All Better

Eli went to the doctor on Monday for one last check of his leg. He is healed and the doctor told him he could do anything he wanted. Big mistake. He is back to jumping off couches and anything else he can think of. We stop him when we can and warn him he could break his leg again, but that doesn't seem to help. He feels invincible!

Eli has one more day at the babysitter’s before his holiday break, and he is getting that confused with the kids’ two more days of school and the six days left until Christmas. Maybe it will all click tomorrow on his last day at Sharon’s. Poor guy. He needs a break and a day to sleep in!

Cast No More

Eli no longer has a cast, and it is not fun for him. He freaked at the saw and the sight of his crusty, dried leg. He held onto Huts tight, but eventually let go. I imagine he spent most of the day scooting around, but maybe not. He might have forgotten and tried walking a bit. If not today, then most definitely by the weekend. I can’t see him holding out much longer than that.

Chloe

Eli has been sleeping on a mattress in the floor in our bedroom since he broke his leg. For the most part, he is a good sleeper, falling asleep at a decent time and staying asleep. Occasionally, he wakes up to go to the bathroom or find out if it is time to get up. Some nights, he is a rowdy sleeper, moving around and talking a lot. Sometimes he shouts for someone to get away. Sometimes he shoos animals away. The other night, he told Chloe to put on her skirt. I had no idea who Chloe was until Huts told me she was the character on the TV show they watch every morning. Mystery solved!

Huts snores. I jump. Eli talks. Christian sleep walks. I have no idea what Tori does in her sleep.

A Week and A Half

Eli gets his cast off after Thanksgiving weekend, and hopefully, he will be back to his independent self in no time. He has gotten really lazy these past few weeks and accustomed to ordering us around. But that is going to come to an end real soon. We are hoping he adjusts fairly easily and starts doing things for himself again. He can be downright vicious when you misunderstand his wishes!

On another note, we are putting the Christmas stuff up next week. That should really fan the flames of Batman fever. He’s got a whole wishlist of Batman stuff, and he cannot wait for Christmas. Thanksgiving means nothing to him other than Christmas coming up afterwards. The thought of that brings out the Eli grin and handwringing!

Batman

For the longest time, Eli was hooked on Disney Pixar Cars. He has quite the collection of Mater, Lightning McQueen and the gang. He even has a Cars poster and comforter. He still likes them, but recently, he has gotten hooked on superheroes. It all started with some old Super Friends videos we had gotten for Christian a long time ago. Eli watched them, and suddenly, his world expanded. Christian’s old Batman stuff became his favorites, and we have spent many days playing Batman, Robin and the Joker. He has asked for a whole Batman city for Christmas, which Santa is slowly finding. Meanwhile, he is making up all kinds of games with Batman and even has the Batman voice down. The next time you see Eli, be sure to ask him about his Batman cast and his Batman voice.

Better

Eli has made progress in his recovery.  He got his blue cast off on Monday.  He did not like it at all!  They have not changed the cast cutting machine in a long time.  It is loud and scary looking, especially for a child.  He kept scooting away from the machine so I had to hold his leg in place so the cast could be cut off.  He screamed and cried the entire time.  He had me cover his face and ears so he couldn't hear it or see it.  Eventually he got it off.  When it came off, he still wasn't happy.  His knee and ankle were stiff and his skin was dry.  He didn't like it and kept complaining that it hurt.

I carried him into the x-ray room for x-rays and the doctor said everything looked good on those.  I took him back to the room and distracted him by playing dumb about batman characters and what they did.  It worked for the most part, but he was still impatient and "in pain".

The doctor came in and wasn't able to convince him that everything would be ok.  He got a stool for his foot and only put 2 bandages on this time.  He chose black so he could be like batman.  He loves it and is able to walk on it a little bit.  He was tentative for the first few days, but now he is ready to try anything.  I think he was more comfortable with his leg bent at the knee while walking.  Now it's kinda clumsy, especially with the cast being so slippery.  He has a walking boot with a rubber sole that helps on the tile.  Most of the time he scoots around on the tile floor and makes it wherever he wants to go.  In the not too distant future Eli will be able to beat the pants off of his 83-year-old grandpa in a foot race like he did this past summer!

Bwoken Weg

For those of you who do not yet know, Eli broke his leg on Friday. No one knows the real story. He was at the babysitter’s. She was in the bathroom when Eli said he fell down. He was playing Zombies or Green Ninja and probably jumped on something. Anyway, he has two to three fractures in his lower leg. After three hours at prompt care, he came home with a temporary cast and loads of medicine. Then yesterday he got a light blue cast. This remains for the next four weeks. Then he will get a walking cast. He was upset at first, but now he feels better and is milking the situation for everything it is worth. He has his dad running around like crazy, and his brother and sister too. He has me getting him drinks and snacks. He detests the sponge baths, but he loves all of the one-on-one attention. Four hours of video games last night plus a ton of SpongeBob.

