No news is good news and Long time no blog.

Life has been hectic the last couple months. My grandmother is battling cancer and is doing well, but the radiation she received is doing a number on her brain.
We got the results of the CT scan and it looks like we have to see a specialist because two of Elliott's cranial plates have fused prematurely. Its probably not a big deal, but we have been referred to a neuro surgeon. I called his office a few weeks after the result and was told that depending on the severity of the case we should expect a call for consultation in the next 6 months! WTF? Um okay... So its been a few months and Chris and I are trying to look at it as a good thing. The surgery he would need is a button hole surgery and is pretty straight forward.
Elliott's head has been the same measurement since 9 months, so that's a great thing! He has also been an extremely busy boy. He STILL does not crawl on all fours. He prefers the sit and pull myself around with my arms method. It works great for our hard floors, but you get him on carpet and he gets frustrated.
Just this last week he pulled himself up on his slide grandma and grandpa got him for his birthday! He looked soooooo proud! The last few days he has finally figured out furniture surfing. For several weeks now he walks holding on to our fingers for support.
The little guy is doing exactly what the doctor said he would do, a bunch of things all at once, skipping steps along the way to catch up with other kids his age.

Dizzy Dizzy Baby

Elliott had to have a CT scan on his head today. His head is off the charts huge and he fits into a 2T-4T hat already. Both our normal doctor and pediatrician are not really concerned that there is a problem. They both agreed that a scan should be done in case its that size because of extra fluid or growths. My family doctor says he thinks Elliott has a case of big-head-itis due to his parents having huge heads. Well I have a big head that is for sure, and some of Chris' sibblings have larger heads too... so its no surprise his turned out so big. Yep, still not crawling or walking!
So today we went for the scan. They had to put him to sleep for the scan to keep him still. They give him gas through a mask. He was under less then five minutes. The nurse took him away and then brought him back all loopy. He was swaying his head and upper body in circles. The whole waiting room got a kick out of it.
He is a little off today, finding almost everything funny. Other then that he is doing fine!
We find out the results next week. We are not worried, but glad that our doctors are being proactive.

Wow! Its like he's a little person!

Any parent of a laid back child will probably be able to relate to this post.
Elliott has always been a laid back observer. He doesn't want to be the center of attention, doesn't want to be fussed over. He just wants to do his own thing. Frankly its BORING! HA! But the last few weeks Elliott personality has been blossoming. He claps, he squeals, he show preference for toys, or objects. He has a sense of humor. He is finally getting out of that baby blob stage. NO he is STILL not walking or crawling. He does LOVE standing, but can't pull himself up. He is just a million times more fun then he has ever been.
Its kind of a relief really. You never want to think poorly of your child, but you can't help feel insecure when your baby is sitting back watching all the action and everyone else child is all over the place being little characters.
Both Chris and I know that Elliott is very smart. He needs to think everything out before he takes action on it. This includes new objects you give him. He needs to spend a few minutes examining it before he starts playing with it. Its cute to watch really. I hope this behavior of being thoughtful continues!

"Mother Knows Best"

Christmas celebrations have come and gone. I must say it was very anticlimactic, but I am sure in the years to follow Elliott will enjoy it more.
This was the first family gathering that I actually felt like I was Elliott's mom. As mentioned in previous posts Elliott is not a big fan of being held and snuggled endlessly by me and his father, let alone other family members. So Christmas "morning" came (we did it in the afternoon) and I plopped Elliott down in the middle of the floor and there he stayed. Relatives sat with him and talked and stuff but he wasn't held by anyone. He lasted a lot longer then either Chris or I thought he would.
Normally if it was just one side of the family or another visiting he would be passed around like a doll from relative to relative until he was uber grumpy and had to be "rescued" by Chris or I.
Because it was both sides of our family I think no one wanted to "hog" him. It worked out better this way anyways.
I also felt more like a mom because I put my foot down about Christmas. I told both sides that we would not be driving all over the city, in a rush, from house to house to make sure we got to see everyone. We instead had our very first Christmas morning as a family, and invited everyone else over for coffee, goodies, and present opening in the afternoon. It was great. I can't say everyone was happy about it, but Chris and I where, and ultimately so was Elliott.

Coming to terms with a "Do it on his own schedual" Child.

