Monday, June 17, 2013

This One's for Dada

In honor of Father's Day, this is a list of reasons I am so glad to have Daniel as the Father of my children.

He......

1. Makes Elijah giggle like no one else.  He comes up with the silliest and most creative ways to make Elijah laugh.  Like putting his pants on his head.  Or emphasizing the "B" sound in a sentence.  Or making crazy animal noises. Or throwing Elijah up in the air and catching him.

2. Provides for our family.  He works hard every day to get his work done so that he earns the money that we need to live a comfortable life.  He makes sure that he keeps his boss happy so he can keep his job.  And he keeps our family as his number one priority at the same time.  He still makes sure he is home for Elijah's bedtime every single night. It's a delicate balancing act, but Daniel does it.

3. Does all of the chores that I don't want to.  He cooks dinner for us every night.  And it's delicious every night too!  He mows the lawn and gets the oil changed in the car and fixes things when they break.  He pays all the bills and makes sure we're saving enough money, and investing enough for the future.  

4. Balances out my anxiety-prone, introverted personality.  He is the reason we get out of the house and do things on the weekends.  Because for me, it seems easier to just stay at home.  But Daniel thinks that a little extra work to pack the diaper bag is worth it for a little adventure!  He is the one that decided we had to go downtown to see the Denver Chalk Art Festival.  He planned our road trip up to the mountains when Elijah was just a few weeks old.  He regularly asks friends to come over for dinner and cooks elaborate meals for them. 

5. Keeps life interesting with his endless pursuit of new hobbies.  Whether it's gardening, composting, brewing his own beer, making his own yogurt, or exercising, Daniel always has a new hobby that he's trying out.  And lucky us, we get all the benefit without all the work.  We get to eat the home grown produce and taste the home brewed beer.  

6. Lifts our mood with his optimism.  Daniel is one of the most optimistic people I have ever met.  When I ask him a question, I always know what his answer will be because he doesn't believe in negative thoughts.  His motto from the very beginning has been that positive thoughts produce positive results.  So even when I'm worried or stressed or down about something, I know that Daniel will lift me up.

7. Is always someone I know I can lean on.  He is always there for me on my hardest days.  When I thought I would fail a test, and therefore fail a class, and not graduate from college, and not get a good job, and be poor the rest of my life, Daniel was there to reassure me and get me through another night of studying.  When I was hugely pregnant and exhausted and felt like I couldn't possibly get out of bed and spend 8 hours at work, Daniel gave me the boost of energy I needed to get through the day.  When Elijah was up from midnight to 3am crying continuously and it seemed like he would never stop, Daniel was there to remind me that he would stop crying eventually and this would be a fading memory.  When I had to go back to work and leave Elijah at day care, Daniel would answer the phone every single morning and listen to me cry.  He is always there in my hardest moments and never lets me give in to the fear or exhaustion.


I am so incredibly lucky to have Daniel as a partner for LIFE.  And Elijah is lucky to have you as his Daddy for LIFE.  We love you!

Monday, June 10, 2013

Stranger Anxiety

Daniel and I have been wondering for a couple of weeks now if Elijah might be showing some signs of stranger anxiety.  At church, every time we hand him to the lady in the nursery (Jackie) he cries.  For 2 weeks he did this.  We thought it might be that he just doesn't like her.  (We don't really think she's that good with babies.  She doesn't know what to do when they cry, she doesn't get down on the floor and play with them, really the only thing she does well is rock them.)  Then, last week, at his pediatrician appointment, he was not very happy when the nurse started doing stuff like measuring him and listening to his heart.  But that could have just been that he didn't like being messed with- not that she's a stranger.

Well, after this morning there is no question.  I walked into his classroom as his regular teacher, Justine, was walking out.  She had to go talk to her boss for a minute.  I walked in, put him down on the carpet like I always do, and turned around to put his bottles in the fridge.  I noticed briefly that there were 3 new teachers in the room that I recognized, but had never seen in his classroom before.  I got about 2 steps away and Elijah started wailing.  Like scrunched up face, full on crying.  I was so surprised!  I have never EVER seen him do that.  And especially not at the beginning of the day.  Every single morning he goes straight for the toys and babbles and smiles and loves all the attention lavished on him by his teachers.  So I turned around, asked him what was wrong, and when he didn't calm down I picked him up.  He immediately stopped.  So I held him while I put his bottles in the fridge until Justine came back into the room.  I told her what happened and she was also very surprised.  But at the same time, kind of not surprised.  Like this happens quite often- the stranger anxiety.  She took him from me and he was totally fine.  Smiled at her, no problem.  I walked across the room to fill out his form and he crawled over to play at my feet.  There was only one other baby in the room and she was in her crib almost asleep.  The other 3 teachers were sitting around the room chatting and getting ready for the day.  Justine went over to her crib to pat the other baby's back and help her get completely asleep.  I told her how we had practiced walking (while holding onto our hands) with Elijah all weekend.  I demonstrated for her, and helped Elijah walk over to one of the new teachers.  As soon as he got close to her, he started crying again.  She reached for him and tried to comfort him.  I was talking in a happy voice and smiling to hopefully show him that she is a nice person.  But he wasn't having it.  He just kept wailing.  I looked to Justine and the other teachers and told them I don't know what to do.  Do I just leave?  Eventually I picked him up and comforted him, and he stopped crying immediately.  I handed him to Justine and he was fine.  So I kissed him goodbye and left.  It was really hard.  Justine assured me that he would be fine.  I trust her.  I know she won't let him cry.  But oh my goodness was that hard.

This concerns me because my parents and brother are coming out here in less than a month.  I really don't want Elijah to cry every time they hold him.  I have no idea how long this lasts.  Does he get over it in 30 minutes?  Or will he not allow anyone but Justine to hold him all day?  I honestly thought we wouldn't have to deal with this.  Elijah has always been outgoing and happy with anyone.  Of course we wouldn't see any indication that it would happen.  Just like with everything else, he just changes overnight.  That's how it works with babies.  I'm going to have to do some research.  And now for some pictures from this weekend: