baby no more

Elias has truly entered the "I can do it myself" stage.  From putting on socks to feeding chickens, he wants to control the action.  And, although this usually means it will take much longer and I'll be cleaning up a mess afterwards, I do welcome his budding independence, even if it's tinged sometimes with a little nostalgia.  Where'd my little baby go?

Saturdays are my sleeping-in days, and, consequently, Elias' watch-videos-all-morning days.  Last weekend I was trying to sleep when he announced, "Mommy, I made breakfast for YOU!  And, Mommy, I clean up the mess."  How sweet...but, uh-oh.  This deserved investigation.  I drug myself up and into the kitchen to discover he had indeed made some oatmeal (and despite the earlier offer, was now eating it himself).  This is pretty impressive, considering he had to get a chair, move it over to the first cabinet, climb on the counter (something not allowed, BTW) to get a bowl; then climb down and move the chair across the kitchen to Cabinet 2, again climb up on the counter to get the instant oatmeal and empty it into the bowl; climb down and move the chair to the oposite side again to add water to the oatmeal from the sink; then scoot the chair over yet again to the opposite side to put the oatmeal in the microwave and push the "30 sec" button.  Whew!  A lot of effort for a little guy.  And, yes, there was some spilled oatmeal on the counter and a wet puddle on the floor which he'd partly mopped up with a paper towel, but nothing too bad.  And apparently it turned out "ummm...deLIcious!"

I'm also pleased he's progressing so well with reading.  He surprised me, too, by spelling words to me for emphasis, like saying "yes, Mommy, I want some chocolate.  Y-E-S: yes!" or "S-T-O-P, stop, Mommy; that spells stop!"  He likes his dozens of old (memorized) books so much that it's hard to get him to consider new ones, but last night I got him to try one I just bought.  Never having seen it before, he read the title to me:  Go, Dog, Go!  He loved it, so of course wanted to read it again, and again, and again.  With difficulty I drew the line at 3x, despite him playing his cute card and saying "Just one more time.  Three plus one is FOUR, Mommy!  Read FOUR times!"  No; we're done reading it now.  "Five times, Mommy!  Forty times, Mommy--read it FORTY times!"  Forty times?  That's too many.  We already read it three times.   "ONE HUNDRED TIMES, Mommy!!"  I think I was lucky to get out of there at 3.

Get the moon for me

Last night we went to our adoption group.  There were ~20 adults and a multitude of children of all ages.  For the most part, Elias had fun and played nicely with other kids, and I was very encouraged by his interactions, and also the friendly people, shared stories, and wonderful reports of answered prayer.  I've been very worried about the difficulty Elias sometimes has interacting with children his own age and my own loneliness, so this was just the ticket on both counts.  At the end I got a little ego boost, too, as Elias was playing the showman, exuberantly showing off his mathematical prowness as he instructed some older kids in counting and number recognition (putting a "4" and "0" together, for example, to make 40), and showing off his addition skills to any parent who granted him any attention.

When we arrived home, he was marveling at how dark it'd gotten, and pointing out the bright moon.  He often points it out to me, and likes it when he can say it's a "crescent" or "circle" (full) moon.  It wasn't quite full, though.  He reached up towards it on tiptoe and said "I can't reach it.  Mommy, will you get the moon for me?"  Awww... Some things are too far away for mommy to reach, Elias.  And that's a good thing, because I'm prone to wanting to give him more than is best.  So the moon remains above for all of us to enjoy.

a man and his 'dog and his remote

We recently went to the international festival held at Overature Center.  Elias really liked the theater performances but all the time between them he kept asking to go home.  As for cultural experiences, perhaps the most significant was actually his first (I think) American hot dog.  He's had hot dogs plenty of times, but never with the bun.  Handled it like a pro.

I taught Elias how to use the remote control on Saturday so that he could play the "bonus features" games on his Thomas DVD's.  Up until now Mommy has been the ultimate controller for the TV.  He must've spent 2 hours assigning numbers, colors, and names to his favorite engines.  He did have fun, and it did provide entertainment while I continued to try to recover from a really nasty flu, but that single-minded focus on the TV screen still bothers me.  It's not a very good remote, and I see he's already developed rituals to get it to work better, like waving it around in front of him before pushing the button.  He also got a little possessive of it--surely a taste of things to come.

kindergarten wisdom

I had a short but inspiring talk with a little girl as I was picking up Elias from daycare this evening.  She's maybe 5 or 6 years old, with sandy brown hair probably reflecting Northern European heritage that is so dominant here.  I sat down next to her as I was trying to get Elias' coat on him before we left.

