The Smith Family Adventures

The idea for this poem has been percolating in my head for the last few days. I’m still not  completely finished revising it, but I figured I’d stop here and post it so I can get on with my day and stop thinking about it. Elias is one year old today!

For Elias:

The most precious kind of gift:
A breath of life anew.
I’ve loved you more and more and more,
Since God blessed me with you.

I heard your strong yet desperate cry
and out poured tears of joy,
rejoicing as I heard the sound,
“You’ve got a healthy boy.”

Mesmerized by you, head to toes,
the greatest work of art.
A lot had changed for me that day;
none more than my heart.

The most precious kind of gift:
A breath of life anew.
I’ve loved you more and more and more,
Since God blessed me with you.

The way you love your Daddy so,
He can really make you chuckle.
The smile that arrives on your face
When you’ve found his belt buckle.

The way your bum wags when you crawl
The books you want to chew,
The mischievous grin on your face
When it’s time to play peek-a-boo.

The most precious kind of gift:
A breath of life anew.
I’ve loved you more and more and more
Since God blessed me with you.

Each moment that I spend with you
is more precious than the last.
The hugs and kisses restore my spirit.
You’re growing oh so fast.

You’ve accomplished many numerous feats.
You can now say “hi”.
Smiles appear on the face
of strangers passing by.

The most precious kind of gift:
A breath of life anew.
I’ve loved you more and more and more
Since God blessed me with you.

The way you suck your thumb each day,
With finger curled ’round your nose.
The way you sleep so soundly,
in many a different pose.

The way you look up so proudly
When you climb in the toy bin,
The way you bang your toys together
excitedly making a din.

The most precious kind of gift:
A breath of life anew.
I’ve loved you more and more and more,
Since God blessed me with you.

I can’t wait to spend more years with you
I’ll eagerly watch you grow.
You’ll do many important deeds
of this I’m sure I know.

But what matters most is not your charm,
Nor the things you do.
Y0u’re so special because you’re my son,
and because you’re just you.

The most precious kind of gift:
A breath of life anew.
I’ve loved you more and more and more
Since God blessed me with you.

I’ll love you always!
-Mommy

Elias will be turning 1 year old this Friday. The whole year has gone by quickly, but now that it is less than a week away I feel somehow that I have been cheated. What happened? Where did the year go? My little boy is growing up! One of the sweetest things I’ll ever experience is his hugs. He’ll just crawl up to me in the middle of play time wanting a hug. But even then, he wants a one to two second hug. Then he struggles to be free again. What happened to the days when he’d lay in my arms looking up at me contentedly for minutes at a time? They are long gone. Pretty soon he’ll have stinky feet and muddy hands. He’ll make that machine gun noise that all boys instinctively know how to make. He’ll not only be walking, but running. His kissable chubby cheeks will have wasted away to a slender, handsome face of boyhood. I’ve got to enjoy every second I have!

We decided to celebrate Elias’ birthday this weekend so that next weekend we can have a quiet family time. We invited over all of his grandmas and grandpas in the area along with uncles and aunts. There were eleven of us all together squished in our place celebrating Elias’ first year. The little guy was quite overwhelmed most of the time. I think there were just so many people. It was noisy and crowded, but full of people who love him.  There was an (almost) embarrassing mountain of presents for him. My sister-in-law was joking that it’s no fair we get the most presents, attention, and naps of our lives when we are too young to remember or care.

Elias' pile of presents.

When everyone arrived we made them watch a slideshow that Nathan and I made of Elias’ first year. Then we started opening a few. We knew it would take us awhile. Elias didn’t really know what to do at first:

Elias didn't really know what to do at first during present opening time.

Daddy and Mommy had to open most of the presents, but Elias eventually got the hang of it:

Elias liked ripping off some paper, but then he didn't want to finish the job...he just wanted to play with the paper.

After the first present opening round, we served a nice dinner. For dessert, I made Elias a monkey cake and some mini-cupcakes.

I'm quite proud of this cake I made. I've never tried anything trickier than a regular old layer cake. I had lots of fun and Nathan already has orders for his birthday next summer.....

Elias got to try the first sweets of his life. We’ve never given him anything except fruits or vegetables with the exception of mommy’s milk and a little salmon. He mostly just played and made a mess, but he did definitely taste some chocolate frosting. Yum!

Elias eating his first sweets....a birthday cupcake.

So of course, we had to take a break and give him a bath to clean all the frosting off. He had lots of fun.

Elias in the bath

Finally, we went to round two of present opening, and finished off that task. Elias got a lot of great loot including a handmade toy box, lots of fun toys, clothes, and books as well as puzzles. He even “read” the cards.

