It’s not like we actually need sunglasses much this time of year. But I still keep mine handy just in case there is a sun break while I am driving or outside walking or something.
Elias likes to play with my sunglasses when he finds them. This morning I was able to snap some pretty funny photos of him playing with them. Here is my short photo story:
“What are these things really for anyway?”
“Alright. I’m lookin’ good.”
“Wait! No one told me these were girl sunglasses. Get them off!”
Toilet training is one of those things that I know I’ll have to deal with eventually….but have kind of stayed in denial about up until a week or two ago. I’m sure it will be nice not to have to change the diapers…but Elias just seems so young still. And toilet training seems pretty tricky.
Our pediatrician explained to us some cues that we will start to see when Elias is ready to be potty trained. We’ve decided to wait until we see those cues to start anything.
So anyway….today when I was playing with Elias, I said to him, “Elias, Mommy has to go potty. I’ll be right back.”
Usually he just plays until I come back or ends up following me towards the bathroom. Today after I told him what I was doing, he popped up, and before I could even stand up, he ran into the bathroom, lifted the toilet seat, and then looked up at me and smiled.
After thinking it was very cute of him to do that for me, I thought to myself: “Wow! He knows that going potty means going to the toilet.” I don’t know if he associates the word “potty” with the sensation he feels when he has to go…but I figure that this is a start. We’ve got a long road ahead of us for potty training….we haven’t even started! But I figure I better count my wins when I have them.
Now if I could just teach him to put the seat down too….I’m sure I wouldn’t be the only one to be thankful for that in the future……
Elias is growing and changing every day. He has some new favorite things to do and play with.
1. Grandpa and Grandma Bartle got Elias a cars push along toy for Christmas. I’ve shown it on this blog before. He just loves taking it on walks. Every time we get ready to go somewhere, he brings it to the door and tries to bring it along. Once he even got it out the door before we could stop him. It is very cute. Here he is as we were getting ready to go to church yesterday:
2. Elias loves to be tossed up in the air. He does a rocket blast-off with his Daddy. Last night after we got home from the symphony, my parents and Uncle Greg stayed for dinner. While my dad was helping Nathan fix one of our electrical sockets, Uncle Greg kept Elias occupied:
3. Toilet Paper. What is the appeal? Elias has been loving the toilet paper roll recently. He likes to get a long string and drag it around. After awhile he enjoys tearing it into smaller pieces or teasing the cats with it.
4. Books and Kitties. Elias loves the kitties right now. He gets really excited when he sees them or hears them, and he loves petting them as well. Here he is reading to our cat, Olive.
5. Okay, so this last one is just Elias. I called his name, and then snapped the picture as fast as I could. Here is the way his face looks when he responds to my call. He is so cute.
This Christmas I purchased some tickets to the Oregon Symphony as a gift for Kimberly. Today was the day of the performance, a matinee featuring violin soloist Joshua Bell. Of course there was a cloud of doubt hanging over the afternoon due to weather forecasts, and during some brief, hard snows I had some worries, but overall the weather proved no obstacle.
Actually the biggest obstacle was the length of the line to get into the women’s washroom in the Schnitz. Thankfully we arrived plenty early, so it did not cause a big problem. We were in our seats several minutes before “curtain up” (there was no curtain). Very few of our neighbors had found their correct seats, so the last moments before the beginning of the concert were filled with “can I see your ticket?”
The first thing you need to know about the Oregon Symphony is that their music director has textbook maestro hair. Carlos Kalmar also has the inscrutable conducting style which is de rigeur for the professional orchestra scene. He led a very enjoyable program, which offered some good variety.
Joshua Bell, the featured soloist for Brahm’s violin concerto, was excellent. The program notes called him a “rockstar” of classical music. One of the benefits of being a rockstar classical musician as opposed to being a rank-and-file musician is that you do not have to wear a tuxedo in performance.
(Speaking of the rank-and-file, I found at that the members of the Oregon Symphony are in a labor union, the American Federation of Musicians, local 99).
Bell plays the Gibson Stradivarius of 1713. He purchased it for just shy of $4 million. I realized during the concert that it must be the most expensive object I’ve ever laid eyes on. When Brahm’s (the composer of the concerto which Bell performed) was born, that violin was already 120 years old!
It was really fun for Kimberly and I take to take in this concert. We’ve both been involved in music, Kimberly especially so in college, but we had not been to such a concert in quite some time. We also got to check off “go on a date” from our Winter Bucket List.
Sometimes the pageantry seems ridiculous. Why does everyone dress up so nice, and why are there such formal strictures of concert etiquette? Shouldn’t $4 million dollars be appropriated somewhere more helpful? But at the same time I cannot help but appreciate the beauty of the endeavor. Symphonic music represents an excellent yet under-appreciated aspect of our culture. I think it is wonderful when really talented people come together and make music. It was nice to just take it in for an afternoon.
Back in my days of teaching 3rd grade we had a saying we used for teaching reading skills and strategies. “Reading is Thinking.” It basically helped kids understand the idea that reading is not just looking at letters and words. Reading is a constant thought process which includes visualizing, connecting, summarizing, questioning, predicting…..you get the picture.
I’ve been realizing lately how much “Parenting is Thinking.” Parent is not just a title. There are many ways I could talk about this….but one I have been noticing especially a lot lately. Elias watches our every move. He notices everything. Even when we think he is not watching or noticing. He is like a sponge soaking in the world. Here are some examples:
1 – We gave Elias some wooden play condiment bottles with magnetic lids for Christmas. We chose the toy because he loves to play with the ketchup, bbq sauce, applesauce….everything that is in the bottom shelf of our fridge. Every time I open the fridge he rushes over to try and get his chance to play with them before I can shut the door. He loves his wooden ones (although not quite as much as the real thing) Anyway, this morning he was playing with the wooden bottles. He took of the lid off of one, turned it upside down, and shook it….exactly like we do when we put salad dressing on our food. I marveled as I saw him put the lid back on, set the toy down, and then start the whole process over again. Where did he learn that? We’ve never taught him that or pointed it out to him. He just noticed us doing that action at dinner time.
