Meeting Luke

We spent the 3-day Presidents Day Weekend in Kansas City visiting our friends Mick & Tricia and their 7-1/2 month-old son, Luke. Our friend Cory from Dallas also joined us but his wife Jennifer stayed home sick. It was a fun weekend with friends from graduate school. We ate some great Kansas City BBQ, shopped, played with the babies, saw a lot of the city, and the guys went on a brewery tour. Mostly, it was nice just hanging out again with our friends and getting to know each other's babies.

It didn't take long to see that Elliot and Luke have opposite personalities. While Elliot is often quiet, shy and easygoing, Luke is talkative, loud and has strong opinions. They played well together despite Elliot's sensitivity to Luke's noise. Luke is boisterous and likes to squawk when he wants to say, "Hey Elliot, let's play!" Sometimes it would make Elliot cry which we don't understand and find a little funny. The ironic thing is that Elliot has been very talkative the last two days since we left Luke's house, so maybe he learned that it's okay to talk loud.

Elliot did great on the flights and slept like a baby on the quick flight from Dallas to Austin, which is when Drew took the picture of him zonked out. One thing we have learned about Elliot is that he is very adaptable to new places and travels well. Good thing because most of our friends and family live far away.

In other news, Elliot was 11 months old this week. At 11 months he can clap and wave hello or bye-bye. He gives Drew the best greeting when he gets home from work by clapping, laughing and bouncing up and down on his bum. Drew says, "I'm gonna get you" and Elliot goes bananas. Last week Elliot got his first major boo-boo when he fell face first against the hard kitchen tile. He cried but quickly recovered and was fine despite a bump and bruise on his forehead. His top two teeth are coming in nicely and it's becoming easier for him to chew finger foods. Mama painted him a new bookshelf and we put that in his room today.

Meanwhile the baby is kicking me a lot, and I feel it much more often than I felt it with Elliot. I'm either more aware of it this time, or this one is far more active than Elliot was. Hard to believe, but we only have about 4 more months to go in this pregnancy. We find out March 1st if it's a brother or a sister for Elliot.

Becoming Brave

Elliot had two big milestones this week. First, his pal Hayden invited us to his 1^st birthday party on Saturday night. There were about 25 adults there and a few children. Elliot didn’t cry or fuss one time because of stranger fright. He played with the toys alongside the other kids, and by the end of the evening he was bold enough to take toys away from other babies, and was pulling himself up to other adults at the party. We were so proud of him. He ate about a cup of guacamole, birthday cake and ice cream—the dinner of champions.

Based on his courageous turn on Saturday, we decided to give Gymboree another shot. And this time he was a big boy. He didn’t cry at all, not even during the parachute game which he usually fears. He crawled up to the other babies, he helped himself to toys in the boxes, and he even crawled through some of the activity tubes. He also did a lot of clapping. I was so happy to see that he is finally getting over his fear of other people. The first thing we did on the way home was call Dad and tell him how brave Elliot is. He was very proud.

We came home to find that Abby had eaten a half dozen chocolate chip cookies—just helped herself to the ones in a Ziploc bag on the countertop. I guess she wasn’t happy about being left this morning.

This past week Elliot likes to clap, especially for himself when he thinks he's done something clever. He sometimes waves hello when you say hi to him, but he isn't into "bye bye" yet. He likes to stand things upright on the table, like the telephone or bath bottle. He took a bubble bath with mom and thought that was fun.

Breakthrough

Elliot is finally getting his top teeth after what seems like nearly 5 months of working on them. As of this morning, they are both through the gum. He has giant bulges on his gums. I bet it hurt, but he seems to be over the hump now. He has had a lot of snot and was irritable, but had been sleeping okay with his humidifier and Vick's rub, and seemed to be fine without Motrin for the most part. Now onto the eye teeth! Hopefully they don't decide to come for a while so the kid gets a break.

Here is a quick update...

• He is losing his baby hair except on the very top and a patch in the back. He looks like he has a mohawk. Dad likes to gel it up which looks ridiculous but also pretty cute.
  
