Sun Valley

A weekend hanging out with aunties, uncles and cousins in beautiful Sun Valley, Idaho.  The little ones played music, Elliot got to "climb a mountain," and he did plenty of hanging out with the guys (we never did get him his own white robe--next time!).  Another not-so-great car ride for Ellie, but he did a real good job rocking the sunglasses and the headphones for a bit on the way there.  The Sawtooth Mountains are really, really beautiful.  These iPhone pics don't do them justice, but this weekend--and the snow that came with it!--was more about just hanging out with family.  But I'd definitely love to spend more time here in the future.  After all, I never did get to spot a celebrity, though I'm pretty sure it was Ashton flying off in that private jet as we drove out of town :). 

Lucky Elliot, Lucky Us

A while back, Kelly started taking pictures during her days here with Elliot.  It started becoming a really special part of my and Andrea's evening when we'd settle in, find the camera, and get little surprise snapshots of Elliot's day with Kelly.  It's one thing to hear from her what she and Elliot did each day.  And another thing to hear it from him (which is a new and incredible part of his development).  But to see little moments captured and hidden away in the camera... it's like a treasure hunt!  And it only reinforces what we already know: Kelly is a-w-e-s-o-m-e! 

Sometimes she's captured moments of Elliot at the park or in the yard or doing activities.  And sometimes it's just that the two of them are hanging out and she gets a great picture of him.  Like this one from awhile back.  Isn't it amazing!?  And it inspired a whole series after it.

On this day I came home and she said to me, "we did colors today!"  All on her own, that's just what she decided to do with Elliot on this day.  Which is awesome, right?!  I mean, I don't think I'd put a bunch of glasses of water in front of him, but she's willing.  Which means he totally lucks out 

And today I came home and found this project she had made (a background drawn on a piece of cardboard from the recycling with cutouts from Elliot's little National Geographic kid's magazine).  She didn't take this picture, I did.  But I couldn't resist another opportunity to capture some of their day together.  It is just such a gift to know this is how Elliot gets to spend his days while we're at work.  Lucky, lucky, lucky us.  

Messy Monday

Mondays are my one day of the week home alone with Elliot.  Some Mondays are super productive and some are more on the lazy end of the spectrum.  This weekend's dramatic shift from 80 degrees down to 57 and rainy has given me full license to crank up the heat and and stay, as Elliot likes to say, "Warm and Cozy."  It's definitely and inside day.  But even inside days can be fun and exciting.  With the heat up, it was the perfect opportunity for Elliot to strip down and do some messy art.  This hand and foot (and leg and belly and elbow...) painting kept his enthusiastic attention for a half hour or so.  And was followed by, you guessed it, a nice long bath.  The perfect way to spend a rainy, inside day.  Now if I can just figure out how to fill our afternoon?...

Elliot is Two

Happy birthday, amazing Elliot!  You give us so many reasons to celebrate--your sweet snuggles, your quick charm, your outstanding smarts, your cool attitude, your sly tricks, your silly humor.  You are truly amazing!  This little back yard pool party and bbq was just one of the many ways we celebrated you and your second birthday.  Though, I think I can speak for all of us closest to you when I say that every single day with you in our lives is a celebration.  You are a gift, Elliot.  Happy, happy 2nd birthday!

Blue-lues!!!

Elliot's answer to pretty much anything is, "Uh blue-lues!!!"  Some say blue-berries, Elliot says blue-lues (we're not sure why, but it's really stinkin' cute).  So, as I was saying, if you ask him what we should buy at the store, what he wants for breakfast, or what we should get Mama as a treat, the answer is almost always, "Uh blue-lues!!"  And so, every Friday when we make our homemade pizza for our weekly Fun Friday celebration, Elliot is asked what he wants on his pizza.  And as you can imagine, the answer is always, "Uh blue-lues!!!"   And so this week we said sure!  I mean really, why not?  And it turns out a little mozzarella, a few frozen blue-lues, and a sprinkling of brown sugar and cinnamon is pretty dang good.  If you need any proof, just check out Elliot's face.  100% blue-lue love.  

A Week Of Surprises

The first surprise was that we said goodbye to Elliot's crib this week.  Completely disassembled, removed from his room, and his room rearranged to make way for his growing toddler self.  He'd been sleeping on and off in the twin bed on the floor in his room lately, always during nap and sometimes during the night, but as of the last week or so he'd slept in it 100% of the time.  So Andrea took the plunge while I was at work on Friday.  Just like that, no more crib.  And Elliot is happy as could be.  He sleeps really well in his bed and never wakes up fully crying like he used to in his crib.  He'll just sit up and call for us until one of us gets to him.  It feels like such a huge "growing up" transition.

