Teething: Bad News and Good News

Well, when it comes to the unending teething that's been going on at our house, I have good news and bad news. I'll start with the bad news: ear infection. I'm actually surprised he hasn't had one sooner since he's been teething for so long with all the runny nose going on. But since we were expecting it, we recognized the symptoms right away and took him to the walk-in clinic this morning. She said both of his ears are plugged, but only one is infected yet - we caught it before the other one got infected. So, we're starting the antibiotics and hopefully he'll be back to 100% in no time.

The GOOD news, however, is that 3 of the 4 incisors have FINALLY broken through! I bet #4 will be any minute now too. So once we shake this ear infection, we should be good to go until the 2-year molars! Praise God!!!

18 Months!

I can't believe my big boy is already a full year-and-a-half old! He grows more precious every day, and I mean it. He is so active and ornery, this is the only nice picture we got from our 18-month photo shoot last week. We got some other cute funny-face ones which will be on our Christmas card, so some of you can keep an eye in the mail for those in December.

He's STILL teething - he's been working on his incisors for two full months now, and they're STILL not in! Here he is chewing on the prop at his 18-month photo shoot. The tooth bumps get larger and larger, though, so hopefully we'll have a breakthrough soon!

I waited a couple days to post this update so that I could post his stats from our well visit today.

Weight: 33 lbs, 8 oz (>95%)
Height: 35" (95%)
Head: 19.25" (75%)

So as you can see, he remains large and in charge. I thought this picture I took last week did a good job of demonstrating how tall he his. Poor guy can't even sleep sideways in his crib anymore without his legs dangling out of it!

His vocabulary has absolutely EXPLODED this month. I thought about trying to compile a list of words he could say to post here, but seriously, there are too many to count! He's blowing us away with the way he's starting to communicate verbally. It's awesome!

He's also learning and picking up things so fast! Seriously, this child can count to 10! (Well, he can count from 2 to 10. He has yet to say the number 1.) This video was taken when he first started doing it a few weeks ago, so his numbers are much more intelligible now. But seriously!

I didn't crop off the end of this video because if you hang on until the very end, you can catch him saying the words "All done" along with the sign when he's done with his meal. So big! *Edit: Upon viewing the video after I published the blog, it seems like "Done" got cut off in the uploading. So you just have an extra 9 seconds of looking at my cute boy. You're welcome.

He just in the past couple of days showed us that he has started learning his letters! We were bowled over. He has a little magnetic alphabet set on the refrigerator, and the other day he pulled off the letter F and said, "F." I was like "WHAT?!?!" So I asked him "What letter is this?" and he said "F." No way. Since then, we've discovered that he also knows T, and he sometimes gets S and Z. For real. That's like... reading.

His play has started to become more creative and imaginative. Instead of just holding the car upside down and spinning its wheels, he'll actually scoot it across the floor and say "Vroom." Here he is playing with a little kitchen set I got him.He gets a big kick out of it when I hold the little frying pan over the stove and say "Sizzle, sizzle, sizzle!"

So he is just a laugh a minute, and he's such a loveable, sweet boy! We remain proud of him and are astonished at not only how big, but how grown up he is! Definitely not a baby anymore.

One Point!

Just had to share this one. Justin and I have been facing off against each other in Fantasy Nascar all year, and he has had the lead for the majority of the season. The final race was today, and I started it behind Justin by 53 points. In today's race, I got 54 more than him. Yep, I won by ONE POINT! (Click the image to see a screen shot of our final scores.)Absolutely unbelievable! I hope my luck is this good in fantasy football!

Grease is the Word

Now that Elias is starting to grow some hair, he is enthralled with it. He's always twirling it in his fingers, and he seems to have a new obsession with grabbing my hair too. Unfortunately, the time he most enjoys grabbing his hair is during mealtimes when his hands are all sticky and greasy and nasty. So instead of just having to wipe his hands and face after a meal, we have to wipe his whole head!On this particular night, we were eating couscous, so it got all over and was really hard to get out of his hair! Oh, for the days when he can use a spoon!!

If you're not using a reader to view my blog, make sure to scroll down - I've done 4 posts today! Trying to catch up! :)

GrandDad's Tractor

When Nana came to visit a few weeks ago, she brought Elias a toy John Deere tractor. He loves it and learned the word "tractor" when she gave it to him. We told him that GrandDad has a tractor, and now whenever he's playing with his tractor, we can hear him jabbering about "Yaya," which is his word for GrandDad. And when you ask him who drives a tractor or who is driving a tractor in a book, he'll always respond with "Yaya!"

Bucket Head

Elias has a little toy bucket that has Optimus Prime on it, and Daddy showed him how to wear it as a hat. So since then he always dumps the toys out and puts it on his head and calls it "hat." Goofy.He also thinks it's really funny to put it on Daddy's head.My two silly boys!

Ta Da!

It is positively shameful how behind I am in blogging. My deepest apologies to the friends and family who use this blog to keep up with us and how Elias is growing! I'm not going to try to post all the videos and pictures from the past MONTH that I haven't been doing a good job of keeping up, but I'll just post a few highlights. Then stay tuned for our 18-month update this weekend!

About a month ago, Elias randomly started doing this big flourish whenever he would take his fork or hand out of his mouth after feeding himself. So I would say "Ta da!" whenever he did that, and he just thought it was hilarious! And he'd start to say "Ta!" on his own. Cute!