• Elliot started eating an afternoon snack that is as big, if not bigger, than his lunch or dinner. The kid can put it away and prefers to feed himself. This week he tried lasagna and teriyaki chicken.
• He shifts his weight from side to side when he is standing. He just figured out a few days ago that he doesn't have to put all his weight equally on both feet. I'm sure this is some kind of necessary precursor to taking his first step.
• Many things make him cry now: vacuum cleaner (all we have to do is get it out), electric mixer, treadmill, and pretty much any loud toys including some new keys Nana sent him. Doorbell, garbage disposal and Abby's bark do not seem to bother him.
• He got his first birthday party invitation, this one from his friend Hayden who turns one this month. Hopefully he doesn't cry the whole time at all the other babies.
• He has already received a few Valentine's presents including a play tent from his Nana & Papa (which of course scared him at first but now he's okay with it), and a "frog pod" bath toy scoop/holder from Buzza & YaYa. I guess grandparents need any excuse to buy presents for their grandbaby.
  
• He likes to grab onto his peenie in the bathtub. He discovered it about a month ago while he was sitting on the shower floor with me. He kept looking down at it as if to say, "What is this thing?" Ah, boys.

Baby #2 and an Eventful Week for Elliot

The baby is growing! My dad and Lyn gave me a tiny “baby countdown” digital clock that says we have 136 days to go before we become a family of four. I am in the 20^th week now so we are at about the halfway mark. The baby is moving and kicking at all times of the day and night. I even feel it when I'm moving around doing things during the day. Those are the times when Elliot would be lulled to sleep, so it’s a little different to feel kicking this time around. I had an appointment with Dr. Polon this morning and all is well. The baby's heart rate is in the 140s now, and my blood pressure, weight and urine tests are all normal. I told him I feel like I'm bigger this time earlier, but he checked my charts and I'm exactly the same weight in my 20th week with this pregnancy that I was in my 20th week with Elliot--131 pounds. We won't have the anatomical ultrasound to check the baby's growth and find out the sex until my next appointment on March 1st. I think it's a girl, Drew thinks it's a boy. We will see who is right!

Meanwhile, we had an eventful week. Tonight Drew, Elliot and I met one of my work colleagues for dinner at Capitol Brasserie, a swanky French joint in downtown Austin. Elliot sat in his high chair for 2 HOURS without even a single fuss. He ate his goldfish crackers and some food and watched the people. The three of us adults talked the entire time and Elliot never monopolized the evening. A patron even came over near the end of the meal and complimented Elliot on being the most well-behaved baby she has ever seen, and asked if we gave him some of the wine. He was a sweetheart, and fell asleep in his seat on the way home. What a little light he is.

Elliot's old "girlfriend" Juli (our much beloved former nanny who is now a teacher) came over on Saturday night to watch Elliot while Drew and I went to a movie and dinner at Castle Hill Cafe. She said he is the same, just with a bigger belly! It was great to see her and we are glad she is still in Austin.

We had friends over this past weekend for dinner along with their 11-month-old boy, Hayden. Elliot cried when we sat him on the floor with Hayden. It was a full-out cry with tears and a red face. We're not sure why, but he cries around other small children. Gymboree is not fun for mom or Elliot so we don't go anymore. A new "working moms playgroup" is starting up in our neighborhood so maybe he can make some new friends and get over his fear. Besides other babies, he is also afraid of the vacuum and his tiger flashlight that roars when you turn it on. He is such a sensitive little guy.

We think he may finally be getting his upper teeth very soon. Well, maybe. He cut his bottom two simultaneously at 6 months and seems to have been working on his top two ever since. We spied white spots on his gums last weekend, and are hopeful that the top two will break the gum soon.

Last Saturday Elliot decided to really crawl, and now he splits his time between crawling and belly crawling. This Saturday he decided to try standing without hanging on to anything. He does it for a few seconds before he falls down on his bum. But he keeps trying. I have a feeling a first step is not that far off.

Just last week Elliot started feeding himself carrots, green beans, bananas, potatoes, BBQ chicken and berries. Pretty amazing what a person can chew with only two teeth. He still eats yogurt, and sometimes baby food, but really enjoys feeding himself the finger food.

We baby proofed the house. We have toilet locks, finger guards, fireplace foam, outlet covers and a baby gate. Many of these contraptions are also somewhat adult-proof.

I'll update the blog after the ultrasound in a few more weeks!