Elias "reads" his birthday card.

Needless to say, we had one tired boy. This morning when he woke up, Elias crawled out after nursing and was very happy to see all of his new toys and decorations still out.

Elias and Daddy this morning. Elias played with all his new toys....and the decorations too.

This Friday when Elias actually turns one, we will have some quieter family times. But I’m so glad that everyone could get together and help us to celebrate Elias’ first year!

Two days ago I posted about my grandma. I found out that I was actually off by one day…she died on September 21st. It’s funny how reality can be changed through memory. But this time I know I have it right. Two years ago today my grandpa passed away. There is a kind of romance in the fact that he died almost exactly on the anniversary of his wife’s death. Of course my childhood perception may be different from what adults would have seen, but I always perceived them to be a very balanced and happy couple.

I knew my grandpa a lot better than my grandma. He was around for a few more years than my grandma, but he was there mentally until the end. We did crossword puzzles with him in his hospital room almost until the end. Here are some of my favorite things about my grandpa:

My grandpa was a legendary fisherman in these parts. Pretty much anyone who is anyone on the river knows of Bill Preble. He shared that love of fishing with his family, and he still lives on in my brother.

My grandpa was the strong one. He was the one who pretended things were better than they really were. He was the eternal optimist.

My grandpa was dedicated. He insisted that my grandma be kept close when he could no longer care for her. Then he chose an assisted living home next door and visited her every day. He loved her so much.

My grandpa wrote me a letter each week when I was in college. Mostly they said the same things each week. But in them he was so encouraging and loving. I looked forward to them so much because I could tell that he cared about me. When times got tough up in Tacoma, I knew he was thinking of me.

My grandpa had some sayings. My family laughs about them now. We use them too. When in doubt, there is always a “grandpa said…..”

My grandpa was wise. He read and he read and he read. And he had lots of life experience. He had a vast amount of knowledge stored inside.

My grief for my grandpa was a lot different than that for my grandma. My grandpa’s death was much more sudden, and I was not allowed to properly grieve for him until much later because there were too many other things going on in my life which sucked all my grieving capacity dry.

Now I am picturing my grandpa in heaven. He is sitting on a bank somewhere with a fishing pole in his hands. The water is pure and free of pollution. There are plenty of salmon. God’s creation is evident everywhere. There are mountains in the distance and birds in the trees. The river hums a chorus in praise to the Lord. My grandpa feels a tug on the line. He has a bite.

Here are the boys getting ready for our bike ride. Elias looked so cute in his helmet.

Nathan and I love going to Sunriver because with a free place to stay, it is quite affordable for us and there is so much fun stuff to do. Nathan loves central Oregon. We decided to go after school started so that it would be less busy. Because Elias still has a little bit of a tough time making the drive, we thought it would be nice to have a three day weekend. Nathan took a day of vacation, and we were off to have some fun!

Elias in the bike trailer. You can see his books under his feet.

Saturday we were able to leave really early because Elias wakes up so early. We got there before lunch, and went for a bike ride in the sunny, warm weather. Last time we tried putting Elias in a bike trailer was 4th of July weekend. It went horribly. This time was totally different. He loved it! We gave him a couple of books and he happily “read” his wild animals touch and feel book. He only got upset once or twice when the sun was in his eyes. It felt good to get active and get outside. We can’t ride bikes at home because we don’t have a trailer and our bikes are stored at grandma’s house so it is really difficult to use them. Renting them is relatively cheap so we were very happy to try it again.

Elias was asleep when we arrived at the museum

On Sunday, we had all day in Sunriver, and it was jam packed! We went to the High Desert Museum first. We were able to get there when it first opened. It is actually a really great museum. It has a lot of information about the Native Peoples who lived in the area, and some really interesting artifacts. It also has a lot of wild life including desert animals, bobcat, lynx, eagles, foxes, and more. There is also a sawmill model and a replica of a settlers cabin. Elias was asleep when we got there, but woke up about 20 or 30 minutes in. He really enjoyed looking at the animals. He said “hi” to the turtle and the bobcat many times.

Elias waving and saying hello to the bobcat. One time that it walked by, it actually stopped and looked at Elias.

Elias and Daddy pose in front of an old stage coach

They had a fun exhibit about animal tracks and scat, and what they can tell us about animals. Elias enjoyed crawling around in that room. He made his first rubbings of wolf and rabbit tracks (with help).

Elias looking at the chickens.

Here was one of our views from the bike ride. Mt. Bachelor is in the background.

