Dear Eliot: You are FIVE!

Dear Eliot,

I cannot believe I am actually typing this up as five years old just seems so big and grown up! There is such a big difference between four and five and five just SOUNDS so much older. 

You are currently very into legos, anything with an engine, puzzles, transformers, the hangman game, and your new favorite obsession is scavenger hunts.  Your favorite colors are red, orange, and black.  Your favorite foods are anything that they serve at a football stadium minus nachos.  Eating is an uphill battle but you are willing to try a bite of anything so there's that.

We love, love, love your imagination and storytelling and Daddy is thrilled that you are starting to get interested in magic tricks.  There is nothing cuter in this whole wide world than watching you make something or yourself disappear. 

You love learning and are constantly curious.  You are starting to sound words out and I'm sure you have done a lot more in school but the first word you pointed to, sounded out and got correct was FART.  School is such a great outlet for you and you strive to please your teachers and classmates.  You are gentle and sweet with others with a smidge of bossiness on the side. 

You love to be right and you LOVE to win.  Last year was a struggle with poor losing (and winning actually) but you are coming around are able to shake your opponent's hand and say "Good game".  Sorry and Candy Land can get pretty heated! Ha!

Eliot, we love your sweet spirit, your quick smile (those dimples!), your love of all things potty humor (maybe Daddy loves that trait of yours more), and your neverending curiosity.  Please don't lose any of these!!

xoxo
Mommy

Four Year Checkup

 

Eliot had his four year check up the other day and I just watched in amazement as he jabbered and did everything as he was told.  He did NOT STOP TALKING (I know y'all can't imagine that from my child.) and after showing his pediatrician his multiple band aids on his knees, the doctor asked him if his mom every wanted to put a band aid on his mouth. Ha!!

 

He got to do his first ear test since he was born and he aced it! They told him to choose a word or an action (like thumbs up or hand up) to let them know if he heard the beep.  He chose the word "frack".  He's very environmental and concerned with the fracking in Texas.  JAY-KAY! He loves to make up words and they typically start with the letter f so you can imagine how nervous that makes us, especially while going to the pediatrician, the grocery store, the bank line, etc, etc.  I think it even made the nurse nervous because she eventually asked him to raise his hand.

 

His eyesight is 20/20 and he is now vaccinated against polio and chicken pox.  Bless him, they have NO WHERE to really stick it so they have to pinch him first to have a place to prick him.  All in all giving my stick figure child shots is very tricky and awful, but the second you say sucker he dries it up and is ready to go! 

 

Since he's been to the doctor SO MUCH in his little life, going is like a fun activity to him.  He can catch up with the doc and all the nurses and always ends up saying hilarious things (see above).  Next we will venture to the dentist and he seems equally excited about that.  We shall see!

Dear Eliot: You are four. Stop.

Dear Eliot,

You are four now and it sounds exponentially older than three for some reason.  You like to remind us at all times (especially when we say you can't do something) that you are four.  As if that should change our minds and solve all problems.  "But I'm already four."  That is what you say. 

The best thing EVER to you is a task.  You like to feel needed and important and helpful.  This is perfect for me because you will put your dirty clothes in the washer, throw away your trash, put your dishes by the sink, brush your teeth, get dressed, and put on your shoes. 

You love to ask us for an activity or a project (your words) and it can be as simple as stacking dominoes or a little more complex such as a detailed craft.  This makes you busy and important and we love watching you as you tackle these things.

Numbers are your very best friend and you're proud to announce to anyone that will listen that you can count to 1,000 by hundreds and to 100 by tens.  The teacher has pulled us aside and told us you work extra hard and long on number activities and this is proof that genes can skip a generation.  By the time you reach fifth grade, you will have to call grandparents for math homework help.  Sorry, bud.  Feel free to come to us about anything regarding drama/music class or snack time and recess. We are your people when it comes to those daunting subjects.

Your curiosity is amazing and you soak up SO MUCH at this age.  You remember everything (sometimes not good for us) and once you have retained new information you love to share it with anyone who doesn't know it or will pretend they didn't know it. 

We are starting to see more of your personality and all of its sides which is super exciting.  Most of the time we can predict what you will like, not like, or do but we can never guess what you will say which is my favorite.  Thank goodness for our #eliotsays because we do not want to forget the gems that come out of your mouth.  Some surprising, some sweet, some brutally honest, some unintentionally hilarious and we love ALL OF THEM. 

You are observant, cautious, kind, well mannered, greedy (I mean you ARE four), curious, hilarious, thoughtful, smart, argumentative, competitive (you beat us all the time in candy land..HOW??), you wear your heart on your sleeve, creative, imaginative, sees things as black and white (this can be tricky sometimes) and just all around FUN. 

We whisper about you at night after you've gone to bed just so you know.  We talk about the things you said and did, the things we hope you learn from us, and sometimes we just talk about how much we love you and can't believe you are ours.  We are obviously crazy about you and can't wait to see what this year brings. 

Please quit reminding us that next you'll be FIVE.

Thanks,
Daddy and Mommy

Eliot is 4!

If you look closely, you can see where E wanted to spend some time at his birthday party.  He needed a break he told us, from his friends and the cold.  Fair enough.

Since E likes to play imaginary guitar and drums while Miles and Valerie lead worship at church, they got him a string guitar FOR REAL.  He loves it and has already asked to join the worship band.  I'm sure Miles and Val will be holding auditions soon so cross your fingers bud!

