April 27 & 28

Hi Elijah!
Happy Birthday baby boy! You are four months old today. I can't even believe it!

Yesterday, you spent a bit of time with Grampa and Heather then we went over Auntie Sheila's for dinner. You got to see Uncle Jeff again and you met Gramma and Grampa Naven! We also all got to see Baby Jakey some more. You did a great job playing on the floor and talking to everyone. You were only fussy when you were hungry and you needed a nappy!

Today, we started the day with you puking all over me. Literally all over me where I needed to change my clothes. Yep, good morning mommy! Mary said you were sick while you were at her house. You weren't quite yourself today but we did hang out and you were smiling a bit. You did let me get a few photos of you for your 4 month birthday. Today, Braeden told me that he is 4 months old just like you :) He means 4 years old but he was just so excited that you were the same age.

As we have closed the day on your 4 month birthday, we need to have a serious talk. You need to start pulling your weight around here and you are a bit older now so you can start having some chores. Here are some things you need to start doing -
1) Holding your own darn bottle. It is hard enough for your mom and dad to shovel food in their own mouths fast enough. You need to feed your own self.
2) Need to poo on the potty chair when we put you on there. Washing your diapers is hard work and we need to conserve where possible.
3) Give us a clue when you are going to puke all over us so we can get you to the toilet. Again, laundry is hard work and we need to conserve all of our clothes where possible.
4) You should be learning sign language by now at daycare so start using it at home instead of just crying when you want something. You are a big boy now.
We will have a performance evaluation at 5 months and you better be making the cut buddy. :)
Speaking of conservation, Mary might go back to cloth diapers. She really liked your liners and how they make dirty diapers easy to clean. What a great thing! You are already teaching people to be more green - haha!

April 22 - April 26

Hi Elijah!
We have had a busy few days & lots to catch up on! Tomorrow is your last day of being a 3 month old. You are going to turn 4 months old on Wednesday. Each passing day of you getting bigger just amazes me!

Thursday - when I picked you up from Mary's, she said that you act like a trained circus seal. You roll over from your back to your tummy, the kids all cheer and you smile. Then, you roll back over from your tummy to your back, the kids all cheer and you smile. I don't ever see this at home so I think you are lazy at home but I tell you it is because your cloth diapers are too big for you to be so active :) Thursday night, we had dinner with Gramma Debi D & Mr. Pepsi. Then, we ran errands to get ready for our trip.


Friday - it was off to see your Minnesota family! We packed up Great Gramma's car and we took off. You were so good on the way up there - you slept most of the ride. When we got there, Brandon was in town already and your Minnesota Godparents were working. You and I took a quick nappie before we hung out with the family at a late dinner. We stayed at a hotel and you slept with Daddy tonight. You were so cute laying in bed next to him with the blankets up all around you. You looked like such a big boy! I really love this photo because not only are you & your daddy super cute lying next to each other, you can see both of your bottles in the background. You are both addicted to your individual bottles - you to formula and him to Diet Coke!


Saturday - You woke up for some food then we all slept in until 9:30. You are a good vacation sleeper! We went over your Baby God Daddy's house for awhile then we went shopping. We finally found you a diaper bag we could use. It is a Nike Backpack inspired by Brian. I think we have finally found our final diaper bag. We bought you a little windbreaker jacket and it was one of those moments where I look down at my hand carrying this little squirt's coat and I think "Who does this belong to?" Then, I remember, that I am a mommy now and you are my son and I have to buy you coats. Almost 4 months later and I still am occasionally taken off guard. When we got back to the apartment, Auntie Val was in town to love you up. She spoiled you while we grabbed dinner. Your mom and dad packed our bags for 75 degree weather but it was in the 50s. It made soccer a tad chilly. Thankfully, your Auntie and Great Gramma loaded up a bag with winter coats. We wrapped you up in one of those to stay warm. You liked all the cheering but when the crowd boo'd, you got upset and started crying. Baby GodDaddy played for 28 minutes and their team won! Afterwards, you hung out with Auntie Val while we played cards. It was your last chance to hang out with your cousin Brandon. Each time he held you, you were fussy & he didn't quite know what to do with you. I think he just picked the worst times to hold you rather than you disliking him :) He has committed to teaching you how to ski when you are able to walk so you need to stay on his good side!!



Sunday - You woke up again for food then slept until 10:00!! I loved it! We had breakfast at Brian's and you got some last minute loving from Auntie Val before we packed up the car and headed out again. You slept almost the entire way home. Your job was to entertain Great Gramma in the car and I don't think you passed! Sleeping is not entertaining but we were all happy since you were not fussing.