When we got home, we decided that we may as well try for another bike ride since the weather was so nice. We packed a picnic lunch and decided to try and find a nice spot on the river. We got the bikes and the trailer (I got to pull the trailer this time) and rode down to the river. On the way we stopped by the stables and got to see some horses up really close. Elias wanted to touch it, but we were a little bit nervous about that. I did get to touch the horse a little on the nose. We were able to find a shady bench on the river and eat our picnic.

Elias trying to touch one of the horses.

The Deschutes River. The view from our picnic spot.

The rest of our weekend was spent relaxing or playing at the park. Central Oregon really is a gorgeous place. The mountains provide a really grand backdrop anywhere you go, and the air just feels cleaner….more pure. We hope to be back soon.

This chair used to be for my dolls. Elias fits perfectly!

On the carride home, Elias slept for an hour and a half or so. He got all sweaty while he was asleep and his hair stayed hopelessly messy for the rest of the day. Here he is inside the suitcase while I was trying to unpack.

This morning I was making some pear baby food for Elias. He played happily in his “around the world” gym for most of it…but started to get a little unhappy as I was portioning it into the little containers so I took him out and got him a few toys to play with on the floor at my feet. Of course, that didn’t last long. He crawled over to explore some of the kitchen drawers. Usually he tries for the bottom one which is locked thanks to baby proofing technology, and since he can’t get in there, he goes to the second from the bottom, which holds oven mitts, hot pot holders…that kind of thing. That usually satisfies his curiosity. Today he decided that he wanted to explore the drawer that is second from the top….the random utensil drawer. You know, the one with the measuring cups and rolling pin, the pie server and mini spatula…that kind of stuff.

I figured I’d let him have some fun looking around in there so I took out all of the sharp objects such as the kitchen shears, pizza cutters, etc and let him play. He kept giving me looks like “Mom, what is wrong with you…can’t you see I’m making a mess? Why don’t you care?”

Well anyway…now we come to the point of this post. As I glanced in the drawer after he had removed most of the objects, what I saw disgusted me! There were crumbs, cat hairs, dust, all sorts of gross stuff. I was shocked. I’ve never cleaned in there because…well…everything that goes in it is clean. So why would I need to clean it? Maybe I’ve just had an epic fail at womanhood. Maybe everyone else knows that you’re supposed to clean your kitchen drawers. Maybe you all clean them once a week and think I’m disgusting….I don’t know. But I learned a valuable lesson today.

So I finished up the pears, and proceeded to take the rest of the stuff out of the drawer to clean it. Elias gave me a look of surprise yet again…and then lost interest…because it can’t be fun if mom does it too, right? I cleaned the drawer. So don’t worry…it is safe to come eat at our house again. Rest assured that we have clean utensils…and clean kitchen drawers too.

My Grandma passed away five years ago. It is difficult for me to remember her as her “normal” self. I was still pretty young when she started showing signs of Alzheimer’s. But I was thinking of her as I took Elias on a walk to the park in order to enjoy one of our last sunny, warm days. Here is what I remember:

Rubbing sunscreen on her back at the swimming pool

Holding her wrinkly hands in mine…feeling the soft, soft skin

She was a wonderful speller

She was quiet, but spoke up when it mattered

Baking cookies together at her house…her special recipe of sugar cookies

Dusting her house with a dry (or sometimes wet) kleenex…she paid me a dollar too

Her lap…… perfect for cuddling

Watching her play cars with my brother

The way she smelled

The way she said my name…like I was special

The way she drank coffee from a mug

The taste of her favorite ice cream (pralines and cream)

I could go on and on if I had time. I was thinking of these things and a few tears slipped down my face as I was holding Elias and swinging. I grieved for the loss of her long before she was gone. So her actual death was almost a relief. As the warm sun beat down on my face today, I thought of my Grandma being welcomed into God’s open arms. No longer inhibited by that horrible disease. I smile to think of her there. I will always love you, Grandma.

My son, the good little helper.

It’s been a scorcher by Portland standards this week. We have endeavored to keep cool where possible. That included a trip to Hagg Lake yesterday to dip into that nice cool water.

Elias has had the opportunity to wear cool clothing. “Cool” is of course a double entendre meaning both “cold” and “awesome.” I myself used to wear this shirt, so you know it is cool.

Here are the words that (I think) Elias says consistently and uses correctly:

Momma, Daddy, Hi, Burped

I’m not sure how “burped” became one of his first words….we must burp a lot in our house. There are a few others which I think are very close….but I’m not sure….such as “book” , “dropped” and “water bottle”

It will be exciting to watch him acquire more and more words.