then did some weeding in the back yard where he again (mostly) entertained himself. He played in his wading pool, often running back to me to get "Mommy, wet!" much like at the water park. It was really great being at home and enjoying each other without having to be in close physical contact at all times.

Wednesday at home

After two very long and intense days of strategy planning at work I finally got to come home and enjoy Elias. I didn't get home til 9:30pm last night, so this day was extra special...and after just one day he seemed a lot older! He was also extra specially cute, but I couldn't seem to capture it very well with my camera--when I could catch up to him.

At breakfast he very clearly said "Alpha Pig!" then excitedly waved his arms up and down when he saw this cartoon character on TV. Wouldn't you know, his superhero is a farm animal who recites the alphabet. He did it all except a couple letters this morning. He also identified a lowercase "e"on TV--something I didn't know he could do, since I've been just doing the capital letters.

We picked raspberries out back, pushed the stroller around, and watched the chickens take dust baths. Inside, we read books and roughhoused. He likes to sit on my back while I crawl around, playing horsey. Mr. Daredevil doesn't hold on and keeps trying to stand on my back: circus horsey.

County Fair

Tonight the two of us went to the Dane County Fair. Elias did pretty well. His favorite part seemed to be strolling through the carnival; I of course go for the livestock. He also really liked the rows and rows of cattle--he kept mooing to them. He also baaed to the sheep and maaed to the goats. I didn't hear much conversation with the other animals, although he continuously waved to the chickens as he wheeled by. We shared some chocolate yogurt, a corndog, a strawberry smoothie, and a famous Wisconsin cream puff. He enjoyed all the new food, but the sugar overload made me feel a little ill. The video clip is about 5 seconds of him groovin to the live Mexican music, La Movida. (Incidentally, his left eye is all swollen due to a bug bite. He swells up terribly with some of them.)

Saturday scenes

What a gorgeous day in Wisconsin. The weather continues to be amazingly comfortable, pleasantly warm and dry in day and cool and sometimes rainy at night. Elias took a blessedly wonderful, long nap today, nearly 4 hours, allowing me to nap a good 3 hours myself, which has done a world of good. That has probably helped me better appreciate some really nice scenes today.

As happens every summer weekend, our nextdoor neighbor trailers out all but one of their horses to play polo. We were just coming out to play when they returned, much to the delight of the huge gelding who stays home. He kept calling out to the polo ponies and ran back and forth in the pasture, kicking up his heels. At first Elias liked seeing him (yelling "neigh! neigh!") but then as the horse's antics got wilder, he got a little scared and wanted to be held. I told him the horse was happy to see his friends again, but Elias just didn't trust the transformation of the big, calm gelding we'd so often visited.

Elias ran to the backyard and started begging me to give him a ride in the wheelbarrow. Then, however, he was distracted by the release and reuniting of all the horses into the adjacent pasture. We went over to watch them run around, then settle down to some eager grazing. I was pleasantly surprised to find some ripe cherries, some of which weren't even bird-pecked. I gave Elias 1/2 of one, and he very generously walked over to the fence and held it out to the horses (who were on the far side of the pasture). I said, no, horses don't eat cherries, they eat grass, so he ate it himself. Then we picked a few raspberries, and went back to watch the horses and sing some songs. Uncharacteristically, he wasn't much into the songs, but kept picking grass and throwing it through the fence for the (still far away) horses. What a genuinely nice kid! He pointed out the black horse, and when I asked, pointed out the 3 white horses. Then he pointed to the big gelding and clearly declared "Happy!"

Next he pointed behind me and said "Verdi! Verdi!"...and sure enough, there was Verdi the rooster coming out to see what we were doing. There's some weird facination between Verdi and Elias--both are mostly afraid of the other, but also can't seem to help themselves from following each other.

Inside, I finally made my first batch of white currant jelly. They look very pretty and sealed, but appear a little loose yet. Only 10,000 to go. At one point I heard Elias exclaiming "mess! mess! mess! mess!" (He'll keep repeating something until I acknowledge it.) So I turned around to see what "mess" in Elias-speak meant--and (I'm going to sound like Pastor Chris here), indeed, it means "mess." New word. He'd gotten into a drawer and fished out a tin of dried apricots, and had them strewn all over the floor, a few of which he'd chewed on a bit.

We read books (of course) and played with alphabet blocks. Elias opened my eyes to the fact that, turned the right way and with the right typescript, an M looks just like a W, or an E, and a Z is sometimes an N. How confusing. He, however, is certain of his identifications, and I have no reason to correct them.

OK, this scene wasn't so idyllic, but it does illustrate my revived mood. At dinner I had a fresh zucchini from the garden, and was happy that Elias wanted several piece fo "zzuk" too. Elias had broccoli soup, zucchini, apple, mac& cheese and hotdogs. He does pretty well with utensils, but always puts such huge portions in at once. Typically, he'll put as much on as his fork can hold, hold it up so I can marvel at it, then giggling, shove it all deep into his mouth, assisted by the free hand to make sure food doesn't escape out the sides and cram it all in there. Each of these steps will usually shed plenty of food to the placemat, himself, and the floor, yet there is well over a reasonably-sized mouthfull left. He often keeps a hand over his mouth to prevent it from coming out when he tries to chew, or even close his mouth. Well, this time there was just too much so he started to gag, concernedly looking to me, yet continuing to hold the food in with the free hand. So, of course, he threw up, as his natural body instincts wisely overcame his unwitting attempt to suffocate himself. More mess. After a quick drink of water, he was back to the business of refilling his tummy. I guess why I'm relating this is that it didn't anger or gross me out in the least. Instead, I just thought of how much I love him and wonder at his inate bodily functions and the learning process in action.

