Motherhood: The Musical

Motherhood can be so clever sometimes. I have come up with some a number of songs to help [successfully] divert stressful situations with both of my children. I thought it might be a good idea to share them, lest I forget them!

The Night-Night Song. I came up with this when Elijah was less than a year old. Using the word "difficult" is an understatement in what it took to get him to sleep. He nursed, and then he had to be tightly swaddled, rocked, bounced, sung to, etc... before he would sleep. I got pretty bored with all the lullaby's I knew off hand, so I started making stuff up.

(Sung to the chorus of "This Land is Your Land")

It's time to go night-night

And go to sleep

And rest your eyes

And have sweet dreams

And when you wake up

I will be right here

It's time to go night-night

Elijah's Marching Band. Elijah found a mini-flag I had from high school when I was in Color Guard. When I explained it was for marching in a band, he wanted to do it. While marching around the house, he wanted a song.This isn't sung to any particular song, I don't think.

It's Elijah's marching band

With this big colorful flag

We go march! march! march!

And stomp! stomp! stomp!

All through the house

It's Elijah's marching band

With his big color flag

We go march! march! march!

And stomp! stomp! stomp!

It's Eliiiijah's Maaarrching Baaaaaand

YAH YAH YAH

A song that I've sang to Emily since she was a newborn is simply just her name over and over again. I don't know the name of the tune, or if it even has one. But I repeat her name and then spell it at the end. It gets her to stop crying every time and she knows her name now! I also have a similar song for Elijah. It's more of a chant, really. I just spell his name to a specific rhythm. It's been a lot of fun because he's already learning how to spell his name. The last little song I have is repeating "Thank you, you're welcome" to another tune I've heard somewhere before I think. This has been helpful in getting Elijah more familiar with manners. He can be extremely polite.

That's all I can think of at this time, though I am sure there are more.

In other news, I've been looking at preschools for Elijah! I call it play school to Elijah, because that's what Caillou, his favorite cartoon, calls preschool. I really want him to attend a Montessori preschool. They're a little more expensive but I find comfort at the thought of him being taught in an environment by someone who is educated and qualified; not inexperienced and babysitting for the 3.5 hours he's there. The entire family went out today, dropped off some of Elijah's clothes that are too small at a consignment shop, and then found Elijah a backpack! It's a Toy Story backpack, go figure. Without having television as an influence, or before even knowing what Toy Story was, this little boy fell in love with Buzz Lightyear. The only television I let Elijah watch is the Sprout channel, and Nick Jr. Both of those channels do not show commercials, except for Sprout, which only shows commercials about insurance, cleaning supplies, and Your Baby Can Read! Guess it just goes to show that boys will be boys. And Elijah is so good at being a boy!

So the other day Elijah is getting frustrated because he can't get his underwear back on after going potty. He's slamming them on the floor and says, "Come on, god dammit!" I froze and stared at him. "Elijah just said his first swear word" I thought to myself. Great. Now what? I bend down and get eye level with him and explain to him that what he just said is called a Bad Word. We're not allowed to say bad words, I don't like bad words, and I don't want him to say bad words. Then of course I have to remind the rest of the house, no swearing, please. Other advancements in vocabulary include using the word "I" instead of "me". So now he says, "I want" rather than, "Me want".

Emily is six months old now! Sheesh, when did that even happen? This girl has a seriously vibrant personally. She's incredibly chatty, playful, and ticklish. I don't know why I hadn't thought of it before, but I can totally get her hair into a pony tail now. Time to go buy some adorable bows! That's Daddy's headset she has her hand. She's amazing with her hands. She can pass objects from hand to the next, pick up and put her nuk in her mouth, and finger at objects with her index finger and thumb. I just know she'll be crawling before too long. When sitting up she can lung forward, almost to her knees, but not quite yet. Still no teeth, but they'll be here any day! Emily's hair still sticks up, but it's starting to fall to one side. I'll miss those days of hair standing straight on top of her head!

Lavender, Raspberries, and Blueberries, Oh My!

It has been absolutely beautiful since July rolled around. A few typical Washington overcast days here and there, but mostly nice enough to spend a few hours outside each day. My Mom's yard is full of adventures; it's huge with multiple mature fruit trees and bushes. I've started making homemade soap and plan on using lavender buds in my recipes. With lavender being bountiful and plenty in my Mom's yard, I've been able to cut and dry my own! Elijah joined me in the yard when it was ready for the picking and looks at the "lam-en-er" with me.

Emily in tow, we then venture around the yard and check on all of the different foods growing. We planted cucumbers, beans, and lettuce two or three weeks ago and they're finally starting to sprout. The gardeners didn't seem to notice the markers in the dirt and trampled through the cucumbers and beans. Unfortunately the cucumbers didn't make it, but there were enough beans that we will still have three or four plants growing. After checking on our veggies we continue walking down to the raspberries (then the yellow plums, salmon berries, blue berries, apples, and another bush growing fruit though I'm not sure what it is). Oh the raspberries. Numerous raspberry bushes! We've gone on quite a few picking excursions already and every couple of days I go down to collect more. My Grandma and I made a batch of raspberry jam and I have been freezing the berries that I do collect to save for later. The sun has felt so nice during the days that I just want to be out there picking... well, almost. It'd be nice if the spiders took a mini vacation while I went picking. I know that gardening is something I want to do and the more I'm out there the easier it'll get being around bugs and spiders, but for now, preemptive slapping fits are in order.

