With enough practice, nursing in public is not that hard, and can be modest, even.
Nursing an active, wiggly baby in public has the potential to be less modest, as he kicks, pulls my shirt up, and constantly wants to look around.
If something on the ground can be picked up, it will be put in the mouth. This goes for sand, mulch, bits of leaves, and even large toys, if they can be lifted.
Squeals of happiness are so cute, but also so LOUD. The only thing that will silence them in a restaurant is food to concentrate on trying to eat.
Elliott loves to watch other kids play. The constant activity fascinates him. It's like he is trying to figure out how he's going to keep up.
Baby clothing sizes seem so arbitrary. Some 12-month outfits are too big, some seem too small. Some 6-9 month outfits fit, and so do the 18-24 month swim trunks.
Our dog is incredibly patient, even when Elliott is trying to climb over him.
We're halfway through the summer, and I haven't mentioned my garden! It probably has something to do with the difficulty of working full time, chasing a baby, trying to keep the house in order, being out of town every other weekend... yeah, the garden hasn't gotten the most attention. It's embarrassing, really.
But! There have been a few successes!
Volunteer garlic popped up everywhere from last year's unharvested bulbs. It was in the way of planting anything else, so I dug it up as green garlic, spent most of a weekend cleaning it, and sold it to Pizzology and The Farming Engineers.
Every year, with very little or no effort, we have berries:
Mulberries
Strawberries
Black raspberries
In the actual vegetable garden, I've harvested a bit, too. We have been eating peas since early summer, and will be for a while. For the first time, I planted a few squash plants, and am loving the creamy summer squash. I don't even like onions, but the onions I've harvested so far are the sweetest I've ever tasted. All the normal herbs are out in the garden too- dill, cilantro, basil. Love the basil.
Peas
Onions still in the ground
squash, onion, basil, tomato
tomatoes
And the tomatoes. I have both cherry tomatoes and full-sized tomatoes out in the garden, but only the cherry tomatoes have started to turn red. They didn't get as red as I expected, but I think they were ready to harvest. When I bit into one this week, two sensations hit me. One was, this was the sweetest tomato I've ever tasted- making me really believe tomato is a fruit. There was no hint of acidity or saltiness, just juicy sweetness. The second, less pleasant sensation was the fact I was still chewing- these tomatoes had a very thick, practically un-chewable skin. The insides are delicious, the outsides, less so. A little bit of Googling led me to conclude this was due to the lack of rain and high, high temperatures we've been having. I'll probably still harvest the cherry tomatoes and eat them as-is, though, because peeling so many little fruit would feel kind of silly.
I'm not on Facebook. I've held out because I wasn't satisfied that the privacy settings would outweigh the benefits. I've wavered, but not made the leap. Enter Google+. I do everything with Google- email, photos, search, RSS reader, phone number, documents, this blog... everything. I had to give it a fair try. And then... Circles! I can compartmentalize my contacts! Those who want All Elliott Pictures, All The Time can have it! Those who don't care about babies, but do care about social justice- I can share with you, too! I can share news and jokes with geek friends without annoying or confusing my non-geek friends! Parts of my profile can be viewed by family, but not coworkers (or vice versa). Circles! Choice! Compartmentalization!
And then, it has been said... you know the first guy to put his friends in Circles? Dante.
Over the last 6 months, I've gotten the question "So, how are those cloth diapers working out for you?" more times than I can remember. I didn't talk about it too much here before Elliott was born, because I wasn't sure how they would work out. As this question suggests, I have friends and family that were skeptics, too. Well, over half a year later, I can say that this experiment in diapering is, so far, a success. Because I still do get questions, I'm going to start a series about the why, how, and how much of cloth diapering. It will be fun!
I think I know as many parents that use cloth diapers as use disposables, so the idea of a reusable diaper has definitely caught on. These aren't your grandmother's - or even your mother's- diapers. They are easy to use, work well, and definitely don't involve safety pins! Also, they are really, really cute.
What kept you from cloth diapering, what is making you consider it, or, what do you love about it? What questions do you have?
