New England Aquarium

After church a few Sundays ago, we went with our friends Jon, Sandy and Hannah

to the New England Aquarium.

Right away, Hannah started enjoying herself.

Elijah took a little more time, being a little in awe of the 200,000 gallon cylindrical tank of Caribbean coral reef.  He decided that he needed to be held for a while.

We found Nemo.

and soon Elijah built up his courage to stand on his own to check out the sharks (see top of picture.)

Then he caught a salmon with his bare hands.  Just kidding.

But he did touch a seastar in the hands-on exhibit.

I loved the penguins.

I could watch penguins for hours. 

They waddle clumsily around the rock, but the moment they dive into the water, they are so amazingly graceful.

Elijah liked climbing on the life-sized sea turtle statue in front of the veterinary center.  David claims he saw a grill back there.  I said surely he was mistaken.

Then we went and got seafood.  Just kidding.  Then we went home.

Elijah's 1st Boston Marathon

Watching the Boston Marathon is one of the most inspiring athletic moments I've ever experienced. 

Watching the wheelchair racers cross the finish line motivated me to tackle something that had been on my life list (my "Bucket List" if you will)-- run a marathon.  Ever since running a marathon, I take cheering very seriously!  Each year I credit several "saves" to my name... cheering so loud that people start running again!  I also get a kick out of yelling "GAMBATTE!" to any Japanese runner ("gambatte" meaning: good luck, keep it up, you can do it, dig deep... as any true Japanese term could mean.)  My best "gambatte moment" was the first year, when the guy turned, looked at me and did a little jig step, he was so excited to see a blond American girl cheering in his native language. It was awesome!

This year I found a fellow cheering-enthusiast in Alli, back from Singapore.

We had a great time cheering for the runners by name, if they had it written on their shirts.

It was a gorgeous spring day-- perfect for running.

Elijah loved hanging out on my back watching the crowds, but especially getting "Auntie" Alli's attention.

Tears in my eyes watching nearly 70-year old Dick Hoyt pushing son Rick in what I believe is their 28th Boston Marathon, and somewhere near 70th marathon... I couldn't find an exact updated count. What an amazing story...

I find every marathoner's story inspiring

Well, almost every story...  The burger and fries costume?  The Elvis outfits?  The tutus?  I guess whatever gets you through!

Elijah enjoyed practicing his new skill, clapping, from atop his Daddy's shoulders.  He was eyeing the runners with interest.  He has not started walking yet, but I wouldn't be surprised if he runs before he walks.

Elijah's 1st Red Sox game!

We've gotten a bit behind in our blogging... getting caught up this weekend!

It was wet and rainy last Sunday afternoon as we headed to Fenway Park to watch the Red Sox take on the Tampa Bay Rays.  Good friends Kyle and Alli were visiting from Singapore, and Josh and Cristen came up from North Carolina to join Ruth, David, Elijah and I for some baseball!

Ruth, Cristen and Josh enjoying a patch of sunlight.

Elijah's devotion to the Red Sox has already been established in this blog, his first three months of life going to sleep with the sounds and lights of Fenway.  His Daddy made sure that his education continued with watching a few games and regular readings of the board book "My 1st Red Sox Book."  All that remained was going to a game at Fenway Park!

He loved it.  The sounds, lights, and people held him fascinated.

He sat in our laps and enjoyed the game!

...and even took a little nap in the Beco carrier when the Little Fan needed some recharging.

Unfortunately, the game met with patches of pouring rain.  We wore sunscreen (for the sunny patches), winter coats (for the windy patches) and had umbrellas (for the rain.)  Crazy Boston weather.  Hopefully it was nostalgic for our friends from the equator and the South?

Ruth, Kyle and Alli bundled up

Also unfortunately, the Sox weren't playing up to their best, and even Elijah's "rally cap" couldn't pull them out of the loss.  As we say, quoting our favorite line from the movie "Fever Pitch": "Careful, kid, they'll break yah heart."

good-natured sick baby

Saturday, April 24. 2010-- Poor Elijah's sick!

It is always difficult when one is sick, but I think when your cute little one who is 11 months old is sick it's much worse. He looks at you with these sick eyes that say, "Daddy, I don't feel good." Jamie took Eli to the doctor today and it appears to be a viral infection, so there's not much you can do other then love on the little guy. It is good to see though that despite feeling sick his good nature comes through (see the video). 

11 months

Elijah at 11 months

almost 30 inches

23 pounds

happy

figuring things out

just starting to sign: "nigh-night!", "all done" and "more"

claps, waves and hugs

says "Mama" and "Dat-ty"

switched to crawling normally (most of the time!)

stands and inches his way along the couch

pulls up to stand on anything he can find

loves to be around people

is waking in the night looking for only "Mama"

thinks his Daddy is the funniest person in the world (during the day)

enjoys wiggling his toes in the sand (and sampling it)

is proud that he can grab and drink from his own sippy cup

says "Grrrroowww" at the pictures in his truck book

is working on cutting his 6th tooth (hence the wakeful nights)

loves being outside

Baby Signing Time

We've been trying to teach Elijah some sign language so that he will learn that he can communicate in ways beyond just yelling.  This is apparently very good for language and cognitive development.  I'll just be happy if he can tell me he wants more, or he's done!