So Handsome

Nana snapped this picture of Elias in the front yard when she was here a couple weeks ago, and I think it is just SO GOOD! Who needs professional photographers when you've got grandmothers??? Thanks, Nana!

Climbing

My little guy is just growing like crazy and he's getting really tall! With the increased height comes his ability to start climbing on things, and that's now his new obsession. He tries putting his knees on everything to see if he can reach and then climb. Here he is climbing into our entertainment center: (That was soon nipped in the bud, but it was too hilarious not to capture on photo first!)

He also has a little Winnie the Pooh activity table that he is finally just tall enough to climb on, so he tries that one often too. His favorite climbing gym, though, is the couch. (Check out how proud of himself he is in this picture!)He loves to climb on and off the couch, rearrange the pillows, and use them as aids for further climbing. He pushes up the couch cushions to give himself a little lower place to climb up to. Whenever he does that, we say he's in his "spot." Here is a sample video of what he does on the couch. What a goof!

If you remember the disastrous living room from my last blog post, this is that same day - the video shows a bit of how it got that way!

You'll notice that he has pulled one of the couch cushions completely off and put it on the floor in front of the couch. He does this so that he can then stand on it and get an extra inch or two to be able to climb onto the coffee table. Sigh. We even caught him once climbing over the arm of the couch onto the end table! Yep, I'm definitely going to have one of those fearless boys who's not afraid to try anything. I'm definitely going to have to be a praying mommy that he'll survive the early years!!!

Hurricane Elias

I just had to share this - thought many of you mommies of toddlers could relate. This is what my living room looked like moments ago before I put Elias down for his nap (Click to enlarge.):What on earth happened in here? A freak indoor tornado? A burglar who was searching for our valuables? Nope, it was just Hurricane Elias, my toddler whirlwind. Cleaning up is the next thing on my list to teach him!

For Grandma

When Elias and I visited my family in Ohio back in August, his Grandma taught him how to say "Mm-mm-mmmmm!" when he's eating something tasty. Well, he's still doing it! He usually only says "Mm-mm" but occasionally he gets the "mmmmmmm" at the end. Either way, it's cute and we think of Grandma every time!

Whirlwind Wedding Weekend

I just got back from a whirlwind weekend in Texas for the wedding of my best friend, Charity. (We were missionaries in Africa together, and she was the maid of honor at my wedding. I thought that might help some of you know who I'm talking about!) It was an AWESOME weekend, and the wedding was PERFECT! I am so thankful to have been able to go! I'll just post this pic, since Charity hasn't posted her own yet and I don't want to steal her thunder. But I'll just post this one to show how beautiful she was and how perfect the ceremony was!!!!! (Photo courtesy of Margaret Allen)Congratulations to Mr. & Mrs. Njesada!

Justin and Elias stayed home when I went, so Nana (Justin's mom) drove down to stay with them and keep Elias while Justin was at work. From what I hear, they had an incredible weekend and I'm so thankful Elias was well-behaved for Nana! I couldn't believe how much he had grown and developed even just in the 4 days I was gone! Such a big, smart, sweet, and handsome boy. I'll be posting more pictures and videos soon to catch you up with all that he's doing these days, so stay tuned!

Shape Shenanigans

I mentioned in our 15-month post that Elias had learned to recognize the shapes and push the buttons on his little toy computer on command. Well, I'm finally getting around to posting a video of that! He lost interest after pushing only 3 of them, but you get the idea...

A more recent talent he has developed is being able to correctly use his shape sorter! I'm very proud of him for being able to do this.

My little smartypants!

Bubbles

The first few times Elias ever saw bubbles, he didn't care in the slightest. He was always like "So what?" But then one day a couple weeks ago, I was blowing bubbles with him at home, and it just clicked! He laughed and tried to grab and pop them, and he even said "Bubbles!" very clearly! So here's a video of that day. He has loved them ever since!

If you watch it all the way to the end, you can also see his good use of the sign for "Please," which is pretty new in his signing vocabulary.

Eating with a Fork

This video is a couple weeks old, but I keep forgetting to post it! We're trying to teach Elias to eat with utensils, and he's actually not doing too bad with a fork! He still loses the food off of spoons, but since the food stays on the fork, he does a great job getting it into his mouth. He has only been able to get the food on it himself once or twice, but it's still progress! He actually really loves eating with a fork, and we can often get him to eat food he doesn't like by putting it on a fork. I hope THAT continues!

Note the tiny little fork that came in a set his Nana and GrandDad gave him for his first birthday. Cute! You can also see his good use of the sign for "More." He does it with his right fist closed and left hand open.

Be Careful Little Feet

God is working on teaching me something right now, and my thoughts aren't fully formed about it yet, but I want to get it out there all the same. Most of the time writing about something helps me organize my thoughts about it, so you all are lucky enough to be able to be the recipients of my ramblings on the matter.

I'm currently participating in Beth Moore's Breaking Free Bible study with a group of young moms in my area. This is a powerful, powerful study, and I recommend it to anybody whether you feel like you have areas of bondage in your life or not. This week's focus has been on looking back in our families to see what kinds of bondage may have been passed down to us from generations and generations of our families. One of the main Scriptures she uses this week is Exodus 20:5-6.

You shall not bow down to them [idols] or worship them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing love to a thousand [generations] of those who love me and keep my commandments.

