Pool Time

Last week, I took Elias to Nonnie and Pop Pop's to go swimming. He did surprisingly very well. His cousin, Ali, was there too. They had a blast. I wish I could post the videos we took. He was so cute!

Joe Cool

First Spoon Fed Meal

The excitement of each new milestone in a baby's life is a high that can last for awhile. The first awkward silly smile he offers you can have you laughing for days. (I still laugh at it!) The first time he holds his head up and looks at you, the first time he rolls over or grabs a toy or practices his vowels. The pace in which they learn can make an adult's head spin! When you see a baby eat from a spoon for the first time, any hardships or frustrations of the day soon vanish when you see the mixed emotions on your baby's face when you bring the spoon of rice cereal to his mouth. At first, Eli didn't know what to do. But when he tasted the cereal on his lips and tongue, he realized that it wasn't bad at all! He loved it, and he ate the entire bowl! Of course, much of it ended up on his face, hands and bib. He would take a bite, then put his fingers in his mouth and suck away. When he wanted more, he'd take his fingers out of his mouth and look at me kicking his legs. What a joy. I love motherhood. It is definitely full of excitement that not much else can top.

First bite...

Intermediate finger sucking...

Empty bowl and dirty bib...

Aunt Biff gave Elias a bath after the messy ordeal.

4 Month Well-Visit

Elias had his 4 month well-visit this morning. We were in the same room that we had been in at his 2 month well-visit where he received four shots. It was as if he remembered or perhaps had a vague recollection that he didn't like this room. He kept saying, "Mommy, I want to leave." Well, in Babyspeak, that's what he was saying. I think he screamed louder and definitely longer at the doctor when he put the popscicle stick in his mouth than when the nurse gave him his shots. However, the shots linger. He fell asleep promptly when we got in the car and slept deeply for a little longer once we got home. But when he woke up, he felt the pain and let me know about it. The more it hurts, the more he kicks his legs. The more he kicks his legs, the more it hurts. Poor little guy.

His measurements are as follows:
Weight: 13lbs 9oz (25%)
Height: 25 3/4" (75%)
Head: 16 1/4" (25%)

The doctor said that he'll bulk up once we start giving him cereal. For now, he's fine being so long and light. Breastfeeding is extremely financially wise. It costs nothing to feed him. Once he really starts eating solids, though, we'll have an extra mouth to feed. Not to mention the time that I'll spend trying to get him to eat. It's not too hard to get him to eat now that I'm nursing, although he does get distracted from time to time and he tends to go in waves as to how well he's eating. Sometimes, it's more work than I'd like to put into it. But the benefits of breastmilk far outweigh that of formula. Nonetheless, I'm excited to start him on solids.

Pictures

Playing with his toys.


Eli likes to read the book about "Who Loves Baby?" In this picture, he happens to be on the page spread of Uncle Tim and Aunt Melissa in one and Nonnie and Pop Pop in the other.

My muscleman in his muscle shirt. Muscle shirts on babies are simply so adorable.

Doesn't he look like a cartoon character?

Sisters/Aunties

Mary (left) and our little sister, Tiffany.


Aunt Peg (Ang) holding a very happy Elias.

Aunt Biff (Tiff) is living with us for the summer. It's so much fun. We love it. Eli has already gotten used to her being around and he loves her. Of course, a week is half a lifetime for one so young as four months.

When Angela and Mom and Dad were down here the first weekend of June, Ang got to see Eli for the first time since he was two weeks old. Needless to say, she was quite excited to play with him and spend time getting to know him a little better. We won't go as long this time without seeing each other. She'll be down again this summer. She's actually planning on looking for a job in the area and moving here in August. We're very excited about this prospect too. Four sisters all living in the Philadelphia Greater Area! It'll be so much fun!!

Memorial Day Picnic

OK. So I'm a little behind the eight ball on getting this one out. We just had the absolute best weekend of our lives this past Memorial Day that we want everyone to know about it. And we don't want to forget it.

