Elliott's Space

A day in the life...

2012-02-09T00:42:00.000-08:00

Well, now that Elliott is 9 months old (that's right, NINE MONTHS!!!), his days have gotten way more interesting. They're no longer simply filled with the monotony of breast milk, the back of his eye lids while he is either screaming at the top of his lungs or sleeping (sporadically and only on occasion), and whatever he can see within 270 degrees of where I sat him down.

Around 6 months Elliott learned how to Navy Seal creep/crawl and eat solid foods. He feels his life has improved dramatically since then. When I let him try his first pancake he said: "Mommy, thank you for not making me gluten intolerant." What a polite boy!

Anyhow, with the continued development of his coordinated motor skills, Elliott felt it was time I make a post to inform his family and friends on what exactly it is he does with all his time.

So, we start off our day around 7:30AM, when I go in to wake him:

I say, "Hey sweety, get up and play with me, please." To which he replies:

HAHA! Won't that be something some day when I voluntarily wake up before Elliott? Anyhow, after he wakes us up with some escalating crying, we are all eager and happy to have our morning coffees:

This is accompanied by a leisurely breakfast. Typically oatmeal, blueberries, and bananas.

The next couple of hours are filled with sunshine, lollipops, and roses (just kidding. But we really do kiss and laugh and play with his favorite toys):

And of course, there's lots of getting into things and places he's not supposed to...

After all that fun, he tucks in for a wonderfully long 2 hour morning N-A-P:

Which is followed by one of Elliott's 5 meals per day (lunch!):

In the afternoon, we get outside or else we go CRAZY.

Then it's time to pass out for the afternoon N-A-P:

Two hours later, and we're back to guess what....that's right, more eating. (Note: by late afternoon, I remember just how messy a 9 month old in a high chair is and have found a solution)

And...in case you're not getting the theme of our days, what comes after sleeping and eating? Playing! Lately, Elliott prefers to stand. He wants nothing to do with sitting, lying down, or crawling (yeah, he can't do that).

This would be great, but standing usually ends in falling, and Elliott's parents don't have the fastest reflexes. Fortunately, Elliott's Mom is rather clever and re-purposed this box from Grandma Kate:

It even helps him get into things he's not supposed to:

But, it's also great for peek-a-boo:

Unfortunately, Elliott learning to stand means we have to lower his crib mattress. I'm so short, this will make retrieving him difficult.

Around 6 PM, we do a little more eating. That's how we found ourselves with a 24.5 pound 9 month old. He's also almost 30 inches tall (an average 15 month old), so no need to put him on Atkins yet.

That is always followed by this:

Then this:

And finally he's off to do some more of this:

As you can tell, this kid eats and sleeps a lot with a lot of smiles and exploration in between. That's how it goes on a good day. A day when we have nowhere to be and nothing specific to do. I love those days.

However, most of the time, it's crazy and busy as we try to get to work and school and daycare and keep things going. Then, we all feel more like this:

The wonderful photos in this post were taken by our friends in Iowa, Anne and Ryan. Thanks guys! You are wonderful!

Holiday Wrap-Up Part II: The Midwest in Me

2012-01-22T15:43:00.000-08:00

Elliott would like me to start the post with a photo of him with his Great Grandpa Manternach, who passed away on Saturday, January 21st. His obituary can be found here. Elliott is so happy he got to meet him, but sad that he won't get to know such a great man, and that we can't travel back to Iowa with Chris for his funeral this week. He will be missed by so many!

Elliott met his great grandpa on his first tour of the Midwest while I was interviewing in Wisconsin, Iowa, Michigan, and Chicago. Grandma Carren made him a hat and sweater to get him ready for the cold:

Elliott was ready for the snow, but the average temperature while we were in the Midwest was 50 degrees! It did dip down to 30 one day and he got to show off his snow suit.

Elliott was a super trooper on his first airport/airplane trip:

It was great to have Chris and Elliott accompany me on some of my interview trips, but I really think they were just there for the food. Once we arrived in the Midwest, they wasted no time in sampling the culinary delights the region has to offer: fried cheese curds in Wisconsin, deep dish pizza in Chicago, and pancakes everywhere! Elliott also learned of the consequences of the Midwest diet, and had to go on a prune cleanse when we got home. :)

Mmmmm...Cheese.....

Excited for sweet potato pancakes at the Hamburg in Iowa City:

After all that cheesiness, we were able to enjoy Christmas. The best present Chris and I received this year:

Santa tail. Tee hee:

Elliott was so excited about presents!

Actually, I lied. He really didn't care about much beyond the shiny paper and eating bows.

I was definitely more excited about presents than Elliott:

On Christmas Day we went to Elliott's great grandparent's house in Cascade, Iowa. Elliott got to meet about a few dozen aunts, uncles, 2nd cousins, 3rd cousins, and 4th cousins (or whatever they're called). He loved all the family attention.

Elliott was so excited to spend 3 weeks with his Grandma Kate:

The Manternachs do not appreciate being photographed. I snuck one of these during the gift exchange:

Then I got this response when I asked people to "smile".

Fortunately, Elliott loves being photographed (or he at least loves the I phone). Elliott enjoying the warm Iowa weather:

"Where's the snow??? I was promised snow. Whaaa..."

No snow? Oh well, the view is pretty good from up here anyway:

More photos of Elliott meeting family:
Great Grandma Manternach:

Great Grandma Jones:

And hanging out with Grandpa Jim (Jones):

As you can tell by the following photos, Elliott was also pretty excited to drive to Des Moines, Iowa and meet up with his parents' friend Tony, who is doing his EM Residency in Omaha.

