Elliott at the Beach

Elliott has enjoyed his first trip to the beach. He's really gotten a kick out of running up to the water, then running away. When the water finally did get him, he just squealed with delight (at least we think it was delight).

Check out the video and decide for yourself.

Vacation Day 1: Fussy flights

We flew out of Cincinnati yesterday morning for Jacksonville, Florida, at an unsavory departure time of 7 a.m. That meant up and out of the door before 5:30 a.m. Tim's dad was kind enough to take us to the airport.

Elliott was completely thrown off by the early flight; he fidgeted and whimpered most of the air time. By the time we reached Jacksonville, he was asleep in the stroller before we even made it to baggage claim.

We're here by the generous invitation of some friends who come every year to stay a week at Amelia Island Plantation. (Their boss owns a condo here.) Let's just say that it is very unlikely Tim and I would vacationing here without their invitation to tag along. Amelia Island is about 30 miles north of Jacksonville. The Plantation is a private resort on the edge of the island with condos, an inn, a beach club, shopping, restaurants, tennis courts, a marsh, nature center, pool and private beach access. I told Tim that this feels like some sort of undeserved reward for spending 16 of the past 24 months pregnant ... or one last hurrah before the insanity begins in August.

After arriving we spent some time in the pool with Elliott. The condo is on the first floor and has patio doors that basically open to the pool that serves only this set of buildings. That makes for a nice quiet place to take a not-so-quiet 16-month-old boy.

We had a special Father's Day dinner at one of the nicer restaurants on the Plantation and then let the kids watch two guys play tennis on the sunken clay court. Elliott was of course enthralled by the tennis ball. He seems to be getting along well with our friends' 2.5-year-old son. They also have a 5-year-old daughter who always surprises me with her sense of adventure.

Unfortunately, Elliott woke up at about 1 a.m. with gas pains. I just slept with him on the couch and then around 5 a.m. tried to bring him to bed. He actually slept a little in bed with us (very surprising). Now he and Tim are out for a walk. I was supposed to try to get more sleep, but I believe the pregnancy insomnia has kicked in. I had forgotten that with Elliott I would sometimes get up for three-hour stretches in the middle of the night. I really hope that doesn't start happening again.

Baby Pictures

Even with all of the advances in ultrasound technology, you still never really know what your child is going to look like until they finally arrive.

My mom was going through my Grandma's things this past week and came across some baby pictures of me. I can tell now that Elliott is starting to look a bit more like me as he grows older, but definitely still favors Tracy as far as looks go (which would generally be considered a good thing).

Here are some pictures of Tracy and I as kids, see if you can tell who is who, and who you think Elliott looks most like. Any guesses on who William will be more like?

Preparation?

Elliott woke up at midnight last night. He slept the better part of the following hour in bed with Tim and me. I actually didn't mind; I figured his stomach was hurting from pizza and watermelon. But he couldn't really sleep well without being ON TOP of me, which coupled with my pregnant stomach is not conducive to my own sleep. I put him back in his crib and he screamed for probably 30 minutes at the top of his lungs before finally falling back asleep. 

This morning I feel terribly sleep deprived. I guess this is just a snapshot of what's to come after the baby gets here. I am not quite ready to give up my full night's sleep just yet. 

 Elliott, however, seems bright-eyed this morning.

Fun morning

Elliott and I had over two friends this morning - Anna, 18 months, and Claire, who is almost three. Elliott was in heaven having other kids here. At one point he and Anna got into the same chair so I had to snap a quick picture. Too bad I didn't get one of Claire, too.  Tim had a lens on the camera that I am not familiar with so it slowed me down in taking many pictures.

But this is Elliott giving Anna his style of hug. 

 

Perspective

I had nursery duty today at church. I overheard two other mothers, who both have older children, talking about some issues their friends who are new mothers are having. It was encouraging to me that these mothers couldn't really remember if their own children had gone through the same kinds of issues (not napping well, not burping, etc.) When you are in the midst of a problem — like Elliott's nap strike — it seems overwhelming. But the good news is that in probably less than a few months, I won't even remember it.  

Jon and Kate plus misery

I've never been able to watch a full episode of Jon and Kate Plus 8. They all drive me crazy, and I am not really interested in watching their kids eat snacks and learn to potty.

So why did I just pay $1.99 to watch the season premier?

So I can hear and see this crazy drama for myself.

Some Kate and Jon statements: 

"Have I been hard on him for the last 10 years? Yes."

She says she regrets it. But I don't hear that in her voice. It almost seems perfunctory, as if she knows that what people need to hear her say. 

"Have I pushed him to this? No."

She follows up by saying that everyone is responsible for their actions.

I think you have to be responsible for protecting your marriage - and that seems to be a place where she's not 

"This is not what I envisioned for us."

Then make some changes. Like stopping this TV show!

"I like to do them up big (birthday parties)."

Sometimes,  life is too busy and chaotic for "big." 

"Jon decided he needed a weekend off."

You hear the bitterness in her voice here. However, she had just said that he had been home while she was on a long book tour. Maybe he really did need a weekend off. 

Kate: "I think he is wanting to bust out of here and make it all go away.  Newsflash: it's not going to."

She knows that she is living in defiance to what her husband wants. That can add up to nothing but trouble.

Jon: "Some people say I can't talk either ... or breathe right."

Obviously, this is a man who feels as if he gets no respect from his wife. His esteem is very low.

"Do it quickly because the paparazzi is coming after us."

How scary for these kids! If you can't control the celebrity trash tabloids, then take steps to protect your children and your marriage - step out of the spotlight!!! 

Kate: "Have to have a birthday. Have to have a party."

No you don't. You can have something small and appropriate.

I don't know these people. I know shows like this are edited tightly to present a particular narrative. But based purely on what I hear them saying, it seems like the best thing for their family would be to scale back the show and salvage what they have left.

A group from our church organizes weekly trips to parks across the Dayton area every Tuesday during the summer. Today we went to Lofino Park in Beavercreek, off Grange Hall near Shakertown Road. The park includes a fenced skate park. A young guy was skating and some of the kids went over to the fence to watch him. Then they laughed and chanted "He messed up!" when he fell.

A tough crowd!

You can see Elliott watching intently along with the other kids.

I fought the potatoes ... and the potatoes won

The recipe wasn't actually that difficult. Cutting up the chicken - not too bad.
But par for course, I missed a critical sentence in the last step of the recipe "Turn the heat to very low"

Um, not so much.

What should have been a nice potato crust is now a black mess in the trash.

Meet my enemy of the day: Stuck pot rice with potato crust

So Tim found a recipe he would like to try. I'm making it for dinner, but I am dreading the process. It is multiple steps and is a combination of three different recipes. Thankfully Tim combined them into one set of instructions, but I can't say that I don't expect to screw this up. In addition, Elliott hasn't been napping for the past three days so I have no idea how this is going to be accomplished if he doesn't nap today.

The most intimidating part of the recipe for me is cutting up a whole chicken. This will be my first time deconstructing a dead animal.

This could wind up a pizza night!

I will post the results with pictures.

Bounce U.

I took Elliott to Bounce U, an indoor inflatables place, last week. Other than having to buy their $5 adult socks because I hadn't worn any (they are required to get on to any of the equipment) we had a fun time. I forgot my camera, but we ran into a friend and her family who snapped a few pictures of Elliott. Thanks Heather!