Happy Birthday Eli!

Eli's birthday was February 23rd. It was a Thursday so I had to work and Jeff was on little boy duty. But, we managed to get a little celebrating in before school that day. This is the birthday boy, waking up on his second birthday!

Thursday night after school/work Jeff and the boys had a little Thomas cake with Eli, along with their customary Thursday "Happy Meal Night." Meantime, I was having a little pity party for myself in class that night, wanting to be home with my boys, celebrating Eli's birthday. Lately I've been amazed at myself and how I can take the most wonderful blessing from God, take it for granted and manage to make myself unhappy, in spite of all my blessings. I'm trying to do better and live more thankfully. Anyway, the following Saturday we had a family party for Eli. Many of his cousins and grandparents came to the party. We played, had cake and ice cream and played some more. Here are the big boys, ready for the par-tay!

Eli is a huge Thomas fan so a Thomas cake it was! It was delicious!

Our sweet family :)

The birthday boy!

A quick picture of the little cake the boys had on Eli's actual birthday.

So what's Eli like at two years old? I love to write about the boys on their birthdays but I always feel intimidated by the task. I never feel confident in my ability to adequately describe the birthday boy, at that point in time. Regardless, here's my best attempt. Eli is still a wonderful boy. He's still so very sweet, even in the midst of a two year old moment. He's picked up some attitude, mostly from copying his big brothers. He has Nathan's "NOTHING" down pat and never ceases to make me giggle when he says very forcefully, "NO THANK YOU!!!" not realizing he's actually being polite when he's trying to assert himself. He loves loves trains and could play with them all day. He loves to watch UmiZoomie, Thomas, Dora, Mike the Knight and Calliou (uhh, I think we may be watching too much TV). He was in the 75% for height and 10% for weight at his last checkup. I find myself letting him eat all kinds of things, just to get him to eat something. He loves white doughnuts, Nutragrain cereal bars and fruit snacks more than anything else. I have yet to find a single vegetable he'll eat (and I try daily). He'll eat some fruits, like strawberries, occasionally bananas and pineapples and apples. He talks so much and amazes me with new words and phrases daily. He wants to know the names of things and tries to say the words too. I love to watch him run, the stiff leg is almost gone and he is transitioning into a full little boy run. He still loves books and cries each night when we finish reading and I turn off the light. Some nights after we read and start to rock, we'll sing a little Jesus Loves Me. In his sweet little voice he does his best to sing with me. It's absolutely the sweetest thing I've ever heard. You are such a gift Eli and each day I love you more. I can't wait to see what God has in store for you!