Aliens

It occured to me that aliens may be residing in my son.  If there were one or maybe dozens of little critters in there it might explain how he could possibly eat so much food.  It defies conventional understanding.  Maybe I'm just watching too much Dr. Who lately.

When he first came home he would eat and eat and eat until I finally just had to take the food away before his cute little belly popped.  He looked like he was pregnant.  Apparently many if not most Ethiopian adoptees do this when they first come home.  For Elias, it was probably because of the short timeframe in which food was available at the orphanage, rather than any overall lack.  Like the others, and like his pediatrician said, that gorging behavior eventually faded away and he now stops on his own when he's full.

We eventually worked our way down from 5 full (huge) meals a day to 3 large meals and 2-3 snacks.  I've never known a pre-teen to eat so much, or such varied food, which is great.  Spicy, exotic, mushy, green, hard:  nearly everything's welcome.  Often he tells me, "Mom, this is deeeLICious!"  Two exceptions are hot-temperature food, and most bread products.  Favorites are broccoli, corn, chocolate, green beans, cookies, and anything potato (he eats the skin off baked potatoes first).  I try to keep it varied and minimally processed, although I notably give in with frequent mac-and-cheese (with peas and hot dog add-ins).

But back to the alien hypothesis.  He eats a lot, but usually within the realm of reason.  Once in a while he'll have a few days were he won't hardly touch dinner (like most little kids I've known), and about as frequently he'll go to the other extreme.  Tuesday I had a weird craving for Italian, so after his afternoon audiology appointment (at which he did very well and was all-around adorable) we went out to Olive Garden.  He had a children's dinner which was broccoli, spaghetti, and grilled chicken breast.  They didn't substitute whole wheat linguini as requested, so brought an additional plate of that, too.  Elias set to work.  He steadily and rapidly forked in bite after huge bite until the broccoli, then the 1st spaghetti, then 2nd spaghetti were completely gone, deeply impressing our waiter and even surprising me.  I took 1/2 of mine home, so next time maybe I'll have the child's meal!  When we got home he found, asked for and then got some Easter chocolate and a whole baked yam, then a little later insisted I make him a peanut butter & jelly sandwich (I made it a 1/2 sandwich).  Goodness!  He only stopped when I put him to bed (with his usual nighttime milk).  He acted like it was all perfectly normal.  I, on the otherhand, after my rich, 1/2 dinner spent several hours that night with a severe stomach ache.  I probably even gained weight from eating out.

It's scary contemplating Elias as a teen-ager.  I may have to get a second job!

He did grow about an inch over the last month, but is actually looking skinnier.  I suppose all that food is mostly fueling his hyperactivity...and maybe sustaining a few aliens.

Easter

Happy Resurrection Day!

Easter seemed a lot more like "Easter" this year for me.  Since Sunday school last week Elias has sporadically yelled out "Jesus is Alive!" which was a joyous reminder of what we celebrate.  I fasted Good Friday and had the day off work.  On Friday I made it a point of reading the Easter stories in his Bible to Elias, which he normally neglects in favor of stories from the Old Testament.  It certainly caught his attention this time around, though, and since then he's been asking that I read the "Jesus ouch" story again and again (which I make sure to follow with the "Jesus rose from the dead" story.)  It's a hard thing to present to a 3 year old--heck, it's hard to grasp for anyone!  Yet so awesomely true.  Makes all the difference in the world.  So I guess it's just the power and love and importance of it that I want to convey.

In contrast to last year, Elias had fun dying eggs and going on egg hunts.  I made a nice Easter basket for him earlier in the week and hid it up high in a bag in the basement, but despite my efforts he found it and presented it to me early Saturday morning with much excitment ("I found a basket of treats, Mommy!")--although he didn't partake, awaiting my permission, so it survived until today.  This morning he actually slept in, allowing me to hide the dyed, hard-boiled eggs we'd made in the living room just in time.  The first one he found he promptly set out to peel off the shell, but the rest survived and were all accounted for. 

We had a big breakfast and made it to church early(!), dressed in our best.  I tried to take a picture of us using the camera timer, which worked OK, although Elias tended to run towards it, excited by the beeps and flashing lights.  At church several people commented on his clothes or how nice he looked, to which he always replied "yes."