On top of becoming more and more like an independent toddler, Elijah is acting out more from the emotional adjustment of having Daddy home. It's nothing too horrendous, but it is even more challenging to stay calm. He whines just about every time he opens his mouth, mouths off, is bossy and demanding. When he does something that warrants disciplinary action, a scream and waving hand usually compete with my telling him why he can't do what he's doing. This little tantrum in the picture is because the granola bar he was eating broke in half.

With Emily getting more alert and requiring more attention in different ways, and Josh being home and also taking more of my attention, it's understandable that Elijah is having these emotional outbursts for attention.

Yesterday we went to the store to get some fun summer time toys. Among those toys included a golf set, horse shoes, and gardening/beach shovels. Josh also bought a pool a few days ago when it was in the 90s outside. Never mind if the water is freezing, Elijah loves this thing. I'm glad it's been so nice outside because I want to be able to make fun things happen for Elijah; let him around and do boy things. I want to participate fully with him but it's not so easy with a 16 pound ham in one arm.

Speaking of Emily, she is five months old now, sitting up by herself, and getting more verbal! She looks me right in the eye and says with deliberation, "Mmmah mah mah mmbah". She can roll over both directions, reach for objects, pick up objects, pass objects to each hand, and of course, put them in her mouth as a reward for the fruits of her labor. She's such a momma's girl, too. If she cries while someone else is holding her, she looks at me when she is crying. She will spot me out in the room even if I don't say anything and will initiate eye contact with me. Smiling and laughing happen many times during the day and she thinks Elijah is the funniest thing ever. Even when he is doing something not so nice, like pushing his face into hers when she's trying to sit up, she will laugh when I pull him away and he starts shrieking in protest. Perhaps it's a taunting laugh.

My Chunky Monkey

I'm starting to look at preschools for Elijah now. With him 95% potty trained (working on staying dry at night), I feel that he is ready for the atmosphere preschool provides. He will be three years old in October (gosh, already?), so it is about that time! I told him he would be going to preschool soon and he asked me if would be able to ride the school bus. Nearly made me cry! He's growing up too fast. One night a few weeks ago I was holding up and rocking him we had this small exchange:

Elijah: Momma?

Me: Yes, Elijah?

Elijah: You love me?

Me: I love you more than anything, Elijah.

Elijah: That's good, Mommy.

He really is talking so much more now. His sentences are structured with more grammatical consistency as well. He comes up with the silliest things to say. I'll have to start writing them down!

Me hide it...

...has become one of Elijah's most frequently used phrases. The little sneakster is quite swift and the next thing I know, my phone, yarn, measuring tape, lip balm (you get the idea) is missing. While I'm left scratching my head and talking irritatedly to myself Elijah declares that he has hid whatever it is I've "lost". Parent with love, parent with love. I'm learning to embrace these happenings; they won't always be this way and I know I'll look back and smile at the memories. Might as well not spend the time being angry that Elijah is developing such a creative personality. He is honest, after all.

Earlier this week it was nice enough to play outside. Emily fell asleep in her playpen, which was next to my Grandma who on the back deck on her laptop. Since Emily was in good hands, Elijah and I ventured out into my Mom's big back yard. We started by kicking a ball around, but after it was retrieved from under a blackberry bush, we both agreed it was time to do something else. Further down into the back yard is a cleared out area that's mostly just dried dirt, with a bunch of weeds growing all around. Elijah wanted to dig in the dirt. There's a fire pit in this little cleared area and in the dirt is a bunch of dried twigs and small pieces of broken, dry wood.

Like most two year olds, Elijah was not bothered by these conditions and plunged his finger tips directly into the dirt, raking it towards him. Fearing of splinters and whatever else being pushed under his fingernails, I decided we would pull weeds. We'd still be able to "dig" around, but it could be a game. Who could find the longest roots? Loki joined us, like he does in most of our outdoor excursions. It's so sweet to watch them together. The fact that Loki follows us around is just pleasing all on its own. Such a loyal feline.

My little Em&Em is seriously rocking the head strength. She can keep her head and shoulders lifted off the floor for close to a minute before she gets tired. She hasn't shown much interest in rolling over while on her belly, but she does put beautiful effort into making sure she can still be a part of what is happening around her during her tummy time. However, when she's on her back having naked time in between diapers, she really is on the move. The girl can almost scoot herself in a full circle. She can also roll onto her side from her back. From what I've read, rolling over typically starts from tummy to back first. I can't remember now if Elijah rolled tummy to back, or back to tummy first. I'm inclined to say back to tummy, like Emily is leaning towards. I suppose we will find out soon enough!