We ended the trip in Chicago, where I was interviewing at Northwestern. I loved the program, but I think that was influenced by the unseasonably warm weather (60 and sunny), and the free zoo!

Look Dad, meerkat:

He also loved the fish:

But wasn't as excited about the Lion:

He was back to smiling when he met the fake penguin.

To round out the post, Elliott having a bath Midwest style:

Holiday wrap-up, Part I

2012-01-03T12:26:00.000-08:00

Although the last couple of months have been busy, Elliott and his family did find some time to party. Elliott has enjoyed his first holiday season, and he managed to only gain 2 pounds!

Not long after the excitement of Halloween wore off, we were lucky enough to celebrate Fauxgiving. Nope, I didn't accidentally misspell Thanksgiving. Fauxgiving is a gathering established by a group of our friends that involves renting a house together near Seattle for the weekend before Thanksgiving. You know that tradition on Thanksgiving where people go around the table and say what they're thankful for? Well, at Fauxgiving we just go around the table and say how delicious the food is. No words of thanks are required. We just eat, and eat, and eat.

Fortunately, most components of the Thanksgiving feast are the perfect consistency for babies, so Elliott was able to enjoy his first meal.

Elliott scarfing Daddy's rolls:

I'm not actually shoving the roll in his mouth, but rather trying to prevent him from doing so:

Elliott and his friend Lisa. They were both amazed by how much he can eat:

Elliott and Fiona: Fiona looks adorable, but Elliott...not so much.
Perhaps he is experiencing his first food coma?

First SNOW!!!

After Fauxgiving, Elliott was bummed that he had to wait 3 more weeks for another party (mostly, he wanted more food). But it was worth it. In early December we traveled to Idaho to have a pre-Christmas celebration with my (Summer's) family. Fortunately, road trips with Elliott have improved, and he does a lot more of this than he used to:

Here is Elliott dressed for the party:

This photo is here just because the expression makes me laugh:

Elliott was excited to see so many of his cousins there.
Cousin Kole:

Cousin Kori:

Cousin Levi:

Cousin Shayde in the cool R2D2 hat Grandma Carren made:

Cousin Dana giving Elliott some attention:

Grandpa Buddy made these awesome Gingerbread houses for all the kids to decorate:

The Decorating Squad:

Cousin Paige's Job:

Finished products:

At first, Elliott was disappointed that he couldn't take part in the good times (the eating of the candy and frosting, not the decorating part). But then he found this gold ball to chew on. Problem solved.

Before we went to Idaho, I told Elliott the story behind Christmas. He was both excited and confused, responding, "what, I get presents from a fat guy in a red suit because a baby was born!?!?!?"

Obviously, he doesn't quite understand. I'll try to explain again next year, but for now I focused on the part of the story where good behavior (read: sleeping at night) = presents. He responded with this expression:

He continued to be confused when meeting Santa in person:

Even when Santa gave him a present (toy monkey!), he was unmoved:

In fact, highly suspicious, he tried to unmask the old man:

"pvwpwvpvw, there is no way that dude fits down a chimney Mom":

Before heading back to Seattle, Grandma Carren, AKA the Crochet Master, gave him his Christmas presents:

Coming soon, "Holiday wrap up, Part II: the midwest in me"

The Most Popular Baby on the Block

2011-12-23T13:31:00.000-08:00

There probably is no need to state the obvious, but I will do so anyway. We've been busy. The busiest we've ever been.

In the past 6 weeks, we were away from home for 3 weekends, Chris prepared and passed his General Exam, I worked 70-80 hours/week, Elliott started daycare, and I completed 3 residency interviews. I'm happy to report we all survived and are now resting comfortably at Grandma Kate's in Iowa. It is sooooooo nice to be on vacation. I wanted to publish a post I made a while back, and then will hopefully get some new pictures on here for the holidays.

As most new parents quickly discover, having a baby is the key to becoming popular. Are you lonely? Do you wish people would visit you? Would you like to get more use out of your air mattress? If you answered "yes" to any of these questions, then you should have a baby. They're pretty adorable, and not that much work, really. In fact, I'll let you borrow mine for a couple of nights. :)

Anyhow, the point I'll eventually get to is that we have had no shortage of visitors since Elliott was born, and we are very grateful for them. I love to watch my family and friends shower Elliott with praise and kisses. Oh, and presents are nice too. :)

Here Chris is wearing a hat from my Mom (Grandma Carren), and Elliott is wearing a hat from Chris's Mom (Grandma Kate). Doesn't he look happy.

Elliott got a little more excited about the train Grandma Kate brought him on her visit (with Great Aunt Nancy) in October. He seems to love trains these days. Perhaps it's that they are easy to grab on to and push around. They even inspire him to scoot across the floor at lightning speed! Well, maybe just tortoise speed....

Elliott definitely thrives on more than presents during these visits. He has gotten extremely social - laughing and chatting at everyone. He will even stare at people and holler until they give him a smile. So, please keep visiting!

Here is Elliott soaking up some attention from doting relatives:

Thanks everyone for giving Elliott so much love and affection! We kind of like him too.

Here are a couple recent (well, 6 weeks ago) shots to hold you over until the next posts. If you find yourself thinking, "he looks kind of big for a 7 month old", you would be correct. He's obviously thriving on all your love and attention. At 22 pounds and 28 inches, he is 7 months, going on 12.

Our little pumpkin

2011-11-06T23:03:00.000-08:00

This is going to be a photo-rich post, as we've got a lot to cover. I think October might be my favorite month. It is colorful, festive, and full of delicious pumpkiny treats. Yum! Chris and I have always loved the fall, but I think we love it just a little bit more now that we get to share it with Elliott. Ahhhhhh.....So sweet.

