Ramblings.

I have been weighing Elliot here and there and was SURE that he had surpassed 10 pounds a little bit ago. On my scale at home today, he's almost 12 pounds with clothes on-- surely his clothes don't weigh 2 pounds?

Can I be one of those moms who insists that the doctor's scale is wrong!? :) I almost called the doctor to see if I could bring him in to be reweighed, realized I was obsessing, and decided that he's healthy looking, very active, sleeps well, and eats well. And his clothes are getting progressively smaller. I think he burns a lot of calories in those play sessions! And both Pat and I were small as babies/children, so I'm not surprised. I can see where this is headed already with some of his clothes-- now that his pants are fitting around his waist, they are too short!

He had done relatively well with the vaccinations, up a little at night and just a little off today. We still met up with Avery and Jen for a lovely afternoon in the park. However, tonight he is inconsolable and feels a little warm. He won't nurse and won't sleep, so we tried some Tylenol and he's finally resting. Poor kid.

Doctor Check Up- Mellow Man

Elliot had his 2 mo. check up yesterday, even though it's about 2 weeks past that point.  He's healthy, doing fine.  Little on the small side, as expected-- 10th percentile for weight (at just over 10#), but he's 50th percentile for height.  Of course, his giant noggin is at the top of the chart.  (Big head on a skinny body!)  A bit slow on the head control, but that's just due to the sheer size of the thing, doc says.  :)  Got his shots, screamed bloody murder, but mom shed no tears, so we're in good shape.  He was a little grumpy last night, but I said he gets a free pass for the day.

She dubbed him "mellow," and that the second time someone has called him that.  Fits perfectly.  Mellow man.  I'm not complaining!

Took him out for a walk in the brisk evening air-- used a polar fleece sleeper that one of our friends got us so he'd be nice and toasty in the carrier since his little legs dangle.  He looks like he's going out to build snowmen, but hey, it worked.  

(A few shots from the weekend with friends, continued.  Yes, the babies were there, but Avery slept through the whole meal.)

Elliot goes to school and Anita and Alejandro visit.

First, Friday I took Elliot into school. Man oh man, did he get attention!! I think I recall one of the first teachers who walked into the office when I was there stepping back into the hall and hollering, "Elliot's here!" I forgot how much of the teaching profession is nurturing women! (No offense, men.) He was held and held, fed, changed, and everyone reminded everyone else to use hand-santizer. I didn't have to say or do much at all and Elliot did his fair share of smiling and flirting. It was so nice of everyone to spend their time with Elliot and me-- I know how it is on Friday afternoons when you just want to wrap up and get out the door, and then a visitor like me comes along and detains you for another hour! So thanks to the Byrne family for the warm visit!

Then, our friends, Anita and Alejandro (who was the best man in our wedding) flew in from San Francisco, without their kids. They had a weekend away, staying downtown, for their 5th anniversary. What an anniversary trip-- they spent almost every moment with us!! We loved it and they seemed to as well. Elliot got lots of loving from an expert mom (their kids: Samuel is 3 and Tomas is 2). They are friends from the same circle as Dave and Jen (who have Avery, the day younger friend), so we all went out for Columbian food on Friday night. I haven't laughed that hard in a very long time. The kids were so well behaved at the restaurant. The massive amount of meat consumed was obnoxious.

Dave and Jen, then, graciously offered to keep Elliot while we went out to dinner with Anita and Alejandro on Saturday. The mom nerves were there of course when we walked out the door, but we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves and knew he was in excellent care. After our reservation was given away at the first restaurant (Lebanese food), and we tried another (Italian) that told us the wait was "not bad" on the phone but then was 40 minutes, we ended up at a lovely place that served comfort food in a trendy setting. I kept wanting to call, NOT to check on Elliot, but to let Dave and Jen know why we were delayed, and got lots of grief for it from the guys! Ended up without cell phone service there, so I was forced to sit back and let go.

The evening out was so lovely. So, thanks to Dave and Jen!!