After the Doylestown parade on Memorial Day, Dan, Eli, and I went to Peace Valley Park with Maremy. We packed a picnic and just hung out on the lake for the rest of the day. We threw the frisbee, grilled up some hamburgers and s'mores, gave some s'mores to the two little kids that were picnicing next to us, waded in the water, and rested on the blanket. The weather was extremely warm and gorgeous. Eli slept and played and cooed, and we all had a marvelous time. Here are some pictures of the day.

Smalltown Parade

On Monday morning, we went to the Doylestown Memorial Day Parade with the Johnsons. As I watched people gathering together and setting up chairs, I was reminded of the old days in Bridgewater, VA when people would set out their lawn chairs along Main Street a week in advance to claim their spot for the parade. Like Doylestown, the parades in Bridgewater were no small deal. I imagined that living on a street where the parade was passing, was something like it was in Bridgewater. You'd see family and friends that you hadn't seen or heard of for a year show up on your front yard with their coolers and lawn chairs. You're lucky if you get a good seat outside yourself. You might have to watch the parade from a second story window of your house just to be able to see. There are perks to staying inside, though: it's quiet; you get a whole jug of iced tea to yourself; you don't have to talk about how things have been going for the past year to people who don't really care all that much, but are keeping up the pretenses for the sake of getting a good seat to the parade. One thing that was definitely a benefit to sitting outside on the sidewalk was getting the firstfruits of the candy that was thrown from the fire trucks. The kids would all gather as near to the street as their parents would allow them and yell, "Where's the caaandy?!?!?!" Usually someone would throw some, especially where the most kids were gathered. Which, if yours is the house where five siblings lived, and all their cousins were there, you had a good chance that your house was the one with the most kids. (If you know anything about me, you'd know this was my house.) Candy thrown from the parade antique cars or fire trucks is something that rarely happens anymore. The candy could be POISONED!!! Someone probably sued the local Volunteer Fire Dept for throwing a piece of Bubble Bubble and hitting their kid on the noggin. Which, if you heard the story correctly, little Johnny specifically ran out into the street, screaming for the candy to be thrown directly at him at the precise moment that the volunteer fireman who is struggling to make ends meet for his wife and three kids happened to throw the handfull of candy and gum to the excited kids on the sidewalk. You can imagine the rest of the story.

Ah, the good ole days. It's been many a year since I've been to Bridgewater for a parade. But I imgaine that some things haven't changed all that much. Everyone knows practically everyone else. For having lived here for such a short amount of time, Dan and I were surprised to have run into more than one person that we knew. We even knew someone in the parade. It really felt good to be apart of a community of Smalltown, America. This is definitely a family tradition that Dan and I would like to see continue annually.

Our First Camping Trip

Kissy, kissy...

Here's a happy Wendi holding her little boy, Reed. Reed is 9 days younger than his best friend, Eli.
Dan and Paul holding the boys enjoying the End-of-May warm weather and a relaxing chat.
Dan and I have wanted to go camping together many times. It just hadn't ever worked out until this past weekend. We went with our friends Paul and Wendi Johnson and their little guy, Reed to the poconos where Paul's brother owns land. The land has absolutely nothing on it. It's not been cleared so the woods were pretty dense. We were able to find a small spot where we could set up camp a distance from our cars. We brought the boys and they really seemed to love it. They were very well behaved. All in all, we had a marvelous time. We think this may be the beginning of an annual Johnson-Simrak camping trip.

My Little Elf-Man

Three Months Old

May 16th was Elias' three month birthday. I can't believe how much he's changed. It was as if someone hit a switch in his temperament the day that he turned twelve weeks old. His ability to interact progressed tremendously; he's able to grab things and bring them to his mouth; he giggles now and "talks" a lot. He thinks he's really holding a normal conversation and that we can understand every word he's saying -- complete with facial expressions. We're on a pretty good routine now, so it's easier to plan my day knowing what his needs are going to be. Believe it or not, the little guy seems to be teething. Yikes, Momma! Yes, I see two little white dots starting to poke through his bottom gums. And boy is he drooling! Like his 6-week milestone, three months brought with it a growth spurt. He has shot out of most of his 0-3 months clothes, so I've had to pack a bunch away and pull out his 3-6 months outfits. This growth spurt, perhaps combined with the teething aspect, has made nights a little more rambunctious than usual. Since he was 5 or 6 weeks old, Eli has slept right through the night adding time onto his nightly sleep as he got older. He has slept straight through the night reaching 11 hours! I would say the norm got to be around 9 or 10 hours. But this past week, he woke up every night one time. Sometimes I think he was hungry, sometimes I think he was uncomfortable. This past week was a hectic one for Dan and me, though, so perhaps part of it had to do with our schedule being off. Well, we can rejoice that we are able to rest a little better now that we are home and hopefully things will start to calm down a bit. Already, last night, he was back to his normal 9.5 - 10 hours.