This verse doesn't mean that we have to pay for our ancestors' sins - Christ did that on the cross. Instead, this means that we often have to bear the natural consequences of generational sins, and we are often more susceptible to repeat the mistakes we saw in those who came before us. Don't get so caught up in verse 5, though, that you miss verse 6. The descendants of the wicked often reap painful consequences, but the descendants of the faithful are guaranteed to reap blessing for a thousand generations! So not only do I want to look back at my ancestors to see if I may have inherited any bondage that I wasn't aware of, but the thing that really took hold of me about this concept this week is to be aware of the legacy I'm leaving for my children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren, etc. Do I want to be the means by which suffering is inflicted on 3 or 4 future generations, or do I instead want to be the means by which blessing is passed on to thousands?

God has given this all a very personal application for me, though, in thinking about my own struggles and areas of bondage, and thinking about the effect it will have on Elias and any other children/grands/greats/etc. I have been struggling a lot with shortcomings, difficulties, and failures for the past couple of years, and I often get discouraged. I struggle with making the right choices every day and with maintaining hope that God can and will deliver me from this bondage. I am often tempted to think that the little choices I make every day don't really matter, won't make a difference in the grand scheme of things. Or probably a better way to put it is just that I get tired of fighting day in and day out to make the best choices, when I don't feel like I'm making any progress or don't feel like there's any reward for doing what's right.

But there's a Casting Crowns song called "Slow Fade," which has always been meaningful to me, but this week has taken an even deeper meaning in the context of breaking my own bondage in order to not pass it down to Elias. You can watch the video here and read the lyrics here. This week it has seemed to come on the radio every time I get in the car, so if you see me driving down the street bawling, that's probably why. The chorus goes like this:

It's a slow fade when you give yourself away.
It's a slow fade when black and white have turned to gray.
Thoughts invade, choices are made, a price will be paid
When you give yourself away.
People never crumble in a day.
It's a slow fade, it's a slow fade.

So the meaning that this takes for me is just that every choice I make is either one step closer to freedom or one step deeper in bondage. There are very few neutral choices. So when I'm tempted to just stop fighting "just this once," I need to remember that just this one compromise is the first step down a path I don't want to walk down myself, and that I definitely don't want to lead my son down. The first verse of the song says this:

Be careful little feet where you go,
For it's the little feet behind you that are sure to follow.

Oh, I want to lead those little feet behind me down the path of God's Truth to freedom and nowhere else. So I will fight. And keep fighting. Because I do not want to see my children struggling in my same prisons. I want to be the means by which they are able to live in great blessing, freedom, and power from the Lord.

Pumpkin Patch

We went to a pumpkin patch with our church small group last night, and we had a great time! Elias loved playing on the playground and crawling around in the hay and dirt, and we got some really cute pictures! Enjoy!

True Blue

I debated whether or not to post these pictures now after Kentucky's APPALLING performance against Florida on Saturday. I mean, not only did they lose spectacularly, but they also incapacitated the best quarterback in college football. However, we are proud of our alma mater and will root for them no matter what. We are no fairweather fans!!!

Plus, is my precious boy in his UK jammies not just the cutest thing you've ever seen in your life?!?!So my sweet boy will be True Blue no matter how well they play.

I Love You!

I decided this week that I wanted to teach Elias to say "I love you." So I said to him, "Elias, say 'I love you!'" And he responded by making a kissy noise! I was surprised! I'd never heard him make a kissy noise like that, and he used it appropriately in relation to love! He was pretty proud of himself too, although, he could've just been reacting to Mommy's joy...

I remembered then that he has a little toy cell phone that talks when you push the buttons, and one of the buttons says "I love you" followed by a kissy noise. So I guess that's where he picked it up and associated the two! I think it's so sweet, though!

All Clear

I took Elias back to the doctor today so she could check his ears and make sure the infection was completely gone. Praise the Lord, it is! It took him much longer than I expected to fully recover from this, but in the past couple of days, he's back to his old self. My precious boy. I have more pics and videos to upload that I'm hoping to get to over the weekend, so stay tuned!

I never did post an official 16-month update, which he turned on Monday. But I thought since I'm posting a plethora of pics and videos, you all are getting a good idea of what the past month has looked like for us. I fall more and more in love with this child every day!

Chillin'

One day last week when Elias was sick with his ear infection, he apparently decided he was too tired to keep playing with Daddy. So he just took his Jimmie car and went over and rested against a couch cushion. Sweet little guy.

Twirling

Elias has recently started "twirling." For him this is staggering around in a circle while looking down at the ground, but it's still pretty cute! And he loves to do it - does it all the time!

Throw It All Overboard!

This is a picture of what Elias generally looks like when I go to get him out of his crib after his crib playtime. Notice anything wrong with this picture? Let's zoom in a bit:Yes, the crib is empty and all his toys and books are wedged down in the crack between the crib and wall! He loves to throw everything out of his crib, even the heavy and big stuff! So we'll occasionally hear a loud boom coming out of his room and we know he just threw his toy cookie jar or Jimmie car or something else out of his crib. And then he complains because he doesn't have any toys left to play with!

He has also just this week started throwing toys over our safety gate into the hallway where he can't reach them. It baffles me why he does this too, since now he can't play with them. But without fail, there is always a ball and several toys in the hallway just on the other side of the safety gate. Silly boy.

BOOM!

Last week, Daddy came up with a fun new game, which is jumping in the air and shouting "BOOM!" Elias thinks this is hilarious, and will often jump and make his own BOOM! noise, or he'll wave his arm and grunt indicating that he wants us to BOOM!

Daddy's Boy

Elias absolutely loves his daddy. I keep meaning to have the video camera ready to record how he reacts when Daddy comes home from work because it is priceless. As soon as he heard the doorknob rattle, he gets so excited, and he shrieks with joy as soon as he sees Daddy come through the door! Seriously, priceless.

So sometimes we put his Baby Einstein video in while I'm cooking dinner to keep him occupied and out of the kitchen. On this particular day, he was starting to get sick with his ear infection and he was feeling a bit needy. So he wasn't content to sit and watch unless Daddy would hold him. The picture was too sweet to miss capturing:How sweet is this? My two boys. :)

Cracker Crusher

Now that Elias has plenty of teeth (all 4 molars!), we're wanting him to start learning how to take a bite out of food and chew it instead of us having to cut and break everything up for him. I decided to start with a nice crumbly cracker so that even if he did put too much in his mouth, it wouldn't be hard to chew it up. So the first time I gave him a whole cracker, he just took bites and chewed them up like he'd been doing it his whole life! So then the second time, I put up the video camera because I wanted to capture what a natural he was in eating a whole cracker. But he didn't do it the same way. Instead, he discovered that he could break it with his fist and crush it into smithereens. He got a big kick out of this, and I did too because he would work SO HARD to crush that cracker! He gets a frown of concentration and his whole arm shakes with the effort! Hilarious! So here it is:

Such a big and strong boy! So for a few weeks after he discovered this, he didn't eat any more crackers - just crumbled them to death. However, today for the first time he ate a cracker normally again... So maybe the novelty of using his brute strength to annihilate the cracker wore off.

Surprise Coat

We got such an unexpected surprise in the mail yesterday! My grandmother who lives near Chicago works at a thrift store in her church, and occasionally she finds some great deals that are awesome for us. So she apparently found this coat in Elias' size and sent it to us! I had been looking for a good winter coat for Elias and hadn't found anything yet, and here she sent us this one for free! It came from a thrift store, but it looks brand new! It has a cute detachable hood, and the hood even had a detachable fur lining! It's got a warm red fleece lining, and even knit cuffs in the sleeves and neck! This is going to be good for some SERIOUS playing in the snow this year! It's a tad big right now, but that means it'll be perfect for this winter when he's bigger and wearing heavier clothes under it. So THANK you, Grandma Ellie!!!!!

P.S. In this picture, he's making his new cute scrunchy smile face! He does this whenever I pull out the camera now... Silly boy.

Check, Check

Last week, we had a block party at church and our praise band played while we ate. The band was setting up, and they were doing mic checks. Well, Elias thought it was HILARIOUS when they said "Check, check" into the microphone. According to Justin (I missed it.), he was absolutely cracking up! And ever since then, he'll walk around at home saying "Sa, sa," which is his version of "Check, check." I caught it on video, but it isn't quite as funny since I'm prompting him to say it. Usually he just busts it out on his own. But here it is nonetheless!

I Won, I Won!

As most of you know, I read several Mommy blogs where they post with ideas for saving money, running a household, and mothering. These blogs often run giveaways, which I always enter, but I've never won before... Until now! Last week I won a Crayola Creativity Pack giveaway on MommySnacks.net, and it arrived today! Look at all this loot!It includes:

• Crayola Crayons 24 ct
• Crayola Markers 10 ct
• Crayola Colored Pencils 12 ct
• Crayola Pip-Squeaks Colored Pencils and Glitter Glue
• Crayola Window Crayons
• Tadoodles Washable Crayon Buddies
• Crayola Color Explosion Black Extreme Surprises
• Crayola Color Switchers

I'm so excited! I'm most excited about the Tadoodles Buddies right now because I think they're going to be perfect for Elias... I've actually looked at these at WalMart, but never been willing to fork over the cash for them. But now I don't have to! And we are SET for him to be able to express his creativity as he grows!

I highly recommend that all you mommies, householders, and money-savers out there check out Mommy Snacks. I've always considered it rewarding to read her blog because it's so helpful - I ALWAYS check out her weekly Walgreens posts to let me know what the best deals are there. So this is just icing on the cake!

By the way, I know it's been a while since I've posted... But Elias' ear infection is much better now, and I once again have a huge backlog of photos and videos to post! I'll post them as I get them edited. So stay tuned! :)

How Humble Your Love

This morning in church we sang a song whose chorus says:

What a wonderful Maker,
What a wonderful Savior.
How majestic Your whispers,
How humble Your love.
With a strength like no other
And the heart of a Father,
How majestic Your whispers.
What a wonderful God.

I know the song well, but this morning I was struck by the line that says "How humble Your love," and I thought about what it meant that God's love is humble. I think it means that He isn't forceful or assuming with His love, but that He just gives it and leaves us the freedom to accept it or not. This reminded me of a quote from C.S. Lews in Chapter 8 of The Screwtape Letters, which I actually blogged about here a couple years ago. In it, the demon Screwtape writes this about God:

You must have often wondered why the Enemy [God] does not make more use of His power to be sensibly present to human souls in any degree He chooses and at any moment. But you now see that the Irresistible and the Indisputable are the two weapons which the very nature of His scheme forbids Him to use. Merely to over-ride a human will (as His felt presence in any but the faintest and most mitigated degree would certainly do) would be for Him useless. He cannot ravish. He can only woo.

He cannot ravish. He can only woo. How sweet to think that God woos me, longing for me to CHOOSE Him and not just come to Him out of compulsion.

