Today, Elijah is 4 years and 7 months old….time flies. AND, it is Mothers Day. I am so thankful for today.
I love my mom soooo much. Being a
mother makes you (at least it does me) appreciate parenthood in a way that is only possible through your own parental journey. I hope she knows every day is Mothers Day for us…I want her to know I appreciate her for who she is as an individual, friend, Mom, Gram, wife/partner, employee, leader, sister, and daughter (and everything in between).
Today, I am happy to look back on the last few months and informally document some of Elijah and my highlights along our journey. As Elijah and I continued to transition into a new home, new school, job, and life in Colorado, within the first three to four months, we moved into another time of every year I always enjoy…The Holidays.
Being “home” in Colorado, having a child, I look at holidays very differently. For the past three years, I had spent Thanksgiving with other families. While I appreciated the experiences and wonderful people opening up their hearts and homes to Elijah and me, I missed my parents. Elijah didn’t know what he was or wasn’t missing with his Colorado family because his first Thanksgiving and Christmas he was no more than three months old. The other lesson for me was that one day, I hope to open my heart and home to someone(s) for Thanksgiving as people did for us.
During this time, Elijah was demonstrating a behavior that I believed was related to stress. He would lick his mouth….and I don’t mean his lips. I’m talking about him licking the entire perimeter of his outer mouth – as far as his tongue could reach. So, in some of the pictures of Elijah during this time his sweet little mouth is pink because it is raw (beyond chapped lips). Other pictures, he has a white ointment around his mouth, in an attempt to help the area heal, while reducing his desire to lick the area.
This year at Thanksgiving I hosted dinner. Fergy and Gram (my step-dad and mom) joined us for the dinner. The four of us went for an after-dinner walk in the park; and we had my dad, Jan, and Aunt Kathy over for dessert (Uncle Eric and Aunt Genesse were invited, but had other plans). I was so excited to use my new dining room table with the leaf that could seat eight. It was laid back and super easy…I loved it. I don’t know if Elijah could truly appreciate the celebration of thanks, but think he will in years to come.
The first weekend in December, I scheduled something I hope to make a tradition for us in years to come. It was “Christmas Tea with Santa Claus.” It was a two hour event for an intimate group of about 60 people (children and loved ones combined). In included a sit down with finger foods, singing, musicians, hot chocolate, tea, Santa Claus and a caricature artist.
Elijah was quite intrigued with Santa as we were sitting at the table closest to Mr. Claus. The two of them had numerous conversations once Elijah wasn’t too scared of him. Elijah was quite concerned as to where the sled and the reindeer were while Santa was partaking in the holiday festivities. As any self-respecting four year old with Santa’s undivided attention would do – Elijah asked numerous questions. While I am not quite sure how the conversation evolved, Elijah ended the evening quite concerned that one of Santa’s reindeers might be sick from eating too much corn…very sad. The caricature artist appreciated Elijah’s empathy for the reindeer.
Before taking the Winter Holiday Break from school, his class had a wonderful event on a half day of school, “This Little Light of Mine.” The event was probably a bit too ‘deep’ for a four-year old; yet it was so simple and meaningful - a nice transition before taking nearly a three-week break from school. After the event, we drove to Longmont where we joined my team members for a holiday lunch. It was at this work lunch that a co-worker/friend introduced Elijah to a memorable gift called, “Potty Putty.” It was quite exciting. The gift made “attractive” sound effects as you inserted your finger in the putty and pulled it out (kinda like the ‘pull my finger’ game).
My employer (Seagate) also had a mandatory shut down period to help cut costs and get employees’ vacation balances off the books. This mandatory break worked out well for me personally based on Elijah’s school schedule. During the Winter Holiday Break we did a few fun things together. We visited the Denver Art museum, Denver Zoo Lights, and Chatfield Trail of Lights.
Christmas Eve was at my dad’s house (which has traditionally been what we have done every year, even when we lived in California). A good time was had by all. The big gift was “a big boy bike.” Papa Terry surprised him with a bike that had pedal and a handle bar break….awesome for a little guy who learned to ride his bike with no training wheels in late September 2008. Christmas morning was different because in years past, we were visiting Colorado, staying at Mom and Fergy’s. This year, we invited Fergy and Mom over for breakfast and Christmas morning in our Colorado home. God LOVE them! They were up especially early and over for the festivities. We had a great time (at least I think they did too?). Santa brought Elijah a sled! Christmas is NOT about the gifts, but Elijah enjoyed some really fun stuff. Having had to move recently, “excess” anything was more relative me than in years past. The Elijah gifts were not in excess compared to some year’s past. The other favorite gift was from Auntie Sherene – a Star Wars Storm Trooper helmet that had pre-recorded phrases from the movie and a speaker he could speak into (like an intercom).
New Year’s Eve was low key. For several years, it has just been me and ‘E.’ Elijah made it too….past midnight (my little night owl)! We had sparkling apple cider and fun snack food. The best part was blowing noise makers off of my bedroom balcony as we looked over the night sky in search of fireworks. As Elijah blew the noise maker into the dark, he was so tickled that he could hear other neighbors sounding off noise makers, fireworks, and the like.
Last year, we had the pleasure to be in Colorado for Gram’s birthday to help celebrate her infamous milestone. And, this year, it was great to celebrate the milestone birthday plus one year. It was that kind of flexibility and opportunity to spend time with my favorite people that I missed most while we lived in California.
During all of this, in the backdrop of our personal lives were the “hard times” at my employer, Seagate Technology. The global economic down turn was rippling into every industry, company, and family. I was so thankful to have moved back to Colorado with Seagate’s assistance before the internal mood and activities within Seagate significantly shifted. It was mid January 2009; I was notified I would be laid off. I was not completely caught off guard as common sense, understanding of the business, intuition, and a few other unmentionable reasons, subconsciously prepared me for the idea of a new chapter in my life, beyond relocating us back to Colorado. Thank goodness we are back home!
Again, if you’re an Elijah Fan and want to get caught up, stay tuned to more “Elijah Excerpts,” coming soon to a blog near you.
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