Stubborn....Ya Think?

Elias has always been a good sleeper...until now. It has been over a week now that Elias has decided he doesn't want to sleep in his room by himself. That means that every time he wakes up in the middle of the night, someone has to go comfort him. Same for when he goes to bed. One night we decided we would let him cry himself to sleep...maybe then he would learn to comfort himself. He cried for 3 1/2 hours straight before we reevaluated. That kid is stubborn. Now we help him go to sleep at first, and hope he doesn't wake up before morning. So far, no luck. Matt and I (and Elias) are exhausted. Any advice would be greatly appreci......zzzzzzzzzzzzzz.

Sunny Arizona

Why is it that vacation blog writing always comes down to just lists of what we did? I guess it is because we always have so much fun it would take forever to write about each thing. I'll try to make my list a little more detailed.


Last weekend we went to see my sister in sunny Phoenix, Arizona. It was a nice change from the winter in Colorado. Lucky for us, Mom and Jim were there at the same time too. The kids got to eat at their very own special table. One night the kids had mac n' cheese, and I caught Elias putting all of it onto Tate's plate. I guess you do what you can when there is no dog.


We went to the train park and had a great time playing on the playground equipment and riding on the train. Matt and I took all of the kids for a ride on the choo-choo. Mom and Steph were wishing us farewell at the start, we saw them again at the Stagecoach, went through the spooky tunnel and lo and behold, there they were waving to us from the top of the tower near the end. To say I was surprised is an understatement:


One night we went to Organ Stop, a magical pizza place where a musician plays the organ while the different parts being played are lit up. It was jam packed with families and surprisingly to me, many many old people. I suppose it is an instrument of their generation. I think it was a bit overwhelming for Elias, but he liked it none the less (and so did I).

Ethan put on a magnificent magic show one night, full of string tricks, card tricks and pencil tricks. My favorite part was the book he acted out with Steph. We also got summoned from lunch one afternoon to the living room for a special surprise. We took our time, and when we arrived, Ethan was standing on the half wall holding up a giant tower he had built with cardboard bricks. I'm thinking we would have hustled a little if we had known he was so delicately balancing the blocks and himself. That kid's got talent!

Much of the afternoons were spent riding the tricycle (Tate took Elias around a little bit....so cute) and blowing bubbles. Elias got his very own bubble container he could carry around himself. It was easy to refill at the kitchen sink (shhh...don't tell). We played Mother May I and made a human knot. Lesson learned, when making a human knot, be sure both of your hands aren't connected to the same person. It may take you a while, but you will discover that it then can't be undone.

On Sunday, it was bath time. When both boys wanted to take a bath with Elias, they got a special treat. All three in the grownup bath!



Elias was exhausted by the end of the weekend, but boy did he have fun. What are you guys doing next weekend?

Grandpa's House

Mom and Jim recently visited the Mission San Juan Capistrano in California. Elias got his very own postcard from the trip. He points at the picture of the mission with the fountain in front and says, "Grandpa' house." Now the condo in Chicago is nice, but I think he may be a little disappointed when we visit next time.

Alright? OK.

Kids mimic what they hear. Apparently we say a lot of, "Alright? OK.," because Elias has started saying it. He hardly ever says one without the other. I guess it isn't all bad because he also says, "Thank You" when handing me his toys. At least I am polite some of the time. Be careful what you say around him. Alright? OK.

I Saw the President Yesterday

I suppose before everyone gets too excited, I should clarify that I saw the President's motorcade yesterday (twice). When unintentional, this is not really a good thing. Obama landed at Buckley Airforce Base (where I work) yesterday around 3:00. That means no one can come or go until he is on his way, so I left once everything was back opened, around 3:30 (a 1/2 hour later than planned). Unfortunately for me, he was headed downtown, and so was I. When I was about 5 minutes from the daycare (it was a little past 4:00), all traffic stopped. I tried to maneuver my way around, but with no luck. I did manage to get pretty close to the street that was blocked off, thus getting to see the string of cars and sirens go by. I arrived at daycare at 5:00. There were going to be a lot of late arrivals that day. I gathered Elias up and headed home through the crazy traffic. We were stopped again. This time I knew there was no going around, but many other people tried. We got close to the blocked off street and got to see the motorcade once again. It was about 6:00 when we got home. Wonder what he was doing while I sat in my car all afternoon?

You Gotta Love This Face

Giant Hugs

Elias is a great hug giver. Sometimes he sneaks up from behind or gets you in the legs. He almost always gives you a big squeeze when you carry him down the stairs. He hugs cow and dragon donkey baby before bed each night. Heck, he often hugs kids he has just met at music class or at the playground. My favorite hug is when he grabs the back of my head and squeezes our faces together. If only he knew a hug would almost always get him out of trouble.

Raisins

I caught Elias eating raisins off the floor at school yesterday when I arrived at the end of snack time. He does love raisins (his current favorite), but who am I kidding. I think he would eat just about anything he likes off of the floor.

What to Do

What do you do when you quit even pretending you might clean the house?

I used to clean our house about every other weekend. I did extra when company was coming over. Then we had Elias and it became more difficult. I would still try to clean something every other weekend. Then I started planning out when I thought I would clean...and sometimes I would follow the plan and sometimes not. The sometimes not became more and more. Lately I haven't even made the plan. What to do, what to do.

Elias' Favorite Song (Take II)

Elias singing his ABCs:



For those of you who can't get enough, I like to call this one, "Elias Singing His ABCs with Feeling":

Don't Mind Me

If we happen to be driving around in Denver and I suddenly yell out any of the following, please don't be alarmed:

Bus
Ding Ding
WooOooWooOoo
Dome
Crane
Nine
Digger

Every time we get in the car Elias loves to guess what we might see. We are usually coming home from school and so we get to see buses, the light rail, ambulances, the Capitol building's gold dome, a construction crane (or two), the 9 News Sign, and any kind of construction equipment. When we spot it, we yell it out. Sometimes it's hard not to yell them out even when Elias isn't there.

"Drive Parents Crazy" Virus

I diagnosed Elias with Roseola last week (It lasted Wed - Sun). Some of the symptoms I found online were:

High fever that comes on quickly, rash after fever subsides, irritability.

And then I saw this statement:

The characteristic of Roseola is that infants don't seem very sick and act almost well when the high fever comes down.

They are exactly right. Elias was slowed down a bit by his fever, but after a day or two, it was gone...and he didn't seem sick. But boy was he irritable. I think he threw more tantrums during that time than he has since he was born. He didn't want to eat, got into everything he knew he wasn't supposed to, was crabby, and was waking up at 4 in the morning. He had plenty of energy, and so seemed almost well. I'd like to make a suggestion that this virus be renamed, "Drive Parents Crazy" virus. Then at least everyone would know what they were really in for.