My First Mother's Day

Elijah made this for me at school

So many milestones!  Last week, while Elijah was in the bath, Daniel noticed that Elijah had his first tooth!  I felt his gums and sure enough there was a very sharp tooth that broke through the gums.  It's the one on the bottom in the very front on Elijah's left side.  He doesn't seem too bothered by it.  He has been chewing on things a lot more, but no excess drool or any other symptoms.  I always thought teeth on babies looked kind of ridiculous, so I wasn't too excited for when Elijah's started showing up.  But now that it's here I think it's pretty adorable.  Isn't that just how motherhood goes?  Every other kid can look ridiculous with teeth, but my kid looks adorable.  When I felt it I screamed out loud.  It felt like such a big deal.  Teeth!  My little baby has teeth!  We spent an excessive amount of time trying to get a good picture of it.  And we did get an okay picture of it.  Too bad Eljiah is crying in it.

Last Monday, Elijah was diagnosed with his second double ear infection.  We're not sure if it's a long continuation of the previous one, or a new one.  Regardless, he's on antibiotics and his cough that lasted 3 weeks has suddenly cleared up.  I feel a little guilty for not taking him to the doctor sooner, but I didn't think they would give us antibiotics just for a cough.  But day care called me at work on Monday and told me that he is just miserable.  So I took him to see Dr. Jeff.  He told me not to feel bad, but I can't help it.  Next time I won't let his cough go on for that long.  He is so much happier and sleeping better now.  And he even likes this antibiotic.  He eats it right up!

This weekend, Elijah ate real food for the first time.  I've been giving him little chunks of banana and strawberries to try for the past few weeks.  He never really got it.  If I put some in his mouth, he would make a face and spit it out.  The only food he would pick up and eat himself was happypuffs.  Not the healthiest option.  I was starting to get frustrated.  Pureeing all his food has been a lot of work and it really limits his options.  But this weekend, it just clicked.  We were at the farmer's market and Daniel ripped off a tiny piece of his pizza and put it in Elijah's mouth.  To our surprise, he swallowed it!  And then he opened his mouth wide for more!  He ate about 5 pieces and then Daniel didn't want to share anymore.  When we got home, we gave him some strawberry pieces, and he actually picked them up and ate them!  On Sunday he ate tons of pancake pieces and more strawberries.  What a surprise.  I was so thrilled.  And oddly proud.  I knew he would get it eventually, but it was getting frustrating to waste all that food when he wouldn't eat it.

Yesterday was my very first mother's day.  It was awesome.  Daniel made it so special.  He let me sleep in after Elijah woke up at 5:30am!  (We kinda screwed up his sleep schedule and he's been waking up earlier and earlier each morning).  When I got up, he had made some chocolate chip pancakes for us for breakfast. Elijah napped just long enough for me to eat breakfast and get a shower.  I got a homemade card from Elijah that was absolutely hilarious.  On the inside Daniel wrote in crayon "Da da da da da. A da. Squeeeee!" which is exactly what Eljiah says all day.  He also wrote "Thank you for being the best Mommy in the world."  And I got two books- one to read to Elijah (Guess How Much I Love You) and one for me (Parenting: Illustrated with Crappy Pictures).  It was just perfect.  Daniel even changed a massive poopy diaper for me.  We spent a lot of time outside because it was just so gorgeous (and actually kind of hot).  We filled up the baby pool and then discovered that the hose water was much too cold, so we played next to it instead of in it.  Elijah was pretty cute in his little baby bathing suit, so it was all worth it.  We took a walk to the part and saw all the geese mommys and daddys with their fuzzy yellow chicks.  I got to rock Elijah to sleep for a nap and later for bed.  And Daniel cooked the most amazing dinner.  All around, a usual Sunday, but absolutely spectacular because this is my usual Sunday.  I just love it.  I love being a Mom, I love my family, I love my baby boy, I love my life.

I just love his little fat rolls

The cuteness.  It's killing me.