Monday - Back to daycare and to your routine! Mary said you were all smiles this morning. She is altering your schedule a tad so that you sleep when I pick you up so I can keep working. It has been working out good. You give me a couple of smiles then you fall asleep for about 45 minutes. Afterwards, I was going out to run errands and Gramma Debbie wanted to see you so you hung out with her tonight. When you got home, it was bath time (plus some oily gook on your head again!), food time and bed time!



Tomorrow, you are going to hang out with Grampa Keith & Heather during my last hour of work then we are going to go see Uncle Jeff! You haven't seen him in 3 months! You will also get to meet Auntie Sheila's parents - Linnea and Norm. I think we are also going to get to smooch up Baby Jacob if we can snatch him away from all those other people who want to love him up!!

April 21

Hi Baby!
It was a big day today little man! Your best friend Baby Jake was born at 6:47 pm. He was a little smaller than you - 7 lbs 12 oz and a little longer than you 21". Mommy waited all day for the announcement that he was born and for Lauren to say we could come up to visit him. Once we got the ok, we were out the door and didn't even put pants on you!

Outside of our big Baby Jake news, you hung out with Grampa Keith & Heather for the longest time ever! They walked over to Mary's and picked you up. Heather sent home a video of you that I am going to check out right now. Maybe we can get it on your blog soon :)

April 19 and 20th

Hiya Baby!
What I am about to share with you is the stuff that is ripe for tormenting you in front of your girlfriends later on in life. Here is the deal - you are a drama king. When you need to dirty your diaper, the world stops spinning, we all hold our breath and we hope for the best. You scrunch up your face, you whine at us, you turn red and it is a major ordeal. Even Mary said "I have never had a kid in 26 years that makes such a production over taking a poo." (I altered the last word for your innocent ears)

So, last night, I picked you up from Gramma Debbie's and I was trying to give you some cereal. I was interrupted in the middle by your need to poo - like I said earlier, the world stops turning so food was definitely out of the question. I sat there watching you, waiting for you to finish and I realized that if I am going to sit and watch you in your high chair, I can sit and watch you on a potty chair. We ordered you your first potty chair and I made sure it had a high back on it so you can lean against it during your turmoil.

Now, mommy and daddy realize that you are way too young to begin potty training - despite your dad's demands that you be trained by 6 months. However, if we are fully aware of when you are dirtying your diaper, we may as well get you in the habit of doing it on the toilet. Maybe it will help us down the road when you are starting to train. While you may not be old enough to give us the verbal clues of "Potty", you certainly show us the physical cues of when to throw you on there.

After your mini-cereal feeding, poo and bath, we put special lotion on your head because it is really dry and flaky. You were glistening and oily like a bodybuilder during a photo shoot. Daddy was worried he was going to drop you because you would slip out of his hands. You played on your exercise mat for over 2 hours! Just rolling around, kicking the poles, toppling the whole thing on top of you! Such a good baby tonight.



Not much to share for Tuesday little man. You hung out with Gramma Debbie and nappied together. We came home and you played on your mat, we did cereal, bath and then it was pretty much bed time.

April 18

Hi baby!
We had a super big day today! You were in a good mood most of the day but not as happy as yesterday. You went to Starbucks with daddy then took a nap. After your nap, we decided to try to feed you some cereal. I think we were supposed to wait until 4 months but you are drinking so much formula (about 6 oz every 2 - 2.5 hours) that we thought we start to slowly introduce cereal. I read that the first few feedings are less about the food and more establishing the habit. You did great. You were fussy at first because you were hungry so we let you drink a little bit of your bottle. After you drank a bit, you were happy and were playing with the cereal in your mouth. I was a bit sappy because you are such a big boy now! You were sitting in your bumbo like a big boy and eating like a big boy! Then, we went over Grampa Keith's to work on his computer. Him and Heather loved you up for a couple of minutes but not long enough for them! Kylie shark asked if she could have you today so we had an appointment with her too. She was so excited because you gave her your new squeal!!

When we got home, you spent a lot of time on your exercise mat as your dad and I did stuff around the house. All of a sudden, you squealed and your dad looked over. You had rolled over from your back to your tummy! You didn't like being on your tummy once you got there and so you had to get our attention to roll you back over. We were both so bummed we missed it. Your daddy thought that maybe you pulled on your giraffe and pulled yourself over. He kept watching you and you were playing with your giraffe but you rolled over AGAIN and you didn't use your giraffe at all. Now, you have rolled over both ways!