Grandma Kate/Manternach visited with Aunt Nancy in early October, and we all headed to a local pumpkin patch.

Chris picking out Elliott's very heavy pumpkin and pushing all of our pumpkins in the wheel barrow. You know, because they were heavy.

Here is an awesome pumpkin pirate display at the patch:

Aunt Sunny drove over for the day and was lucky enough to meet us there to check out our little pumpkin. Hi Aunt Sunny!

The family at the patch:

Seriously, is that not the cutest little pumpkin you've ever seen?

Around mid-October we went to a wedding near the Ballard Locks. It was a gorgeous venue, and a beautiful ceremony. Thanks Sara and Josh for a great celebration, and the opportunity to take lots of silly photos of each other.

During October we hosted a Fall Celebration (our second annual). We made chili, cornbread, pumpkin bread, and pumpkin bagels. Friends came and decorated sugar cookies, carved pumpkins, and dipped caramel apples. Sadly, I did not get photos of the amazing spread. But, I did get some pictures of Elliott and his friend Fiona in their adorable pumpkin bibs, even though they wouldn't give us a smile. It went something like this.
Summer: "C'mon Elliott and Fiona, give us a smile. Peek-a-boo, peek-a-boo!"
Elliott: "Um, what are you doing lady? We're just here for the food."

Okay Mom, I'll crack a little smile. But only because that girl is cute.

We carved the pumpkins we picked at the patch, but unfortunately we didn't get photos before they rotted (in about 12 hours!). I stole this one from the internet, and this is what Elliott's pumpkin looked like:

On Halloween, Elliott insisted we all get dressed up and go Trick-or-Treating. Grandma Carren crocheted a pretty awesome costume while Chris and I never got around to finishing ours. Maybe next year...

Just in case you couldn't figure out what we Elliott is supposed to be:

Elliott's friend (and the little girl I babysit), Addie the duck.

Halloween Costume #2:

Random man walking in Ballard. Elliott thought he was the coolest!

Elliott's first trick-or-treating stash.

When we got home Chris and I started sampling the candy. You know, to make sure it wasn't poisonous. Then, we noticed a pack of preteens coming to our door. Holy crap! We'd completely forgotten that we could get trick-or-treaters ourselves. I hadn't bought any candy, so the obvious choice was to give away Elliott's candy to the kids. So, what did we do? Close the blinds and turn off the lights of course. We had to protect our baby's first candy stash...

Return of the photo montage. Elliott, Chris, and Autumn in Seattle:

The Room

2011-10-05T17:13:00.000-07:00

Nope, this post is not about the worst movie ever made (which is actually a pretty hilarious film), and if you ever watch it, I'd recommend doing it in a place like this.

This post is about Elliott's bedroom! Sure, some might say that at 5 months, it's a bit late in the line-up for the nursery debut. But hey, I've only just finished decorating it. Also, he hasn't been sleeping in here all that long. And, most importantly, it hasn't been clean long enough to photograph until today.

First, here are photos of Chris and Larry (step-Dad) painting the bedroom back in April. We looked long and hard for the perfect color. Ok, I'm lying. We bought the $5 "oops" paint from Home Depot, which just happened to be a very eye-pleasing and mouth-watering "lemon chiffon yellow."

Doesn't he look so happy to be painting? He was faking it.

I love the finished product! As you walk in the room:

Close up of curtains made by Grandma Carren:

Wall with the crib (custom made by my awesome brother Jake) and the dresser that Larry found for free somewhere and we painted. It's probably not germ-infested.

Close-up of the crib:

Here is Elliott keeping the rocking chair ($25 steal at Goodwill) warm while I photograph.

Above the closet are stars Grandma Carren made from the leftover curtain fabric:

Check out the one-of-a-kind painting by Orion, Elliott's 9-year-old cousin. I'm not sure who is getting the pink bundle in the distance, but it is not us.

Elliott telling me how much he likes the afghan that great-grandma Manternach made him:

He's also loving the guitar quilt Aunt Sunny made him:

And he loves to chew on the blankets that Aunt Cassi (left) and Cousin Kortni made him:

I'm working on a post that is even more ancient than the nursery, which will have photos of the baby showers and lots of other wonderful gifts we are loving. In the meantime, here is this week's photo montage entitled, "Express yourself"

If the photos of Elliott in the sweater vest are not enough to reassure you that he is a nerd-in-training, here is some more evidence:
Elliott playing board games with his Dad and his nerdy friends:

Expressing his frustrations regarding the erroneous health claims made on the cereal box:

And, just in case that wasn't enough. Here he is in a full-body holiday sweater. Ha ha ha!

Grow Baby Grow

2011-09-28T14:58:00.000-07:00

Chris and I are each working on blog posts, but I decided to do a quick post about what Elliott has been up to over the last month. This month included his 4 month check-up, which proved what many had been saying about Elliott. He is big for a 4 month-old.
His stats:
Weight: 17 pounds, 85th percentile (up from the 58th% at 2 months)
Height: 25.8 inches, 77th percentile (up from 59th% at 2 months)
Anyhow, he is starting to look adorably chubby and accumulating several chins. We're very proud.

A while back I found Chris and Elliott hanging out on the sofa together. Notice the resemblance?

Elliott has been enjoying following us around the house (read: being carried from room to room). Here he is helping me with the laundry. He really likes sitting in the basket with the warm clothes. He watches me fold them while I talk to him about each item. "Elliott, these are Daddy's red boxer shorts."