Almost There

Eli went to his bed last night without a fuss. We tucked him in, gave him a kiss and that was that. He fell asleep fast and did not get up until this morning. In fact, Huts had a very hard time getting him up and going. He wanted to sleep in—the weekend finally caught up with him I guess. He also ate his dinner without fuss, another miracle. We just might have him ready for kindergarten after all.

Improving

Huts has been working hard with Eli to get him to eat his dinner and go to bed. Thanks to Huts’ efforts, Eli has been sitting down and eating a few bites of food with a lot less complaint. He is also learning to conquer his fears and go to sleep in his bed. Last night, I could tell he was tired so I sat on the bottom of the bed rather than keep going in there to shoo away his fears. He was out in about 5 minutes, and this time, he did not wake up and make his way into our room. He slept the whole night through in his bed. What a big boy! Too bad Christian fell out of his bed and does not remember a thing about it. Must have been sleepwalking.

From Bed to the Couch

Huts has had it with Eli’s terrible sleeping habits. So, last night, he made Eli go to bed rather than fall asleep to the TV. After a few times of shooing him back inside his room, Huts went in one last time to check on Eli and found him asleep. We heard nothing more from Eli until this morning when I saw his door open and his pillow in the hallway. I found the little wandered asleep on the couch. Huts tried to find out when he made his way downstairs but Eli had no answer for him. So, who knows. We’ll see how tonight goes and whether he ends up on the couch.

The Last of it

Eli got his room painted this weekend, a deep blue. We were going to apply some stickup stripes, but they just did not look right. And, they were really hard to work with, so Eli got his dresser striped. His room has plenty of color now with all of the toys, furniture, etc. We also moved his bed into the middle of the wall so he could access both ladders. He is one happy boy! We’re done with the paint for now. On to a new stair banister!

It Is Spreading

Eli went with us to school on Monday to see the kids off on their first day. He played in the grass while we got the kids in line. He saw Tori crying and wanted to know why she was freaking out. We told him why and let him know it would be his turn next year. He said ok and off we went to the sitter’s. Once we got there, Eli decided he wasn’t ready for the change and started crying. I held him tight, until Sharon took over. She said he was fine within a few minutes of us leaving.

All of the crying on the first day of school made a rocky morning for me. I felt like the worst mother in the world and worried about them all day. Good thing, Huts and I had massages scheduled. For the first time ever, I relaxed and let Sally massage away the stresses of the day. She did a great job! And I was very relaxed and happy to see the kids at the end of the day!

Birthday Boy

Today Eli turned 4, and he started off the morning with cupcakes for the babysitting kids. Out of the delicious array of multi-colored cupcakes, Eli chose red velvet with cream cheese icing. He and his sister also got a donut to eat on the way to the babysitter’s.

Tonight after work we are picking up Eli’s cake. He ordered a SpongeBob cake from Hyvee—marble with whipped cream frosting. He is also getting McDonalds for dinner and opening a few presents. Aunt Annie and Uncle Dale are stopping by as well. It should be a great birthday for Eli, followed by a fun weekend.

We have plans to go to Bloomington on Saturday afternoon for lunch, shopping and a trip to a different zoo. Next weekend, we hope to go swimming at Annie’s.

Anyway, Happy Birthday, my little Eli. You’re growing up fast and I can’t believe you’ll be in kindergarten next year!

Back to Normal

 The kids saw their great-grandparents and grandparents this weekend. They had a blast at Worlds of Fun and the nature center, and then came the long drive back. They were ready to get home, so when we learned that Huts’ grandfather has passed away, we decided to keep the kids home and Huts went alone. So, for two days, the kids had no daddy to call on. They were remarkably calm and good natured, though they did sleep with me one night. Eli, of course, missed his dad the most. The first thing he told Huts on the phone was he loved and missed him. He was bound and determined to stay up last night and see his daddy. He made it and seemed happy this morning that everything was back to normal. 

Tag A Long

Eli was a 'guest' at Tori's party.  One of his friends from the babysitter's (Mya) came to the party and the two had a blast together.  Eli was included with the girls and they didn't mind at all.  Unfortunately for him, he had to sleep on a couple cushions so the girls could all have a mattress to sleep on.  He didn't mind though because he didn't know!  He was asleep first out of the pack and was put on his temporary bed.  Luckily he slept all night.  He had a good time and is probably ready for the next part...his parents however are not.

10 Loose Teeth

Tori lost her front tooth, and of course, that prompted Eli to claim he had loose teeth too—10 of them! He points to his teeth and tells everyone he will soon be losing them all! Ha! He wouldn’t know what to do if he lost all of his teeth. He wouldn’t be able to have all of his snacks.