Elias' last monthly birthday

Elias is 23 months old today: his last socially-acceptable "month" birthday. On his wall chart he is exactly 34" tall, which makes him of exactly average (50% percentile) height. Rounding out the stats, he's ~70% for weight (reflecting his "momma's belly") and a whopping ~95% for head circumference--reflective of his amazing brainpower, it just so happens!

Elias' alphabet recital today: ABCDEF - - IJ - LM - OPQ - S - - V - XYZ! I think this is simply amazing for someone so young, who hasn't been drilled on it. He's picked it up himself just with me reading alphabet books with him and singing (or shouting) the alphabet song. Does anyone else think this amazing? Seems he should be reported to some governmental genius authority or something...oh, wait a minute. In all those sci fi books, that's always a very bad move.

In the bath today he appeared to count out his stacking cups, up to 8 (There're only 7 cups, but he added the "eight" at the end as a bonus). This is how the alphabet thing started. I was counting them out as he methodically unstacked them, but then he immediately took over, pre-empting me! He didn't pronounce them all clearly, but they were in the right order. Maybe I should get him a counting book.

He is finishing his transition this week to the 2-year old room at daycare. He wasn't too happy about it yesterday, but today was much better. (I, however, am thrilled at the $56/month lower tuition.) He still sees his old toddler pals and teachers at meals and on the playground. This teacher, as his previous teacher did, commented to me today that she's never seen a kid so book-crazy as Elias. One of the occasional caretakers remarked yesterday how he was so surprised Elias called him by name, when he'd only met him about a month ago and hadn't seen him since then (now that's a skill I've never been able to attain.)

I wonder why I delight so very much in his obvious intelligence. Sure, sure: most parents will say their kid is exceptionally smart--but Elias really is! =) Maybe it says I'm more of an intellectual snob than I'd thought. I know I'd love him just as much if he were as dumb as a kite, but what a blessing that he excels naturally at something I have always valued.

Postscript: currant scones: uummmm!

current tech & currants

Close on the heels of starting a blog, I have now successfully uploaded a video clip to YouTube, and Facebook. (After 10 hrs of uploading it still didn't get onto here, so I'm posting the link instead.) I guess I just needed someone to inspire me to get current with today's IT trends. Next step: iPhone (not really--too expensive--but I admit to wanting one!)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z2w5-G3bXUU

This is the tail end of last night's dinner. When Elias first did the strongman act a couple months ago over dinner it really scared me: he suddenly turned to me, tensed all up, stopped breathing, and turned all red and quivery...then laughed. Another daycare trick I suppose.

The raspberry patch is getting up to speeed at last. Elias is getting good at finding and picking them (he was already good at eating them). After he went to bed I picked currants. The good thing is, they pretty much get ripe all at once, so now I have 4 ziploc bags of beautiful berries. The problem is, now I have 4 ziploc bags of beautiful berries. What to do with them? Jelly is too much work for tonight (and maybe for this summer.)

ET Madison Adopt picnic

This is a picture with my zoom lens, of Elias being brought back to the picnic by our friend K. K is very attentive and has variously referred to Elias as her "baby" and her "husband." [I'll let others insert their own commentary here.]

Despite the great weather, people, location and food, the picnic wasn't really relaxing, with me constantly tracking and/or chasing down Elias. He tends to range far, and quite often will casually insert himself into other families that interest him. Many people commented on this, from "he's so friendly!" to "He's quite a handful, isn't he?" Completely contrary to his behavior at home, in public he doesn't seem to care where I am and ignores my calls. Towards the end he decided it was time to go home so set off to find the car, which was quite a distance but still in sight. I caught up to him right as he neared the parking lot, much to the delight of a man who'd just drove up, who kept exclaiming how beautiful he is, and that he is of royal blood (referring to the legend that King Solomon & the Queen of Sheba founded the last Ethiopian dynasty). He also flirted with me a bit, which is a rare event indeed. Around 7pm, his bedtime, I carried Elias back and packed up, and we set out for the car again, but by then he'd changed his mind and ran back to the group. I kept going, hoping he'd follow, but of course he didn't. When I got to the car I left the loaded stroller to go get him, and saw that another mom had loaded Elias into her wagon and was towing him over to me. What a nice group of people.

Today I finally got to take off Elias' bandage from surgery and give him a bath. The upper cut is about 3 cm long and looks serious, but doesn't bother him in the least. Both incisions are healing very well. The surgeon said they might not even leave a visible scar. This whole surgery was so "easy," at the end it didn't scar me, either.

Incidentally, Elias' waning appetite has revived. Tonight he gobbled down two hot dogs, 1/2 a large apple, a bowl of egg salad, sliced carrots, and some leftover mac&cheese, followed closely by his bedtime milk. It's a good thing his stitches are so low, so they aren't endangered by the stretching skin over his bulging belly.