Check out this adorable hat! I think it was Elliott's Grandpa Jim/Jones. An antique!

On Labor Day we enjoyed the day off with a trip to the park and Chris's first time pushing Elliott in the swings. I love this picture. They were both looking at each other like they weren't sure what to do next.

Apparently, Chris's first time pushing children in swings ended with his cousins (Sara and Danielle) falling on their faces in the dirt. So, I showed him first how it is done:

Fortunately, Chris's swing-pushing skills have improved, and here they are enjoying themselves:

To round out this photo post, a montage of Elliott in his guitar monkey outfit:

Tummy time:

Grandpa Jones

2011-09-17T15:20:00.000-07:00

Summer and I have had our first major conflict about how to raise our child. Summer's family tends to refer to grandparents by their first name: "Grandma Carren" or "Grandpa Buddy." I grew up calling mine "Grandpa Jones" and "Grandma Manternach." I didn't even know my grandparents' first names until I was five. This decision will obviously shape the way Elliott interacts with grown-ups, and ultimately could determine the entire trajectory of his life. Do we set him up respectfully treating adults with a certain degree of deference, paving the way for a lifetime of sweater vests, chess club, and safe, responsible decision-making? Or do we, like hippies, suggest to him that adults are primarily friends, signaling to him that they are equals, inviting him to test boundaries and trust in his own judgment, which can only result in a future full of adventure, excitement, and risk? Perhaps we can split the difference, with last names for my parents and first for Summer's, which will either help promote balance and moderation, or hinder his mental development by assaulting him with such chaos of naming conventions.

As you can see, it's tough being a parent. From the looks of things, though, it's great being a grandparent. Here are some photos from Grandpa and Grandma Jones's (not so) recent visit.

Elliott and Grandpa having a calm and rational conversation.

Most people visit Kerry Park for the stunning view of Seattle and Puget sound. Elliott is primarily interested in Grandpa's finger.

This isn't strictly a grandparent picture, but it was taken during their visit, so I think it counts. Elliott wasn't as enthusiastic about his first s'more as I had hoped he would be, but he'll come around.

All tuckered out.

Procrastination

2011-08-31T14:41:00.000-07:00

As you all may have noticed, my original goal of weekly blog posts has stretched to monthly posts. We might start posting weekly photos instead of waiting until we have something clever to say or until Elliott does something awesome. But, no promises.

Elliott actually has had some major achievements lately, which I will list:

1. Drooling (maybe teething), and more drooling. No teeth yet, but he's getting good at chewing on his own fingers to soothe the gum pain. Note the bibs in the rest of the photos. These have become necessary if he doesn't want to sit in his cold wet clothes all day.

2. Sleeping from 8AM to 8PM, in his crib, waking up 2-4 times. On some of these wake-ups he fusses and goes back to sleep on his own. Woohoo! He has even started falling asleep whiles sitting calmly:

3. Rolling over. Don't get too excited. He has done this 2-3 times, front to back, and usually when he's mad. No pictures of rolling over since they would only capture the end results....but here he is dancing in his jumper:

4. Playing independently on his play mat:

And grabbing for toys:

5. Perfecting a smile that wins me over every time:

6. Playing peek-a-boo:

7. Swinging!!!! As you can tell, he likes it.

8. Practicing his Zoolander Blue Steel look:

You may have thought my title (procrastination) had something to do with not writing blog posts. Although true, I'm actually using this post to procrastinate right now. My residency application is due tomorrow, and what better way to avoid the stress than by hanging out with Elliott and showing all of you his cuteness? Today we went for our longest jog since January (1.5 miles woohoo) and stopped at the swings. As far as the ideal procrastination aid, nothing beats Elliott's squeals of delight as I stride down a hill or push him in the swings.

What a handsome little guy

2011-08-09T13:40:00.000-07:00

You might have noticed that we haven't posted anything here in awhile. There are a few reasons for this:

Elliott hasn't been as cute this month as he was before (okay, so that isn't really true -- he's still awfully adorable. But he hadn't really learned many new tricks until recently, so you could just go back to the last post and enlarge him by 10-20%).
Summer entrusted this task to me so I could take an active role in Elliott's upbringing. I passively resisted this responsibility by being my usual slow self. As pressure to post mounted, I turned to self-injury in the hopes of shirking responsibility for one more round. Which brings us to reason 3:
Typing with one hand is slow.

Ironically, just as I've (temporarily) lost full use of my hands, Elliott has begun discovering his. Don't get me wrong -- he's been flailing his arms around from the very beginning, but until last week these hands were mostly used to punch himself in the face during restless sleep, or to unintentionally scratch at people foolish enough to lay him down on his back.

We first noticed something was changing when he accidentally grabbed onto a rattle:

This was followed by purposefully grabbing and shaking said rattle (all to the backdrop of Outkast's "Hey Ya" -- that's right, my baby don't mess around):

He has since expanded to grabbing handfuls of hair, Mommy's yogurt, and Daddy's fingers -- yes, we're quite proud. Bath time is now spent alternating between caressing his knees and splashing in the water (no picture of bath time -- we're saving those pictures for their future blackmail potential). If you've experienced a child's discovery of his own hands, you understand -- if not, then you're probably rolling your eyes at another overly excited parent fawning over his baby doing something incredibly mundane, but trust me: it's quite an amazing transformation.

Anyway, enough of me writing. Onto the pictures (which is really why you're here in the first place)!