L:  Oh!  You're Elias' mom.
Me:  Yep.  (I think more people around Madison know me by that designation than my name.)
L:  I didn't think so at first.
Me:  Why not?
L:  Because he's brown and you're lighter.
Me:  Yes, well some families are like that.
L:  Yes, you're right.  My mommy and daddy are darker than I am.

Then she sprang up and joined with one of Elias' classmates & her dad going out the door and they left in their ginormous black Hummer.  Her description and easy acceptance of something that gets adults so flummoxed was really encouraging.  That girl is being raised right and is a beacon of hope for the future.

movie night

Elias and I just watched our first full movie together.  His aunt & uncle got him The Polar Express book & DVD for Christmas.  We've been enjoying the book.  His favorite part is when the kids are served "hot cocoa as thick and rich as melted chocolate" and we've had a few cups in reinactment Monday night was set aside for the movie.  We cleaned up after dinner, got a blanket, turned out the lights, and snuggled up on the couch.  Elias was pretty excited, and was not disappointed.  He stayed fully engaged the entire movie, surpassing previous  movie attempts by about 110 minutes.  He cuddled into the crook of my arm next to me the whole time, often tearing his eyes from the screen to look up thankfully at me with a big smile on his face.  It was all pretty wonderful.  After it finished and we were walking off to bed, Elias proclaimed in his final judgement voice "That was a good train movie."  I'm glad it was all about the train and the snuggling for him, not Santa.

The next morning he sprang out of bed and rushed out of the room.  "Great" I thought, "he's going to the bathroom without my telling him."  But alas, no:  he ran into the living room, still 1/2 asleep, to retrieve the DVD and start begging to watch "the train movie, just one [more] time."

Tonight we had another movie night to revisit this.  He still loved it, but this time spent most the time dancing around in front of the TV rather than snuggling.  I'm taking the opportunity to blog about it.  He is crazy about the dancing hot chocolate scene, and anytime the train goes really fast (which is a good hunk of the movie).  I also found him quoting the book along with the movie, enthusiastically supplying a lot of narration, and acting out scenes, like trying to grab the wind-blown ticket.

little things; big blessings

It doesn't happen very often.  I went out to dinner with friends, and withOUT Elias.  We talked in complex sentences.  We used metal silverware.  No one had to tend to someone's drooling or other bodily functions--in fact, I'd bet there was no drooling at all.  Although I was greatly looking forward to this, I didn't realize how much I--we all--needed it.  I think we all commented on how timely our little gathering was.  There was the strongest impression of the Spirit at work.  I came back not only with nice memories of a nice time with friends at Quivey's, but much more encouraged, hopeful, and energized.

It was started off by the generous (I'd say, inspired) babysitting offer that came out of the blue from an amazingly wonderful college student home on Christmas break who had watched Elias in the past.  She and her 2 friends gave me some relief time during those first, incredibly-difficult months when Elias first came home and I was overwhelmed, clueless, sequestered, and often crippled with back pain--their free offer to me, because for some reason I am terrible about asking for help (we share a mutual friend).  I'm amazed by these women:  personable, level-headed, smart, beautiful, fun, generous individuals whose love and sensitivity for God really shine through.  I am eternally grateful for their help, and this night was not only an extension of it, but a reminder of the way God, through His people, has taken care of us in the past.

Elias caught on right away that he wasn't coming with me and cried a little as I was leaving.  He had fun, though, as I knew he would.  I talked a little too loudly when I returned so he woke up and ran excitedly to me, chattering and suggesting all these things to do that would ensure we'd stay up and be together.  Any guilt I may have been harboring for leaving him was assauged by Elias saying over and over (after she was safely gone, of course)  "I had fun with Ms. [A],"  "I had fun playing letters with Ms. [A]."

 Thank you for a wonderful night, Ms. A. and F. and S!

Christmas pics

Despite the long, miserable time we had getting to and from my folks' house in California (related in excruciating detail in another blog entry), we did have a nice Christmas break...

enjoying being at Nana & Papa's house, complete with a cool tree house, new swing, and loads of misc farm stuff...

 and playing with cousins around Elias' age

 ...and, of course, opening presents.  Elias' favorite one was, I think, the first he opened.  We had to urge him to open the others, because he seemed fully content and just playing with that one.