For some perspective on his growth, I dove into the photo archives and pulled out a couple pictures of Elias when he was but a day old. He was a wee pink thing.

Jonathan Elias Simrak on February 17, 2006.

With Nana and Papa on February 17, 2006.


With Nana and Papa on May 13, 2006.

"Ooooo...Nice pen! Can I have that?"

Buddies

The most important influence in my childhood was my father. ~DeForest Kelley

Father and son are really hitting it off. While Elias is still a Momma's boy, at least for the next few months (all babies are at this age), Eli is really taking to his daddy. I can usually count on Dan to calm him down or put him to sleep. Dan loves the interaction he gets with Eli now that he's not as colicky. It's also nice when Dan can feed him with a bottle. There's something about mealtimes that is so bonding. I wonder if that's why people get together to eat when they want to catch up on each other's lives or get to know someone....hmm. It's something to ponder.

Witnessing Opportunity

Our friend, Paul, is a history teacher at one of the local high schools and has a particular interest in WWII. He is a collector of anything that has to do with the war and carries a leather-bound book with him everywhere he goes that holds many signatures of veterans. Last year, he met and invited to speak to his classes, a man who was a part of the German army. He invited him back this year, so he stayed with the Johnsons last night to go to school with Paul this morning. Paul and Wendi invited Dan and me over to join them for dinner and help to witness to Gerhard. As we found out very quickly, Gerhard is not a person for light conversation. He quickly jumped from the formalities of meet and greet to Christianity and the "flaws" of denominations as well as scripture. Paul had had many of these conversations with him last year when he stayed with them and wasn't about to go into it again. Dan, however, was in his prime. Dan found someone intelligent and witty and stubborn as an ox to witness to. The man believes in Christ and that He is the "only chance for man." Yet, throughout the conversation, he contradicted himself. Dan kept at him using Scripture and logic to prove his points. He pointed out where his logic contradicted itself. For a man that had been in the World Council of Churches for 30 years fighting ministers, he was stumped. By the end, he admitted that he is just a doubting Thomas. Dan's response was "Even Thomas believed." Gerhard returned with a smile and the comment, "Yes, he believed after he put his fingers in the wounds of Jesus." With that, Gerhard backed out of the conversation gracefully. After Dan left the room briefly, he told Wendi that he respected such conviction. He clearly respected Dan and the way that Dan didn't back down and the way he knew his stuff. Dan has been studying for just such an occasion as this and he held his own beautifully. The whole evening, I prayed for Dan and for Gerhard. I thanked God that Dan had walked into the room just as Gerhard was beginning to question Wendi and me and that he jumped into the conversation at the perfect time. I prayed that the Holy Spirit would fill Dan and give him the words to say and that God would soften Gerhard's heart and rescue him. Many other times throughout the evening, political conversations would turn towards what the Bible says and the ethics of Christianity, etc. Dan was right there standing up for what he believed in.

Gerhard is on our hearts and in our prayers.

Weekend Minutes

Forgive the torn jeans, but they are oh, so comfortable.

Friday evening, we went over to our friends, Steve and Christie Bowles' house. Here is a picture that Christie took of Eli and me. He's getting to be so fun and active. I think he's beginning to recognize cameras, too!

