Good as Gold

I went back to work earlier this week, but before I did, we took some time to make our own Olympic medals. Sam's been doing some "speed skating" around the kitchen, so I thought it was only appropriate. Elliott wasn't exactly sure what to make of the whole thing as evidenced by the look on his face in this picture.

Speaking of the Olympics, I will always view the winter games as a bit of a measurement tool. I was in Torino in 2006, so seeing all of the coverage out of Vancouver has brought back a lot of memories and made me think about all that's changed since then. In the past four years, we've lived in two houses and driven two cars, I've held two jobs and had two kids. A constant? I still spend my workdays thinking about fast food!

Love is in the Air

In the last few weeks Sam has taken a renewed interest in Elliott. There are still some fits of rage when Elliott steals the spotlight, but there are more and more unprompted kisses and he's picked up on some of my favorite phrases: "Look at him!" and "He's so cute!" He also consistently calls him "Baby Elliott" or "my brother," and in his innocent little two-year-old voice, it's the sweetest thing you've ever heard. We're still trying to teach him what it means to be gentle and he hasn't quite grasped that Elliott doesn't like to be pinched or poked, but we're making strides.

What a Week!

Sunday: Sam gets bit by Baxter the dog five minutes after we arrive at our Super Bowl party. Baxter is a sweet dog (with VERY nice owners), but when Sam went running toward him and his bone, Baxter felt a bit threatened and made it known to Sam. We went straight to the ER where three nurses and two doctors checked him out before disinfecting his wound (via syringe!!) and sending us on our way. I think the whole thing was scariest for Steve and me. Sam was as brave as I've ever seen him. Me? I had to look away and fight back the tears in my eyes!!

Monday: All is well. We take Elliott in for his two-month check up and learn he 's the average size of a 5 1/2-month-old baby. Whoa. No wonder nothing fits him! I also asked the doc to investigate Elliott's little belly button because I had noticed that there was something black lodged in it. Could it be dried blood? Should we be concerned that it isn't healing properly? Nope. Just belly button lint.

Tuesday: Sam wakes up puking and Steve and I learn that being doused in puke isn't so bad when it's your own little guy that has a tummy ache. Poor kid threw up all morning before taking a long nap and waking up a new man. Phew!


Wednesday: We wake up to the biggest snowfall of the season. Sam and I shovel us out and have some fun doing it!

Here's hoping the rest of the week is a little quieter. I'm a little tired.

Elliott at Two Months

February 3 marked two months for young Sir Elliott and he's still entirely too sweet. He hardly ever cries, and when he does, it's short-lived and simply means he's tired or he'd like some milk. Even at night he just wakes up and lets out a couple of squeals so I know to feed him.

He's getting more and more expressive all the time. There are big grins when he's happy, furrowed brows when he's unsure and wide open eyes when he's surprised. It makes me so anxious to learn more about his little personality.

Right now he's sleeping on our bed beside me, which is pretty much how it goes. He sleeps on and off all day long and occasionally takes a real nap for a couple of hours at a time. Bedtime is between 10 and 11 and he consistently sleeps until 3 or 3:30. Not bad considering his brother didn't do that until he was about 5 months old.

The other thing that's notable about Elliott is his gas. There isn't really a polite way to say it, so I'll just put it out there. He farts. A LOT. And it stinks. A LOT. I woke up to it this morning at 6:30, and if I wasn't still sleeping in the nursery, I would've sworn I was sitting in one of the dorms at St. John's. The good news? It makes me laugh every time, and I figure he's just breaking me in for a lifetime of raising boys.

Check out the round tummy in these pics! I'm pretty sure he's getting enough to eat! And for the record, I take back my comment about Elliott being a blondie. Now that his hair is starting to grow a little, I'm certain he'll have dark hair.

Sleeping Beauties

Naptime is such a wonderful time of day! I'd be a liar if I didn't admit I breathe a big sigh of relief when Sam finally settles down every day around 1:30. And sneaking in to peek on him always reminds me that he's still just a baby. Elliott is still a pretty good little snoozer too. Sometimes I'm amazed at how quickly he can go from being alert to asleep -- this picture is a case in point. I set him in Sam's crib so I would have my hands free...two seconds later he was dead asleep. I wish I could pull that off!