Cucumbers and toast are also favorites. Elliott doesn't hesitate to try whatever I offer him, but he's not always interested, or perhaps just not hungry. Mostly, I just forget to have something for him around mealtimes. When I do remember, he thinks it is fun! Any other solid-food favorites I should offer?
I have been saying he's "on the verge of crawling" for a month and a half, and I was starting to doubt myself. Just before 5 months old, he was able to straighten his arms while on his belly and he was trying his hardest to get his knees underneath him. "As soon as he gets strong enough to get on all fours, then he'll take off", I thought.
Then, he could get his knees underneath him, and he started rocking back and forth all the time. It was fun! And, it was so close to crawling! Surely any day now! And, yet, he still didn't move. Except backwards. He got really good at 'backwards', and backing under pretty much every piece of furniture in the living room. He also got really good at trying to go forward on hands and knees, then faceplanting into our floor.
And, then, he stopped rocking on hands-and-knees as much, and rolling more. I wondered- was he giving up on hands-and-knees, since it wasn't getting him anywhere? Would he ever crawl? He was moving around better, though, on his belly, and every now and then I'd see him actually manage to wiggle forward toward a toy, just a couple inches. He'd go from belly to hands-and-knees to a reclined, kind of supported sit, to play with a toy, and he was happy with that. He'd figure it out eventually.
Monday, we were at a friends house, and Elliott was doing his thing, playing on his belly, and their one year old was crawling furiously around him. (This one year old does everything furiously.) Our friends watched Elliott, saw him scoot forward just a little, nodded and agreed, yes, he'd be crawling soon.
Tuesday, I was home in the evening; Josh had just left for the hardware store. And Elliott crawled. A full, hands-and-knees, forward crawl to a toy. I called Josh, who had been with him all day. "You didn't tell me he was crawling!" He said "He wasn't crawling today!" It was all of a sudden- it's like it just clicked in his mind, maybe after watching our friend's son. "Oh, that's how you do it. I can do that."
Yesterday, he's crawling all over the floor, I turn around, and when I look back he's sitting up straight, totally unsupported, playing with his hands. He wasn't doing that the day before- he still was doing the half-sit-reclined thing. I'm amazed how quickly babies learn.
(I know the video is unnecessarily long, the lighting is bad, Casey's in the way, and we're talking in silly baby voices. Such is our life.)
Also, his first two teeth popped through the gums in the last week. It's been super-exciting around our house.
Also, on YouTube, one of the suggested video after Elliott's is titled Tornado. I think it's prophetic. Do you see where Elliott started in the video? With his newfound mobility, he made a beeline for the cabinets under the sink, where all the cleaning chemicals are stored. Not even kidding. (We already had childproofed, so he can't get into them.) His other favorite destination? The laptop cord.
Elliott had his first Fourth of July last weekend! It was a long, fun weekend full of festivities. For the first time this year, we got the ever-popular Old Navy Flag Shirts, and matched at the parade. Corny, I know- but we'll laugh about it in 15 years.
As always, the highlight of the weekend was the Lebanon parade!
The parade starts with a line of fire engines, and the sirens were worrisome. Grandma covered Elliott's ears, but he still looks concerned.
I took the following picture because I wanted to fact-check the parade float. FALSE. The first American flag (or, a declaration of the first flag) was created on June 14, 1777. Betsy Ross said she sewed one in May, 1776. "At the time of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, July 4, 1776, the United States had no official national flag." [source] So. Get your facts straight, Parade Float.
Lots of candy was being thrown, but I'm the Mean Mom who didn't let her kid have any candy. Instead, because it was so hot, I let him chew on a wrapped ice pop.
And, seriously, a sheriff marching in the parade walked up to him and held out a dum-dum lollipop for him to take. Besides the fact that it's hard candy and pure sugar, it the stick's a serious choking hazard for a 6-month-old baby! Maybe next year I'll be a nicer mom. Or, maybe I'll just let him collect candy, and then I'll eat it all.
Elliott's cousin's t-ball team came in first, so he was in the parade, and we waved and cheered.
After the parade, there was a cookout, and swimming, and card-playing, and a nap.
We watched fireworks on the horizon our whole way home. It was a good day.
