pictures

Since Elias has been home sick with strep throat, I found some time to download and post some new pictures from May.  (Oddly enough, I still haven't found time to do some major needed house cleaning...)

At the zoo.  We were supposed to meet other adoptive families from my church, but we couldn't find anyone.  Oh, well; a nice day at the zoo anyway.  Elias is decidedly unimpressed by "exotic" animals, having seen and read about them just as much or more than "normal" animals.  He liked the tiger, but by the time we got to the polar bear he decided to pull out his Thomas book to keep himself entertained.

Visiting the next-door neighbors' horses.  This was one of the very rare times I've gotten him to smile for the camera, although it doesn't look like it was easily done.

At M's birthay party.  Here he's eagerly waiting for a bucket of water to fill and spill on his head.  He loves the water and takes weekly swim lessons through his daycare.

My little evangelist

Last week as I dropped Elias off at daycare Ms. M. told me a funny tale.  The class was singing "When you're happy and you know it"...clap your hands (then they all clap.)  When they got to the verse "shout hooray" Elias stood up, threw his hands in the air, and enthusiastically shouted "hallelujah!"  The teachers started cracking up laughing, so now he's got the whole class shouting "hallelujah!" for that part of the song.  No, it's not a Christian daycare, but they've got a subversive in their midst!  I myself didn't "teach" that, per se; I think he got it from an Fernando Ortega CD.  Similarly, last year when we were back home visiting he pulled a line from one of my Rich Mullins CDs, when he came up to my father, thrust his finger at his face and told him authoritatively "Jesus is calling YOU, Pappa!"  So, I'm glad I generally listen to CDs and not pop radio or news in the car with him; it's amazing what he soaks up.

I tell you, there's nothing that warms my heart more than hearing my little son singing "My God is an Awesome God."  How can it get better than that?  Today he wasn't feeling well, and asked for me to cuddle on the couch with him and read his children's Bible to him. "Mommy, cuddle?  Mommy read Bible?  MY Bible, Mommy, MINE!"  Awww...

Just pictures

Did I do it?

Silence...really?  Did I really manage to out-stubborn him?  It's been several minutes in which I haven't had to retrieve him from running around the house and the banging, playing, and talking to himself have ceased.  Am I jinxing it by writing this?

Let me remind myself how adorable he really is by posting some pictures of last weekend.

UPDATE...OK, while that was uploading, obviously-still-not-asleep Elias came in and climbed into bed with me.  I gave up, we snuggled, and he was sound asleep in 5 minutes, followed shortly by me.  What a trying day.  It's so frustrating that the myriad of important things I had planned to catch up on over the weekend were completely neglected in favor of the "simple" task of putting a toddler down for a nap.

I can't do it

This is not a happy post.  We're going on over 2 hrs now of trying to get Elias to take a nap.  He really needs one and even complained that he was "so sleepy."  Yet he won't stay in bed.  His longest stint has been about 5 minutes, and that only at first.  Now he's up the second I'm out of sight.  I'm at the end of my rope trying everything I can think of.  For the first 1.5 hr or so it was just wordlessly, emotionlessly returning him to bed.  I've also tried just locking him in there and ignoring the banging, which then turned to playing w any noisy toy he could find.  Unfortunately, he can reach the light and doornob now.  One of the best ones is locking myself in my room and feigning sleep, but he can still break in and climb on me to tell me he's awake.  He's lost his toys and our planned cookie-making session--lots of tears, but still won't stay down.  I actually counted the tears as a minor victory for me, as most of this he just views as a huge fun game.  It's infuriating.  And now rather than accomplish lots of housework while he was in bed I'm too exhasted to do anything, and myself need a nap.  Help!

I can do it

Elias' abilities are starting to catch up with his desire for independence.  On Thursday I decided to cook out, and while I tended the hamburgers and hot dogs, Elias went inside (first he's handled the screen door), moved a chair to reach the top cabinents, and got a plate for himself.  Then he got a can of corn and brought it to me to open.  Then he scooted the chair over and got to his treat basket (oops), asking I help unwrap his single choice.  All this was without my direction and conducted with purpose and confidence.  We had a lovely dinner out on the deck.

Potty training is going well.  The last 3 weeks he's been dry at daycare with just two accidents, and Thursday night he pooped in the toilet for the first time.  Yesterday I was in my room and he ran to me with no pants on yelling "I pee-pee in toilet!" Great!  Yet, when I checked out the bathroom, everything was in order, with no water or toilet paper strewn about:  suspicious.  He still was proudly yelling "I pee-pee in toilet" and wanting to call "nanna and pappa and Uncle Ryan and Larkin and Clint and Evan and Kendra and Aunt Jennifer and..." so I followed him to the downstairs bathroom.  Sure enough, there were his pants.  He had pooped in that toilet and even wiped up afterwards by himself.  Worth calling everyone to brag, yes.

Big Boy

Yesterday it seemed my little boy was suddenly so big! After 2 weeks of keeping dry at daycare, he went off to school for the first time in underwear, not diapers or pull-ups.  He chatted all morning in complete sentences.  He politely asked for some of my protein shake and cleaned up after his breakfast without my asking.  It was hard to get him to slow down enough for a picture. 

At daycare they gave me the paperwork for him to finally move up to the next room, for 2.5-3 year olds (although he'll already be 33 months).  Even though it's more expensive, I haven't complained too much about his being in the 2-2.5yr old room because the staffing ratios are better, and I really like his current teachers.  However, I was disappointed in reading the extensive classroom goals sheet of this new room--he's already mastered virtually all of them, some as much as a year ago!  It's a shame having all those teaching resources, yet a overly slow curriculum.  Maybe he'll just spend a few months there then move up when he turns 3.  His teacher also made it a point of saying how good he was doing for potty training and other classroom activities, and being so "grown up."

Last night we stayed up late for a visit with family!  Cousin J and her 3 kids (5, 3, & 1yr) drove 12+ hrs for a weekend visit!  The kids immediately got along splendidly, and were at full tilt the next 3-some hours.  Elias, E. & L. are all about the same height (with Elias substantially outweighing them), so they're quite the playgroup.  It felt like an ocean of kids, constantly swirling and crashing around us.  When Elias gets excited he tends to either twirl around my legs or run into me from a full run, which he did pretty much the whole time.  We didn't get to bed til after 11pm, but of course Elias was up ready to go again before 5am (I was able to convince him to stay put for another 1.5 hr).