Santa Claus and Christmas Hijinks!

This was an action-packed Christmas weekend. Well...maybe not that action-packed, but we did try to relax this weekend, do some Christmas shopping, wrap some presents, and hang out. We also tortured Eli in various photo-ops, some of which you will see here.

I was giving him a ride around the house here.

Sunday morning, and Mom was maybe a little too excited to see Eli, though he appreciated it.


Eli took some time out of his busy day to read his new favorite book: The Night Before Christmas.


And here, Eli suddenly realizes why he was being forced to wear this goofy costume, and wonders how he didn't see this coming.

Guess How Much My Mom Loved Me

My parents' friends from Canada, the Yeldon's, sent us an amazing package of gifts for Eli after he was born (at the time, we had never even met them). One of the books in the package was a book called "Guess How Much I Love You". It's a story about Little Nutbrown Hare trying to tell Big Nutbrown Hare how much he loved him, and no matter what Little Nutbrown Hare came up with, Big Nutbrown Hare would always out-do the little rabbit. Here's a sample excerpt:

"I love you as high as I can reach," said Little Nutbrown Hare.

"I love you as high as I can reach," said Big Nutbrown Hare. That is very high, thought Little Nutbrown Hare. I wish I had arms like that.

My mom read this book to Eli on one of her visits to Wilmington (seen here, along with the blanket she made for him). I never really got it before. Was the book saying that a child cannot possibly love her parents as much as they love her?
Then one night last week, a few days before my mom passed away, Tony and I were sitting on her bed on either side of her, sharing a special moment. I told her, "You are the best mom". She immediately shook her head as emphatically as she could and said "You are".

Now, we all know that I have big shoes to fill if I am to be as good a mom as she was. But she loved me so much that she believed that I already was. And she knew how important it was that I believe it--that I would be a better mom if I did. It was as if I had said, "I love you right up to the moon" and she said, "I love you right up to the moon--and back".

Since her passing, I have realized just how much my mom did over the past year to prepare me for this time. I am so thankful to have had her with me for my first four months of motherhood, and am thankful for all of our conversations over the past year. She gave me gifts every time we spoke, and continues to. I will do my best to live up to her words.

4-month checkup

Eli had his 4-month checkup today. We are extremely grateful to be able to say that he is perfectly healthy. He is still above average for his height and weight and there was not one concern from the doctor. Mostly, I begged for tricks to get him to sleep through the night and the doctor said to tell him if I came up with anything. Not that Eli's bad--he always goes right back to sleep after eating--but he does wake up at least once or twice a night. I know parents who have a much harder time getting their babies to sleep. He's doing much better with the cereal now, too. Seeing him smile is saving my sanity right now, during this stressful time.

A First Attempt at Solid Food

So it was decided that, since Eli was almost four months, we try out solid food, which was really cereal. And here is the glorious first attempt at it:

Ahoy! Halloween off the Starboard bow!

And this be Elliot's first Halloween! Out of the roots and grass a pod snaked up and grabbed him!

Thus, Eli's costume came to be:



It will be years later that he will look back on this and thank us for the fun trick-or-treating. In the meantime:

Back to Work, part 2

I'm writing this just because I hate going for too long without updating this blog, but unfortunately do not have much to report. I have been back at work for 2 weeks now. I think I'm over the hardest part, but you never know when the regret and doubts are going to creep back. I like being back at work. I love my job. I just wish I could take Eli with me. Or be in two places at once. But we have a great nanny who comes to our house and brings her son who is 6 weeks older than Eli. She is wonderful about entertaining and challenging him while keeping him happy.

I've had to change my breastfeeding schedule, as I now pump during the day at work and breastfeed at night. I think he's still a little confused, but he's getting used to it, as am I. Fortunately there is a lock on my office door so I can have lots of privacy!

I'm back to playing volleyball one night a week. It's frustrating to not be able to make my legs move as quickly as they used to--my head is there, but not my body. But if my teammates pass the ball right to me I can usually do something decent with it, and we've gotten off to a 5-1 start so I guess I'm not too much of a drain on the team. The hardest part is when we have late games (half the time) I get home around 11 PM and then have to shower, pump, etc. and it makes for a long Tuesday at work. This past Monday was the first time I had been awake past 10:30 since the week Eli was born!

Right now, I'm looking forward to a 3-day weekend next weekend, including dressing Eli up for Halloween and getting a visit from my parents! Can't wait! Enough rambling for now. That's what I'm up to. Maybe I can get Chris to post a poem or two.

Back to Work

Enjoy this video that was taken on Eli's two-month birthday. He was just becoming aware of his hands and his ability to use them. We think it's pretty cute, but then we think everything he does is cute.

Tomorrow I go back to work. I am working half days Thursday and Friday, and start back full time on Monday. How do I feel about it? I'm devastated. It's purely selfish, as I know that Eli will be fine without me. I just hate to miss all the little moments that happen during the day. I also hate to give up the good sleep I usually get in the morning, as Chris usually lets me sleep in a bit. No longer.

Well, I've been lucky to have 12 weeks at home. I'll miss the freedom, but all good things must come to an end.