When we came back from a recent weekend away, I came home to find a spiral-bound book on my kitchen table. The post-it was from my parents, apparently they came across this yellowed cookbook at a local Goodwill and left it at my house while dog-sitting. My mom is notorious for collecting cookbooks (or, more accurately, copying recipes from cookbooks), so a new cookbook find wasn't a surprise. The title, "Uncommon Dining" made me wonder what sorts of recipes to book held. Then, I took a closer look:
The title was a play in the Dining Commons of Taylor University! The cookbook was compile in 1988, from what I gather, with recipes submitted by staff, community members or alumni. Flipping through the names of the submitters, I saw a few familiar last names- surely "Taylor families" with generations of alumni. The forward to the cookbook holds a familiar face, too.
The recipes were dated- there were some Jello salads listed, and almost everything, it seemed, included a cream soup or Velveeta. I think at my annual college dorm reunion, we should start cooking some of these up. What do you think, Ashley?
My favorite part of the book, however, is the reprint of parts of the 1914 Taylor cookbook. These recipes were much more dated, and included economy and household tips along with the bizarre recipes. Some were less weird, of course, but the strangest is as follows:
Nut sandwiches.
One cup finely chopped nuts, two tablespoons olive oil, one teaspoon mixed mustard, one saltspoon salt, one dash cayenne, juice of one lemon. Mix all together thoroughly and spread on thin slices of Boston brown bread.
All I can think of is a peanut butter-mustard-cayenne sandwich. Yuck! Also, anyone know what a saltspoon is? Another sandwich suggests cream cheese, nuts, and orange marmalade- that actually sounds good! If you want some 1914 diet tips, it's got that, too: "Tips for a Laxative Diet" and "Foods for Health, Strength, and Beauty". If you miss college food, it also includes recipes from the Dining Commons in 1914.
So, what do you think? Should I feed some of the 1914 and 1988 Taylor recipes to my college friends? Do you have any old cookbooks you treasure?
Some people take their baby's wardrobes very seriously. There are all kinds of stores on the internet where you can spend upwards of $30 on a onesie. As for me, I'm cheap, and refuse to spend much more than $1 on something he'll probably just drool and poop on. All of Elliott's clothes are hand-me-downs or from consignment sales. So uncultured, I know.
What I've noticed in the hodgepodge of outfits we have, is the hilarious designs that we often overlook, because the baby wearing the clothes is so cute. I really question what onesie designers are thinking.
Exhibit 1: Elephant strangling a giraffe
This is where I first noticed it, on this newborn nightgown. Yes, the elephant is supposed to be "hugging," but this is a very awkward hug, looking more like a happy strangulation.
Exhibit 2: Green long-necked creature
What is this? Possibilities: Seasick giraffe. Long-necked alien. Dinosaur with floppy ears. Is the bee at the top right some kind of clue? There's no body to help us put this creature in context.
Exhibit 3: Sailor dolphin driving a submarine
Even Elliott and his uncle look troubled about this one. First, dolphins can swim without being in a submarine. Second, if a dolphin WAS in a submarine, it would be much worse off, because it needs to be surrounded by water for its skin not to dry out. This is just silly.
Exhibit 4: Beach scene
This is our favorite outfit to laugh at- we giggle at it every time he wears it. There's a lot going on here. The crab is somehow managing to hold an elephant and a crocodile over his head. The elephant is sharing his ice cream with the crocodile, who is standing on his head. The croc, wearing swim trunks, is saying "Yum!". The most perplexing part: The crab says "Yeah.", looking exasperated. Why?? So many mysteries.
Do you have any crazy baby clothes designs to share? Or any theories as to why these cartoons are so crazy?
Being a only-somewhat-mobile baby is tough! Elliott ends up stuck in all sorts of predicaments.
He backs under the coffee table:
and backs under the couch ALL THE TIME:
The last couple nights, when I've put him down to play on a blanket, he's grabbed the edge of the blanket and started rolling, wrapping himself up like a burrito. Maybe he's telling me he wishes we swaddled him when he was a newborn. He thinks this blanket-rolling game is hilarious.
* These pictures are from my iPod Touch camera, posted on Instagram. Look me up, if you've got the app! Or, check out the sidebar gallery.
