One Year Old Pictures (and Siblings)

Now that Elijah had turned one, it was time for his one-year-old pictures! I picked a day, picked an outfit, and cleared our schedule. 

Things I didn't count on: grumpy, uncooperative baby with a split lip from trying to crawl headfirst down the cement porch steps. The outfit I picked showing every drop of drool (and there were many). Also, it being SO cloudy that the indoor pictures were less than impressive. Oh well. Guess you can't win them all!

And so I present, in no particular order, Elijah at age one (plus some siblings because we haven't taken pictures of them recently either): 

Getting him to stop reading books and look at the camera was almost impossible.

Notice the adorable outfit, now soaked with drool?

Our awesome friends hid 10 little plastic ducks around our yard the night before we took pictures. Catherine would slowly find them and distribute them to her siblings. Elijah LOVED them and refused to put them down for the rest of the photos:

Had to take this picture because I LOVE the back of his giant head!

I tried to take one of the little ducks away to get him to look.

Terrible, terrible idea. 

Split lip, tears from Mom stealing his duck...

Turns out ducks are perfect mouth-sized entertainment!

Five babies, with only minor editing required!

Elijah decides to ditch that sketchy group of kids.

The Lady:

My best friend:

Giant Seth,

who may have almost died from being forced to wear both hair gel AND jeans:

Catherine, who wanted a picture in the dogwood tree

(and then was disappointed because you couldn't see all the blossoms):

This time with purple flowers:

Elise insisted on this picture:

Their relationship can be entirely summed up by their respective expressions here.

Helping Catherine & Elise play piano:

I love this picture:

I wish all babies were as loved as this little boy is!

Staying Sane

How do you stay sane when you're forced to stay (mostly) inside for months with no one but your siblings and parents to interact with?  Here are our best ideas:

1. Terrorize said siblings. Feel absolutely no shame about running over your baby brother with your (technically his) new bike:

2. Mass sleepovers EVERY NIGHT. Sure, you could each sleep in your own room, but why do that when you can pile four kinds into one room?

3. Campfires (actually just fires in our fire pit on the back patio, but whatever). Burning things is always a win for kids! Unless you burn your baby. We kept him like 5 feet from the fire, but somehow he still managed to crawl through hot coals. He burned his wrist pretty badly as well as some smaller burns on his legs where it burned through his pajamas. I felt like an awesome mother and was sad because I had to trash my favorite Elijah pajamas:

4. Teach your kids how to give themselves instant, thunderous headaches by having them blow out eggs for a Russian history art project! Bonus points when Aaron drops his and you have to start all over (Catherine blew another one for him because she's a sweetheart).

Elise was the only one who posed with her finished egg:

5. Try to go camping, but then realize that it is either too cold or raining literally every night for the foreseeable future. Opt for camping in the basement instead:

6. Realize you need a mask ASAP since you have to take baby to an appointment and masks are now required everywhere. Sew a crappy but functional mask. Show it to husband, who says, "Don't we have a mask somewhere in the paint stuff?" Find not just a mask, but a coveted N95 mask in your paint supplies. End up wearing ugly handmade mask over the top of N95 so no one will think you are a thief/hoarder who took it from a poor nurse...

7. Decide you want to try out writing with quill (feather) and ink (acrylic paint). Quickly discover why no one uses quill and ink anymore:

8. Attempt to make bridges using marshmallows and spaghetti. Fail, but have a great time trying (and eating marshmallows):

Elise opted to forgo the bridge part and put her cars into a lake of spaghetti & marshmallow:

9. Make questionable fashion choices like wearing a skirt for a top and...nothing else:

10. Become obsessed with making your own paper and drive Dad insane with all the blenders/strainers/towels covered in paper pulp:

11. Spend the entire day in various states of roleplaying. This Princess Anna/Superman combo was a big hit. Other favorites include Elsa (of course) and "The girl who lives in the forest" (the trees behind our yard). 

Hoping that all of you are surviving this isolation with as much enthusiasm as our kids!

Elijah at One

The dishwasher.