Steve and Christie introduced us to a funny site that frequently had us in stitches. It's so completely random and off the wall that it was hilarious. To check it out yourself, go to www.homestarrunner.com. As I haven't been on the whole site, I won't endorse it, since I don't know everything about it. But the email section is where we were and the ones we read/watched were the funny ones. By the way, if any of you is looking for a gift for Dan, a T-shirt with the bear holding the shark is a perfect one for him. He'd love it. He would need an x-large.

Saturday was a gorgeous day and we enjoyed it in many ways. One of the retirement communities that Dan works at, Simpson Meadows, was having a Pancake Breakfast and Rummage Sale. So hit that up in the morning. Poor Eli's naps were interupted, so we had to work with that. But it all panned out okay. We had a lovely visit with Mary Alice, a dear older lady from Mississippi with the cutest, most hip hair do of anyone her age! She has it cut real short and kept straight and she dyes it red (her original color). Her glasses are completely hip as they match her hair and compliment it perfectly. She's funny and energetic and poor little Eli would scream everytime she came near. Her friends all joked with her that she needed to stay away that it was her fault! Dan and I had to assure her that it was most certainly NOT her at all. Eli's schedule was just out of whack. Mary Alice has a published cook book called "At Mimi's House" and she gave one to us. It's full of stories from her past and great recipes.

After we left Simpson Meadows, we headed to Dan's parents' for a photo shoot. Dan wanted to get some good pictures of me and Eli for Mother's Day, although I think I'm not supposed to know that he had it planned for Mother's Day in particular. I don't know what exactly he's going to do with the pictures. We had many great ones turn out. It was hard to choose the best ones! There were so many keepers. Eli did great and smiled for many. We were quite surprised how well he did. At the end, he quickly let us know that he'd had quite enough, so had to end there. I'll post some later.

Later that evening, we all joined the rest of the family and some friends at Matt and Stacey's house where we celebrated our nephew, Braden's first birthday...and Eli slept nearly the whole time.

Sunday's weather was glorious, so after Eli's nap, we walked around the lake at Peace Valley Park. We enjoyed laying on a quilt near the water feeling the sun beat down on us. Ah, summer's a comin'.

Last evening, we joined Paul and Wendi at their house for dinner with an unbelieving former German nazi. It was quite an experience -- one that I will have to recall in another post.

Such was our weekend and we are ready to dive into the week's busyness.

T.V.

After a long car ride to the mountains, Eli decided to relax in front of the television in his diaper. Now all he needed was a glass of cold beer...and his Daddy. Since he didn't have either, he would just have to settle for breastmilk and Mommy and Aunt Mary.

Pool Fun

Mary and I attended a Women's Retreat with her church last night in the Poconos. Today, during the afternoon free-time, we hit the indoor pool to give Elias his first go at it. Since he loves his baths, I figured he would like the pool, though the cooler water might come as a bit of a surprise. We eased into it, and he loved it as you can see in these pictures below.

Routines

Two months old and still no set schedule. That's to be expected, I guess. I've been reading a lot about getting your baby on a schedule. After reading some people's stories, I consider myself blessed to have a two month old that sleeps through the night (at least for now, I hear it could change). He is a fussy baby, I won't deny that. But sleeping at night helps me get through the day better. As I get to know Eli, I have a lot of patience with his fussiness. It only comes from God that I can say that because there are still times when I'm at my wits' end and I'm tired and frustrated with all the crying. Since he's been on Zantac for his acid reflux, though, there's been a marked difference with his temperament. He's happier longer; he can eat better without having to pull off, arch his back and wail. All in all, he's doing better. And that makes for two happy parents. He's still fussy, but definitely better.

Yesterday, he slept a good portion of the day. I let him as I'm trying to really watch what his needs are when it comes to sleeping and eating. I wanted to be sure that it wasn't me that was keeping him up a lot during the day. As it turns out, he just doesn't need as much sleep as many infants do. He was up once out of the norm last night and woke up a little earlier than usual. He's still sleeping now, though. He tends to sleep the morning away, but stay up a good bit later in the evenings. I'd like to switch it around: have him turn in earlier and get up earlier. Although I must say, I do like the mornings to myself. Figuring this thing out is a challenge!

Any moms out there with advice on routine? I'd also like to hear about any types of "playing" you do with your baby at this age.