What is 'walking' exactly?

3 steps? 4? Does the walking sequence have to end with a solid landing? Or is a crash acceptable at the end of a series of steps? We aren't sure exactly how to define walking, but Elijah is working on it really hard right now. Check out the evidence:

Spring Break 2010!

Wahoo! Spring break! I am on spring break and that means the whole family is home together all week long! Gardening, walks, cooking dinner, and intensive walking-training sessions with Elijah. He is SOOO close....when he isn't paying attention, he can take about 4 steps on his own. But when he overthinks it, he goes all wobbly. We've got a bet going on: I say he'll be walking by April 1st and Mike says April 7th. Now we can spend the whole week arguing about what technically constitutes "walking".

Spring Fling

Spring is just about here. Let the barking begin. This little dude is almost one year old. Can you believe it?!

"No she din't!"

Elijah has been gabbing a lot lately! Words come and go, but the following are in the rotation:
Hi
Daddy
Jake ("Jate")
Mama
Shoe
Tree
Light
Eye
That

I like that these are the most important things right now. He may like shoes as much as his dad.

c'mon spring!

We made it through a cold fall and winter. Lije was neither here nor there on the subject of snow. Actually, I think he thought it sucked a little bit since it just meant that we would stuff him into heavy clothes and, worse, hats.

The leaves of fall and winter, however, now those he can get behind. They are satisfying to grab, crumple, swish, and eat.


But now, spring seems to be on it's way. And with it, in fact on the very first day of Spring, Elijah's first birthday!

First snowstorm

Too bundled. Can't bend.

BFFs

Lige and Fiona ushered in 2010 with a little play session in the morning. They were well rested after New Year's Eve: their parents were not.

sunday lovin

A warm Sunday and we were just loving on this boy, this boy who sleeps through the night, this boy who slow-dances, naked, in the living room. We might love him as much as he loves blueberries.

Peek-a-boo

Most popular game of the week!

Baby's first bruise

Way more traumatic for his parents than for Elijah! A highly adventurous crawling maneuver resulted in a big knot on the noggin. It swelled up into a lump like in the cartoons and is now a tough-looking purple bruise...I tried to capture it.

The good news is that it inspired many of our friends at Thanksgiving II to tell stories of their own childhood accidents. I am partial to the one in which the child fell holding a plug: the prongs went right into his forehead, of course.

Crawl On

Elijah's crawling! This is a jaunt that he made on November 19th, 2009. Pardon the shaky camerawork.

Toothface

Elijah is getting his top two teeth, a painful process, but one not without cuteness. He has recently taken to grinding his bottom two teeth against his top two, resulting in tough face not unlike that of Don Corleone sitting down to a plate of veal parmesan. Despite our continual attempts to capture this face on camera, it wasn't until last night that our pal Brendan, with his trusty iPhone, succeeded.

Applesauce

First bite of applesauce. 'Nuff said.

The tiniest monster

Elijah has started yelling like a tiny little monster. Just cuz he can. Wouldn't you? Don't you? Sometimes?

Anyway, he is babbling with the cute "baba"s and the "bop-bop"s, but now there is the new and thrilling ability to yell like Bobcat Goldthwait. He yells at the couch. He yells at his toys. He particularly yells when he jumps in his jumpy thing. Not mad, just a yell. Extremely cute.

It is starting to feel like a very cozy fall in our new house. The leaves are beginning to turn, Mike is out cutting firewood with a chainsaw (so manly!), and Elijah and I are yelling for fun. Idyllic. We've been eating pie and cassoulet, Elijah has been eating sweet potatoes and broccoli. Fall also means we get to put Elijah in all of those handmade sweaters that his Nana and great-Grandma Smith have made for him. And in hats! Meredith gave me important advice: Persist with training your child to wear hats because they look so damn cute in them. We all have to sacrifice for fashion.

One Morning in Maine

We took Elijah on the annual ferry trip to Peak's Island where we typically ride bikes around the island, swim, bike some more, swim, freeze in the 64 degree water, bike a bit more, look at the rock sculptures, take another dip, eat an italian sandwich, and ferry home. Elijah wasn't sitting up yet so we couldn't take him on any of the various child bike seats. Instead we walked. And walked. And swam. And walked much more. All the while, Elijah rode like a pasha in his regal backpack carrier, watching the ocean and feeling the island breeze. Next year, he'll be big enough for the bike seat and maybe a dip too.

Fathers Day

Mike didn't get to sleep in and Elijah got him a Mojo magazine he already had (boy better get with it), but it was a nice Fathers Day anyway. Mike is an excellent dad and does all the good dad stuff - he tickles with his mustache, he plays the scary snarling noise game, he shows Elijah youtube videos of zebras and laughing babies, and he sneaks Elijah tastes of ice cream and tomato. Here are some pics of Mike looking amazingly like his own dad in the '70s.

Lija Minelli

When Elijah is being particularly dramatic, this is the perfect new nickname: Lija Minelli. And he is bringing the drama lately! He has discovered his vocal chords and is exploring their full range. He has discovered that, with the right pitch and volume, he can make things happen...specifically, he can make 2 full grown adults cater to his every whim. Here are some of his more expressive faces in his slideshow debut, with costume changes, made on the occassion of his Taylor grandparents' retirement.

Bath Time, Etc

One of the most visceral times of the day is bathtime. As we lower Elijah into the bath and his butt touches water, his face conveys a whole range of emotions: total betrayal, shock and disbelief, dismay, and, finally, acceptance. Kind of like the way I imagine Julius Caesar looked at Brutus that one time. He seems to be asking: How could you do this to me, the one who brought you so much joy and happiness?

We captured- to the best of our abilities- these heart wrenching faces. Then a moment later he was all cool with it.



Hanging out in his little easy chair.

June Baby

A few snaps of the little man from the past few weeks, including a few of a playdate he had with his friend Fiona, who is about three weeks older than he is. The lovely Fiona belongs to our pals Tom and Sarah Dawson.

Nobody can say we're not feeding this boy enough. Currently working on chin number three.

fun and games

Crazy 'uncle' Ben sent this mobile to Elijah ages ago and it has recently become one of his most loved, albeit trippiest, entertainments. It features the highest scoring cribbage hand (4 5's and a Jack). Hopefully he will remember this in a cinematic flash-back during a critical cribbage game someday. It also features notable figures in North Carolina history such as Blackbeard and Henry Berry Lowry, the 'Robin Hood of North Carolina'. I guess one might be considered good and the other, evil, but most important is that both have excellently sculptured facial hair so perhaps Elijah will remember that at another critical time in his life. Not your standard mobile, but it is blowing Elijah's mind daily. Thanks, Ben!