I also received great encouragement in continuing to read this chapter where Screwtape says this:

Sooner or later He withdraws, if not in fact, at least from their conscious experience, all those supports and incentives. He leaves the creature to stand up on its own legs—to carry out from the will alone duties which have lost all relish. It is during such trough periods, much more than during the peak periods, that it is growing into the sort of creature He wants it to be. Hence the prayers offered in the state of dryness are those which please Him best... ...He wants them to learn to walk and must therefore take away His hand; and if only the will to walk is really there He is pleased even with their stumbles. Do not be deceived, Wormwood. Our cause is never more in danger, than when a human, no longer desiring, but intending, to do our Enemy's will, looks round upon a universe from which every trace of Him seems to have vanished, and asks why he has been forsaken, and still obeys.

Wow, this perfectly describes the valley I have been walking through and continue to walk, and I am thankful for this brief glimpse of the heart of God, through which I feel Him saying to me, "I see your struggles, I know your heart, and I am deeply moved by your perseverance in faith, no matter how shaky at times. I am still here, my beloved one." Thank You, Lord.

First Ear Infection

We went to the doctor today, and Elias has his first ear infection... and it's a double! My poor baby. His fever first started on Wednesday, but that's exactly when we were expecting a fever to start in reaction to his MMR shot he got last week. So I just assumed that's what it was. But yesterday his fever was still pretty high and he had ZERO appetite - barely ate anything all day. That's kinda scary for my big ol' boy who is a big ol' eater. Then last night he was up every few hours, so none of us had a restful night. He wasn't fussy, just not sleeping. Finally in the wee hours this morning, we decided to actually take his temperature to see how high it was because he felt REALLY hot. (We generally don't take his temperature because it's so difficult to do rectally, he won't take the pacifier thermometer, and the ear one just isn't accurate.) It was 104.2. Whoa. That's high. So I called the doctor's office when it opened and they told me to bring him in - that was too high a fever to just be the MMR shot. And lo and behold, my poor baby has his first ear infection. I'm actually very thankful to have made it almost 16 months without having had one, and I'm thankful to now have antibiotics that should make him feel better quickly.

Big Boy Sippy

We're making the transition from the soft-topped sippy cup to the hard ones with Elias right now, and so to make it more appealing, I got some that have one of Elias' favorite things right now on them: cars. Specifically, they're NASCAR sippy cups with Jimmie Johnson, Justin's favorite driver.
Elias already had two toy Jimmie cars, which he LOVES to play with. He says "Vroooooom!" So he instantly recognized it as "Jimmie car" when he saw it on his sippy. We're so proud!

Right now he's using it without the spill-proof valve, but it doesn't have a vent hole, so it's remarkably spill-proof even without the valve. He does well with it, though.

Our Little Einstein

Elias' Grandma and Grandpa gave him a Baby Einstein video for Christmas, and we have recently started letting him watch it. I am AMAZED at how much he loves it! He is totally absorbed by it - it's the only time he sits still unless he's sleeping!He also interacts with it, mimicking the sounds they make and laughing at the funny parts. In the video below, you can see him baa-ing with the sheep and then pointing at himself when they say "baby."

You can hear Justin and I talking about how we wondered where he had gotten the long "baa" that he makes for a sheep sound. He always used to just do a really short "bah" sound, but then one day last week he just started doing a long "baaaaaaa" for what a sheep says. When we were watching this, we realized that this is where he got it! So he's learning! :)

Keeps Getting Bigger!

We had Elias' 15-month checkup today, and he just keeps getting bigger! Here are today's stats:

Weight: 31 lbs, 2 oz (99%)
Length: 33.5" (95%)
Head: 19.25" (90%)

Such a big boy! Not sure how accurate any of the measurements actually are because he's going through a huge stranger anxiety phase right now and he panics any time anybody besides me or Justin touches him. So you can guess that it wasn't easy getting him weighed and measured. I do know he's a big 'un, though, so these measurements seem close enough to me!

So this quite possibly may have been our hardest visit yet, at least for me. He's just SUCH a busy boy, all over the place. He wants to be up, exploring everything, touching everything, climbing on everything. I've always seen "those moms," you know, the harassed and harried ones that just can't seem to get a break because their kid is completely out of control, and I've looked on them with pity. And I was a little sad to realize that today in the waiting room, I was that mom. The other kids waiting were all either much older or much younger than Elias, and therefore not at the all-over-the-place stage.

Combine that with four vaccinations AND his terror at being touched, looked at, or even talked to by the nurses and doctor, and it was a hard visit. I'm praying his stranger anxiety passes because this is really rough. The doctor was very comforting, though, that it's perfectly normal, there's nothing we have done to cause it, and there's nothing we can do to help it besides just wait for him to grow out of it. Sheesh. Hopefully we won't have to go to the doctor again for a while, and by then he'll be grown out of it!

These Shoes Were Made for Walkin'

A couple weeks ago, one of the nursery helpers at church told us Elias was going to be promoted up to the next class now that he's walking. She mentioned to me that he needs to wear shoes in that class since the floor isn't all carpet. Since he's been barefoot all summer, I thought it would be a good idea to practice walking in shoes before I send him to church to try to do it! So here's a video of our first practice session. He did better than I thought, and aren't those crocs just the cutest thing you've ever seen???

My favorite part is when he gets enamored with his reflection in the TV screen! Such a funny boy!

A Basketball Star is Born

As I mentioned in Elias' 15-month post, he got a new basketball toy that he likes to play with. He rolls the ball, kicks it (although we're still working on kicking coordination... He has to make a couple passes before he makes contact!), and likes to put the ball through the hoop. Here's a video of the first day we had it:

The goal doesn't stay up anymore (That's what I get for paying $1 for a toy, I guess!), but he still likes to just pick it up and put the ball through.

