The Smith Family Adventures

Elias and his Daddy

It has been so special lately to see Elias’ relationship with his Daddy blossom. He always has enjoyed Nathan, but it seems recently that Elias just can’t get enough of him. We wait by the window for Daddy to come home from work. We can see a ways down the road and Nathan walks up from the MAX station every day around 5:30. Once Elias spots him, he watches him all the way until we can’t see him anymore. Then when we go to the door to greet him, Elias smiles really big at him and gets super excited. He squeals and laughs and moves his arms and legs excitedly. He just can’t wait for Nathan to wash his hands, change, and give him a hug.

While I imagine that this makes Nathan feel really good, it also makes me very happy. I am so lucky to have both Nathan and Elias in my life, and it is very special to see them love each other.

Elias had a bit of a rough night. I think for Nathan and I, it was proof that human brains do not work as well when they are tired. We were wondering at 3:30, 4:30, 5:30, and on why he could not get back to sleep. Poor little guy. Then when Nathan was getting him dressed for church, we discovered that he cut a tooth overnight….with no tylenol to help out either. Elias now has three teeth! (Actually the third one is not quite all the way in yet….but about half of it has poked through) Why did this not occur to us during the night? We had just commented yesterday evening how it was looking really white underneath his gum there. Oh well.

On the plus side, we had a very long, leisurely morning getting ready for church. We still managed to be a little late, though, because Elias fell asleep right as we were ready to go and we found that we just had to spend a few moments staring at our sleeping child in wonder. What a special boy he is.

Nathan planted some Roma tomatoes

While I must say I think I do a pretty good job taking care of babies….and kitties…..I have never had anything close to resembling a green thumb. I kill plants. Not on purpose….but they end up dead in my care anyway. Despite this sad set of facts…I love flowers and gardens. Someday I’d like to have a big backyard vegetable garden.

This spring, Nathan decided that we would try our hand at gardening a little. We live on the second floor so we had to make do with some pots on our balcony. Nathan decided to go with a tomato plant, and he also bought me some gerber daisies in a pot for mother’s day. I picked out some petunias, marigolds, and pansies and planted them in a planter. We also got a strawberry plant. So far they look very nice. I hope it lasts.

The planter I made.

Elias pulled himself up onto his knees in the crib for the first time.

I spy Daddy lowering the crib mattress again later tonight…………I spy Elias growing up so fast……..I spy Mommy chasing after Elias very soon!

This morning after I changed a dirty diaper, I put Elias in his crib so that I could go wash my hands. After I finished washing my hands, I came back in the nursery to get Elias dressed and this is what I saw! He just looked so happy and proud of himself. Next he’ll be trying it on the couch….chairs…anything he can get his hands on!

Elias has been such a blessing in my life. I am one lucky mommy.

Mommy and Elias

Nathan made me breakfast this morning and said it would become a Mother’s Day tradition. It was very tasty.

In other news, Elias is cutting his second tooth. Wouldn’t it be nice if there was an “easy” button to push that would just make it pop through all at once….sort of like removing a band-aid quickly? Poor little guy is in pain.