I wont lie (seems like I say that a lot) but its really hard for me to watch all the other babies Elliott's age I know crawling, walking, clapping hands together, feeding themselves, dancing, even talking. My little blob baby enjoys sitting on his own, just learned how to bang two things in his hands together, knows how to get to his belly from sitting and scootch around on his bum. He isn't behind on his milestones or anything. There is no worry there. Every time I complain about it to my doctor I get "There are two factors at play with Elliott." His head is HUGE! 97 percentile. He also was stunted in his growth from 4-6.5 months by my breast milk. So the doctor goes on "He needs more muscle development to do things like rolling, crawling, sitting, standing, and walking then other babies because he has a huge melon" (Yes my doctor refers to my son's head as a melon. Remember, I am dealing with an undiagnosed illness. I see the guy once every month so we are "friends") What I am further told is that he is going to fall behind and behind until one day his body hits a nice balance between head size and muscle development and WHAM! He will do a bunch of things all at once.
Okay, so here is where I say STILL FRUSTRATED! I HATE having to answer peoples questions "Oh he must be into everything now that he is crawling" No he doesn't crawl. "Is he walking yet?" Nope. "Well he can stand right?" Nope. Then I always feel compelled to explain why... which makes me feel like I am making excuses.
Two weeks ago we went to our first mommy and me Aquasize class. For those of you unfamiliar, its exercise in water, and your child in a flotation device. I came away from the first class EXTREMELY happy. I thought it was just the act of being in the water that had really made me happy. I love swimming, even though this was not swimming...lol. Then I figured it out after I had bragged for the 10th time to my husband about how wonderful Elliott did. He was splashing, kicking, squealing, trying to swim and giggling like a maniac. He really enjoys the water and wanted to kick kick kick all over the place. The other babies in the group fell into one of the three following categories: Scared/upset. Board. Or cautiously happy. Elliott was the only one going nuts almost the whole class. The second class show other babies just as pumped as Elliott was. But it was really really wonderful to say that Elliott finally excelled at something other then eating or sleeping! (and yes I know how lucky I am there!)

Splish Splash Elliott's Loving his Bath.

Now that Elliott can sit up he really enjoys his bath. He goes absolutely nuts in it and I LOVE it. I know no matter how hard his or my day has been at then end of it, right before bed time, we get to have a fun time together.

On to a different topic. I was talking to one of my close online friends from the pregnancy group I had previously mentioned. We where talking about how we try to be good moms, in regards to this Halloween. I had made, and decorated sugar cookies. Then made little gift boxes to hand out to our family members we visited for trick or treating. The topic got onto how I have never hidden the fact that I don't always like being a mom. She told me that she knows two sisters that actually tell there kids that they don't like them, as in "Honey I love you but I dont like you " WHAT IS WRONG WITH THESE PEOPLE?
Elliott will always know I am his biggest fan. He will know when I am upset because we will discuss it. But I wont EVER tell him I don't like him. Can you imagine growing up thinking your mom didn't even like you. Horrible to say the least.
That got me thinking. I think this is the exact thought that people have about me when the hear or see me blog about not always liking being a mom. The thing is, and I want Elliott to understand this too, we don't always like the roles we are in, even if its one we choose. But that isn't a horrible thing. There are days I don't want to be a girl, I don't want to be a mom, I don't want to be someone that has to get out of bed a deal with the world... it doesn't mean I don't love my life. I think if we acknowledge when we are having a hard day it allows us to deal with it better as appose to blowing up one day and declaring we hate our lives.

Wow a visit to the Chiropractor was worth it!

My Dad seen Elliott for the first time EVER this month. The first thing this proud grandpa said when he held Elliott was "Wow is his middle back ever out!" Right after that comment, and I mean within the hour, we where at his Chiropractor signing a waver to have an adjustment done on Elliott. The Chiro explained that many babies cry because some stranger is handling them in a weird new way. He put Elliott in a few different positions, Elliott cried a little, and handed my baby back to me. We then went to my fathers house. Elliott not three hours before could only sit up for a few minutes, was now sitting up endlessly. CRAZY! I myself go to a Chiropractor, and think it helps immensely. I never thought that a pinch in my child's back was holding him back at all. We will be continuing his treatments with my Chiropractor ever few months. Needless to say I am very impressed!