Eli Update

He is still my easy rule-follower. I can count on him to keep me sane and organized. Eli loves to have a plan - a plan for the day's schedule, a plan for our meals and snacks, and a plan for who he will be seeing and for how long ("will Evan be spending the night or is he just coming over to play for 30 minutes?"). This used to drive me crazy, and occasionally still does when eating breakfast and he asks what's for lunch. But I have learned a little more to put myself in Eli's shoes, and although I'm sure his need for routine is part personality, I know it's also partly from a history of living in the unknown. He is much more adventurous than just a year ago and as I see him process situations in his little mind, I see him more and more decide that he is safe. That is not a humble brag because I'm such a great mother, it's a declaration of God's goodness. I write updates like this to spend time thinking about where each of the kids were and where they are now - it's pretty special to sit front and center watching little lives develop and change, and a great reminder that even though I'm not living in a Romanian orphanage rocking diseased and unloved children or feeding an entire community in South America or living in a destitute shack providing nursing care to HIV infected, hopeless people, I am responsible for making a change. I am sharing the gospel and telling people about Jesus. I am getting the opportunity to love and serve and teach grace to children God loves. I easily (and often) forget my calling. Funnily enough, I can point it out to all my friends and family and see clear-as-the-sun the purpose of being a Christ-following Mother, but my vision gets real fuzzy when I look in the mirror. This blog is like glasses.

Back to Eli.

My boy is fun. He takes silly to a level only little boys can go and makes people laugh mostly because he's laughing so hard at himself. I've said it before but it remains fact - Eli's laugh is the BEST sound in the world. God must love me a lot to have blessed me with this sound, daily heard at the dinner table and in the living room before bedtime. I dare you to try not smiling while Eli laughs.

Eli is starting to enjoy the pool (yeah, that's not a typo) without a float around his waist. Baby steps, but definite pool progress. He loves Wild Kratts and learning about animals. I get about 800 "is the size of a velociraptor the same as a baboon?" kinds of questions every day. I know the answers to maybe 2. Maybe. Building lego towers happens every morning from 6:30-7:00 when it's officially "good morning time." Carbs and candy continue to be dance worthy. And Eli is such a great big brother that it sometimes shocks me. The kids aggravate and fight with each other more than ever, but Eli is so sweet with Mika. We're entering the phase where if he is corrected for something, he holds a grudge for a little while. A couple weeks ago he lost a reward for disobeying something (can't remember details that happened before this morning) and he sulked around for about 10 minutes before I asked him, "Eli are you angry with mommy?" to which he responded, "is that okay?" Haha!! I told him "it's okay to be truthful" and he said, "well, a little." Haha. That kid.

Eli is great at making friends! He loves pretending to be a T-Rex or an alligator or a cheetah. He also enjoys a good game of "baby" where he is the baby, Mika is the mommy, and Maci is the family dog. Sitting still is impossible - he. Can't. Do. It. And he falls asleep every night in under 5 minutes (don't forget to tell him something or give him medicine because waking him up is near impossible). His favorite color is orange and it's a challenge to get him to drink water. He is pretty good at brushing his teeth so he does it solo in the morning and with mommy or daddy's help at night. He loves riding his bike but refuses to learn without training wheels. He is in the elementary group at church and doing really well without his security blanket (Maci) most of the time. Splash pads are the best invention in history.

I am so thankful for my son.