The second surprise--coming home from work to this amazing table of yummy treats!--was actually a celebration of the biggest surprise of the week... Elliot completely weaned himself this week.  Talk about growing up.  Just like that.  No more nursing.  He was already down to only nursing just before nap or before going to bed for the night (and only two nap-nursings a week since I've been at work) so he wasn't nursing that much anyway.  But as has always been true for Elliot, that little bit of nursing was a really big deal for him.  This boy has always like his nursing.  A LOT!  I thought for sure that weaning him was going to be an all out battle.  But slowly, over time, little bits fell away until we were down to just a bit before sleeping.  Then, one night about a week ago, Andrea just said they were going to go read books in his bed before he went to sleep, and off he went.  Straight to his bed to read, hear some Old McDonald, and have his back patted.  Then he was asleep.  And asleep for almost the whole night!  And then again the next night.  And the night after that.  And now even I can be the one to read, sing and pat him to sleep in his bed and he doesn't even mention nursing.  Just like that.  Weaned.

What a surprising week.  And it's also been a week with a lot more sleep in it--which helps everything.   So cross your fingers for us and hope for the best.  We think this is going to be our ticket to long-term sleep and a happy and healthy child.

Big Smiles

I am so happy he still has those sweet little dimples.  

And thank you, so much, for all of the wonderful comments on my last post.  It feels really good to put myself out there and get all that love back.  xoxo

Spring Cleaning

It feels like the day has finally come to really focus on a good, deep clean.  The house, the toys, and, most importantly, my Self.  I feel like things have been building up for far too long, getting grimy in the corners and developing layers of film that make it hard to see through.  I'm feeling the guck build up in me and I'm ready to wash it away.
So, here's where we start.  Elliot gives his animals a good deep scrub and I set my intentions on the process of getting my Self fresh and clean.  The official to-do list:

1. Today starts my personal 6 Weeks of Fitness.  Lots of healthy food choices, water and exercise.  The reward is a trip to Maui for Elliot's first time to celebrate his 2nd birthday during the first week of May and a Mumma who can go with her body-image-problem in check.  My plan is to go feeling healthy and strong about myself and in my Self.
2. Make a dentist appointment to get my teeth cleaned.  Dental insurance is a privilege.  And clean teeth can make the whole body feel healthier, so I've gotten a referral from a coworker and I plan to do that.  

3. Clean up my finances.  Finally having two incomes after a period of not has given me a newfound freak-out for the amount of debt I have.  It's filthy dirty and needs to be cleaned up!  So I've started working on that.  And that clean-up will help the whole family.

4.  Get a therapist.  Those closest to me know my entrance into motherhood wasn't the most graceful.  Unexpected postpartum depression, challenges at work, an enormous amount of nursing, major life changes like selling our house, relocating and shifting relationships, continued multiple night wakings (I'm talking every one to three hours.  Still.  And, yes, he is almost two years old.), and now a new job and figuring out how to adjust to life in Boise.  And all the while being mumma to a wonderful little Elliot who is a whole lot to handle.  In a good way.  But still.  A whole lot.  And, so, here I am.  Two years into it and feeling like this very important time in my life deserves some attention.  I deserve some attention.  And I have health insurance to help me with that.  So I have decided an appointment will be set and I will get the help I need to pay attention to my Self.
5. Tackle this sleeping problem.  Sleep depravation is a deteriorating, debilitating, dangerous thing.  I think the cumulative effects of two years of serious and on-going night wakings has done more damage than I even imagine.  Elliot is just a terrible sleeper.  He doesn't put himself to sleep, he doesn't stay asleep, and he doesn't sleep for very long.  And believe me, we've tried everything.  I have always appreciated any advice I've been given, but have also always been so disappointed to have to always say, "oh yeah, we've tried that."  Nothing has ever worked.  Nothing created sustained change in his falling asleep or staying asleep behaviors.  So we need to figure out what to do.  And it's possible that what didn't work a year ago will work now.  Or maybe there's some technique or intervention out there that we haven't tried.  I don't know.  But we've got to do something to make a real change in this whole sleeping business.
6.  Figure out some new strategies to be kind to myself.  It's just something that I've never been good at.  But I truly want to be.  I want to be loving and healthy and happy inside myself.  I don't want to beat myself up for slacking on my blog posts or for eating too many calories or for not reading books or for any other thing that I judge as being bad or wrong or unhealthy.  I just want to be nice to me, you know?  Think of how refreshingly clean that would feel to do just that one thing.

