19 months lucky!
Allow me to explain to you why I feel lucky at this moment.
1. Elliott Shay.
2. It's Christmas. There are people who are bah-humbugs at Christmas, but not me. The trees, the lights, the gifts, the people, the carols, the smells, the kindness, the eating...it's all terribly merry and wonderful. It's no wonder I gained 14 pounds over the holidays when I was pregnant. I'm in grave danger of doing the same this year.
3. Ollie has added 3 new dance moves to his repertoire. Do other parents report on this? I just don't know. He's adding things daily and I want to be able to record it! He holds his arms up behind him and bend at the waist like he's playing airplane. He stomps with his left leg about 4 times and then twirls. He does what we call the Velociraptor: he bends at the waist and sticks his claws up. He loves his music. He goes into Ba-Pa's office and points at the radio to hear Christmas music, and won't let Doug back out of daycare before he's turned on the stereo. Today he rocked out to "Clair de Lune." I think we may have a future musician on our hands! Let's hope he doesn't become a drummer. You know those guys have the drugs.
4. He'll show you his cheeks by pushing his fists into them.
5. He'll make chicken wings when you ask him what a chicken does.
6. He makes the same move when you start singing the opening stanza of "I'm a Little Teapot." He leans to the side when you sing "pour me out."
7. He points at himself when you ask him "Where's Ollie?"
8. New words:
"Roh-roh" = Grover
"Beh-Beirh" = Big Bird
"Dan-TAH" = Santa
"Bayyy-Beeee = Baby
"May-May" = Cousin Mason
"Maa-Maa" = Cousin Mallory
9. Another word that he's started saying: "Amen." For the past couple of weeks, he screams at dinner and won't be satisfied until we say prayers about three times in a row. He clasps his hands together and at the end, applauds. Just last night, we said "amen" after our bedtime prayer, and he said "Ay-meh." We looked at each other in surprise and asked him to say it again - he did! What can I say? He's Sunday's child.
10. Speaking of, my son's godparents are pretty fabulous. Yesterday we were opening presents with Ross, Heather and Mason and they gave him a book of prayers and a book of Bible stories. They shared a little moment and Doug walked away from it; he didn't want to intrude in their moment with their godson. It was overwhelmingly touching. They take this seriously and we really appreciate it.
11. Ollie is sleeping. For about 10 nights - coincidentally while Ba-Pa was traveling the world for business AND I started work - he would wake up screaming in the middle of the night. He wouldn't go back to sleep unless we were sleeping on the floor of his room - and he was sleeping with us. Even then he thought it was fun and wouldn't fall asleep too readily. We tried everything - nightlight, cry it out, going to bed later, going to bed earlier, reviewing his diet, Tylenol, Advil, Benedryl, turning off the sound machine, volume control on the sound machine, adjusting naptime, offering more food at dinnertime, two doctor's visits...nothing worked. Finally, figuring it was starting to get habitual, I went upstairs to sleep on his floor but didn't pick him up. He stayed in his crib instead of sleeping on the floor with me. It took a good 40 minutes of screaming / crying / shaking the rails / throwing his stuffed animal / playing the crib projector but he fell asleep. And so did we. We ignored his little yell the next night and he's been sleeping pretty regularly since.
12. I like my new job a lot. The people are terribly nice and I feel like part of the team already. It's digging into our dinner hour a little strongly, but I'm sure we'll all get the hang of that in time.
13. Ollie loves his new daycare - and so do we. Last month the focus was on "farm animals" and this month it's on "things that move." Perhaps this is why he saw a train in the Santa line, pointed at it and said, (clear as day) "Choo choo!" Maybe why he "plays airplane" when dancing, too. They give me his monthly menu and store his gluten-free food. The other day they baked cookies and had kids frost their own. Instead of leaving him out (he's the only gluten-free kid in the daycare), they checked (in advance) that the frosting was gluten-free and gave him his own cookies to frost. They didn't even tell me they did it, which is what I find unbelievable. I had walked into the kitchen to get a handle on what he was running out of, and saw his box of cookies on the counter with all the other kids' cookies. A member of the staff saw me look at it and told me. How amazing is that?
14. Ollie has been to see Santa. Check that off the holiday to-do list.
15. On the same day, I discovered my new year resolution: self-control. Mall full of people and the line for Santa crowded with children and their parents. Doug puts Ollie down on Santa's lap, backs up to let me fix Oliver's collar and the guy snaps the photo right when I was in the frame. Without thinking, I muttered, "Shit!" The gasp from the line of Santa visitors was audible. I didn't realize the depth of my mistake until Doug grabbed my arm and shot me a look. While the dad behind me said he wasn't offended and I did find it a little funny - kind of sitcom-esque - I think I still have the heart to be ashamed! For this reason, I'm taking a stab at finding my self-control this year.
I hope everyone is surrounded by people they love, food they can't stop eating and happiness they can't fathom. Have a wonderful few days off and we'll see you in the New Year!
With warmest wishes and lots of love, I leave you with pictures of Ollie enjoying his Christmas season.
