elliot at (almost) 12 months

My baby boy will be one in exactly a week. *insert crying face emoiji* How did this happen! With Eve, I didn't really mind her getting older because every day she learned something new, and it was so fun to watch her develop. (It still is.) But with Elliot, I feel like I know what's coming. First was walking, then running, and pretty soon he will be saying 'no more hugs, mama!', and, 'leave me alone!' Then he is going to start choosing to hang out with his friends over me.... then what, he wont let me dress him how I want to dress him!? The nerve...

I'm kidding, a little. I mean, it's awesome to see little glimpses of what I think is Elliot's future personality, but it is a little hard to let him go, as I'm sure it is for all parents. He is a precious little boy. I thought I would write down exactly how he is now, and what he does, so I will never forget.


At 12 months, Elliot...

Says mama, dada, baba, and as of Monday, he says nigh-nigh when I put him in his crib. SO CUTE. I think he knows it's cute, and knows it keeps him out of that crib longer because I just have to keep squeezing him. He also says ma which could mean more...? Still trying to figure that one out. He is babbling constantly, and has little "conversations" with the kids that come over. Darling.

As of this week, he sleeps through the night. I feed him once between 9-11pm, then he will not wake up again until about 6. This is huge for us! My kids are sort of on the Da Vinci sleep schedule... i.e. they never want to sleep, and their minds are always absorbing absolutely everything. I guess they got it from me, I truly am fine with 5-6 hours of sleep per day, and at this point I'm pretty used to getting up at least once during that time having had two kids in the past three years... Yeah. Elliot never cries in his crib though. If he isn't ready to sleep, he just sings to himself and snuggles with his stuffed monkey, which leads into this...

His favorite toy is a stuffed monkey. My sister gave this to him and it is his absolute favorite. He knows the word monkey, so when I ask him where the monkey is, he will go and find it.

He takes two really good naps a day, one in the morning, and one in the afternoon. He is good at sleeping through loud noises, i.e. his sister and friends screaming at the top of their lungs, or belting out the Frozen soundtrack on the regular. That movie........

He is walking, running, and doing his best to keep up with the other kids. He loves to play at the playground, and go down the slides. At home, I think his favorite game is taking toys from other kids, flashing his cheeky grin, and then running away with the toys. Ha! He figured out really quickly that the big kids take everything from him, so I guess this is his response.

He is getting into reading books. I love reading to him. He is at that stage where he is noticing the pictures in the books, and he will smile at animals, etc. So cute.

He is always smiling. I have heard from many, many people that he is the happiest baby, and he really is! It's a blessing! Eve was a happy baby too, but he makes her seem like a grump. This kid loves people. Especially cute girls. Must take after dad... hah.

He has seven teeth, four on top, three on the bottom. I'm sure that eighth one will show up any day now.

He will eat almost anything. Except avocado. Both my kids never liked avocado! I'm guessing it's a texture thing. Elliot didn't used to like bananas either. Like all kids I have met, he destroys a bowl of my mac n cheese. But its really, really tasty, so I don't blame him. He loves veggie soup, scrambled eggs, blueberries... I had kept him on a vegan diet for quite awhile, but at this point, he eats how we eat. (We try and stick to a 95% plant based, whole foods diet. The animal products that I do buy regularly are yogurt, cheese, and sometimes butter. We tend not to purchase meat, and call ourselves 'freegans' because we will eat meat (or dairy stuff) if it's given to us, or served at someone's house, etc.)

He gives kisses! Open mouth kisses with tongue.. Gotta work on that. Not that I mind, but there can be a lot of drool involved.. hah.

He is still using Eve's hand-me-down cloth diapers, and wears size 12 month pants, 12-18 month tops. Size 5 shoes. He is a big boy. He is almost the same size as our friend Penny who turns 2 in August. Giant baby! I love it.

Dislikes wearing socks.

Dislikes wearing hats.

Dislikes long car rides. (hasn't been on many)

Loves instruments! All of them. He was born into a very musical family, and I'm so excited that he is so interested in all things music. He will also dance on command. YES. As of now, guitar seems to be his instrument of choice.


I'm sure there are a lot more things to add to this list, but I will leave it at that. :) What a year it has been with this special guy! We are so looking forward to the upcoming years.

our weekend

My daughter Eve is still in Japan with my in laws, so we had another weekend with only one baby. I haven't gotten used to Eve not being here, but I am happy knowing she is happy and having an amazing vacation with family. She should be home next Sunday. 

