Pap and Grandma Joy

My Mom doesn't like babies. She prefers kids, my Dad is the baby lover. Imagine our surprise when Elliott absolutely fell in love with my Mom. She LIKES it when he turns into a screaming tomato baby and she has a knack for calming Elliott down when the train pulls into "Fussytown" each evening. I always wondered about her claim that babies don't like her; heck, I love her!

While not quite as fervent as Carolyn, my Dad has been ready to be a grandpa for a long time. His father was my Papa. My siblings had pegged our Dad as Papa, but turns out my Dad would prefer that Elliott and his future grandchildren call him Pap. His grandpa was his Pap, so it feels better to him. As amazing as my Dad is at calming Elliott down, we will call him whatever he would like!

I've really looked forward to my parents visiting the past few Friday nights. Dave bartends on Fridays, so it's really nice to have company. Sure, I'm a Mom now, but sometimes, you just need your parents. I finally remembered to pick up the camera and take some photos when they were here on Friday.

Life is good. I won't lie, it's tough being new parents. Sleeping in two-hour blocks (sometimes more, sometimes less...) isn't easy. The hardest part for me is feeling confined to the house. I know that Elliott will eventually go longer between feedings and I'll get better at breastfeeding in public, but three weeks spent mostly in the house is pretty out of character for me. We got out to attend a friend's halloween party last night for a couple of hours so Elliott could show off his dragon costume and Dave and I could talk to adults other than each other. We've been trying to venture out every day for a walk in our neighborhood. And thank goodness we got cable, because Paula Dean is a regular visitor to our house as well.

I can't believe it's almost the end of October! I brought all of Elliott's halloween stuff downstairs so I'll remember that he has to wear it SOON! My office is having a halloween potluck, so we have at least one more reason to dress him up. Is it sad that I'm hoping he spits up at least once so we can change him mid-potluck?

I feel like Elliott gets bigger every day. He lays across my abdomen the better part of 10 times a day, so I get to study his little arms as they chub out and try and remember how far across my body he went the first time I fed him in the recovery room at Sparrow Hospital. His newborn sizes still fit, but more and more of the 0-3 month sizes are fitting too. We're almost out of newborn diapers and gave away a stack of Pampers newborn sizes to my friend Laura who is due in January. Laura and Matt are having a girl.

Elliott spends more time awake each day, and is starting to coo back at us when we talk to him. He likes his swing a lot, especially when I turn on the water sounds. This morning, he spent almost an hour laying in his pack 'n play, wide awake, staring at the little bears that hang off the canopy. I finally picked him up because I wanted to cuddle him, who knows how long he would have laid there! I also love to sit him in his Boppy on the couch. He's comfy and is the perfect angle to talk to (and take pictures of).

He is still a pooping champ, but Dave has gotten savvier and hasn't gotten sprayed lately. I got peed on yesterday, but blocked it with my hand and diverted the spray all over the pack 'n play. Hey, you gotta look out for yourself! Dave did bring Elliott to me in bed this morning after a rather explosive diaper change to say, "You know, I never quite appreciated the term 'craptacular' before, but what Elliott just did was craptacular."

He still loves to get a bath every day, hates to have his diaper changed (but also hates to have a dirty diaper... fickle baby) and gets amazingly excited each time he finds his baby hands. I haven't had time to read lately, but I need to find out when babies realize that their hands are their own and that they have control of them. That is sure to be a landmark day in Elliott's life.

More than anything, I'm in love. More in love with David than I have ever been, and completely smitten with my son. It's awesome to watch him grow and change every day.

What are you thinking about, little boy?