So now when he's a famous basketball player, we can say we have his first-ever basket recorded for posterity.

Splish Splash

Except for when he was tiny, Elias has always loved taking a bath, and he seems to just like it more and more. He is now a MANIAC in the bathtub because he loves splashing so much. Daddy is still our bath-giver, and he almost always ends up SOAKED by the time the bath is over. This is a sample of what Elias does from the minute he gets into the tub.

You can see at the end what Daddy does to distract him from splashing - giving him fun toys! Nana helps us immensely with that effort by sending us the toy you see here: a little Sesame Street boat set with Ernie and Elmo. If any of you are my friends on Facebook, you saw that Elmo is Elias' new obsession, and he even says "Muh," which means Elmo! So this toy is awesome because Elias loves his new best friend, Elmo, and it's fun to play with him in the tub. Keeps Daddy a little drier. :)

At the Park

I'm sorry I haven't posted this week. It's been crazy! Because of that, I have a huge backlog of videos and pictures to catch up with, so stay tuned as I get them all edited and posted!

A couple weekends ago, we took Elias to the park to feed the ducks/geese/swans. They didn't really like the tortillas we took to feed them, but Elias enjoyed watching them nonetheless. There are so many of them, and they were splashing like crazy, which is something Elias LOVES to do. So he was very entertained by all their splashing.

Croup!

It's been a long week for us. Justin went back to school this week, which already makes it rough. I didn't realize how spoiled we got having him home all summer! It was a dream for all of us, and now we're all struggling in falling back into the routine of the semester with him gone all day.

Plus, Elias is teething. I think he's cutting his bottom two molars. He's been fussy, runny nose, chewing on everything, and slobbering everywhere about 5 days now. So hopefully those suckers will come in soon!

But on top of all that, a call to the doctor's office today confirmed that he has croup! (Justin thought that's what it was, but I thought croup would be worse than what he is - I guess he has a mild case? I certainly hope it's not going to get worse before it gets better!) He started coughing on Wednesday night - SCARY coughing that made me seriously consider sleeping on his bedroom floor just so I could make sure he kept breathing. Thankfully, the humidifier gave him relief, and we were all able to get sleep. Last night was rough too, though, even with the humidifier. So we're all struggling and sleep-deprived around here. Thank God for the weekend tomorrow!

If I Were...

I got this from my friend, Jessi's blog, and I thought it was pretty funny. I didn't come up with a funny story like she did, but I think the pictures are enjoyable nonetheless... Photos courtesy of PhotoFunia.


If I were a president, I would've been good enough to be immortalized with the greats!
If I had been born several decades earlier, I would've rocked the big hair and boy bands.
If I were an astronaut, I would definitely have been the one to walk on the moon.
If I had even a smidgeon of fashion sense, I could be on the cover of Glamour!
If I were in this close proximity to Johnny Depp OR Orlando Bloom, my smile would certainly be this big, even if there were creepy pirates around!

15 Months!

Didn't I just write our 14 month update? And now another month has flown by and Elias is growing and developing like crazy! He's turning into such a little personality, and he's learning so fast! If any of you ever get tired of me raving about how brilliant and handsome my son is, you may just want to stop reading here... For those of you who can get past the gushing, here's what our past month has been like.

Walking
Elias is walking like a champ now, and he just doesn't stop! I took a video yesterday of what our days look like now that he can walk. It's pretty long, but it gives you an excellent picture of what he does now.

He's no longer satisfied to just sit and play with his toys. Instead, he wanders around the house (well, the part we don't have gated off!) looking to see what he can get into! It cracked me up when he even put his chin up on the table to see what he could reach. (We have definitely learned to not leave water glasses too close to the edge! He grabbed the edge of one once and got a faceful of water!) And then he tried to climb into his high chair. Silly boy!

You will notice, though, that whenever I use my Mommy Voice (telling him not to touch the trash can or play with the cabinets), he listens, for which I am extremely thankful! Of course, I'd rather him not touch them at all, but that'll come. :)

You will also notice that there are no still photographs of him in this update, only video. This is because he's never still! Always up and running around.

Teeth
He has sprouted 5 teeth in the past month, for a total of 10 now. Six on top (the front four and two molars) and four on bottom. And he CONSTANTLY has things in his mouth, so that indicates to me that there are more coming. In fact, he has started chewing on books now, something we're trying to break him of. But the other day I had him looking at a book while I was making copies at the library. I noticed in my peripheral vision that he was chewing on something, so I looked and he had eaten part of the cover off the book! Like totally eaten it! (Photo at right.) Sheesh!

One Nap
He is now officially down to one nap a day. Today was the first day we intentionally did the new one-nap routine, although it has been quite a while that he hasn't napped in the morning. We'll still do an hour of crib playtime in the mornings so he has some quiet time and Mommy can at least get a shower! But he does well with it, and I REALLY like the 3+ hour naptime in the afternoon that I can get things done! (Or take my own nap!)

So Fun
The more he grows and can do, the more fun we have playing. He is just such a little ham! He still loves Peek-a-boo, and we finally got some video of what he does:

He'll crawl into the corner where the loveseat meets the wall, and he'll hide his face there before he pops around the couch to peep at us! I think that is SO FUNNY! That's all his own doing - he's never seen either of us do that. He'll do it over and over again, and it's funny because he really bonks his face into that corner - we can always hear the thud when it hits! Goofy boy.

