Outer Banks

Elliott and I just got back from spending three days with the Z's in the Outer Banks, NC. The short report: Elliott had a blast with his cousins and aunt and uncle! Yay for pool, beach, dunes, and things flying in the sky (airplanes, kites, uncle in a glider).

Elliott has recently developed some fears and was not much interested in the ocean, though he thought digging in the sand was fun. Beck and I played in the waves a lot, and I brought Elliott back some rocks to play with. He did, however, enjoy the pool a lot, usually preferring the baby pool but asking to go into the bigger pool a few times (usually in a floaty, other times held by me or Beck). One non-outdoors treat for Elliott were the two battery-powered trains Elliott got to play with -- Thomas and Toby. We don't have trains (or much with batteries) at home, and he sure does love those things. He also enjoyed Amelie singing to him and Beck reading to him. I think he enjoyed Zach touching his nose, unless that meant Elliott was splashed with water. He got very adept at getting out of the baby pool to wipe his face off with a towel (except one time he brought the towel back into the pool). After he went all the way under and got a little freaked out, I realized we should do some practic, so we did some bubble-blowing, which he got a kick out of. When I demo'd getting my whole face wet, he went to get the towel to bring it to me.

Elliott still seems pretty interested in other people, asking "Jerome! Where are you?" and, when Beck returned from a yoga class, inquiring, "Did you have fun?" followed up by "Where's your yoga mat?"

The playground at the hotel was very convenient and fun for Elliott. He's gotten really into climbing -- especially ladders but whatever he thinks he can climb. He's never been a big fan of slides, but he happily went on a bumpy one several times this trip and even caught air!

John thinks Elliott gained weight in the 3.5 days we were gone, and he seems taller, though I think he's still just around 34 inches. Last I weighed him he was under 28 lbs. He has definitely gotten more hair, but it's still goofy and hasn't come in on the front sides, as you can see. I thought the photo above (in which he's holding the green whirlygig) looked a lot like me and Elliott's Uncle Pat as youngsters. Beck said she thought his expressions reminded her a lot of John. I still think he looks most like his cousin, Robin (flower girl at our wedding).

A sleepy Elliott rode in the Ergo up a long dune to the place where Patrick was taking off with his glider flying lesson. That was fun to see. Elliott walked most of the way down with his cousins.

It was a great trip overall, our first as a solo mama-son road tripping crew. The way down to the beach, he stayed awake for 3.5 hours happily playing on his own before finally starting a nap at 5:30 p.m. (in rush-hour Newport News traffice) and sleeping for most of the rest of the way. It was wild how well he played before he fell asleep; I even listened to an audiobook for a while and he just asked, "Listening to your CD, Mom?" (These days I am called Mom, Mama, Ma and Mommy, and sometimes Jessica). He slept the entire way home, mostly in the dark -- a faster drive with lighter traffic. My only complaint is that after a month of almost exclusively using the toilet for heavy duty, Elliott's diapers have gotten a workout during our travels. He seems too distracted at times to tell us he needs to go until it's too late. So I'm guessing he's not ready for us to try diaper-free/to try to potty-learn for pee as we thought he might be since the poop was so controlled (even going in public toilets). Maybe we just need to be home for a few weeks in a row!

Some news on our fall plans - since returning from Maine, we have decided not to send Elliott to his coop preschool in the fall. It was going to be two mornings of not very much free time for me and it seemed like too much to try to commit to that community (with all the cooping responsibilities) and also the Waldorf school, where we'll be in the parent-child program together this year. Elliott seems so social and adaptable these days I really think he will be fine in childcare situations with other kids, which will give me more/longer and more solid solo time for writing, tutoring and other work as I find it and leave the rest of the time for me to be fully with him rather than kind of with him but also be with 11 other kids while cooping. Those days were always a challenge last year with only five other kids, and I really dreaded cooping. Elliott seemed to have a better time without me, and I've decided I don't need to have him in a big group atmosphere with all the worries about food, toxic cleaners and such. Last year I thought if I left him it would have to be a consistent place with consistent people, but now he knows so many people and asks for them, I think he can deal anywhere.

I know I will miss some aspects of the program and the people/friends, but I feel much relieved not to be facing all those requirements and the formality. I have some temporary solutions that should work for a while but am looking for a nanny share with a like-minded family and similar-age child for two mornings a week. Not sure if we will do music again or maybe a tumbling class -maybe alternate in short sessions. Elliott's just recently started hanging on things, and I'd like to give him more opportunity to explore that kind of physicality since it's not my area of strength. We are doing a little French class again starting tomorrow (oops - today) for five weeks. After that, when the teacher is closer to having her baby, I think we might do a Spanish class. I may not be able or motivated to provide immersion in either language at home (though I could come close in French), but I think he's at the prime stage for picking things up easily. I would love for him to learn some words and phrases, but my bigger hope is that if he at least hears the languages now, his ear will be more finely tuned when/if we do get more serious later.

These photos from our new Olympus Stylus 850 (the waterproof camera we bought after I dropped or Elliott coaxed our Canon into a public toilet a few weeks ago).