Eli: 5 Years in the Making

Eli had a fabulously frenetic 5th birthday weekend with four days of celebrating. Day 1: Zoo with friends. Great large bird / falconer show. Day 2: Party at our house with Deere expat families. On the street. Craziness. Two boys stayed overnight for a sleepover, which leads us to... Day 3: Indoor Playground party with church friends. Exhausting. Day 4: Treats and mini-party at school. Done. Much cake, cookies, cupcakes, brownies, and candy were consumed. Pictures can be found by clicking here.

Best Weekend Moments: Party streamers - not expensive toys - were the hit of the party with the kids wrapping them around each other and running up & down the street; Three exhausted boys telling 'scary' stories and then teaching each other their favorite bedtime prayer; Watching Eli ride his bike and finding out he can do it; Hearing Eli say "I had a great day, mom!" for four days in a row.

I couldn't speak through most of the weekend. But I did cough a lot. The second, stronger antibiotic seems to be working. Finally.

Suddenly a 5-year-old lives here. While he has a few faults (tattle-tales, bossy, argues), he is also perfect. At least to us. In the last year "Mr. E" has accomplished no less than bike-riding, swinging unassisted, buckling his own seatbelt, able to watch 'scary' Disney movies, early reading, near perfect writing, as well as adding/skip-counting/measuring in math. He is a physically more adventurous kid and, since yanking those tonsils last summer, a healthier one too. He also found time to travel heavily, socialize frantically, and get even cuter in the process.

Eli still primarily loves his cars and trains. This year we expanded into Legos and the Wii which has mixed things up a bit. A little pricey but with the added benefit that they are also fun for mom and dad. In his rare free time Eli can be found asking for volunteers to read to/with him, play a board game, or making up rhyming songs. He has his mother's gift for silly poetry, i'm afraid. He is a joy.