Squeaker

We have a new cat. He is all black and one of the last of Annie’s cat’s litter. He chirps like a bird and squeaks like a mouse, hence the name Squeaker. The kids have yet to play with him. We got him the day after they went to their grandparents’ house. We have shown them the new kitty by skyping, and Eli is happy. He keeps asking us about the kitty, where it is, what it is doing. I’ve picked up Squeaker and shown him and his sister a few times, but I can tell they will be ready to see the cat themselves this Sunday.

Yep, the kids come back this Sunday, which means Huts and I get Friday night and Saturday to ourselves. We got a couple of tickets to a trolley tour on Saturday, and who knows what we will do on Friday. I miss the kids, but I am enjoying the little break—especially since I know what fun they are having!

Will He Or Won't He?

Eli is also going on our trip. He has his clothes packed for Grandma and Grandpa’s but who knows if he will really go. He says he is going, we have told him that we will not be there and then he starts talking about Tori in his bunk bed. Clearly, he does not quite get the concept, so we will see if he goes or not.

Huts could use a break from all of the daddy requests, so he is hoping that Eli goes. It would certainly be strange to have a kid-free week. We’ll see. On another note, we may be getting another kitty. Annie has one more litter to give away, and Junior, our newest cat, could use a playmate. We are tossing around a lot of names that go with Junior from Bubba to Cletus. Wish us luck!

When's My Birthday

Eli understood it was Christian’s birthday. He couldn’t tell me Happy Mother’s Day because it was Christian’s birthday. He still wanted to
know when his birthday was and what kind of cake and presents he would be getting. We explained he had a couple of months to wait and then he could pick out his own cake and presents. That made him happy, but like Tori, he would have preferred that his birthday had been on May 13 too.

Eli our little monster is turning into Mr. Lovable. All weekend long, he hugged us and told us how much he loved us. No big deal for Huts, but a major deal for me. Eli is a total Daddy’s boy, so for him to love on me was a small miracle. Now, that’s a real Mother’s Day gift.

When Is My Birthday?

In all of this birthday talk about Christian’s and Tori’s special days, Eli has started asking his dad when his birthday is and how old he will be. We’ve told him it is in August and he will be 4. That doesn’t mean a pile of beans to him, of course, and he tells us often that his birthday is tomorrow and he is getting a cake. We correct him, and then he starts talking about the Buzz Lightyear  rocket ship he wants. We looked for that yesterday and found nothing. He settled for a small rocket and told me he was going to pretend it was a rocket ship. Funny boy!

Mr. Eli has also learned the tough lesson that you have to eat dinner before you get any snacks. We’ve been waiting for months for his eating habits to change—he loves to snack and skip or eat cereal, oatmeal or macaroni for dinner. I lost my patience one day and told him he could not have pudding with his dinner. He had to eat a few bites of his dinner before he could have pudding. He wailed, I put him in timeout and eventually he came around. Now he knows. Surprise, surprise, he knows he has to eat part of his dinner before he gets any snacks. He gets up on the bar stool, eats and then asks me if he has eaten enough to get a snack. Who knew it was going to be that simple?

Rough Night For Dad

Usually when Huts and I go to bed, Eli has fallen asleep and we put him into his bed. Not last night. As I came up the stairs, there he was. He told Huts he wanted to sleep with him, so I went to Eli’s bed. Poor Huts. When I came into the bedroom this morning, he was scrunched on the edge of the bed with Eli in the middle. Maybe tonight Eli will fall asleep and Huts will get a reprieve.

Toys, toys, toys. Eli is totally into dragging out as many toys as he can and scattering them around the house. I bet I spent 20 minutes this morning picking up toys and putting them away. I wish I knew why Eli had to get out all of his toys. It’s not like he plays with them. Oh well. Soon he will be picking up his own toys. That should produce some wails, like it did when I told the kids they had to pick up their bedrooms. Christian and Tori did it quickly. Eli gave it a shot—his dad found him in his room crying because it was too big of a job. I can’t believe he took me seriously.

Eli the Maniac

Eli had a great Easter! He was wild the whole time, running down people with his bike and cars, tossing eggs, shooting his watergun at trees, ramming his head into the couch and anyone sitting on it, and so on. According to him, Santa is the only one who brings toys. The Easter bunny hides eggs and brings Legos—the very gifts he got for Easter!

He wasn’t into dyeing the eggs, but he did like painting them and made a real mess of that. He snacked a lot, but not on the candy like I thought he would. He got a Cars 2 airplane and ran that all over the house. He crashed his head into Christian and then me, and then cried about it. This morning, I found him in the hallway with Junior. It was 4:30, and apparently he had gotten up and was lying in the hallway. Not sure why he didn’t come into our room like usual. He slept another hour in our bed and then got dressed and grabbed his new toys to take to Sharon’s.