To learn some sign language, I picked up a copy of "Baby Signing Time" from the public library.  The librarian has come to know us well, always waves to Elijah, and chuckles at my check-outs.... baby sleep books, "Baby Signing Time", etc.  She has a pretty good idea what I'm going through! 

We turned it on while we were rearranging our living room (to maximize light, to be able to use our back door, and to further baby-proof).  Elijah sat in the exersaucer spellbound watching the lady and the babies sign.

We try not to have the TV on when he's awake, and though he shows some mild interest in it, he doesn't really focus on it.  Not so with "Baby Signing Time." 

He watched the entire 20 minute show.  He even cackled at some of the babies on the screen.  It was super cute!  Amazing how the producers of this show knew what would captivate babies. Don't worry... we'll limit his TV watching. We know television isn't good for babies. :o)

So now, David and I are going around singing "Put your fingertips together for more, more, more, put your finger tips together, your fingertips together..."

Today Elijah made the sign for "more."  He wanted more puffs.  I think he has confused the sign for more with the sign for cereal (puffs), but he'll get it figured out.  Besides, he doesn't really want more of much besides puffs!

first "crafts" (updated)

Elijah thoroughly enjoys going to "Wiggly Warriors," the nursery at my school, where lately he spends his time laughing and trying to keep up via army crawl with the 2-year-old girls who dote on him.  He has practically given up napping there because he is so excited (that makes for some interesting days...)  He loves his teacher, Ms. Pat, who is amazingly creative with the "crafts" she does with the children.

This was the Easter basket that was sent home with Elijah.

Yes, those are his little footprints for bunny ears.

and this is the bunny-bag's tail!

Inside the bag was a soft blue bunny (Elijah was thrilled the tag was still on it-- his main interest,) and some stylin' baby sunglasses.

Also inside were these "crafts":

March comes in like a lion

and out like a lamb!

Note: I have a few other crafts from earlier in the year that I need to photograph, but our camera battery just ran out.  Later, I'll have to edit this post and add "Elijah as a pumpkin," "Elijah as a snowman" and "footprint holly-leaves" from previous holidays!

those are pumpkin seeds and crepe paper in the center

teeny tiny footprints!

not looking so happy to have a carrot for a nose

Easter 2010

In the car on the way to Easter service, David was bemoaning the fact that no matter what we do, we are always late for church.  Just as he pulled onto the ramp for the expressway, I realized we had forgotten Elijah's cap-- a key component to his dapper little Easter outfit.  I used up some serious goodwill points convincing David to turn the car around to get the cap.  I'll let you decide by the later pictures if it was worth it! 

Because David was certain that we would "miss all of the good Easter songs," we sang "Up from the Grave He Arose" several times, and a few rousing 1st verses (we couldn't remember the rest) of "Christ the Lord is Risen Today" on our way into church. 

The service was amazing.  Dr. Hugenberger spoke about how Christ conquered death-- "Where, O Death, is thy sting?"-- and gave brief examples of people from the church whose lives had been transformed by God so that they did not fear death, but rejoiced when their time came.  After such a victorious sermon, we got to sing the "Hallelujah Chorus" with full choir and string ensemble.  The choir director encouraged us to sing in parts, but if we didn't read music, just to pick an octive.  David joked that he picked several.  The music and message was alive.  (We did miss "Christ the Lord is Risen Today"...  good thing we covered it in the car.)

After church, we took a walk through the Commons and Public Garden with our good friends Ben, Ruthie and Lily to show Lily and Elijah the "Make Way for Ducklings" statues who were all dressed with Easter bonnets. 

Lily looked utterly adorable in her Easter dress!  She twirled.  Priceless!

We had Easter dinner with Taylor friends Jon and Sandy, and Sandy's parents at their house on the historic Lexington green.  The holidays make us miss family so much, so we enjoyed being with a family at Easter.

Jon and David set up a little egg hunt for the little ones behind the Duncans' house on the Lexington Green in a historic cemetery. Perhaps it wasn't a traditional location for an egg hunt, but seeing as Easter is the celebration of Christ's victory over death "Where, O Death, is your sting?" it seemed fitting! Plus it was historical. And gorgeous. And convenient.

Jon showed us his favorite inscription, explaining how historical cemeteries like this did not simply view stones as a monument to a life, but as a communication of faith. The stone reads:

"Dear friends for me pray do not weep
I am not dead but here do sleep
within this solid lump of clay,
until the Resurrection day:
and here indeed I must remain
until Christ shall raise me up again!"

Hannah figured out how to hunt for eggs in no time! It helps if you can run as fast as she can!

Elijah took a little longer. He only "army crawls."

 

How adorable is she?!  Hannah knew exactly what to do.

Sandy had filled the eggs with Gerber Puffs cereal. There is no better treat in Elijah's book.

I love how full of joy he is!

my boys!

Elijah learned to wave this weekend.

Hannah helped Elijah eat his puffs.

Hannah shared all of her eggs with Elijah. He didn't mind that they were all empty.

Look what I found!

He is risen!  Happy Easter!