We have a BIG week this week buddy! Gramma Debbie wants to see you on Monday & Tuesday. I asked Grampa Keith to pick you up on Wednesday because I have a haircut. On Wednesday, we (hopefully) get to meet Baby Jake! If not, we definitely get to meet him on Thursday!!! On Friday, we are going to pack it up and head up to see Baby GodDaddy and Erica. Your cousin Brandon will be there and Auntie Val too. We are driving up with Great Gramma so you will have lots of family time!!

I will leave you with a sentimental moment. As we were feeding you the second time, you were just gazing at your daddy. You were looking at him with such admiration and then you would grin at him. He was looking at you just as intently and then he would smile back at you. Oh my gosh, it was a moment to make my heart go pitter patter. He told you that he hopes you remember these moments where just looking at us makes you happy because you might not like us so much later down the road :)

April 17

Hi Baby Elijah!
Oh my goodness. I would say that today was one of the best days we have ever spent together! You were so happy all stinking day. You cracked me up every time I looked at you. This morning, we got up at 7:30, had a bottle then I was hoping you would sleep again. Daddy had to go to work and I said "Elijah, let's sleep until 12." Daddy left at 9:15 and you were in the middle of the bed. I told your daddy that you would be planning your sneak attack on me. Next thing I knew, your head was against me. Then, you squirmed for about 1/2 hour until you were sucked up against me. Then, we slept until 11:15!! When you were up and fed again, you were so happy. You have developed this new skill for getting all excited and then doing a new noise that is a cross between a squeal and a growl. it is the cutest thing ever!! I had to leave for a bit to hang out with your Grampa Keith and Uncle Zachary so you hung out with Daddy. When I got back, you were still super happy. I am doing a really bad job in communicating to you what an awesome day it was but I guess just know that I loved you every second of the day. Your smiles melted my heart each time. You know what else happened? You were playing on your mat and all of a sudden, you yelled out "Ma". Your dad and I stopped what we were doing and just looked at each other. It was so clear. We know it is not meant to be "mommy" but you definitely showed us you were capable of it!!!

At the last minute, mommy, daddy and your Uncle Zachary decided to go to a movie so we found you a babysitter at Sherry Shark's house. She said that you were so good for her and you were still in a good mood. She was so excited to babysit you. She has to get some good, quality practice time in so her skills are sharp for your friend Kylie to have a baby :)

As I leave you today, I need to share something with you. I realized something big today. I wanted you to come in our life really badly. I envisioned all cutesy baby things and little baby joys. But, I didn't spend any time thinking about what it truly meant to be a mom or have a son. I realized today that I love being your mom more than I ever, ever imagined. I just look at you and I smile. Every day, you are getting so much bigger and so much more interactive. Each day, I marvel at how blessed I am to have you as a son and I never would have imagined that this parenthood thing would be so cool! Yes, you still have fussy moments and yes, it won't be all sunshine and roses but overall, it is much better than I ever imagined!


I made a picture for you of your sneak attack. It is kind of a playbook of your maneuvering. :)

April 15 & 16

Hi Elijah!
I went back and was reading some of your old posts and I really enjoyed it. I had already forgotten a lot of that stuff and it had only been 3 months! What a treasure for me to have when you are lipping off as a teenager and I can remember the good old days when you were so sweet and innocent. But, it made me realize that I have been changing the focus of your blog and posting you quickies telling you your activities but not really talking to you a whole lot. That made me sad. Yes, I want you to remember who you were hanging out with but I also want to talk to you.

On Thursday, I got a phone call from your dad that you hurt his feelings. Apparently, when he dropped you off at daycare, you just gave him the evil eye stare. Even Mary said that she had never seen you act that way. I, of course, rubbed it in to your dad that it was because he has been deserting you for exercise class and you don't feel like he loves you anymore. haha. After work, I had book club so I didn't see you a whole lot. Your daddy took you over Gramma Ruth's to visit all of your family there. She said you are getting HEAVY :) I came home and rushed up to take your photo for the day - another lame-o photo from your lazy mom!

Today, you were such a happy baby this morning. You were smiling and cooing and making new noises I hadn't heard before. When I picked you up from daycare and took you to Great Gramma's, you were happy too. But, when I picked you up, you tipped the scales to fussy pants. You were over tired then hungry then tired so you were just a plain fussy pants. We did a video chat with Auntie Val and Brandon but you weren't too happy to see them because you were so tired. Poor Brandon was so excited to see you but you just gave him your bug-eyed face!