And He's Off

Eli got a bike with training wheels, and there was no looking back. He hopped on that bike this weekend and biked all over the parking lot. Then he biked all the way home, about a mile, without stopping and without complaining. “I can do it. I can do anything!” he told me over and over. He took another short ride yesterday and told me he was done with his trike and I could sell it. Watch out world, we may have an athlete on our hands!

Disaster

Eli is our free spirit. He is more open and more vocal about his needs and wants. Last night was a good case in point. All five of us went to Christian’s Boy Scout Banquet. Was Eli good? Not a chance. He ran around the cafeteria until it was time for the program to begin, then he fell onto the mat by the door and whimpered. I figured he was going to throw a major fit soon, so I hauled him out of there. We walked up and down the hall, then we returned to eat. He was ok during dinner, eating but interrupting his dad often with the question, “What’s so funny?” He threw yet another fit when Huts was working through the volcano. He wanted to help, got food coloring all over his hand and threw a huge fit when the kids booted him out of the way. We went to the hallway for a second time and stayed there through most of the ceremony. I got to see Christian get his badge while Eli played under the table. What a mess!

Eli is lively and has no qualms about getting your attention. The other night during dinner as we were helping the other two, he yelled out, “Are you listening to me!!!!!!” We all cracked up laughing because it was so shocking. What a mess indeed!

Chatterbox

Eli can be moody, but yesterday afternoon, he was in a great mood. He had loads to say and loads of questions. Why are we going to the bakery? Where are Tori and Christian? What we getting at the bakery? And so forth. He kept up the chattering in the car and long into the night.

This morning, he woke up with more questions. Why are there school buses? Who is getting on the bus? Where is the bus going? And so forth. Who knows what he asked his dad on the way to the sitter’s.

Eli appeared to have fun at the waterpark this past weekend too. He liked the swimming and the games. He rode a few rides. Then he got tired and was a real stinkpot. He laid down in line at the sweet shop—people got a kick out of that. He laid down on the floor many times at the rides. Ugh—finally we got him back to the room and Huts got him to sleep. He was better on Sunday, though he ran off from me several times. Yeah, he’s a runner. He loves to run off when you are trying to shop. He gets into trouble for it, but it never seems to curb his behavior. We’re hoping he settles down by age 4. If not, I guess he is going to be seeing the time out chair a lot!

At Home Boy

Like his siblings, Eli likes to be at home alone.  While we went to the Globetrotter's game last night, Eli stayed at home with his Mama.  He was better for her by himself than he is when everyone is home.  He gets a bit riled up by the extra people and activity.  He watched the shows he wanted to watch and sang along with Dora and Diego.  He got fewer snacks than usual and was happy to play by himself.  He was laying down in the bed when we got home from the game, but he got up, ran and hugged my leg when he saw me.  After that I had him lay back down and shut the door so the other kids wouldn't keep him up.  He usually falls asleep in our bed watching a show and that night was no different.  It all depends on how tired he is when he falls asleep.  Later this year, he'll be put to bed on his own at a decent bed time.  


Eli also likes playing by himself or with Mya at the sitter's house.  He usually gets lost in the shuffle when there are a lot of kids there.  Most days, he's there by himself and loves it.  He gets to watch TV in Sharon's room and can crawl under the covers and get comfortable if he wants.  He runs errands with her and is always well behaved she says.  Now if we could only get him to stop running over our ankles with the grocery cart.

Flying Solo Again

Eli is once again going to the sitter’s on his own. He takes some toys, chooses a TV to watch and has a lot of fun all on his own. He is fantastic at playing by himself. He makes up games all of the time at home and off he goes. He also does a pretty good job of playing with Tori. He loves to play house with her. What he does not do is play well with kids he doesn’t know. He gets mad at the store when other kids are playing with the train table or games. He is not into sharing at all! Imagine that—the youngest not being into sharing.

Weave Me Awone Daddy!

Shocks of all shocks, Eli turned on his dad last night. As most of you know, Eli is a Daddy’s boy. He wants Daddy to do everything for him. He only turns to me when Daddy is not around. Last night, after an argument with Daddy in the bathroom, Eli decided he would rather deal with me and told Huts to take a hike. Huts was never so thrilled in his life to be dismissed and relegated to supper duty. Mommy was the name of the game until this morning when Eli was back to being Daddy’s boy.

Eli typically wakes up crabby, and in addition to telling me to leave him alone, he fought with Tori. He insisted that he was the only one going to Sharon’s, which, of course, he wasn’t. Tori tried to tell him otherwise, but he wouldn’t listen. She broke down in tears, and I put an end to that conversation. Hopefully, everything went OK when the two went into Sharon’s. Eli is the youngest and accustomed to flying solo with Sharon, so who knows how well he reacted to another day of kids.