2- Elias has always liked napkins. In the past he always tried to rip them or eat them. Recently he has started taking napkins, and tenderly patting his mouth and chin with them. Where did he learn that? I’ve never cleaned his face like that. I always take a big washcloth and wipe…not pat. I usually clean his face as quickly as possible because he doesn’t like it….so where did he learn this “patting his face to clean it” thing? Oh yeah…he’s seen me do it every day on myself.
I could name many more…but those two examples will do for the purposes of this post. Realizing how much he watches us, and how much he notices got me to thinking. What does he notice that I might not want him to notice? What do I do or say that I might not want him to do as well? Everything I do is an example for my son. My tone of voice, my facial expression, the words I say, the way I move, the way I interact with others. He notices it all. I have to constantly be thinking about what I do and how I do it to provide him with the best example possible. That is a tall order. But no one ever said parenting is easy. I embrace the challenge.
Nathan is going fishing tomorrow morning with my brother. He’s been for spring chinook and the summer salmon runs, but never in the winter. We realized that he needed his fishing license for this year so we headed out to Dick’s sporting goods as soon as he got home from work. Then, during dinner clean-up when Nathan was deciding what to wear tomorrow morning, we realized that he has lots of good layers and warm clothes for the top, but for the bottom he pretty much only has jeans. He was thinking that would not be enough when it will probably be below freezing…and he’ll be on the river.
So we decided to head back out for some long underwear. Poor Elias probably thought we were crazy going to the same shopping center twice in a couple of hours…the first place we looked for warm pants was Kohl’s because Nathan had gift cards there.
While we looked around, Elias just went along with it and had himself a little adventure. He found all the mirrors he could, and went right up to them. He smiled and talked to himself, and pressed his little nose against the glass. It was quite amusing. He twisted the jewelry displays and played hide and seek around some sock aisles and opened lots of shoe boxes. He had a blast.
It turns out that Kohl’s did not have what we wanted…so we headed to Dick’s for the second time today. Elias also had a great time there. He did the classic – hide in the middle of the clothing rack – maneuver that seems to be irresistible to all children. (I have to admit I did it a few times). He found more mirrors. He wandered into the golf area…..who knows why.
Anyway, the point is….Elias makes his own fun. Maybe we could all take a lesson.
Elias had his 15 month doctor visit today. Elias is doing well in all areas according to his pediatrician. Yay! He had a big growth spurt both in weight and height so the worry is over about his growth rate decreasing. He is still quite a picky eater, but is doing much better.
My poor little boy had to get three shots. He cried hard as always, but the medical assistant said he did well….so I’d hate to see what the bad cases are like….or maybe she just always says that.
But he recovered quickly by spending some time with Grandpa Bartle. Then we met Grandma Bartle on her lunch break. After a nap, Daddy was home early because he worked the early shift, and to top it off, he got to play with Uncle Scott and Auntie Kristy in the evening. It was a full day of fun.
I just hate the helpless feeling of not being able to comfort my son when he is so upset…I mean…I eventually did…but it took so long compared to normal. I’m glad it’s over for three more months.
The Stats:
Weight: 23 pounds, 9 ounces (34%)
Height: 31.65 inches (64%)
Elias is experimenting with new phonemes, so here is a sample of his newest sayings:
He’s also taken to spinning in circles. Dizziness has occured.
Elias has become quite a good walker these days. He even graduated to the “step 3” shoes which have more regular soles rather than soft, flexible ones. He can walk on his tip toes. He can walk backward. He can stomp and dance and turn around in place. He can carry things while walking. He is even sort of power walking. (I wouldn’t call it a run yet)
He has quite a bit of confidence now, and wants to walk as much as possible. We let him walk in our condo, of course, and around the neighborhood outside. He walks up my parents’ driveway…but we had never really let him walk in public places much.
Today Elias and I went to Dick’s sporting goods to get Nathan a headlamp. I decided to let Elias try walking on his own in the store.
It was scary.
It was so hard to actually take that “step” of setting him down in the store…and trusting that he would stay near me…trusting that he would not completely mess up the displays…trusting that he wouldn’t get run over by busy shoppers.
Parenting is scary because it’s a lot about change and a lot about letting go.
Of course my little walker did really well in there. He was so proud. The checkout aisle was the hardest part…there were too many distracting things right at his level.
Oh, I’ll say it again…my little boy is growing up!
Elias thinking about the taste of his smoothie. Notice he already has a mustache...and some up his nose.
We had Elias try his first smoothie last night. It was a special blend of whole milk, peach yogurt, and fresh strawberries. I don’t know if it sounds good to anyone else or not…but it did taste good.
Because it was a little thicker than the water he normally drinks, we let Elias try drinking it out of a cup. A real cup. In the end we had a bath-worthy mess on our hands, but he actually did pretty well with it for a first time attempt! (He has played with cups a lot….and used them in the bath some…but not at meal time). After he was finished, though, he poured the remaining liquid on his lap…we’ll have to teach him not to do that I guess.
I finally captured an action shot of him using the cup near the end of smoothie consumption. Notice he now has some in his hair as well.
I think it was a given that he’d like smoothies considering I had about a hundred of them while I was pregnant. 🙂
