JourneyLeaf: Life a Page at a Time

Off to the Farmmzzzzzzzzz

The last few weeks I've worked hard on the book almost every time Eli falls asleep -- naps and nights.  Brian has taken some time off work to help too.  (Hooray!)  He whisks Eli away for father/son quality time and I get to not just write, but also make noise.  My home office is next to Eli's room and my filing cabinets are against the same wall as Eli's crib.  It's a relief when I can work with abandon, pulling open drawers or printing pages without worrying about waking anybody up.

Last week when Brian had a whole day off, we decided on a nice schedule:  the morning spent as a family at Little Farm in Tilden Park, lunch, Eli's nap, and then mama work time while the guys went out.  Eli's naps shifted recently to one nap a day at around one PM, so that should work perfectly!  (Emphasis on the word "should.")  

We got to Little Farm around ten and discovered Eli conked out in the back seat.  Since we drove all that way, we decided to make sure it wasn't a cat nap, lifting a slumbering tot out of his car seat and into the stroller.  Not a peep.  We never saw so much as an eyeball.  So after rolling our lightly-snoring son around the farmyard, we packed him back into his car seat and drove home.  Do you think he dreamed about cows?

 

Ahem, Ahem!

This weekend Brian had an out-of-town work event, so on Sunday evening I headed to Moraga with Eli to shop at Homegoods and T.J. Maxx.  We had supper too.  Pho Little Hearty Noodle is a hole-in-the-wall Vietnamese place in Rheem Valley with only four tables, but the food is fresh and good.  Eli and I shared a steamy bowl of Buddha Noodles.  (By that, I mean he swiped all my mushrooms and tofu.)

Eli was a happy little guy, spooning up his own food and waving at everybody.  Soon he had me biting my lip to keep from laughing.  Brian and Eli have a game where they take turns imitating each other's words.  I guess Brian cleared his throat one time, so Eli did too and they added this sound to the game.  Well, at the restaurant, there was a man who ordered take-out and then sat down to read a newspaper while he waited.  As I’m sure you can guess, the man cleared his throat.  And Eli followed suit.  Perhaps the man was a smoker, because he sure cleared his throat a lot.  Every time he did, Eli promptly did too.  The waitress caught on and had a big grin on her face, but the man never noticed.

  

Gratuitous photo of Eli eating yogurt to make the faraway grandparents smile...

 

Rooooooaaaaar!

We have lots of roaring around our house...

  

Sometimes Eli is on safari, roaring back at the tigers and lions.

 

  

 

But the big, deep roar belongs to the Elisaurus Rex...

   

This past week the Elisaurus Rex often wobbled through our house with his high-stepping walk, victoriously dragging a dinosaur or two by the tail.  "Rrrrrrrooooaaaar!" 

 

 

To be safe, the other dinosaurs sought higher ground.

 

  
   

  

  

(The "I love you" at the end isn't clear at all, but it is a nice way to finish up all the roaring!)

I Love You

Ahhhh, those magical toddler moments...

Yesterday Eli and I were on our walk.  I have two play phones that I got at garage sales and reserve for keeping him happy during our morning stroll.  As he often does, he put one of the phones up to his ear and jabbered a little.  And as Brian and I are in the habit of doing, I provided the voice on the other end of the line.  "Hi, Eli.  It's Granddad.  I love you!"  Plain as day, Eli repeated, "I love you!"

Yeah, I know it was almost parrot-like.  But it was Eli's very first sentence.  What a wonderful first sentence!!!

  

In the photo above, Eli is "double bagged."  He got so he'd kick off the blankets I put over him during our walks and it is chilly in the mornings.  So I got fleece pajamas two sizes too big and put them over the top of Eli's regular fleece pajamas.  Toasty!

 

I wonder if someday Eli will say, "Awww, Mom!  You made me wear a sock monkey hat!"  And I'll say, "Yup!  It inspired me to kiss you on the nose all the time too."

Whew!

Whew!  It's just tomato sauce.

 

 (Book Update:  Revised draft due to the press the first week of May.  Sometimes I feel quite confident but then sometimes I remember yet one more fact to check, one more source to find, one more paragraph to smooth out, one more....  But I am getting close.) 

 

Oh, Yeah?

I bet I'll see this expression again when Eli is a teenager...

 

"Mom, give me a break."

Future Chef?

Maybe Eli is going to be a chef someday...of itty bitty teeny tiny foods....

Back when I was in college, I was zipping through Big Lots one day in search of cheap storage bins to organize my dorm room.  Using the toy aisle as a short cut, I glanced over and saw a cute heavy stainless steel doll pot with a lid and inside strainer/steamer.  On a whim, I threw it into my shopping basket and it soon decorated my kitchen area.  As I moved from place to place, it always had a spot in my kitchen.  My nieces took to playing with it whenever they visited.

Several weeks ago, I was sitting on the floor with a box of items that hadn't yet made it up as house decorations since we moved to California.  Eli's hand shot out and snatched up the little pot.  With it secured in one tight little fist, he crawled away like Pegleg the Pirate on all fours.  Wiggling under the kitchen table, he plunked down with his back to me.  I could hear the slide-scrape-tiny-clang as he took the lid off, put the lid on, took the lid off, put the lid on....  It has been a favorite toy ever since. 

  

 

  

   

   

Someday when Eli abandons the tiny pot, I'll put it back in my kitchen as a decoration -- a little touch of whimsy atop the spice rack.  But now I'll love it that much more.

As I write this blog entry, Eli is upstairs snoozing.  Maybe I'll hide some Cheerios in his little pot to give him something fun to discover tomorrow morning.

Hands

Mama and Eli, Spring 2009

 

Mama and Eli, Spring 2010

 
 

SCREECH! (Video Category)

Playing chase is much easier now that Eli is walking!  I start it by either hollering "Boo!" or peeking at him from around a corner.  He used to come crawling and then I'd crawl ahead of him around and around the sofa.  Now he comes staggering -- and shrieking -- and we do a loop through the kitchen, into the living room, down the hallway, and back again.  The walking version is a lot easier on my knees!

  

Howdy, Granddad and Grandma!  Now that y'all are back in Georgia and missing your little guy, I added a "Video" category -- available on the green bar at the right side of the blog or at the bottom of each blog entry.  Just click on it to pull up all the posts where you can see your little guy in action over and over and over....  

Hugs!
--Eli, Brian, and Val

Empty House

So a few weeks back I wrote about Eli sleeping later and the creative/mental renaissance that brought.  Oy!  I spoke too soon!  I knew big developmental changes alter children's sleep patterns for a time, but I didn't know April would mean walking and teething molars at the same time.

Tired mama.

Today Brian took the afternoon off, whisking Eli away for father/son adventures while I had quiet time at home to write.  Ahhhhhh.  Much better.  That looming deadline isn't throbbing quite as much tonight.  Now if Eli will just sleep well again....

 

  

The photo above is actually from March.  Brian was giving Eli a chance to draw a little.  Today Papa and Eli went to Studio Grow, an indoor play place full of tot-friendly toys, gym equipment, and art supplies.  They had a great time!