So, let's see what I want to talk to you about today. I will tell you about the deal that I made with your dad. I told him that we have 5 years to get our finances in order so I can reduce my hours at work. Not a drastic reduction - just an hour or so a day so that I can take you to school and pick you up from school. I envision that time after school to be our time together. I have a "Leave it to Beaver" vision in my head - you come home and tell me all about school, we do your homework together, we get dinner ready. In reality, you will probably not want anything to do with me. :) But, that is my plan for our life.

Oh, I have another plan that I would like to share with you. This one is a bit more serious. I hate to make decisions about our family without your input but you are too little to provide any input on this one. When I look at you, I just can't imagine life without you. I already miss your newborn stage. I realized how badly I would like a 2nd little kiddo in the house. So, I think we may try to make you a baby sister (I know it will be a girl. Just like I knew you were a girl. haha) over the summer. I know it seems crazy since we just had you. But, I have to confess that I don't want to have kiddos much older than I am now. I would like a 2nd baby, I would like you to be close in age and I would like to be young. So, that doesn't leave us much time. I worry how that will affect you - you won't be the center of attention, you won't have had much time with your mom and dad all to yourself, etc. However, there are plenty of well adjusted kiddos out there that have siblings when they are over a year old so I think you will recover. When your dad and I got married, I really thought we would have 3-4 kiddos all in a row and I would be done having kiddos at 30. Well, that didn't really work out for us, did it? But, God brought you here with us and we can only pray that God will bring us a baby sister for you!

April 13 & April 14

You are in so much trouble buddy. When I picked you up on Tuesday, Mary told me that you rolled over. Remember our agreement? You were not supposed to do anything from 8-5 Monday through Friday. I will let this one pass because we have seen you roll over. You did it a long time ago and did it several times then you stopped doing it. But, back to tummy rolling over, walking, talking, etc - all those need to be done on evenings and weekends.

After daycare, we went to Heartland Park and took a bunch of photos. We walked around the lake while your dad did his boot camp. After all these years, I have never walked around there before. I really enjoyed it - nice scenery, good exercise and you enjoyed the time in the stroller. Your photos turned out so awesome. I took 90 of you just to get 10 really good ones.

Wednesday
You were a happy, happy baby this morning. I love that but it does make it a little hard to say goodbye to you and ship you off to daycare. Before your dad left for boot camp, he left you in charge of the TV and remote. He is training you early. Later, we put you on your mat to play with your toys. You started fussing after awhile and when we looked down, you completely jimmied off the play mat!! No rolling over but you are such a wiggly worm that now you move everywhere!

4/10-4/12

Hi Elijah!
We had a busy weekend, huh? Saturday we went to Lincoln where you hung out with Auntie Becky & Uncle Steve. They were so excited to take you to the park and see if you were big enough to swing. But, you fell asleep on the way there. I think they had fun with you anyway! After that, we went to dinner with your future wife - Vivianne or Isabella (whichever you choose!) Lindberg. You were a good boy at the restaurant.

On Sunday, you played outside for a bit while we cleaned out the cars. Then, we relaxed before going over your cousin Brandi's house. You got a beautiful new quilt from Roger & Darnell. We tried out your new baby wrap and it was a total success! You loved it and fell asleep twice.

On Monday, Gramma Debbie picked you up and she hung out with you. You were in a good mood for her and I think she enjoyed you flirting with her. We ran errands together while daddy was at his Boot Camp. You are starting to get back to yourself - only unhappy when you are tired, hungry or dirty.

April 5 - April 9

Hi Baby Lijah!
Another week gone by and your mom is behind on your blog. You weren't yourself again this week. We sure wish that tooth would pop out or we could figure out what to do to make you be happy Lijah all the time. Mary said that you are getting better at her house so that is good news! She also gave you a good report card because you did tummy time for 10 whole minutes without screaming. We have seen a noticeable difference in how well you are holding your neck and you can stand for a long time now! Big boy! But, mommy got a bad report card because your Gramma Debbie keeps stealing Mary's bibs when she picks you up. So, your mom got her hand smacked!

Monday - you went over Gramma Debbie's after Mary's. Then, we went to Goldbergs for dinner. YUMMY.


Tuesday - bath night. You did so good sitting in your exersaucer while we got your bath ready. Then, we put you in your bouncy seat downstairs. You stayed in there quite a long time. All a direct result of your neck getting better!

Wednesday - Kylie was ungrounded from you and she was able to pick you up and hang out with you. You screamed when Mary gave you to her. What is up with that? Kylie likes you so much and you hurt her feelings! We then went out to dinner with both of your Gramma Deb's - Gramma Debbie and Gramma Debi D. It was Great Gramma Marianne's 80th birthday. Donnie and Chuck went with us too.