Back when I had two fully functioning hands, Elliott and I used to bond over games of guitar hero (that's me on the plastic guitar -- Elliott's backing me up on the air guitar). Can't wait to get back to it. Given his new skills, I think we're in for some pretty awesome air guitar solos.

Unfortunately, a recent bicycle spill left me with right ankle/foot and left thumb fractures. Elliott was very comforting in the E.R.

Seriously, who could feel the pain of broken bones and bloodied hands when faced with such cuteness? It's a pity he went home before they got to my thumb, but that's what vicoden and lidocaine are for (they weren't nearly so effective).

At first he was kind of creeped out by my new thumb.

But he's warmed up to it. Look at us playing together! I like this game even better than guitar hero.

Aww, so cuddly. He used his new hand skills to insert my thumb into his mouth and promptly fell asleep. If I wasn't his parent I'd probably find it gross and a little forward, but I'm his dad and I think it's awfully sweet.

Intro to Idaho

2011-07-18T15:46:00.000-07:00

Last week while Chris was in Maine for a nerd conference (I mean atmospheric science conference), Elliott and I traveled to Idaho. I was excited to introduce the little munchkin to my old haunts, but mostly I was looking forward to all those extra adoring arms to get some naps in. :)

The additional help and rest proved to be essential, as I discovered that this is how Elliott feels about road trips:
When I told family and friends that Elliott cried at least half the drive, most replied with comments like,
"you think he'd just fall asleep" and, "weird, most babies like riding in cars."

Yeah....weird, and you would think.

But not this baby. He was fed, changed, and still turned all reddish/purple on the road. This turned the 4-5 hour drive into a 7-8 hour drive when I kept stopping to make sure he wasn't hungry or wet or having his fingers amputated or something. I finally figured it out after a second or third stop at a rest area to make sure he wasn't in horrible pain. Anticipating that I would pick him up, he stopped crying and gazed up at me like this:
When I asked him, "Elliott, were you just screaming like a crazy person so Mommy would pull over and pick you up," he replied with this:
Unfortunately, loneliness cannot be helped on a road trip. So, I maybe turned up the radio and put in ear plugs to make it through the rest of the drive. Judge me all you want folks, but if I had continued to stop to soothe the babe, we'd still be somewhere between Seattle and Post Falls, Idaho.

Anyhow, we eventually made it and on our first day visited cousin Dana and her new baby Kori. Kori was born a bit early and had to spend some extra time in the hospital, but Mom and baby were fortunately able to go home a week later. Here is Grandma Carren holding Kori:
The next day we traveled to the "Ranch", which is great-Grandpa Erickson's property near St. Maries, Idaho. Lots of cousins and second cousins and third cousins (or whatever Elliott would call my cousins' children???) to meet. Dana and family were missed, especially since Dana had gone to all the trouble to coordinate the gathering and could not attend. :(

Grandma, Grandpa, and cousin Lilly:
One of my favorite pastimes at the ranch, eating:Speaking of eating, my Mom made the most amazing chocolate chip cookies. Elliott wanted me to eat 4 of them, so I did. You know, anything for the kids....
I then told my Mom, "my cookies never turn out this good," to which she replied with a shrug and a "hmmm." Her reply seemed to convey this was my fault, but I found out later she uses a secret ingredient - crisco. Gross. And, oops, I guess it's not so secret after all.

Anyhoo, more photos below.

Uncle Jake and Elliott. They were making their "I'm too cool to smile" faces:Elliott likes Lilly, as you can see by his "OK" sign in the second picture:The girls started picking daisies to make crowns. It was adorable.
The week of visiting family ended with a BBQ at Grandma Carren's house. Having spent his entire life in Seattle, Elliott was not used to the 80-90 degree heat. He had to go topless at the party. Good thing he's not shy.
Finally, the sun set and things cooled off a bit:
Elliott and his cousins had lots of fun, as evidenced by the hilarious photo montage this week:
Fortunately, he recovered from the tears in the above photos. When we got home, he asked Aunt Sunny where she was from. She replied, "I-da-ho." He was all, "that's right Aunt Sunny, U-da-ho." Then he laughed like this:He must have learned that lame joke from his cousins, because I'm sure I never found it funny.

Freedom

2011-07-08T22:48:00.000-07:00

Oh man, this blog post is really overdue. No posts for over two weeks! Chris was busy getting ready to go to Maine for a conference. Summer has been busy getting ready for residency applications, battling another round of mastitis, and preparing for her alone time. Elliott has been busy learning how to sleep at night, which makes all of the above (minus blog posting) a little easier.

We celebrated the 4th of July weekend first by heading to a friend's BBQ on the 3rd of July. This was actually a party in honor of the 148th anniversary of the Battle of Gettysburg, fought from July 1-3rd. The invitation referred to the "war of northern aggression", which made Elliott concerned that his parent's friends are either confederate supporters, or just huge nerds. So, he decided to show his support for the UNITED States by wearing this awesome bib. I mean cape!
Laughing or crying? It's hard to tell these days.Mom, please stop taking pictures of me in this dumb outfit:
On the 4th of July, we decided to celebrate an early event of the American Revolutionary War by breaking free from Seattle and going for a hike to Twin Falls, about 35 miles north of Seattle. Summer and Chris had a lovely 3 mile hike enjoying the scenery. Elliott pretty much just had a lovely nap.
We then stopped at Target to buy one of these. It seems like this thing has been a sleep aid miracle, or it could just be that Elliott was developmentally ready to start sleeping more at night. I think it is funny that people will ask me, "is he sleeping through the night yet?" I excitedly reply, "no, but he just started sleeping during the night." Since I've had the pleasure of knowing the little guy, he has been quite the night owl. He rarely slept more than 6 hours total between 10 PM and 10 AM. A couple of weeks ago he was only sleeping from 2-5 AM straight, and was making up for it during the day. For the past week he has been sleeping 8-10 hours with only two nighttime feedings, but he still does not go down before midnight, and often not until 2AM or later. But I'm so excited that he is sleeping during the night, I can wait patiently for our schedules to align.
The real reason this rock and play sleeper is a miracle is that Elliott is finally doing most of his sleeping not being held. This may be confusing to some people who have/know babies who sleep in their cribs or cosleepers from birth. This was not Elliott. Even in the hospital, he wouldn't sleep for more than 15 minutes unless he was being held. We're all finally getting some good nighttime sleep around here and everyone smiles a little more in the daytime because of it. Yay for freedom!

