Crazy Talk.

What happened to the sweet, soft little coos? The biggest problem-- Pat loves it, and encourages it, while I roll my eyes. It's a conspiracy already.

More Discoveries.

Elliot and I got out for a walk and the leaves were magnificent. I thought I had overdressed him, as it was pretty pleasant out, but after falling asleep in the wrap, his hands and arms were still pretty chilly when I unbundled him.

Elliot has found a new octave when he plays-- a lovely, high-pitched squeal that he learned gets him attention. So, the smart little dude has transferred that sound to his crying fits, too. Nice.

He has a new habit of sucking on his lower lip. Pretty funny. New sounds came with that one, but i don't think I can officially claim a "mama" yet. :)

We've turned him to face out when we take him in the Snuggly carrier or the Moby wrap and he loves it. There's so much to see, he has now taken to staying awake during errands, kicking and cooing, enjoying the escalator at Target to no end. I thought this was great, thinking then when I got home, he'd crash and I'd be able to get some odds and ends accomplished... nope, he decided it was good to be awake and got to that intense, over-tired phase where the giddiness quickly flips to tears. This happened two days in a row. You can see how Pat dealt with him-- he seemed content that way, and promptly fell asleep.

He also was moved from the bassinet in our room to his crib in the other bedroom. As much as Pat was resistant (which was pretty cute), Elliot of course did fine. We figured he would since he's been sleeping through the night relatively consistently. I even stopped swaddling him, as he'd fall asleep on the couch (bad habit he's getting from his mom and dad!?!?) and I'd just place him in bed. We thought all was going great, until he gave us two rough nights, and last night would not go to bed for all of the tea in China. And, this morning, he was a fussy mess until he got another nap in. Like one of my friends said, once you get everything rolling nicely, think you have it all under control, and things seem to be predictable, a growth spurt comes along and uproots all your efforts. Man, I hope these multiple, massive spit-ups disappear with the growth spurt... I think we both fashion a new outfit about 3 times a day!

Last night, Pat tried to teach him how to pet the kitty. He took a fistful of fur, and the cat was super patient.

He's doing better with the head control. Same signs of half-rolling over as before, no progress there. He's starting to discover his feet. We're almost at 3 1/2 months already. Time to get a high chair. Geez.

Mini-Pat, check out those cheeks.

Can't seem to get it bigger; sorry to hurt your eyes!

New Pacifier?

Pat put Elliot on his shoulders for the first time the other night.  Elliot very quickly found Pat's ear and went to town... leaving Pat with a saliva-drenched ear.  It was quite funny to watch!

Gina visits from Seattle!

Before our last-minute trip to Ohio, our very close friend, Gina Elsen, came to stay with us on Friday.  She used to be our neighbor and would host almost weekly poker games.  In June, her and husband, Frank, and 1-year-old, Sophia, moved to Seattle, even though I did everything in my power to ransack their move.  Gina had a conference back here in Chicago for 5 days or so.  It's been awesome to catch up, and very nice to know that she was fine staying here on her own as we slipped off for the funeral.  Sadly, she's leaving today.  I think a trip to Seattle is in our future to see them, if we cannot manage to recruit them back to Chicago!  And, we did get a poker game in-- the first since this little guy has been around (friendly, of course, and cheap entertainment!).  As you can see, the cat had missed the games too.

That's Candace in there in pink, one of our neighbors from when we lived up north, and Gokhan, another Hyde Park friend.  Dave and Jen came with Avery, but she wanted no part of the social action, so they enjoyed some chili and took off.

The frog that Sophia sent to Elliot was quite the hit... it's the perfect size for him to hold on to, and of course, he had to suck on the frog's foot.

Fly-by trip to Ohio...

Pat's grandmother (his mom's mom) died last week, so we made a quickie trip to Ohio on Monday and Tuesday for the services.  Although we moaned about the drive (13 hours in the car round trip), and the circumstances were less than favorable, we were really glad to see family of course.  Grandma was 90 years old and had developed bad dementia, so it was not unexpected.  We are glad for her peace.  It is amazing to think about what she saw in our world in the 90-year span.  Pat did a lovely eulogy at the service, and so did his Aunt Maryann-- they added a little laughter to the sadness.  It was also a nice chance to visit Pat's mother's grave.

Maryann and Pat's sister, Katie, had never met Elliot, along with many others, mostly of the great- generation.  We pulled in to the funeral home with 30 minutes left for the calling hours, after 7 hours on the road and changing our clothes in a gas station bathroom.  The funeral director informed me that "there are many people awaiting the arrival of this little guy."  I first felt bad for turning a somber occasion into a social event, but someone reminded me that Grandma would have liked that, and the spontaneous family reunions help to celebrate the passed life.  He got lots of attention.  Maryann was quite adept at getting him to laugh out loud, and Katie was very talented at getting him to sleep!

We had a few meltdowns in the car with Elliot, but nothing that wasn't fixable.  Tuesday we had the funeral, a nice lunch, the burial a few hours later, one last feast with family at Bob Evans, and then we hit the road.  Rolled in around midnight last night, and Elliot did fabulous on the way back.  We planned to stop when he needed something... and at the 3.5 hour mark, he was still snoozing, and I insisted on stopping for my own bladder!  He fell right back asleep and we made record time for the drive back.  Well, Pat did, I slept in the back seat!

I felt like a nomad for the two days-- nursing in two parking lots in the car, pumping about four times while Pat drove, changing Elliot and our own clothes everywhere on the fly.  Whew, we made it.  And it was definitely worth it.  However, I think we need a bigger car.  :)

Dad and Elliot discuss their day.

This went on for a good 20 minutes or so.  We couldn't get him to bed last night-- I got in the door around 4:30pm and at 11pm, I finally put him in his bassinet with wide open eyes.  A few minutes later of course, he zonked.