So Smart
I seriously cannot believe how much this child knows and understands and can do and say! He is talking like crazy, and his vocabulary is really extensive for somebody his age! He can say the whole gamut of farm and zoo animal noises (including rare ones like squirrels, chipmunks, and kangaroos! I'll have to get those on video sometime). He's also getting to where he can repeat a word we say. A couple days ago, I was telling him about his pajamas, which had Winnie the Pooh playing basketball on them. So I said "basketball," and he said "dassss-da-da" which actually sounds pretty close! He really took to that word, and he walks around saying it a lot. So today I got him a little toy basketball and hoop, and he knows that it's his basketball and he knows what it means when we say "Put it in the basket." (Look for that video in a couple days!)

He's starting to learn the parts of his body. He can find his nose, eyes, mouth, ears, hair, feet, toes, hands, and belly!

Justin also made a discovery today that Elias knows his shapes! He has a little toy laptop that has six buttons that are each a different shape. Justin learned today that if you ask him where the square is, for example, he'll push the right button! We were floored! Such a smarty-pants.

Ok, this has turned out really long, but I warned you it would just be me raving about how brilliant my son is! And he is! I'm so proud of him!!!

Our Anniversary Present

Well, we actually bought this for ourselves last week without any thought about our anniversary, but it was finally delivered today, so happy anniversary to us! We decided to get a new bed in the hopes that it would help my back, but since we were buying a bed anyways, we decided to get a king size! We're very excited about this, and we anticipate both of us sleeping better with more room to spread out.

Since we got a different size bed, we also had to get new bedding, and I am SO EXCITED about what we got! (Click to enlarge.) It's so beautiful, like the kind of bedroom I'd always dreamed of having, but never thought I would! But it's real and I love it!!!!!!! (Perfectly matches the curtains we already had... Bonus!)

So here's to many years of sweet dreams for us!!!!

4 Years Ago Today...

... I married my best friend.

Happy anniversary, sweetheart!

No-No

Elias has a new word in his vocabulary: "No-no." He definitely knows what it means, and he uses it appropriately. Whenever we reprimand him for doing something he shouldn't, he says "No-no!" (We don't usually use "No-no." We just say "No." He seems to have put that together himself.)

One of the things we're really dealing with right now is he likes to rip off his bib and throw it on the floor when he's done eating. That's a big "No" around here. He's supposed to tell us (by signing) he's all done, then let us take his bib off.

So then today he was eating his afternoon snack in his high chair, and I was in the kitchen working on dinner with my back turned. He did great and ate happily watching me work. But then I heard him say "No-no!" So I turned around and he had thrown his bib on the floor! So I took action by putting his bib back on and telling him that's a "No," but it cracked me up that he tattled on himself! So now we don't have to wonder whether or not he knows that he's not supposed to throw his bib on the floor! Silly boy.

Walking Man

Elias has really taken off with his walking! He walked a few steps here and there the past couple weeks, but he really took off once we were all back home from our trips. We think he was saving it for Daddy! We've been trying and trying to get good video of him walking, but most of them are just short clips. So I patched them all together and maybe you can get a good idea. The first one is good, and the rest are just silly. Enjoy!

Our Big Adventure

Elias and I are home safe and sound! We had a WONDERFUL time with our family, but we are pooped and glad to be home. Elias is sleeping so soundly in his own bed! I know he's glad to be home. But we had so much fun and soaked in as much sweet family time as we could. Since Justin took our camera on his trip, I only have a couple pictures that my sis took, but they're good ones!

Most of our trip was just spent hanging out and enjoying being together. We ran around, shopped, ate together, played some cards, and squeezed in as much as we could in those short 9 days! On Thursday, we made a trip to Georgetown, KY to have dinner with a group of friends and then go to the Cincinnati Bengals Training Camp. Turns out we were mistaken about the training schedule that day, so we missed seeing the Bengals, but we had a great time catching up with old friends! And the boys looked SO CUTE in their Bengals gear! Azlan (2), Elias, and Patriot (4)

Then the next day we spent the day at King's Island, the theme park we went to often when I was a kid. We spent most of the day riding things that the kids could enjoy, but I did manage to catch a ride on Diamondback, the park's newest roller coaster! It was awesome! Elias even rode two rides, a little blue train and the carousel! We spent all day at the park, so he eventually got so pooped that he napped in his stroller, which he has never done in his life. Isn't he the cutest?!
By the end of our trip, Elias had pretty much reached his limit with long days of being off schedule and missing naps. But he was such a trooper and so cooperative and cheerful in spite of it all! It took him quite a while to get comfortable with my family, and I wonder if part of it was that he missed his daddy so much. His daddy should be home tonight, though, so hopefully things can get back to normal soon. But our week was a sweet time with family, and I'm thankful for the opportunity to have this visit.

Expert Traveler

I have a few minutes while I'm waiting for Mom to get home from work, so I thought I'd post a quick note. We made it to Ohio safe and sound, and Elias did GREAT on the planes! Both planes were completely packed, so there were no extra seats in which we could spread out. So Elias had to stay on my lap the entire time for both flights. That wasn't a huge deal, but it wasn't as trouble-free as it would've been if I could've put him down in a seat next to me. Really the only bad part about it was trying to keep him from constantly kicking the seat of the person in front of us. The lady in front of us on the first flight was NOT understanding about it, and that made me feel pretty bad. But seriously, no way I could've kept his feet from touching that seat the entire time. And if she didn't want him kicking her seat back, she should've thought twice about reclining it back into our faces... Ahem. (I do admit, though, that before I had kids, I didn't understand how hard it was for the parent behind me trying to control their child... I regret having been impatient with them in the past...) So for the second flight, I apologized in advance to the man in front of us, telling him that I would try to keep Elias from kicking his seat, but he'd probably get some kicks. He said not to worry about it because he had three boys at home and completely understood. I appreciated that and it made the second flight less stressful for me.

