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.