"Um, wha?" says Eli.

So, I guess I finished a draft of my conclusion chapter yesterday. Huh? It didn't really strike me then as much of anything b/c it was really kind of short and wasn't that painfully difficult. Of course, it's just the very first draft, so I am sure it will get more difficult. But it just struck me that all of a sudden and without much fanfare...I have a draft of my ENTIRE DISSERTATION. Now if someone would just read it...(And if I'd just work on the tables/fill in some cites/do my references...) then maybe I could be done with this thing!

Here is Eli clapping for me:

Yet again Eli makes a liar out of me

Eli seems to have lost all of his thumbsucking skills. He is back to sucking his hand and various combinations of fingers, but rarely, if ever, does he suck his thumb. He also is more into his pacifier than before. Of course, this is fantastic timing b/c I seemed to have misplaced all by one of his pacifiers. Whoops!

Anyway, really I just wanted to post a picture and I better do it fast b/c he is due to eat any minute (and the growth spurt seems to FINALLY be finished - although the middle of the night feeding session is still going strong). So here he is going to town on his fingers (I am sure toes will be coming next):

Song requests

For some ungodly reason, we decided it would be a good idea to train to Boston with Eli for ASA. It's only EIGHT HOURS after all. Maybe it is the lesser (the least?) of the possible evils, but still, we are very nervous about how this is going to go. On a good day this kid screams for 15 minutes during constant rocking and vacuum sounds before drifting off for a much-needed nap. I hope the train sounds mimic vacuum sounds, or at least there is a constant noise level that helps calm him down.

Other things that calm him down/entertain him are songs with hand gestures that I/we can do. He is a big fan of "itsy, bitsy spider" and "where is thumbkin?" (is that just a British one? - it's a take on "frere jacques"). "Patty cake" is okay "Do your ears hang low?" is a little too much for him. Does anyone out there have other suggestions? It's as much for Joshie and me as for Eli. And we'll ALL be appreciative.

In other news, the three-month growth spurt seems to be lasting longer than anyone ever said it would. We are 2 days way from the two-week mark. So can it even be called a growth spurt? Basically, Eli eats every 2 hours during the day. Then when it's bedtime, he screams his head off and we have to force feed him - which, of course, is really impossible with the boob (last night he totally refused). Then he wakes up in the middle of the night ravenous (no matter how much he ate at the last feed) and goes to town for 20-40 minutes before passing out for a couple more hours. Ugh.

Uh oh...I hear sucking sounds from the other room again. Time to feed the baby!

Wonder of wonder, miracle of miracles!

Just turned in another (revised) chapter draft to the advisor. He is on vacay for a while, but I couldn't bring myself to do anymore with it. I just want it out of my face. So that's three chapters he has (and, for these latest versions, no comments from him yet...). So just one chapter to go! Of course, that one (the discussion/conclusion chapter) doesn't exist at all and, dear Lord, it is a scary one, but at least the slightest inkling of a light at the end of the tunnel maybe just got a teeny, tiny bit brighter.

Now to do some job stuff...PUKE! Ok, I think I'll wait till Monday for that. Instead, I will spend the weekend taking it easy (at least to the extent that Eli lets me). I wish I had a burrito partner to celebrate with me...

Ladies and gentlemen, I give you...

THUMBSUCKING!

Actually, Eli has found his thumb from time to time in the past (and continues to have problems finding it consistently still), but the truly miraculous thing was that I managed to capture it on film. It just looks so cute!

I am a major proponent of thumb-sucking, much to my dentist father-in-law's dismay (actually, I think it's my mother-in-law who is more opposed to it maybe). Anyway, I don't care if the kid needs braces (ask me again when I get the bill, though). A lot of kids do whether they are thumb suckers or not. I am just happy that he has a way of calming himself that doesn't require my or Josh's fingers or something that can get dropped/lost. Also, I'm happy he gets to know the joys of thumbsucking, one of my most favorite past times from days gone by (though probably fewer days gone by than you'd imagine. I sneaked that thumb of mine for years.)

Happy (belated) 3 month birthday, Eli!

For his birthday (see pic above of Eli in his birthday suit, RDRR!, with Aunt Tina blocking his bits and pieces - thanks, Aunt Tina, for giving him a bath!), Eli actually gave us a couple of treats:

1. The first middle of the night feedings for a while,
2. An incredibly crabby mood generally (note Eli in full red-faced screaming mode below*),
3. Lots of extra feedings,
4. 20 minutes non-stop SCREAMING in the car on the way to the grocery store, and
5. Extra laundry due to the most serious diaper blow-out to date, involving poop all over me and our couch.


We gave him:
1. Cow's milk (via breastmilk), b/c I am an idiot and didn't read a food label for the first time since I started this stupid dairy- and soy-free diet (this probably helps explain his incredibly crabby mood),
2. Extra feedings,
3. Lots of hugs accompanied by vacuum cleaner sounds, and
4. A few "what is wrong with you?!"s.

Here's hoping for a good 2nd quarter (and 3rd and 4th quarters) of his first year!


*Why do I keep looking over the top of my glasses like that? It is so annoying!

Don't have much time but...

Eli is napping, so I (as usual) am trying to get work done. And (as usual) I get easily distracted. Anyway, I am so obsessed with looking at other people's blogs, it only seems fair to update my own on a relatively regular basis. Here's a quick photo to tide us over:


It's Eli sitting in his beach chair that his proud grandparents bought him. Maybe some day it will actually see beach use. Hopefully he still fits in it when he has better neck control (notice Josh lingering right off camera to catch him when he starts to lean...)

Also, b/c I can't resist...here is Eli sporting a family heirloom (seriously, they have been around since Josh's childhood and even withstood a serious cleaning out of the dresser that housed them).



Then we all had to model them.


Doesn't Josh look like Dr. Gonzo (was it him?) from Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas? I just thought of that.


I, however, look hot in them. Don't you agree?

Back to the beach

I didn't even get a chance to post anything about the beach yet and now we're going back (sort of) spur of the moment this weekend. So it must have been a good trip. Yes! Though Eli was not a fan of the beach. Here we are, in his SPF tent, where I suspect he will not be spending much time for the next year or so. Maybe Eli will start his love affair with the beach the summer of '09. (I, however, am kind of in love with the SPF tent. I wish I could wear one all summer long.)



And here he is passed out in the tent after Scream-Fest 2008 Beach Edition.


Notice he is not in his swim trunks. They were a little tight and taken off him soon after we got to the beach. He also did not seem to be a big fan of extended hat wearing. Sigh.