So there it is.  My official Spring Cleaning to-do list.  And, hopefully, if all of those things get a little bit of attention then I'll feel more able to get back into blogging doing more of my crafty-mamma things.  I want to be perpetuating good cycles, not negative ones.  So... here I go!

Out In Nature

A recent trip to "the foothills" (the low desert hills lining the North side of Boise) gave us a couple of wonderful opportunities to be out in nature during last weekend's heat wave (can we get a whoo hoo for 60 degrees!!!).  We plunked ourselves right down at this great sand pit and Elliot had an awesome full-body digging experience.  Since parks don't have sandboxes (aka--litter boxes) anymore and we don't have one yet, digging in sand when you don't live by the coast is a rare blessing.  Nothing like some good old digging to keep a toddler engaged.  And the sand area was also next to a beautiful little stream, just right for throwing rocks.  "Puh-LASH," says Elliot.

A Kelliot Original

Happy Valentine's Day!

Our Very Own Ukulele Folk Singer

Dear Kelly,
You are amazing.  You came to us first as just a sitter.  Someone to come play with Elliot for a couple of hours in the afternoon a few times a week.  No diaper changing.  No meal preparing.  Just come and play.  Maybe have a snack.  Read some books and play with some dolls, we said.  There were just a few hours each week that we couldn't be home with Elliot and we just wanted someone who could come and engage him for those hours.  And engage him you did... singing him songs, playing him music, teaching him how to dance, making up games with his animals, crashing his trucks, singing, dancing, make believe, singing, dancing, singing dancing!!!!  It was clear that you were so incredibly engaged, so incredibly talented at meeting his toddler level of development and interests, so incredibly fun and playful.

Then you became so much more.

This last week I started my first full time job since Elliot was born.  After he arrived I adjusted my schedule to work three ten-hour days and was able to be home most of the week--and I was just continuing in a job that I had already done for the previous four years and could do in my sleep--which I essentially did until I left that job a year later.  Then I had a wonderful summer solely with Elliot, followed by a handful of months working just a few hours in the late afternoon and some on the weekend.  All in all, I have spent nearly two years either working part time or not working at all.  I haven't had to wear five "work" outfits in a row since the beginning of May, 2009!  Which brings me to last week.  Working five full days (that's five work outfits in a row!) was... well, it was a lot of things.

It was refreshing to reengage in my profession and put my focus somewhere other than my house and Elliot.  It was difficult to get in a rhythm of getting my own needs met only during break times, instead of whenever I felt like it.  It was emotionally challenging (in a really big way) to be removed from my cell phone and have a dreaded sense of disconnect from Elliot's day.  And, most of all, it was totally fine.  Fine because I knew Elliot was home with Kelly--his ukulele playing, folk singing, garbage truck song writing, art making, quinoa muffin baking, park going, game inventing Kelly, who, without batting an eyelash, jumped on the chance to transition from being with Elliot just a few hours in the afternoons to being with him for 9 hours at a time.

Kelly, you are such a gem.  We feel so lucky that you choose to spend your days with Elliot.  We have seen his imagination, his love of music, and his mad dancing skills bloom since you've been a part of his life.  We know this symbiotic relationship (her words--love) won't last forever (Elliot's on the waiting list to get into the childcare center on the hospital campus where I got a job), but for now, we are so very,  very happy.

xo, Elliot and his Mamas

(pics below of Kelly playing a show at the tea house and Elliot dancing his little heart out to her tunes.  Find more Kelly here here and here.) 

Special Times

Lots of outside sunny (cold!) time with visitors, followed by Elliot's first ever zone-out in front of the screen while the adults enjoyed happy hour and some conversation.  There is a first time for everything, it was short lived, and it was wonderful!

