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.