Eliot-isms

Eliot is becoming quite the little chatter-box.  He loves to talk on the phone with various friends and relations and takes it very seriously.  Just thought I'd share a few of his little quotables--of course, they do lose a certain something without the sound of his little voice.

"Where's are me?...There me is!"

He loves involving Yellow Bear in everything.  Here he is sharing some stir fried chicken.  Notice Yellow Bear has his own little piece of chicken.

Sharing a washing machine moment with "Lellow" Bear.

brefiskt = breakfast
neskt = next
magnekt = magnet
fiskt = fixed
head bones = head phones
kanolo bar = granola bar
nookatella = nutella

Here's one I eavesdropped on yesterday:
"Peter, what you doing?  You want the fire truck?  Good job!  You did it!"

This one from the back seat of the car today:
"Peter!  We're going really fast!"

Eliot loves playing with Peter in the crib.  They pile in and then I toss a blanket over top to make a 'tent'.

Eliot helping me tidy up the living room (back in February when it was probably 40 degrees out, hence the missing layers of clothes).  But where did all those books go?

Ah, yes.

I love this kid!

Just a few Little Peter pictures...

Peter will climb into anything that opens itself up to the possibility.

He loves using Eliot's stool to play at the bathroom sink.  If I am sitting on the stool to help Eliot with something Peter will come in and push me off.

Just messing about while Mama prepares the shower.

Our apartment doesn't have a bathtub so we improvise with a plastic tub.  Peter has a great time climbing in and out. 

 The magical time between shower and bed when he gets a little more playtime with Eliot (aka hiding from Mama and the inevitable pyjamas) 

A big bed for Eliot

Moving Eliot into a bed hadn't really been on my radar.  He hasn't tried to climb out of his crib or shown any other sign that he was done with it.  But the other day Ikea had a big bed and mattress sale, so the time was right.  I took the boys to Ikea and we checked them out.  Eliot was very excited about the prospect of getting a 'big boy bed' and was delighted to climb up and test out the beds they had on display.  We chose our bed and then went home to make our arrangements.  Most of you know that Spencer has been in Paris since just before Easter and won't be home until the first week of June.  The sale would have been over before his return so there was no waiting.  A friend was willing to stay with the boys so I could dash over and buy the bed.

My original plan was to assemble it that evening with Eliot's 'help' after Peter had gone to bed.  He enjoys helping out with those types of projects and I thought it would help him feel more ownership of the bed.  Opening the instruction booklet, however, I discovered that Ikea recommended that two adults assemble it.  When it comes to assembling furniture Eliot probably counts as -0.25 people, so that probably wasn't going to work.  After I put him to bed in his crib (for the last time--*sniff*--hopefully) I got to work and put the bed together by using the couch as my 'second person' to hold the pieces steady.

The next morning Eliot and Peter were delighted to discover the bed in the living room and spent the morning playing on it.  We moved it into the boys' bedroom and that night Eliot went to sleep in his big bed like a champ.  He still takes his afternoon nap in the crib (while Peter sleeps in the Pack n Play that's set up in our room) but at night it's all about the big bed.  And of course Peter has had no problem adjusting to the crib.

In these next two pictures the room was actually quite dark so I had to overexpose the shots to be able to see them.  Little sweethearts.

P.S. Happy Mother's Day!

This year for Mother's Day I thought I'd write a little letter to my past self:

Dear Self (circa 2008),

Right now you are the Perfect Parent.  You know exactly what to do in every situation.  There is no problem that you are not equal to.  No puzzle to which you do not hold the key.  Be kind but firm!  You say.  Be consistent! You say.  Be careful which battles you pick, but once you've picked it WIN IT!  You say.  You sympathize knowingly with the struggles you see young parents facing.  Ah yes, you say, if they would simply...

Little do you suspect that in a few short years you will be sitting outside a church house in Australia (far, far from your family) puzzling with your son's nursery teacher about how to help him settle in.  You will cry on the shoulders of empathetic new friends while your theories and intentions lie in shambles at your feet.  You will need the reassurance of those same friends to gather those theories about you to cover the vulnerability and inadequacy you feel in the face of the task before you.  You'll pray, you'll plead, you'll read, you'll worry, you'll think you've succeeded just in time to see yourself fail and feel you're a failure just in time to see yourself succeed.

In short, you will come to discover that mothering is at once the most wonderful, horrifying, joyful, infuriating, simple, mysterious, energizing, and exhausting venture that you have ever taken on.  You will see yourself in every mother you have ever looked upon with a critical eye, and you will feel ashamed.  But you will also see in yourself the mothers that you have looked up to and admired.  And that will sustain you more than you can imagine.  You will thank Heaven above for your own mother and for all of the mothers in your life.  You will look up to them more than ever before.  You will want to be like them.  Be easy on your children, they're learning.  Be easy on yourself, you're learning too.

Love,
Your 2012 Been-through-a-few-in-the-school-of-hard-knocks-they-call-Motherhood Self

Peter 'Warrior' Young

Before our Little Peter was born I worried about nicknames.  I suppose I'd used up all the other worries when I was expecting Eliot, so I had to have something.  I was worried that he wouldn't have any that were his very own.  Nicknames for Eliot just sort of sprang up organically and I was afraid that we would just end up using those same nicknames for Peter.

As usual, it wasn't worth worrying about.  There's always a little overlap, but Peter certainly has his very own.  Spencer has taken to calling him Mr Boo.  I call him BoBo (BoBos, Little BoBo, Mr BoBos, etc.) and anything involving the word 'man', such as Little Peter Man, Baby Man, Little Man, etc.  I'm pleased with them, mainly because we didn't come up with them.  Like the nicknames for Eliot they just sort of happened.

Eliot follows our lead and has taken to calling him by some of these nicknames.  He also uses Peter's real name, which sometimes comes out sounding like a nickname.  He has never really struggled saying 'Peter', but 'Royer' has proved a little more tricky.  Right now Eliot's R's often sound like W's when they're at the beginning of the word.  He also mixes up the sounds of some words--like brefiskt instead of breakfast--so Peter's middle name comes out sounding like 'worrier'.

No matter the name used, our little Peter is finding his own place in the family and it's fun to watch his personality starting to come through.

Peter loves eating raisins.  He also likes putting them on his seat.

See, there they are.

He has figured out how to open the cupboard with the canned goods.

The thrill of discovery.

Peter enjoys putting things on his head, especially the tambourine.

Picking around the 'mountain' of toys that Eliot likes to assemble in the bedroom.

We love you Little Peter Man!!