(Last week we watched Avery so they could go out for their anniversary. We did a-ok with two infants but never wish for twins. They admitted that once they were out the door, they walked in silence for a good while, enjoying the quiet...)

Sunday was a BBQ altogether at the Reis' and now, today, I am sure everyone is worn out. The weekend was awesome, but it is good to stay in today and take a break from socializing.

We are doing really poorly as parents with regards to keeping a camera handy. I don't know how many times I said this weekend, "Geez, I forgot the camera again!" I wish I had captured more of the moments this weekend.

Random Moments Captured...

Ok, I am done fighting with this site.  I cannot seem to get these photos to load right-side up, even when I resave them different places already flipped.  Oh well... 

10 weeks- wow.

 

Elliot is ten weeks old this week.  He's focusing much more and trying to turn over.  He gets his head pinned all the way to the side, arches his back, gets half way to a flip, and gets super mad that he's stuck.  He cries and his face gets all red, and I laugh.  I have to let him struggle to get it on his own.  Grandpa Ulrich thinks this is good determination showing.  We'll see... 

We're settling into a routine of daily walks and sometimes he gets a second one to the lake when Dad gets home.  It is a great tool when he just won't settle.

Although he's a good baby, I have attempted to capture one of his temper tantrums-- he gets to crying sometimes, works himself into a sweat, ends up holding his breath until his face turns red, and it seems he forgets then why he was crying in the first place but must finish the task.  This series of photos is about a 5 minute snapshot of his performance.  Eh, what am I in for when the terrible twos come along ?!?!  

Growing, growing!

Everyday he seems to grow before my eyes.  But, he still has those bird legs!  

Fun weekend.

Aunt Emily and Pauline, enjoying our meal in Chinatown this past weekend. We had a few wonderful meals together. It was a fun weekend.

Elliot was a little monster this morning (well, maybe that's a little harsh, but...), however, he crashed at one point, snuggled right in, and let me put him down finally. This was after allowing him to scream throughout my whole shower (I even got out once, dripping, to see what was up... nothing, just a random fit! And no luck with a pacifier today.). So this is him now, snoozing on the boppy pillow. How could I stay frustrated? But, I will be passing him off to daddy this evening to go out for a much needed jog. Provided I don't crash by then.

This kid loves to play!

(The video was after he had already spent 30 minutes on the play mat... he cried when I took him off!)

8 Weeks Old...

Amazing to realize that Elliot is already 8 weeks old.  We were very excited on Wednesday morning after he slept 7 hours straight, and even more excited this morning when he did it again last night!!  

The first day of school for Chicago Public Schools was Tuesday... I won't be returning until next year if all goes well.  I talked to Louise in the Byrne School office, and she wondered if there were no recent photos because I had started the first day of school with homeschooling Elliot!!  We have gotten through a few books, but he really likes to be sung to right now... I need to learn more lullabies and am glad the only audience for my voice is him!  

I didn't make it into school because of my (and others) germs, so I am hoping to go in around the end of the month.  It will be great to see everyone at Byrne.  (I think Elliot had a touch of whatever bug I had-- he was fussy for about 3 days, and spit up some junk... really it's his current pleasant disposition that tells me yes, he indeed was under the weather.  Poor little guy.)

Aunt Emily is in for a visit from Portland, so we met her and Pauline, a friend, for dinner in Chinatown last night.  We had a really nice time catching up and good food.  And, of course, he got lots of attention.

Off to meet Jen and Avery for a quick outing today.

(Funny, this posted with Wednesday as a heading because I started it yesterday...)

Yep, photos are better than my yapping!

Random updates...

- Elliot slept a record 5 1/2 hours last night... let's keep that going, longer and longer!

- He weighs 9.6 lbs, which is only the 20th percentile, but is right on track for where he was at the 3-week check up (about 1 oz. per day).  

- I battled a 24-hour flu starting Monday evening.  My complete sympathy goes out to any mother who does not have a spouse/help to take care of a child while she is incapacitated.  Whew... Pat stayed home to be mommy and I was so thankful as I was in bed all day.