13 months

Wow, that snuck up on me. Two weeks since my last post...I think that's a record, but I guess it's understandable, considering the cross-country move that will forever be remembered as the event of Elias's 13th month. I'll write more later about how things have been going (and what I'd do differently if I had to do it again....which, hopefully, will never be the case) and what else Elias has been up to (should anything else stand out over the past couple of sleep-deprived weeks), but in the meantime, thought I'd post a visual recap of our last few weeks in Beantown.

Aw, here we are enjoying our own in-unit washer and dryer, something I was very sad to leave behind, trading down to a shared, coin-op laundry room. Elias was fond of "helping" me with the laundry, sort of tease-tossing them almost into the dryer before taking them back out again and usually depositing them on the floor instead.


Hanging out in the side yard at our old place on one of the few nice days in early July. To be fair, the weather in the Boston area our last few days was simply gorgeous. We couldn't have asked for a better send-off, weather-wise.


Elias ate half of his first grilled cheese sandwich as part of his second kids meal at local chain 99 Restaurant, a very kid-friendly establishment where you're treated to complimentary popcorn as you wait for your food.


During our last couple of weeks in Boston, Elias was particularly fond of watching for airplanes, primarily outside, on walks, but occasionally from inside as well, gazing wistfully out his bedroom window.


While we'd made it to the Stone Zoo back in May, the Franklin Park Zoo (which, together, make up Zoo New England) had been on my Boston to-do list for awhile and we finally went with a friend and her daughter the week before we shipped out. Elias still seemed pretty unfazed by the animals, even the seriously stinky flamingos (fluting, indeed, which will make sense if you're familiar with Bill Martin Jr.'s books)


During our last weekend in Boston, when Neal and I tried to simultaneously finish packing and keep Elias entertained and out of trouble, he was treated to adventures new and old, like this walk around Castle Island, the day before the departure of the Tall Ships.


On Sunday, while the couple of guys we hired to load our Pod were doing their thing (one of the best decisions we made during this crazy move and frankly, a drop in the bucket, financially), I took Elias to the water play area at the Pope John Paul Park in Dorchester, our walking "staple" over the past year.


Not surprisingly, Elias was cautious for only about a second before gleefully running through the fountains of water and then running back to me, getting both of us wet in the process (and while I went to the trouble of putting him in a swim diaper and swim trunks, I forgot to bring a towel).


And finally, some evidence that some major changes were about to unfold. We did our best to maintain Elias's routine throughout the packing, finishing his room the morning of the day the movers loaded up our crate, but of course some disruption to the balance and normalcy of our everyday lives was inevitable. Doesn't he look a little suspicious? Like the look your cats give you when you pull out the suitcase...

Looking back at the pictures from the past few weeks, I'm actually sort of surprised we squeezed in as much as we did, and I'm glad. I'm happy to be back in Oakland, as close to "home" as I've ever felt, and I definitely found a lot of little things to complain about over the past four years, but we sure made a lot of amazing memories in Boston as well. The four-year stretch we spent in our old apartment was the longest I've ever lived in one spot (not one city, but one physical address) and of course as much as I complained about the funky layout and the outdated kitchen, the first floor of that old house will always hold a special place in my heart for a number of reasons but mostly, of course because of Elias.

goodbye infancy, goodbye Boston

Well, it looks like we may never get around to that 1 year photo, with guitar. It may not happen for the 13 month update, either, since we won't have our stuff quite yet when we hit that milestone. Before that happens, though, I wanted to write a few words about what Elias was up to during the last month of his infancy. For starters, not much has changed in the nap department. Last week we experienced a bizarre but welcome return to two almost effortless naps each day, the first around 9:30 to 11 or so and the second, shorter nap happening around 3:30 to about 4:30. But as of Saturday Elias is back to his nap-resisting ways. It's not that he doesn't nap, he just fights it, occasionally by fussing, or babbling/playing, or both, sometimes for 45 minutes before finally getting quiet, usually just as I'm about to throw in the towel. I guess this transition from two naps to one takes awhile. And I'm pretty sure his first set of molars have been working their way up for a couple of months now. The drooling is pretty ridiculous the past few days. But his nighttime sleep is still, knock on wood, pretty good. Occasionally he'll fuss a bit as we leave the room but even then he's usually asleep within a few minutes and stays that way until, on average, 6:30 or so. This week he's been sleeping in a bit, waking up between 7 and 7:30, so I wonder if that little bit of extra sleep is contributing to his daytime routine being off.

Otherwise, as you know if you keep up with this blog, the main event of Elias's 12th month has been walking. He's still got a bit of that zombie walk going on but he's getting steadier and more confident every day. He even tried to run a little earlier today at Gymboree. In addition to that, it's more of the same, I guess. He seems to understand the words for various things pretty quickly but hasn't added any new words to his very limited vocabulary. There are a lot of hand gestures, and pointing, and grunting and other such noises to alert us to an airplane flying overhead for example, or the fan in a room we walk into, or a dog walking by. He waves hello and goodbye to just about anybody and anything, including my personal favorite, the flowers that line our walkway.

He continues to tolerate various dairy products pretty well, although I've yet to give him milk, waiting until he finally gets in for his one-year check-up this Friday. Other than milk, eggs, nuts, and fish, he's pretty open to trying new foods but his appetite is incredibly inconsistent. Some days he can pack away a decent portion of three or four different food groups in one sitting for all three meals, plus his formula and a snack or two; other days I can barely get him to finish his lunch leftovers for dinner. I guess this is life with a budding toddler. And at around 25 pounds, he's more than tripled his birth weight over the past year, so I guess I shouldn't worry too much.

I leave you with a couple of random photos from the past few weeks, first with his frog friend, Frankie, who has a diaper on thanks to Neal:


And sitting outside Sullivans, the meeting spot for our Castle Island walks with friends Henry and Maggie.


I think Elias will really like his new digs on the other side of the country, but we sure will miss our Boston area playdates.