But Elias did AWESOME. Didn't fuss at all, didn't freak out at the pressure changing, didn't wrestle to get down. I'm very proud of him. I was a little concerned about his ears on both flights because he drank his entire sippy cup when we took off, which didn't leave him anything to drink when we landed. But for the first flight, I just fed him some fruit snacks upon landing, and the second flight his paci was enough for the landing. Score! I did discover that snacks were definitely the easiest way to keep him entertained on the flight - toys were just kind of hard to finagle with so little room. He did enjoy shredding the barf bag and the safety instructions on the first flight, though.

He didn't take even one minute of a nap all day long, so he was pretty strung out by the time evening rolled around. We went out to dinner with the family when we got here, but we had to hurry home because he was verging on a meltdown. But I think that's completely understandable! So it's taking a few days to try to catch up, but he's doing just fine. I think the way home will be easier because our layover is an hour shorter, which puts us home in time for him to catch a bit of an afternoon nap before dinner.

So I'm proud of how well our big boy did, and I'm not at all concerned for our return flight next weekend.

MANY thanks to all of you who gave me advice and suggestions about how to fly with a toddler. You saved my life in convincing me to take the big stroller!!!!! I felt confident with all of your support and encouragement, and we had a successful trip!

Back Update

I just got back from the doctor, and I wanted to post a quick update. I'm encouraged although there isn't really much news. She said that with someone as young as me, they don't jump right into assuming it's a disc problem. She said muscle injuries can take up to 8 weeks to resolve, especially in an area that gets used all the time like the back. And she said my symptoms could be completely in line with a minor injury, because even though I didn't have one moment where it started to hurt, the main cause of my current pain could just be because of inflammation and muscle spasms around the site. So, she prescribed me some muscle relaxers and stronger painkillers to take at night when I go to bed, and I should be waking up feeling better. She said I was already doing the right thing by taking the ibuprofen at night BEFORE I have pain and inflammation - head it off before it starts. So we'll give it another month and then if it's not better at all, I can go back for x-rays or imaging. But I'm encouraged at her comments, and I'm expecting that this will help me a lot. So good news! Thank you for your continued prayers!!!!

Grace is Sufficient

I want to thank you all for your kind and understanding comments, messages, and emails. I am blessed beyond measure to have a nationwide community of friends who lift me up and encourage me! It helps me a lot to know that you understand where I'm coming from and what I'm going through, and especially to know that you're praying for me!

Yesterday, we had a guest preacher at our church since our pastor is on a mission trip, and it was as if the Lord specifically chose this preacher to preach this message just for me. (Well, He in fact probably did.) I'm not saying it gave me all the answers or that I'm magically all better. But I have more to think about, and I'm encouraged to keep running the race and believing in God's sovereignty and goodness.

The text from the sermon was 2 Corinthians 4:1-10. I'll only copy verses 7-10 here:

But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed. We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body.

Some other Scriptures referenced were 2 Corinthians 11:24-28:

Five times I received from the Jews the forty lashes minus one. Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was stoned, three times I was shipwrecked, I spent a night and a day in the open sea, I have been constantly on the move. I have been in danger from rivers, in danger from bandits, in danger from my own countrymen, in danger from Gentiles; in danger in the city, in danger in the country, in danger at sea; and in danger from false brothers. I have labored and toiled and have often gone without sleep; I have known hunger and thirst and have often gone without food; I have been cold and naked. Besides everything else, I face daily the pressure of my concern for all the churches.

And 2 Corinthians 12:7-10:

To keep me from becoming conceited because of these surpassingly great revelations, there was given me a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

I'm not going to go into a long exegesis about the life of Paul or my great revelations from these Scriptures. I'm still meditating on them myself and seeking to find the depths that God has for me in them. However, the basic thing I took away from the message yesterday is that Paul's life sucked. Paul, who is held up as one of THE greatest standards of the Christian faith, who poured out his life as a drink offering in service for Christ, who is known as THE Apostle, who carried the Good News of the Gospel all over the world, and whose work is still being carried on today. His life was so bad that he said in 1 Corinthians 15:19:

If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are to be pitied more than all men.

None of the above Scriptures are new to me, but I guess I've never considered them all at once or considered what they really indicate that Paul's life was. It was miserable. Not only did he suffer physical hardship, but the vast majority of his missionary work was unsuccessful in his lifetime, and he was rejected, beaten, stoned, and chased out of town most of the places that he went. So my first reaction to this is that I really don't have much to complain about.

But my second and deeper thought is related to the above Scriptures. I guess I'd always thought that they meant that God is glorified in our weaknesses by delivering us from them in a victoriously overcoming manner. We walk in victory, acknowledging what God has delivered us from, and that is what brings Him glory. However, the preacher yesterday and the Scriptures above don't actually say that. They say that God is glorified in the weakness and failure itself, not in our deliverance from them. That doesn't make sense, and it's counter intuitive to our modern culture. But maybe that's the challenge of faith here. I don't yet know exactly what that means, but I thought I'd share the journey. Any thoughts would be welcome.