Now I Know My ABCs....

Elijah is starting to sing his ABCs now. He wanted to sing them when he was a little younger, but they mostly came out as "B G B G B G". Now he is keeping the tune of the ABC song while singing:

A B C D F G

H I J K

M O M O P

Q R S

T U V

W X Y Z

So he's almost there, anyway. I correct him on the letters that he misses, but he doesn't seem to care at this point. While we color, I write out the letters and try to sing the song, but his two year old attention span prevents me from getting farther than the letter "H". He is seriously enjoying his new found talent of drawing faces and is continuing to do so every time he has a pen/marker in his hand. I drew a face, which included eyelashes and eyebrows, so now he does his best at adding said features to his drawings as well.

The other day we ventured to the store and bought some activity books. I want to encourage his drive for learning numbers and the alphabet. We started out in Rite Aid, but all of the books started out at $4.00 a pop! Elijah & I walked to the dollar store, nearly getting knocked down by the wind along the way, and found the some activity books for $1.00 each. Now that's what I'm talkin' about! On our way down the aisle to the checkout stand, some baby dolls caught Elijah's attention. He bent down to the baskets and grabbed a doll. He stared at it for a second, held it up to me and said, "Mama, baby!" before curling his arms around this doll, holding it close to his body and giving me the biggest set of puppy dog eyes. I asked him if he wanted to get the baby and he grinned and nodded, "Yes." He has been so freakin' adorable with this baby. Excuse me; his baby. He wouldn't even hold my hand the rest of the time we were out and about because he needed "two hands" for his baby. We picked out two outfits for the baby, a sleeper and a pant/shirt combo. He takes his baby everywhere with him now and loves to change the baby's clothes depending on what is happening. If it's time to sleep, the baby has to be in jammies. Once we're awake, it's time to change the baby into street clothes. The baby gets to share food and drink with Elijah, and is invited to watch Elijah do...whatever it is Elijah is doing. It's exciting to watch him with this doll, er, his doll, because he is clearly demonstrating that he can be, and is, nurturing and compassionate towards others. Maybe even a little protective (he is with Emily, in any case). I believe he is also showing me that he can be responsible by remembering that this baby has needs that he is attentive to.

Like I said, too stinkin' cute.

In less exciting news, the kids are currently recovering from mild colds. This marks Emily's first cold. Insert sad, pouty face here. It breaks my heart to hear this 5 1/2 week old cough, sneeze, and sniffle. She loves to sleep on her belly, and frequently does so while sleeping on my belly (that way I can know for sure that her nose is clear and will wake up if she starts to stir). This has worked in her favor in regards to this cold because instead of post nasal drip, it is able to just drip right from her nose. It's better this way because she gagged every time I laid her on her back the first night of this cold. Also, I won't have to worry about this congestion hanging around since it can just work its way out faster this way. She's already feeling better after just two days. Thank goodness.

Elijah still sounds congested, but his nose is running less. He has been a little whiny the past few days, no doubt from the bogginess of a cold. I'm trying my hardest to stay calm and patient with him and I think he knows because it almost feels as though he is trying harder to push the limits. Ok, maybe not, but he has been a challenge nonetheless! Parent with love, parent with love.

When I began my cloth diapering journey, I purchased a few different choices so that I could figure out which diapering combination I liked the best. The choices were completely overwhelming and I literally spent days researching the different options and weigh pros and cons of everything. I'm pretty sure I talked the ears off of every one of my family members as well; probably bored them to tears. This particular diaper pictured has turned out to be my favorite. It's Kissaluvs brand, 90% unbleached cotton 10% fleece and super absorbent. It's fitted, which means there is elastic around the legs for a more secure fit. There are also snaps so it eliminates the need for pins. I don't mind pins; I use them with the 100% unbleached cotton prefolds I have, but it's just so much faster to snap/unsnap a diaper. Not only that, the elastic around the legs will prevent blowouts. Something prefolds can't always offer. Breast-fed poo has great (and likely) potential to cause disastrous blowouts. And let's just say that even though Emily has a tush that is small enough to fit in the palm of my hand, she's got some power behind it!

Possible Giftedness?

Now I know what you're thinking, every parent thinks they have a brilliant child. Yes, even the parents with the child who throws him/herself down like a limp noodle letting out a blood curdling scream because they were told "No" to the candy bar at check out. The one with remnants of lunch dried on their face. You know the kids I'm talking about.

In all honesty, if Elijah isn't Gifted, then he is absolutely nothing short of amazing nonetheless. While at my in-laws Saturday, Elijah and I were out with sidewalk chalk. It was a beautiful day and jackets weren't even necessary! I was drawing shapes and asking Elijah to tell me what they were, and Elijah was drawing circles. He's been drawing circles for a while now. I went to one of his circles and told him I was going to draw a face. He stepped in front of me declaring it was his turn, so I moved out of his way and he adorned the circle with eyes, a nose, and a mouth. I provided the face with hair. Only after I was given permission, of course. Elijah then went on to give this face a body. He did all of this by himself. I only asked him if the face was going to have a nose. I didn't help him with placement of these features.

He went on to draw many other faces after the realization that he was equip with such artistic capabilities.

Now if this isn't advanced for a two year old, I don't know what is. He started counting to 10 and knew most of his colors before his second birthday. He knows a variety of shapes now and has a most impressive ear when it comes to music. He can keep time and makes up little dance routines to songs. When listening to music he picks out specific instruments like the guitar and/or drums. He sings along even after only having heard the song once. Elijah also has quite an arm on him and ever since he has started throwing a ball he can throw it pretty much exactly where he wants it to go. When Josh first deployed, I started showing Elijah on the globe where Afghanistan was. Within a few days he started showing me where daddy was on the globe without me having to help him.

Possible giftedness aside, it appears that Elijah is going to be left handed. Josh and I both are right handed. As are our parents. The only family member we could come up with who is left handed is one of Josh's Aunts. It has been so exciting to experience Elijah's development, I just can't wait to see what else my little miracle comes up with.

My other miracle is doing beautifully as well. I am sure that she is attempting real smiles. Sure she can smile, but I don't know that they were expressions of happiness so much as they were [successful] efforts to pass gas. However, adorable little sounds are emerging from a widely opened mouth in response to my encouraging coos now. She's so unbelievably aware of what's around her and takes notice to changes in her surroundings. I love how bright eyed she is. I'm fairly certain that sugar upsets her belly. This makes sense, but I didn't think that the small handfuls of M&Ms and the occasional brownie would make too much of a difference in my milk. Emily would beg to differ. Or rather she does beg to differ by waking frequently and tooting in between her aggravated movements and the occasional vocalization of her discomfort. Noted, my little love lump; no more candy. We'll both benefit without it anyhow!