After church we came home.  He didn't want to change out of his nice clothes, so we played outside a bit all dressed up.  We had another Easter egg hunt (this time with plastic eggs filled with candy and the basket treats) and played with the chickens, while I set out to get more picures.

OK, here he is definitely fed up with the picture-taking!  (His cheeks are all big because his mouth is full of the peanut M&Ms I ended up bribing him with to get him to sit by the daffodils!)

just pics

I don't think I'm up to composing a significant, witty blog tonight so instead I'm posting some of my favorite recent pictures.  I'm finally getting the hang of my camera.  Next is getting some sort of editing program like photoshop (primarily to use the "nose wipe" features!)

Adoption Day

Today marks the 3-year anniversary of Elias' legal adoption in Ethiopia.  Here's a picure when I first met him in May 2008, and a couple recent ones.  Wow.  He's Mr. American Boy in the first; and I like the second partly because he so looks like that baby picture.

chickens and bikes

Elias was sent home early today for a probable case of pinkeye.  The doctor agreed.  I've heard terrible things about this, but it doesn't seem to be bothering Elias:  no drainage or anything, just a bit pink at the edge of one eye.  On one hand, it's a big pain for me having to take off work.  On the other hand, it afforded a great opportunity for more picture-taking! 

Elias has recently taken up chicken-chasing in earnest.  For a few months he was getting not quite scared, but hesitant around them, so I'm glad for the attitude shift.  He nearly always picks out one of the small, quick Leghorns to chase, usually Zitta.  The larger 2 hens are more reticent to run, so are not as fun.  Here, at the start of a chase, Zitta is already on the run, buff-colored Janus is about to scoot out of the way, and big black Jezibel is preserving her dignity by not budging (Elias actually went around her).

However, even Jezibel runs when faced with a tricycle!

More tricycle antics.  He's peddling now, not just scooting.  In fact, it looks like he may be in need of a vehicle upgrade.

pictures

Last night for the first time I heard the frog chorus!  Spring is indeed here.
Here are some of the first shots with the new (used) super lens (85mm f1.8) I just got today.  Look at that bokeh!

Spring!

Yesterday it snowed.  Not just a couple flakes, either; it was really coming down.  But true to Wisconsin springtime, today was nice and sunny--a great day for taking pictures!  The crocus in my lawn bloomed today, bringing vibrant color to the still-winter-drab landscape.

We spent most the day in the back yard.  I got some of the berries cut back and a fraction of the winter's fallen branches gathered up, played with Elias (he's amazingly good at soccer), and took probably hundreds of pictures as I learned the basic functionality of the DSLR.  I'm really glad I had a "real" camera in high school, because although pretty much anyone can take nice pictures with today's cameras, it was great training make fuller use of it and just enjoy it more, knowing how aperture, f-stop and ISO work.  It was great that Elias entertained himself nicely for the whole time, climbing, exploring, and chasing Zitta and Emily all over.  He doesn't really chase Emily & Jezibel, the larger chickens, but usually seeks out Zitta, the little Leghorn, who nicely obliges and runs endlessly around just out of reach.  When she wants a break she runs back into the coop and flies up to the high roost to look down at him.  I think she realizes that Elias doesn't want to catch her so isn't scared--actually, it seems she even likes their game.

It was 5:30 before I knew it.  I made a hasty (but surprisingly good, if I do say so) dinner while Elias read books to himself.  Actually, he has them memorized, but he is starting to pick out words and read them from the text to guide his recitation.  He's been much more willing to let me photograph him with the new big camera than my point-and-shoots.  Still, he'll rarely look up for me.

After dinner we made oatmeal cookies and read more books.  I also sneaked off and downloaded photos to the computer, and tossed out maybe 2/3 of them.  I wasn't successful doing any enhancements with the new photo editing software, but the pictures don't really need it.  This thing is great.

new camera

I bought myself an SLR camera, after wanting one for a long time, and it arrived today!  I'm going to have a good time taking pictures of Elias, and now with the right equipment I stand a better chance of getting some good ones.  The keys are having a fast lens with long focal length!  I ran out and snapped these before figuring out the autofocus or picture modes.  Better pictures to follow!