Thursday - we did a video chat with Auntie Val. You smiled a bit more than last time but you ended up getting fussy. You slept all evening - 6:30-10 then you ate. Then, you were asleep again until 1. I brought you up to sleep with me and you are a bed hog. I put you in the middle of the bed with nothing around you. Next thing I know, you are kicking me in the back. Not only are you an inchworm, you are loud. You make so much noise in your sleep - grunting, talking, smacking on your hand. It was quite the reassurance that you are meant to sleep in your crib.

Friday - Off to Great Gramma's while mommy had her meeting. Then, we went to the Vet and over the Beaty's. We went for a 2 hour walk! You did so good. We mostly had you in your stroller but I had you in the sling for a bit too. When you got home, you were knocked out and I hope you sleep really good because we have a road trip to Lincoln tomorrow.

Happy Easter!

Happy Easter Baby Elijah!
Your first Easter with us and we tortured you appropriately. You will have new material to tell your therapist! You slept in today - until 8:30! Then, you went to Starbucks with daddy and bought your mommy some Easter candy. After your nap, we dressed you in your bunny costume and tortured you with photos. After that, we went over Gramma Ruth's and then you went over Grampa Keith's. When you got home, you were a fussy pants. Grampa Keith Heather said you were wheezing and coughing. You might have your first cold. Gramma Debi D surprised us by dropping by and delivering your Easter presents.

Yep, kiddo, Easter was like a second birth or baptism. You got a ton of loot! Luckily for your mom and dad, lots of people gave you candy so we could munch on it :) Let's see, what kind of loot did you get?

Clothes
Stuffed Animals
Books
Candy
Money
Sippy Cups
Toys

What did your mom and dad get? To eat your candy and write all your thank you notes :)

Anyway baby, can't wait until next year when you are running around with your cousins Tyler and Andrew and doing an Easter Egg hunt! Hope you feel better soon or Mary will throw us out of daycare until you get better.

A week later...

Hi Baby!
Man, this is the longest I have gone without talking to you! This past week you haven't been yourself. You have been kind of irritable - not in a way that I want a refund but in a way where I just know you are uncomfortable and not being your happy-go-lucky-self. Speaking of refund, since we are past the 90 day mark, I think I am officially stuck with you forever :) Oh, who are we kidding? I was happily stuck with you forever back in May when I got that positive pregnancy test!

Anyway, we don't know if you were coming down with something or if you are teething. From what I can see on the internet, you have all the symptoms of teething but those people who have raised babies tell us it is too early for you to have some teeth. What your dad and I do know is that you feel much better after a dose of tylenol but once that wears off, you are back to being irritable. I think we will just hope that you end up being yourself again soon.

This week, you have decided that you are going to scream in a new fashion. it is a high pitch wail that hurts our ears. We don't know where you got that from but we wish it would go back :) It hurts our ears and then it worries us that something is truly wrong with you. Mary says that you have started doing that in the middle of your naps too but then you go back to sleep.

You had lots of visits this week. Gramma Debbie picked you up from daycare on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. On Thursday, she brought you to Darbys so we could have tacos together. She bought you a spiffy suit for you to wear on special occasions. Friday, you had your weekly Friday afternoon date with Great Gramma then you went over Gramma Ruth's house while Daddy and I went to a movie. Today, we went to Des Moines to see your baby God Daddy play soccer then we had dinner at Auntie Sheila's with lots of our family - Brandi, Jeff, Jeremy, Kylie, Lauren (baby Jake), Uncle Tyler and Uncle Zach.

You have already received quite a few Easter gifts but I will tell you all about them tomorrow. Hopefully, we will get some good photos of you in your Easter clothes!

Monday, 3/29
Another day where mommy forgot to take a good photo so I had to sneak in at night. We had to replace your swaddle this week because you are too big for the winter one. You were starting to bust out of it on the night's your dad had overnight duty and he didn't like that too much!

Tuesday, 3/30
You and Daddy hanging out on the love sac for a nap. Can I tell you a secret? Your daddy loves snuggling up with you on the love sac.

Wednesday, 3/31
It was Fajita Wednesday and then we went to Maggie Moo's for an ice cream treat. Daddy shared his vanilla bean ice cream with you.

Thursday, 4/1
Photo from Gramma Debbie

Friday, 4/2
In your swing. Now, you are starting to play with the toys in your swing. Mary told me that you have learned that the toys on the swing at her house activate the music so you pull them to hear the music.

Saturday, 4/3
With baby Goddaddy in your soccer duds.