Saturday, Andrew was able to introduce me to his team from work. I have never met anyone from his job (since they work all over the state and all work the same crazy 18 hour days) so it was so nice to be able to put some faces to the names. We all went to a Twins game and had a great time. The weather was perfect, and the seats were to die for. I'm not really knowledgeable when it comes to sports, but I love to watch games and hang out! Andrew's team had broken a sales record for the week, so his supervisor splurged on box seats for everyone and their families and it was so cool. We would probably never have had that opportunity EVER, and probably won't again, so I was totally soaking it in. And eating too much catered food because... It was there. And the Twins won the game, so that was pretty cool! Not sure how common that is ;)

Highly unphotogenic people, but we try. 

My sister babysat Elliot for us while we were at the game. It's such a blessing to have sisters who adore my kids...

...even if they won't participate in photos. 

Goofball. 

Hope you are having a great weekend! I'm off to make a giant breakfast for myself while the boys sleep in. 

my son

I have wanted to write Elliot's birth story down since he was born, but never have. I'm sure I can't even remember all of the important details at this point--almost a year later--but there are a few things I have been thinking about this week, and I want to share them.

Both of my children were born around two weeks past their due dates. Eve was born in a hospital, induced, and Elliot was born naturally at home. The experiences could not be any more unlike each other. Eve was in the NICU for almost a week after she was born, while Elliot was sleeping in my arms immediately after his birth. Eve was born after 27 hours of labor, Elliot after 3. However, when Eve was born, she was alert and very observant. She was looking around and studying this new place (so I have been told, I didn't see her for a few hours after her birth), while Elliot was silent.

Elliot was sort of stuck on his way out of the birthing canal. One of his arms was behind his body rather than in front. His shoulders are somewhat broad, and this made it difficult for him to come out. Of course, we didn't know this at the time, and I probably pushed harder than I would have needed to, only to push him into my pelvic bone, I guess. Anyway. After a bit of no success, my midwife had me flip over on to all fours which seemed like THE WORST IDEA EVER at the time, but sure enough, he was born within minutes.

When Elliot was born, he was silent, and his coloring was off. He wasn't moving, he wasn't trying to breathe. Of course, the umbilical cord was still connected so he was getting his oxygen, but the mood was tense. I don't remember a lot of what was going on, but Andrew was behind me, and I think he was praying. My midwife was holding Elliot, encouraging him to become alert, rubbing his back, doing all of the things she had said she would do if need be--all of the things I didn't think she would need to do because why would my baby need to be resuscitated? That wasn't a part of my birth plan...

Throughout my pregnancy, and I believe this is because I had a miscarriage before getting pregnant with Elliot, I had sort of surrendered control--not entirely, but almost--of the baby's life. I remember praying, "Lord, I thank you for this chance to be pregnant again, but if you want this child to be with you instead, let Your will be done, and not mine." In retrospect, I have no idea why I was praying those prayers, but they just kept coming out. I was so afraid of losing another baby, but knew I had to put my trust in Him regardless of my fear. So when Elliot was born and he was deep purple, looking totally lifeless, I guess I wasn't really surprised, because I had prepared myself for another loss. It sounds so sad, and it was, but I wasn't sad. I was sort of paralyzed. I was staring at Elliot's face, saying, "Jesus, Jesus, Jesus," over and over again, not really knowing what to think.

After some time, who really knows how long, Elliot gasped for air, and he was all right. He was so purple because of bruising--he had been pressed up against my bones for so long, trying to come out, that his entire face was just bruised up. I truly couldn't believe it! Amazingly, during this whole period of time, I didn't once even think to look down and see if I had given birth to a baby boy or girl (we wanted the gender to be a surprise). My midwife finally said, "By the way, I don't tell you what you had. You have to check for yourself!" I laughed, and told Andrew we had a boy, which, of course, he already knew. I was the only one so out of it, I didn't even think to look. Incredible.

As Elliot nears his first birthday, I can't help but think about this year, and what a complete and total joy he has been. What a blessing he is! Today I was reading in Genesis about Abraham, and about his test from the Lord. The story of Abraham nearly sacrificing his son, Isaac, has always been an emotional one to read, but now as a mom of a little boy, the story just came to life in an entirely new way. Just as Abraham is about to slay his son, the Lord says, "Do not lay a hand on the boy...Now I know that you fear God, because you have not withheld from me your son, your only son." (Gen. 22:12) Wow. This story in the Bible just reminds me so much of Elliot's birth. I feel that, like Abraham, I did not withhold Elliot from the Lord, without even realizing it, probably. I watched the Lord breathe Elliot's first breath into him, and saw, right in front of my face, my son open his eyes for the first time.

There really isn't a day that goes by that I don't feel so, so fortunate to have Elliot here, and to be his mom. He is such a precious gift, and it never feels like work to care for him. We are blessed to know you, little boy, and so thankful for this first year we have spent with you!

My three year old daughter is in Japan with my in-laws. Elliot and I are so jealous! The late night skype conversations have been great, but we do miss having Eve around.

Until she comes home, I guess it's just you and me, little boy.