1. Elliott Shay.
2. It's Christmas. There are people who are bah-humbugs at Christmas, but not me. The trees, the lights, the gifts, the people, the carols, the smells, the kindness, the eating...it's all terribly merry and wonderful. It's no wonder I gained 14 pounds over the holidays when I was pregnant. I'm in grave danger of doing the same this year.
3. Ollie has added 3 new dance moves to his repertoire. Do other parents report on this? I just don't know. He's adding things daily and I want to be able to record it! He holds his arms up behind him and bend at the waist like he's playing airplane. He stomps with his left leg about 4 times and then twirls. He does what we call the Velociraptor: he bends at the waist and sticks his claws up. He loves his music. He goes into Ba-Pa's office and points at the radio to hear Christmas music, and won't let Doug back out of daycare before he's turned on the stereo. Today he rocked out to "Clair de Lune." I think we may have a future musician on our hands! Let's hope he doesn't become a drummer. You know those guys have the drugs.
4. He'll show you his cheeks by pushing his fists into them.
5. He'll make chicken wings when you ask him what a chicken does.
6. He makes the same move when you start singing the opening stanza of "I'm a Little Teapot." He leans to the side when you sing "pour me out."
7. He points at himself when you ask him "Where's Ollie?"
8. New words:
"Roh-roh" = Grover
"Beh-Beirh" = Big Bird
"Dan-TAH" = Santa
"Bayyy-Beeee = Baby
"May-May" = Cousin Mason
"Maa-Maa" = Cousin Mallory
9. Another word that he's started saying: "Amen." For the past couple of weeks, he screams at dinner and won't be satisfied until we say prayers about three times in a row. He clasps his hands together and at the end, applauds. Just last night, we said "amen" after our bedtime prayer, and he said "Ay-meh." We looked at each other in surprise and asked him to say it again - he did! What can I say? He's Sunday's child.
10. Speaking of, my son's godparents are pretty fabulous. Yesterday we were opening presents with Ross, Heather and Mason and they gave him a book of prayers and a book of Bible stories. They shared a little moment and Doug walked away from it; he didn't want to intrude in their moment with their godson. It was overwhelmingly touching. They take this seriously and we really appreciate it.
11. Ollie is sleeping. For about 10 nights - coincidentally while Ba-Pa was traveling the world for business AND I started work - he would wake up screaming in the middle of the night. He wouldn't go back to sleep unless we were sleeping on the floor of his room - and he was sleeping with us. Even then he thought it was fun and wouldn't fall asleep too readily. We tried everything - nightlight, cry it out, going to bed later, going to bed earlier, reviewing his diet, Tylenol, Advil, Benedryl, turning off the sound machine, volume control on the sound machine, adjusting naptime, offering more food at dinnertime, two doctor's visits...nothing worked. Finally, figuring it was starting to get habitual, I went upstairs to sleep on his floor but didn't pick him up. He stayed in his crib instead of sleeping on the floor with me. It took a good 40 minutes of screaming / crying / shaking the rails / throwing his stuffed animal / playing the crib projector but he fell asleep. And so did we. We ignored his little yell the next night and he's been sleeping pretty regularly since.
12. I like my new job a lot. The people are terribly nice and I feel like part of the team already. It's digging into our dinner hour a little strongly, but I'm sure we'll all get the hang of that in time.
13. Ollie loves his new daycare - and so do we. Last month the focus was on "farm animals" and this month it's on "things that move." Perhaps this is why he saw a train in the Santa line, pointed at it and said, (clear as day) "Choo choo!" Maybe why he "plays airplane" when dancing, too. They give me his monthly menu and store his gluten-free food. The other day they baked cookies and had kids frost their own. Instead of leaving him out (he's the only gluten-free kid in the daycare), they checked (in advance) that the frosting was gluten-free and gave him his own cookies to frost. They didn't even tell me they did it, which is what I find unbelievable. I had walked into the kitchen to get a handle on what he was running out of, and saw his box of cookies on the counter with all the other kids' cookies. A member of the staff saw me look at it and told me. How amazing is that?
14. Ollie has been to see Santa. Check that off the holiday to-do list.
15. On the same day, I discovered my new year resolution: self-control. Mall full of people and the line for Santa crowded with children and their parents. Doug puts Ollie down on Santa's lap, backs up to let me fix Oliver's collar and the guy snaps the photo right when I was in the frame. Without thinking, I muttered, "Shit!" The gasp from the line of Santa visitors was audible. I didn't realize the depth of my mistake until Doug grabbed my arm and shot me a look. While the dad behind me said he wasn't offended and I did find it a little funny - kind of sitcom-esque - I think I still have the heart to be ashamed! For this reason, I'm taking a stab at finding my self-control this year.
I hope everyone is surrounded by people they love, food they can't stop eating and happiness they can't fathom. Have a wonderful few days off and we'll see you in the New Year!
With warmest wishes and lots of love, I leave you with pictures of Ollie enjoying his Christmas season.
Loving up on some cousins.
Family shot in Rice Park (St. Paul)
Christmas pajamas.
First present under the Christmas tree!
Opening up our stocking.
Playing with cars.
Christmas bath!
Favorite present of the year: Elmo!
Coolest - Wolverine hoodie.
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