I can't get over Emily's hair. It's getting longer, but not heavier, that's for certain. It just stands straight up. And you know what? It actually flips backward! It's the craziest thing! The very tips of her hair flip back, instead of forward. It'll be a while before I can get bows into her hair. Speaking of bows, I've been brainstorming homecoming outfits for the kids since Daddy is going to be home soon. This is what I have picked out for Emily:

I bought it on Etsy at this shop. It came in the mail a few days ago and it looks sooo cute. I haven't been much for the "girlie" stuff with Emily thus far, but you better believe I squealed something awful when I put this headband on Emily's head. I'm planning on having her wear a white spaghetti strap summer dress I bought from Old Navy with this headband for homecoming, weather permitting!

And for Elijah, I am going to be ordering this soon:

I just need to figure out what I'll be wearing and everyone will be set!

On second thought, if Emily keeps doing this while wearing dresses, she may not be wearing them that much longer.

How Come?

A few weeks ago Elijah and I were having some lunch when I noticed an eyelash on his face. I told him to hold still while I carefully removed the eyelash and held it on my finger tip for him to see. "Think about Daddy" I told him; he paused for a moment and then smiled. "Now blow the eyelash off my finger!" He did so audibly by puffing out his cheeks and blowing out a huge rush of air with a few strings of spit. Elijah was very delighted upon the realization that he could "wish" on eyelashes and wanted to do it again. The next time an eyelash was discovered, it accidently fell from his finger and he became very upset. He quickly remedied this dilemma by picking his nose and wishing upon a booger. So now whenever there is an eyelash or a booger in question, he gets very quiet and whispers that he is thinking about Daddy before blowing it off his finger. Not that boogers come off of fingers easily, but it's the thought that counts, right?

Elijah has begun asking "Why", only he says "How come?" instead. I always knew that kids enjoyed playing the
Why Game, but now I realize that, for now, Elijah doesn't really expect an intelligent answer most of the time. Sometimes I know that he is actually interested in why he shouldn't do something, but other times I know he is just trying to get some wiggle room in which he can change my mind on the subject so he can get his way. Now the answer "Because I said so!" has quite a bit more meaning for me. I don't say that to him... yet. In other news, the potty strike rages on. Occasionally the potty has the privilege of experiencing Elijah's bodily functions, but not nearly as often as I'd like. Aren't those olive hands impressive? I didn't even tell him to do that; I think it's just part of being a child to put olives on the ends of fingers. Better than sticking his fingers in cat poop. Which he did do. He was digging around in the yard and unfortunately discovered some buried "treasure". This resulted in me telling him to extend his arm out in front of him as we marched inside to the nearest sink.

Speaking of treasure, Elijah had his first experience in a candy store.

His mouth was hanging open half the time as he hesitantly opened each plastic lid with thumb and forefinger, peering inside. I could practically hear his thoughts; "So this is where candy comes from. He was in awe of the gigantic suckers, and thankfully settled for one of the smaller 60 cent versions.

There is a small play area for children in the mall. I've always avoided it in the past because it's typically a madhouse. Not just madhouse in the sense that there are too many children there. More like, there are kids in there that are clearly too old to be running around in said area, knocking down the younger kids who are attempting to build confidence in their walking and climbing abilities. I met up with a friend who has a 19 month old daughter and thankfully all the little ones were age appropriate, so Elijah had a nice time warming up at his own pace. He's shy at first and isn't pushy like other younger children. He likes to explore with me with him. I love that.

Emily is pushing 15 pounds and she'll be three months old soon! She's a big 'un, for sure. My little love lump. She's got the biggest thighs and I can't keep my hands off of them. And I can't keep diapers over them. I use 100% unbleached cotton prefold cloth diapers on Emily, and started with size small. (I also use the snap fitted diapers, but as of now they're too small. At $70 for six diapers, I'm going to just wait until she thins out a bit instead of buying a bigger size.) The diapers I use quilts over each time that its dried, so buying a bigger size would result in difficulty with pinning. I had to buy the next size up and decided to buy cloth wipes as well. Why use disposable when I'm already washing cloth diapers anyway? I absolutely love these wipes. They are luxuriously soft to the touch and I look forward to wiping my little Em&Em's tush, no joke. I know that these wipes are gentle on her skin and chemical free. I purchased some bum cleaner and the ingredients are all natural. Guilt-free diapering, people. Do it! If you have kids, that is...

Emily is quite the curious little girl, and always has to be facing the action. I believe she'll be quite the social butterfly. She already is, as a matter of fact. Emily is extremely verbal and is constantly engaging her onlookers in conversation.

Her little noises have worked themselves into various vowel sounds. She works her mouth and tongue in different ways to produce different sounds. It's just adorable and fascinating. She is adorable and fascinating. She just wants to sit up and can even withstand her own weight on her feet. I love watching her wake up. She's just all smiles. It's inspiring, really. Waking up smiling, and ready for all of the experiences? Definitely something to be learned from that.