The sleeper is also pretty good for not sleeping.
Big smiles after a night full of sleep:
Relaxing in the shade at a family BBQ:We rounded out our 4th of July weekend with some stove top popcorn, smoothies, and episodes of Dr. Who. Yup, we're all nerds.

Just be cuz

2011-06-28T10:45:00.000-07:00

Elliott has had visits over the last two weeks from three of his cousins. They've all been cuddling and getting to know each other, and he's been showing them around Seattle. With all these visitors, it has been two weeks since Elliott's last post. He's already turning into a procrastinator like his parents....

Anyhow, Orion visited first and got lots of practice in for her baby brother due in November. She was very helpful, and was even able to calm him and rock him to sleep a couple of times.
On her second day here, we went to the Fremont Fair and Parade together:
She got her face painted, and later had some relaxation time with Elliott on the sofa (he really is sleeping, but I told her to close her eyes :)
Our next set of visitors were Shayde and Kaydence. They both agreed that little Elliott was a super cutie and loved to hold him. Every time it seemed like Kaydence had to hold him after Shayde, and so she got crying Elliott.
There is no thematic photo montage this week, but I do have a few I phone photos:

Here he is saying, "oooooh, look at my blue eyes and smiles"

Elliott's Days around Elliott Bay

2011-06-14T10:52:00.000-07:00

Something Elliott has already taught us - he's way more popular than we are. By the time he is 7 weeks, we will have had 5 sets of visitors for a total time of 3 weeks! People want to come visit "us" now, but we know they are really coming to see Elliott.
My Mom and sister first visited during the first week we were home, and our second visitors were Chris's Mom, Kate, and his cousin Sarah. They came by train, and had a rather interesting journey that involved flooded tracks, a turn around, and an extra day of travel. Ick. But, they were both so laid back and in such great spirits - very impressive.

Elliott was happy to show his visitors around Seattle.

Day 1: Pike Place Market
Elliott and his parents enjoyed these cheap deep fried circles of dough. Yum!
Day 2: we traveled to Snoqualmie. Chris left the camera in the car for our trip to the falls, but remembered it for our visit to Twede's cafe. Elliott has been watching a lot of Twin Peaks with his Dad, and for any fans of the TV show, you'll recognize the famous cherry pie and "damn fine cup of coffee".
Day 3: Elliott took Kate, Sarah and me to the Space Needle. It was a first time for all of us.
After the Space Needle, Elliott treated all of us to our favorite restaurant in Seattle, Ray's. It is the perfect place for lunch on a sunny afternoon in Seattle.
Chris shielding Elliott from the sun on the deck at Rays:
Rays is not far from another of our favorite locations, the Ballard Locks. Here you can watch boats moving from the sound to Lake Union and view Salmon swimming back to their home streams through the fish ladder. The best months for viewing are July-September, so we were a bit early and only saw a few smolt heading out to sea.
Day 4, Elliott took us to West Seattle where we sampled the incredible twice baked croissants at Bakery Nouveau and walked along Alki Beach:We then headed to Cafe Vivace for Seattle's best Espresso. Elliott also tried out his new sunhat, which unfortunately is way too big and doesn't actually block out the sun.
A photo of Elliott enjoying a drink a Cafe Vivace, tee hee:On our way home, Elliott wanted to stop at Cerry Park to show his guests another excellent view of Seattle:
Some photos of Elliott's admirers hanging out around the apartment:

Since Elliott was covered up in most of these photos, I've included some recent pics to round out the post.
Relaxing in the bouncy chair:
Look how he's growing! He now fits into the diapers my Mom made him and has started smiling!
And, for the weekly photo montage, blurry smiles:

Daddy Time, Part II

2011-06-14T10:45:00.000-07:00

So, not a lot to say for this post, except check out these cute photos of Chris and Elliott together.
45 minute nap on the wood floor:
Stay tuned for a post soon about Elliott's recent visitors/admirers.

One month and moving up the charts

2011-06-10T12:57:00.000-07:00

Elliott had his one month check-up yesterday. He is growing fast, and all that eating seems to be paying off. Every morning we look at him and say, "did he grow overnight?" The answer - yes!
At the beginning of this week he grew out of his newborn clothing, but hasn't quite grown into his 0-3 month clothes. The solution: lots of naked/diaper time......

Here are the stats:
Weight: 9 pounds, 5 ounces (34th %)
That's up from 7 pounds 8 ounces at birth, and 7 pounds at day 3 of life. He was 7 pounds 13 ounces at two weeks, so he has gained 24 ounces in two weeks!
Length: 22 inches (54th%)
Head Circumference: 40 cm (87th%) - still a huge head

Happens in a FLASH!

