Elan playing with his set of rescue vehicles: "This is a police car. It goes to the... it goes to the... camping. When we go camping, we need the police car. And this one is the ambiance."A bird is building a nest in the Japanese maple tree in our little yard. It's nice to see someone acting on my nesting impulses.Elan's first nursery school show. He was so serious and attentive, trying to get all the hand motions right, with a llama finger puppet stuck precariously on his chubby little finger. And then he partied hard. And then he fell asleep during quiet time (a first!).Napping on Mama's belly, several weeks agoWhen I woke him from a nap this week, he looked right at me and said: "Hot sausage and pickles. Vitamin chip sauce!" My child, the picky eater, dreaming about strange food concoctions.I was feeling the baby bounce around, so I asked Elan if he wanted to feel the baby move. To my surprise, he said yes, ran over and put his little hand gently on my belly. The baby cooperated and gave his hand two swift kicks. ... more
A life is lived moment by moment.This week I'm introducing a new weekly series called Moments. It's a place for me to capture all the little moments that make up a week - quirky, joyful, heart-rending, funny, enlightening, frustrating, touching... You have a lot of those when you're raising children, and but they don't necessarily make their way into a blog post. Welcome to my first Moments post, an opportunity for weekly reflection when life spins fast.Elan fell down the stairs and sported a Harry-Pottery-style mark on his forehead for ... more
Bubs: Good morning. I’m a shark. Mama: Good morning, shark. What did you have for breakfast? Bubs: Um. Maybe French toast. Mama: French toast? I thought sharks ate fish. Bubs: Oh yeah. (looks around) I need a fork!
About a month back, on a whim, I ordered Finding Nemo for Elan.It's a hit.I am not proud to admit that he has watched this movie (or part of it) every single day for the last two weeks. Okay, maybe three. I've lost count. Thank god for Ellen DeGeneres. Her Dory is hilarious, my salvation. And the part with the sea turtles is awe-inspiring; I always advocate skipping to the turtles. The other thing I've noticed, as this movie forms the background to my early mornings, is how impressive the ... more
On the tire swing with his friend Torben --Elan: Torben, look at all the babies! (nods head toward four babies stretched out together on a blanket in the shade)Torben: Wow. That's a lot of babies.E: One two three four. Four babies.T: Four babies!E: You want to go to Little Farm, Torben?T: Yeah! Chickens.E: Cows.T: Pigs.E: Woosters. T: Giraffes.E: Elephants.They both nod in understanding, like: I got ya, dude.T: We're on the swing.E: With Mama.T: Elan!E: Torben!T: Rebaca!Giggles. Shrieks of excitement.Now I know it's probably just because I'm related to one of ... more
Elan seems to love the order of reciting lists. He started with the alphabet, then went on to numbers, which he's still completely obsessed with, and now he's added days of the week, which he's learning in nursery school during circle time.Early Monday morning, just after he finished his ritual good-morning bottle snuggled in our bed, he turned to me and greeted me with a new affirmation. "Today is Tuesday.""It's not Tuesday," I said. "Today is Monday.""Today is Monday," he repeated, as he reached a hand out to touch my ... more
It used to be that bubs exclusively referred to himself in the second person. "You want to go outside," he'd whine, hanging on the door handle. "You excited!" when asked if he wanted to go to Baby Gym, the padded room populated with gymnastic mats, a ball pit, and a jumping house at our Y. "That's your doggie," he'd say, planting kisses on his stuffed dog's crusty fur. "That's not what you want!" he'd blubber when offered cheddar rather than string cheese.It made sense. "You" was, after all, the pronoun ... more
This is the sight that greeted me when I came back from dropping bubs off at nursery school this morning. Elan's current loves: "old doggie" and numbers. I believe the dino was just thrown in to add texture.Earlier in the morning, Elan was making up all kinds of number stories with doggie. "Doggie seeing the numbers," he informed me, holding doggie carefully so that his head pointed at Elan's beloved foam numbers. "Come on, doggie, let's go see the numbers." And so on.Tomorrow Elan and I leave for San ... more
Elan helping me plant Corsican mint in a planter:"Mama's going to dig a hole and then you can put the plant in."Nods seriously. Watches intently as I dig a hole with the trowel."Okay, put the plant in the hole."He thrusts the mint in the hole, roots up. "He's goin to bed."I smile. "That's right. The plant is in bed. Turn it upside-down, so the green part is up."He flips it. "He's tired. Going nighty night."I laugh. "Now help Mama put the dirt back."He pats down the dirt with his surprising ... more
Before I became a parent, I, like everyone, had heard much about "the terrible twos." Throughout my pregnancy, I could imagine mothering a tiny, helpless, staring-fascinated-at-leaves-on-a-tree baby. But whenever I considered the fact that that baby would someday become a tantrum-throwing, opinionated and loud two-year-old, a cold shudder ran through me. Well, those days are here. With a vengeance. And of course it hasn't been a completely sudden transition. The reality is that my son was rarely the kind of sweet, mellow, even-tempered baby I imagined in my pregnancy dreams. No, ... more
Elan's current obsession is numbers. I bought him some foam numbers, the kind that stick to the wall of the shower. He spends hours arranging and rearranging them, in and out of the bath, and they've even taken on their own personalities for him.A recent monologue:"Okay, evewybody, wet's go downstairs." (flinging numbers down the stairs)"Your turn, seven." (seven goes flying)"Where's eight? Wet's find eight." (eight discovered on bathroom floor, catapulted down stairs)Later, after everyone is congregated downstairs in the living room:"You can make fifteen." (he puts the one and three together proudly)"Wet's ... more