Fourteen

It was only half way through the morning and we had already read fourteen books.   And each one of them were read numerous times.  Elliot's attention span for sitting and listening to stories has skyrocketed recently.  And, best of all, he's even loving full-story paper page books now, not just shortened board books.  And we've started a new ritual of having him choose three books to read before bed time and it's provided so many new learning opportunities.  A few nights in a row he brought four books to the couch and we had to negotiate which he would put back to get it down to three.  Hard to do for such a little guy, but he did it amazingly.  Then, tonight, I told him it was time to pick three books to read before nursing and he went to his shelf, selected one and brought it to me saying, "onnnne."  Went back and chose another and brought it to me saying, "twooooo."  And then went back to pick a third and brought it to me saying (by now we were holding our breath in disbelief), "threeeeee."  No way!  He just counted out his books, one two three??!  Amazing.  Every day.  Tantrums and monster moments and all.  He is simply amazing.  I can't wait to read 14 more books tomorrow morning.  

Toddler Art

Phew... finally found the camera cord!  It was questionable for a few days there as to whether or not Elliot might have thrown it away.  Alas, it was just buried in one of those piles that grow and grow in the corners of our home and eat up all of our little things that we seem to not be able to live without--or at least blog without.  So now that I'm back, here' s a little look into what we've been doing.


I'm so excited because Elliot's really into art exploration right now.  The other day I said to him, "let's do some painting."  And he went straight to the kitchen, got out one of his new smocks, and brought it to me.  I didn't even know he knew what those were for yet!  And today I asked him, "what would you like to do before lunch?"  And he said he wanted to paint!  Oh happy happy Mumma!


Over time, we've moved from drawing with markers and crayons to painting with acrylic paint onto pine cones (thanks for the beautiful idea, A!).  Then we moved onto painting right on the table top and making prints of it by rubbing a piece of paper onto the painted surface, then pulling it back to reveal the print it makes.
Then we were exploring with wet chalk.  Great big chunky chalk is a wonderful medium when it's dipped in water and drawn or painted with on paper.  This project really works best on thick water color paper (which can be spendy--so I like to take my 50% off one item coupon to the big-box craft store and buy my good art paper that way.  This makes big rolls of easel paper more affordable, too).  But back to the wet chalk--it turns into more of a water color medium, but you can draw with it too.  And if the chalk is really saturated and gets banged over and over on the paper (as toddler artists are likely to do) it comes off in great gooey heaps and adds texture to the painting.  It's great, too, because I can set one picture aside to dry for a day or two then give it back (taping it down so that it doesn't slide around) and Elliot's wet fingers and new colors of chalk completely transform the picture into a whole new piece of art (again, it really takes thick water color paper can stand up to this).And now the easel has migrated inside and Elliot is exploring with his first easel painting.  I found an inexpensive set of regular Crayola washable paint and I took our smallest little tupperware containers and cut a hole in the top of each to help hold the paintbrushes upright and detract some from the sticking-of-hands into the paint cups.  Not that it's not okay to get good and painty when exploring at the easel, but it also helps guide this new process of this new form of art.
So, yes.  I am loving Elliot's interest in art.  It does bring with it more messes and more times to have to say "no" and, sometimes, more tantrums.  But my excitement to bring these experiences to him, and his interest and delight in doing them, make it all so very worth it.  

Two Good Things

1.  I'm feeling much, much better.  Thankfully.  Because I was sick!  And it was no fun.

2.  The weather today was like the wonderful and familiar Pacific Northwest... quietly foggy and drizzly, with some warm and wet but dry spots in the day (that makes sense if you understand that kind of weather, trust me).  A wonderful relief after all of the bitter cold that has kept us cooped up indoors this winter.  Andrea said it felt like a hug, and I agree.  A hug that had Elliot and I smiling all the way to the park.  It felt so good to be healthy and out of the house.  Out in the elements that felt so familiar.  And Elliot loved it.  From the minute his bum left the stroller he was running and climbing and splashing in puddles and going up up up the hills and then down down down the hills.  Amazingly, sometime between when the weather turned frozen and we stopped going to playgrounds and today, Elliot developed the ability to climb up a climber with ease and grace.  Just ran right up to it and climbed up the steps until he was at the top, like he'd done it a million times before.  Although he hadn't.  Before he was uncoordinated and not strong enough to pull his body up and it never worked quite right or safely for him.  But today it looked completely natural.  Speaking of, my favorite parts of the morning were when he was splashing in the water and climbing the hill.  I love feeling free to let him just be in the natural world.  The snow and cold have really kept the out-of-doors feeling off limits to me (and, by default, him).  But I love being out in nature with Elliot.  And, clearly, he loves it, too.  So, here's hoping for a few more of those familiar "hug" kind of days where we can go out and run and splash and leave our big coats and our hats at home and just be outside.