That's How I Roll, Mom.

Elliott has been "almost" rolling for about a week now. Last Friday I was convinced he was finally going to do it as an homage to it being my last official day of maternity leave. Have I not learned by now that I am not in charge anymore? And that while Elliott loves me a ton, he is not planning to do as I wish, now or perhaps ever.


So anyway, he is being kind to us by sleeping through the night these days. Life is so much clearer when you have 6-8 hours of sleep under your belt CONSECUTIVELY, not broken up into 2-3 hour chunks. Delish. Anyway, I went in to wake him up this morning to feed him to find him on his belly. I went back into our bedroom to ask Dave if he had flipped him at some point during the night, but alas no. Elliott did his first successful roll sometime between the hours of 9:30pm and 6:30am.


Let me talk for a moment about sleeping. A. Elliott is a great sleeper. B. We use blankets. Oh horror of horrors, we use blankets! But we do, we have since he was born and I plan to use them for future babies. There I said it. C. Occasionally, we flip the little guy over to sleep on his tummy. Dave and I are both stomach sleepers, and when it means we get an extra hour of sleep or when it's the only way he will nap, we're brazenly defying the "back to sleep, tummy to play" campaign.

Here is a re-creation of Elliott's nighttime habits. This is how he goes to sleep at night.

And this is how I find him in the morning. He has also been known to do a full 180.

Oh, play! What a great topic for right now. Elliott is a playing machine. Sometimes he'll even fuss because he wants to be left alone to grab at and mouth his toys. There was a period of about 3 weeks when he was almost constantly on his play gym, hanging on for dear life to his dangling friends Elephant, MonkeyMan, Mr. Parrot, ButterflyThing, Chiming Bunny and a host of others. These days, he is ALL about his Jumperoo. My fave baby product to date has been the Boppy. I am quickly becoming a devotee to the Fisher Price Rainforest Jumperoo. Not only is it fun for Elliott, it makes me smile and laugh just a smidgen less than he does. He is adorable in it, and smiles his happiest gummy grins when playing. It has also been the reason Dave and I have been able to eat dinner together for the last week or so. It's a gift, truly.

Another few notes on play. Elliott had his first playdate a couple Saturdays ago with Sawyer, the 9-month-old, red-headed adorable son of my friend Jessica from the National Home. We swapped Mommy stories, Sawyer pillaged Elliott's toys and Elliott took a big long nap in his swing. Not the best playmate yet, but Sawyer didn't seem to mind.
We also watched some other folks play last week... The Michigan State University men's basketball team! Yes, we took Elliott to his first sporting event, and more importantly to his first Spartan sporting event. He was SO good! Watched the action, listened to the music, snoozed a bit during halftime and let us take lots of pictures of him. Toward the end of the game, he got a little fussy, but heck, I was getting antsy too as the other team was calling a timeout after each play to extend the game. Anyway, the woman sitting next to Dave says, "Oh, so he DOES cry!" I about died. Um, yes Ma'am, have you met my baby? The baby formerly known as Prince Tomato Face? HA. We have come a long way.

Hmm, other exciting and fun things in our life. We've been interviewing daycare providers because Dave got a call to return to work at the testing center. I don't think he's going to take this particular job that goes from Feb-April, but we definitely found someone we are comfortable leaving Elliott with. Her name is Brenda. She was referred to us by my friend Lexi, whose daughter Laynie stayed with Brenda before they moved to Pittsburgh. She is a home-based provider and a good $70 less per week than any of the big CAFO daycare centers in Lansing. She has a small home about a mile away from our house and is willing to be flexible as Dave is on again, off again from work. Best of all, Elliott smiled at her, cuddled right into her arms and chilled out while we talked about her 15 years of daycare experience. So I think everything is going to be ok.

Speaking of work, I'm doing well. I miss the little guy while I'm gone, but as I've said before, I'm just not cut out to be a stay at home parent. I like my job and love my profession. It feels so good to be back into a routine and it makes me appreciate my time with Elliott more and I feel like an even better Mommy. My job is going to transition to 100% plant initiative, which is also helping me stay busy and focus on work while I'm here and not just pine away for Elliott and Dave.

I have to say, though, that my favorite part about leaving for work is coming home. Elliott hears my voice and finds me with his eyes and breaks into just about the biggest smile ever. It's like his eyes are saying "Oh Mom! There you are! I've been looking for you! Got milk?"

Milk. Yes, that's going well too. I am staying several ounces ahead of what he is eating at home with Dave. We think he is taking the edge off with the bottle and then filling up his tank to F when he sees me. This is great because my daytime milk production is still high and my body has adapted to make more in the evenings too. I still feel like making milk is a superpower, but it's also downright convenient. All of the health and bonding benefits aside, breastfeeding is so much easier on all of us.

Elliott is also downright squirmy these days. My Mom says that boys have extra muscle, so they need to move their bodies more to oxygenate their little bodies. Whatever the reason, he is a squirmy worm. So nursing him is a nice time to cuddle him, cut his fingernails, pick his nose, sing to him, and do other things he definitely won't sit still for these days.

Aunt Meredith came to visit from Chicago last weekend. It was very fun. Elliott wore his Chicago Cubs outfit to celebrate her arrival.

My parents continue to visit regularly. I don't know what I'd do without their help and listening ears. Plus, they think Elliott is the greatest thing ever. I agree of course, but being a grandparent has a whole different twist to nurturing. It makes my soul feel warm watching them together.

Elliott is talking and cooing quite a bit. This morning, for instance, I fed him and put him back to bed a little drowsy, but not sleeping. He jabbered away for almost an hour before he fell back asleep. Dave almost went in to get him, but we agreed that he has a distinctive talking voice, a complaining voice and then, of course, crying.

That is my favorite complaining face.

He is also all about sticking his tongue out lately. It's hilarious and I keep thinking that some day we'll have to re-train him NOT to stick his tongue out. But for now, it's cute. He was talking up a storm to me on his changing table when I took this picture.

My friend Anne is coming to visit this weekend. Dave is bartending as usual. Otherwise, it's nice to have our time free to just play. The snow continues to fall, but I am already looking forward to springtime and taking Elliott outside to play.

There is so much to look forward to.

Like playing with Uncle Nate...

Being able to talk directly to Grandma Carolyn on the phone....

And playing football...

Slowing the flow of drool and being able to NOT wear a bib all the time...

Watching sports with Daddy. Oh wait, he's already doing that... Perhaps "yelling at the TV" is what he's looking forward to...
Playing with Daddy in general is always something to look forward to...

Getting more new shoes. That might be what I am looking forward to...
Walking...
Chewing on something other than our favorite treat, HAND...

Flying... Although right now we "superman that baby" quite often. It's one of his favorite things to do...
Traveling more... Although Elliott is quickly growing out of his carseat... His 4-month appointment is on February 6... I can't wait to see how much he weighs...
Getting into mischief...
Being the light of my Mommy's life...