It's all you want out of life.

Your ears are freakishly attuned to the sound of it being opened, at which point you will come rapidly crawling from whatever room you happened to be in in order to reorganize all the silverware and dishes. You scream if we don't let you. 

Giant baby and giant egg in a giant Easter basket

I hereby predict that this will be the defining picture of your babyhood.

Your future wife thanks me.

Dad tried to just open the top rack.

Foolish mortal.

You're starting to get into cars, which is SO MUCH FUN.

You drive them all around and crash them off the couch. 

No one in the house can play the piano without an Elijah duet.

Catherine loves holding you. 

Even if you are almost half her height and weight. 

This is Boh, Mr. Chris's (our neighbor) dog. He's possibly the best dog I've ever met and you LOVE HIM and will crawl all over the cul-de-sac in an attempt to chase him. I'm a bit worried about Boh's fate when you learn to walk. Also featuring a grass crown from Catherine and one of your beloved Yuckies. But what is a Yucky??

This is a Yucky.

It's a seed pod from Mr. Chris's magnolia tree. You think they are magical candy and WILL NOT STOP EATING THEM. We used to take them out of your hands and say, "yucky", which had absolutely zero effect.  Now we just refer to them as Yuckies and make sure you have one before we go on walks. We think you were even trying to say the word "yucky" for a few days, but nothing consistent enough to call a legitimate second word. 

These are your other favorite things: guys.

Guys are just little plastic people that came with one of our Magnatile sets. Apparently they are just the right size for chewing on and must feel good on painful teething gums. They also make really cool noises when you whack them together or throw them on the floor. There for a few weeks you were always crawling around with one guy in each hand plus had a few in your crib for naps. 

You've been a bit whiny lately (probably teeth), so this smile was a nice surprise!

Traditional "face through the stair railing" baby picture.

I had to sew a mask so I could take you to your one-year appointment. Both I and your doctor agreed that it was more risky to NOT get the vaccines than it was to go out during a pandemic. You were not pleased with getting 4 shots, but it's a better option than the measles. 

One year old stats: 30 inches, 21 lbs 5 oz, 48 cm head. So just about 50th for height and weight and above the 90th for head. 

When you can't even eat your ice cream because THE DISHWASHER IS OPEN AND YOU NEED TO HELP DAD MANAGE IT.

It begins.

This month has been a bit of a struggle with you becoming more demanding and needy. It's probably teething-related, but still no fun. You want to be held most of the time you're awake, which makes pretty much everything much more complicated. Thankfully you're usually okay with Seth or Catherine taking you to go play or on a walk so I can do things like cook lunch!

You love playing on our king sized bed. You'll flop all around and giggle. We just have to watch carefully because you have no sense of edges and will just roll right off.

You think that going down the stairs head first is a totally safe method of transportation. You also think this about getting off the couch. Even things like splitting your lip open or falling down several steps hasn't convinced you that this is a terrible idea.

You LOVE reading. Before naps and bed we read you several books. Your favorites involve singing (Baby Beluga) or actual pictures of babies (Ears Nose & Toes). You HATE Goodnight Moon and will swat it out of our hands on sight. 

Diaper changes are AWFUL. You scream. You squirm. You try to stick your hands in your poop. Swatting them away or pinching you just seems to make you more determined. I usually have to pin down one or both arms with my foot. Monster. 

You've started screaming when we close the door at nap/bedtime. It's awesome.

You like to wake up around 6 am. It's not awesome. Nothing we do seems to be able to shift it back consistently. 

Aunt Lori sent you a super soft blue elephant when you were born. You love to chew on its face (it smells awful all the time) and will only go to sleep if you can have it next to your head or under your head like a pillow. It's adorable. 

No walking yet, but you can stand independently for a few seconds. But why learn to walk when you can have all these people carry you around?

You love me best, which is simultaneously adorable and annoying. Aaron is my only other baby who preferred me over Daddy. 

Happy first birthday, my little one. I love seeing your little personality start to develop and wondering who you will be as you grow up.