2011-06-08T10:44:00.000-07:00

Almost two weeks ago, our friend Heather Dillon provided us with the generous gift of photography, and she was able to capture Elliott's newborn image on camera before he turns into a chubster. Check out her website and the complete photo session. Chris baked her a delicious loaf of bread in return. A pretty sweet deal for us...

Here is my favorite photo as well as a couple of classic newborn shots:
Since weeks 2-3 of Elliott's young life were such an improvement over the hormonal/emotional swings and sleep deprivation of the first week, I did not realize how exhausted I still was. I remember getting dressed on the day of the photo shoot thinking, "I feel/look pretty darn good (for a woman who gets 2-6 hours of sleep every 24 hours)." Then, I saw this photo:
Holy crap, I look tired. Someone pointed out that Chris looks a little more alert than I do. Hmmmm, I wonder why? Well, we both look stupid-happy, so that's reassuring.

We look much better admiring the little guy:
And here, I'm not sure what I'm thinking. Perhaps it is, "hmm, I wonder if I will ever sleep more than 3 hours straight again..."
Anyhow, enough about that. Back to the star of the show, who is worth it all and more (and who has already learned how to strike a pose, the little genius):
Chris practicing for the classic, newborn on Daddy's arm shot:
And the result:As proof Elliott hates being on his back, he was so calm on his tummy and then only a few seconds later after a gentle turning over:
After that, he needed some calming/cuddling time with the parental units:
And because Elliott crying is both so heartbreaking and adorable:

Finally to round out the post, the weekly montage. Sleeping baby:

Thank you so much Heather for this gift. Everyone, check out her website!

Daddy time

2011-05-30T21:45:00.001-07:00

I apologize to the few of you who have been checking for an update - it is a late post this week. Since this is about Elliott and his old man Chris, I was waiting to see if he would have the time to post (Chris, not Elliott). Chris is a better writer than me, but apparently someone has a job and has to work (or maybe play Diplomacy online). So, now I get to post and make fun of him. Haha!

Anyhow, this week marks another important milestone in the lives of Summer, Chris and Elliott - the introduction of the bottle! For the last two weeks Chris has regularly been hanging out with Elliott some time between 10 PM to 1 AM so I can get some sleep. At three weeks we tried the bottle, and Elliott has no nipple snobbery - he took it like a champ! Then, a few nights ago was the first night Chris prepared the bottle himself (a very complicated task of warming pumped breast milk) and fed/changed Elliott at 1AM. This will eventually enable me to sleep up to 5 hours straight, if I can manage to sleep through some crying. Woohoo! It also gives Chris the opportunity to bond with Elliott, and Chris described the experience as "strangely emotional." So sweet...

I do not have photos of Chris giving Elliott a bottle (because I was sleeping!!!!), but I do still have a weekly montage.

Working with Daddy (or maybe playing games):
Elliott definitely likes the computer screen:
One morning Chris showed me the following photo and said, "on second thought, maybe Elliott is too young for his first horror movie, Hellraiser."
That's right folks, this is what happens during Daddy time. Chris claims it was no worse than me watching an entire season of Glee with Elliott. The horror!Strolling around Greenlake:
Elliott was born with a beautiful head of hair, but he might be developing a bald spot there on the left. Just like his father! (although, his bald spot is on the right).And, Chris's bald spot:

That's all for this week. Elliott's grandma Kate and cousin Sarah are in town this week, so next week should have photos of Elliott showing them around Seattle.

Changing Time

2011-05-25T02:00:00.000-07:00

Doctors and baby books warn of the "growth spurt" at 2-3 weeks of age that afflicts newborns and burdens new parents with frantic, frequent feedings and fussiness. Well, our little Elliott being ahead of the game and all (as he has already shown us by emerging from the womb a week early), he hit this growth spurt a bit early as well. At the end of last week he started eating a lot more (breastfeeding for longer periods of time and more frequently). Unfortunately for me, this extreme hunger seemed to hit him between the hours of 10PM and 8AM, in which he wanted to breastfeed every hour for half an hour, with one or two hour long naps. Although he appears to be over the growth spurt, he has maintained the nighttime sleep schedule, and we're both becoming nocturnal.

We got some objective measures of his growth at his two week appointment. I'm sure many of you are curious about the new stats. Our growing boy weighed in at 7 pounds, 13 ounces (24th percentile). That's up 5 ounces from his birth weight, and considering he was 7 pounds on day 3 of life, he's gaining weight like a champ! His head is also growing, increasing in circumference from 37 to 38 centimeters, putting him in the 70th percentile. So, he's a little top-heavy. As evidence, check out this newborn t-shirt from cousin Sarah, which is pretty roomy in the chest and trunk, but I had unsnap and then stretch the collar quite a bit to get it to fit.
He got his first vaccine at this appointment as well. He cried for about 3 seconds and then resumed breastfeeding. Tough kid. We're hoping he gets my pain tolerance. Note the evidence on his left thigh.
Now, many of you have mentioned that Elliott is a beautiful newborn. I agree, he was a beautiful newborn. I love this photo in particular:
Don't get me wrong, he is still adorable, but this growth spurt has brought the 'old man/garden gnome/alien' look that some newborns get:
AHHHHHH!

Actually, this is just an especially bad photo. But funny looking, right?

Along with this new look has come an interest in his own reflection. I discovered this week that although he screams and kicks and flails and hits with diaper changes, he loves to lie around and chill on the changing mat when I leave his diaper alone.
He loves this hangout spot so much I put a mirror near his head, and he will stare at himself while moving his arms and legs up and down for hours (I lied, not for hours, but for several minutes!):
He enjoys the mirror so much that I purchased one this week to hang out on the floor with him. This is a "Sassy crib and floor mirror" and I knew I wanted one when many months ago I saw my friend Laura's son playing with his.
Following is an "Elliott stares in the mirror with wonder" montage:
I'm grateful for the addition of the mirror to our daily routine, as now I can rely on the mirror a bit for his intellectual stimulation. We spend about 22 hours of our day within a few feet of each other, and although I hear talking to babies is supposed to be good for their development, I frequently struggle for things to say (especially at 4AM). I feel a little dumb walking around saying things like, "ready to change your diaper? Yup, gonna change your diaper, do do do." Chris, who admits to being skilled at rambling, suggested I just tell him what I'm doing. Here's how this morning went while I was in the shower and he was on the changing pad:
"So Elliott, your Mom is taking a shower while you hang out there staring at the mirror. Now I'm washing my arm pits. You'll have to do this some day so you don't smell like b.o. Now I'm shampooing my hair. Hmmm...these tiles are kinda dirty..."
Anyhow, not sure if he likes it, but I'm a little worried he'll grow up thinking it is normal to talk to oneself constantly. I don't want my kid lacking the ability to maintain an internal monologue.
Anyhow, as I said, I'm grateful for the mirror. I feel like I can stop talking all the time and let him relax with his own reflection.

As I mentioned in the first part of the post, he has been a little extra fussy this week, and Chris has been practicing his baby-soothing techniques. He lacks certain anatomical, ahem, assets that Elliott finds comfort in. So, he's resorted to "the football hold." Chris has always desired to play a real sport, but maybe next week they'll try something he's more familiar with. Stay tuned for, "the chess hold." Or if Elliott and Chris are feeling especially athletic, "the speed chess hold"
To finish off this post of somewhat random photos that I attempted to fit under my theme of "changing time", this photo is just funny. Who knew newborns had hairy pinnae? (that's the outer edge of the ear)
The ear fuzz actually runs the entire length of the pinna, but you can't see it in this photo. So cute!

Teaser...

2011-05-24T14:14:00.000-07:00

Elliott has asked me to publish a post every week to keep all his fans and followers updated. This will be my goal, but I swear he wakes up wanting to eat every time I sit down to type...

I have a post almost ready to publish tonight or in the wee hours of the morning, but to hold you over until then...

Elliott seems to love his hands. If he is even a little awake when I swaddle him, he squirms and wiggles and grunts and whines until he frees his arms (or I release them), and he gently brings them up to caress his cheeks, falling back to sleep:
Or he crosses them over his chest like this. So precious!
If, on the other hand (get it, other hand. Ha ha, I love puns, even when they're not funny). Anyhow, on the other hand, if he lifts his arms too far into the air and gravity takes the upper hand (there's another bad pun, hee hee), his hands fall and he smacks himself in the face, waking up and crying. There are no photos of this, because it's not as cute.

Stay tuned for the next post...

A week of firsts

2011-05-17T14:56:00.001-07:00

Elliott Day Jones, born at 4:02 AM on May 9th, 2011
Weight: 7 pounds, 8 ounces; Length: 21 inches

Hello family and friends (and possibly a few random stalkers or internet peddlers until we password protect the site) to Elliott's first blog. We've decided to create a blog not because we are particularly gifted or clever writers, and not because our kiddo is the cutest kid ever, but because we want to keep our friends and family updated and involved in his life.
Ok, I lied! It is because he is the cutest kid ever. As proof, Elliott's first photo:

Ok, I lied again. That photo was not the first, but it is so adorable I wanted to post it first. Here are some earlier shots:
Getting warmed up and stimulated after scaring me with Apgars of 5/8, but after a little foot tickling he was up to 10. Whew.

Having skin/skin time with Mommy in the NICU. After about 12 hours on the monitors he was able to move in with us for the night.
Look at his cute alien head. It's amazing what both our bodies did to get to this point. Fortunately, his head is now perfectly shaped.

Photos with Mommy and Daddy:
Elliott is the first newborn (or any infant under 6 months) that Chris has held. Doesn't he look like a natural?

Elliott's first visitor, Uncle Nathan:

First clothes:

Getting ready for the first car trip. Destination: home

So much cuteness!

He waves his arms up and down. We pretend it is intentional. He's a genius!

He only likes to open one eye at a time...

"yawn, I'm tired of this hospital"

When we got him home, we both kinda looked at each other and thought, "so, now what do we do?" I hear this is a common new parent thought upon getting their baby home. Here are some photos of what we have been doing:

I left out photos of the other activity we've been doing for 12 hours a day, breastfeeding. :)
Elliott will sleep for hours on laps or chests or in his swing, car seat, sling, or carrier. What you will not see in this sleep montage is a photo of him sleeping in a crib. Chris and I have made an experiment of sorts to see what might help him sleep in a crib. So far, the experiment has failed. I'm sure you'll hear more about this later....from my sleep deprived state.

A few more firsts to round out the post:

Grandma Carren visited (with Aunt Sunny), and I must have been too tired/excited to remember to take pictures of them. This is the only photo I snapped of my Mom. Elliott is wearing the cute/dorky layette she made for him.
My first time breastfeeding in public. My Mom seemed a little nervous and said, "maybe a cover that is a little more subtle would be better" I don't mind.
Chris doing the first night shift so I could get a nap. He was figuring out how best to eat dinner without dropping food on Elliott. First walk around Greenlake. Well, his first walk outside the womb.
Hanging out with Daddy in the Ergo carrier:
Chris's 30th Birthday and Elliott's one week birthday. For the last month whenever I asked Chris what he wanted for his birthday, he said, "a baby." Wish granted!