The sequence of this kills me.  It speaks for itself.

Eliot got his first bicycle and loves it.  Lesson #5433 in parenting: Don't buy your child an outside toy for their February birthday.  It took two weeks before he could ride it outside.  Lesson learned.

School birthday party and the friends who chose for his table.  They're all crazy little monsters and we love them.

Eliot's celebration of life and walk around the sun.  Gets me every time we do this at his school.  Excuse me, I have something in my eye.

FOUR YEAR OLD QUESTIONNAIRE

 

 

• What is your favorite color?  RED
• What is your favorite animal?  GIRAFFE
• What is your favorite book?  LLAMA LLAMA RED PAJAMA
• What is you favorite TV Show?  OCTONAUTS
• What is your favorite movie?  MATER'S TALL TALES
• What is your favorite song?  FEEL THE MAGIC IN THE AIR (by Magic System)
• What is your favorite food?  CUPCAKES
• What is your favorite drink? JUICE (capris sun)
• What is your favorite breakfast?  CEREAL AND APPLESAUCE
• What is your favorite snack?  APPLESAUCE POUCH
• What is your favorite outfit?  BLACK AND WHITE SHIRT
• What is your favorite game?  COOTIES
• What is your favorite toy?  CAPTAIN AMERICA
• Who is your best friend?  WILLIAM
• What is your favorite thing to do? WATCH TV ALL DAY
• What is your favorite thing to do outside?  RIDE BICYCLE
• What is your favorite holiday?  VALENTINE'S DAY
• What do you like to take to bed with you?  CEASE (what he calls his blanket)
• Where is your favorite place to go?  PEROT MUSEUM
• What is your favorite restaurant?  LOVER'S PIZZA
• Where is your favorite vacation spot?  FLORIDA, AT THE BEACH
• What do you want to be when you grow up?  FIREMAN
• What do you want to do for you birthday? EAT CHERRY CUPCAKES

Our State Fair is a Great State Fair

This morning I woke up and remembered that it's $3 to get into the fair with three canned goods.  Next Wednesday I will be in Houston for work and after that we will just be entering Crazy Town with our schedules.  This felt like the time for a spontaneous trip to the fair!

 

 

 

I love how much Eliot LOVED these barnyard animals! He wasn't nervous at all (not like him) to feed all of them.  Even after the zebra bit him.  Aren't those baby piggies cute?!

 

I love many things about this little girl and it would take my whole blog post to list them.  I will focus on her eyebrow.  She can cock that eyebrow so quickly with such emphasis and ease.  I'm very jealous actually.  She WAS a little nervous (they somehow switched roles) about the feeding of these animals and it was hilarious to watch.

 

In the children's section of the fair, there is a pretend farm and the kids get to plant a seed, "feed animals", drive a tricycle tractor,  "pick peaches", "milk a cow", etc.  Most of it was pretend but Eliot got the biggest kick out of it!

 

After the barnyard animal fun, pretend farm, and snack...it was time for a little break.  The fair can be exhausting!

 

The big greenhouse has waterfalls and trains which happen to be a lovely (air conditioned) combination.  Eliot honestly could have stayed in this exhibit for hours.  If you notice, his new thing is to cross his arms and wait patiently for something.  He never looks happy about it which always makes me giggle.

 

I mean....

 

RIDES! Last year he wanted to ride but when it started he was immediately asking to get off.  This year he at least waited a whole two minutes before asking to get down.  Once he discovered the tractors above, he was GIDDY.  He was sad when it was over and just squealed and smiled the whole way through.  So proud of him and realizing that maybe in two or three years we MIGHT consider Disney World. I know.

Love Thy Neighbor

 

I saw a news story the other day that has nothing to do with neighbors, but this woman admitted that in this scenario she met her neighbor for the first time.  She had been living in the neighborhood for YEARS. 

 

This absolutely baffles me.  How sad to not know the people living their lives RIGHT NEXT TO YOU.  I love my street and my wonderful neighbors that love on us.  We live in a diverse neighborhood that has all walks of life, all age groups, all college football teams covered (those flags wave high come football season, y'all) etc. and I'm so glad that Eliot is getting to know these folks. 

 

If you have two eyes and have perused my social networking sites you have noticed a little girl that makes many appearances in my feeds.  Her name is Embry and she lives down the street from us with her wonderful parents Cori and Jacob.  The path between our  houses is WORN.  I have so many other stories of families that I can share that have watched us move in, get involved in our community, have a baby, and the like. 

 

I seriously hope that WHEREVER you live, you know at least a few people that are doing life several feet from your front door.  I am so blessed by my people and know you could be too.

 

Just call me Kimmy Gibbler,

 

Lauren

Dear Eliot: 3.5

Oh sweet Eliot,

 

You are now three and half years and I cannot believe it.  You're such a sweet, tall, gangly little mess of a boy and it is not possible to love you any more!

 

You are so inquisitive and constantly curious.  Just curious about EVERYTHING.  You have asked us where God comes from and I don't think I could be prepared to answer that ever, but was NOT expecting it this soon.  You will not take "I don't know" for answer even if we truly, literally do not know.  Which let me just apologize here and say you were not blessed with high IQ parents so you might be a little disappointed with our answers for a while. 

 

You are in the mode of thinking you are SO big and SO strong and any mention of you being my precious baby or having a tiny bottom just sends you into an emotional state (check out my video on Instagram to witness this conundrum for yourself).   You want to rescue everyone and help everyone and it's just the cutest.  Oh, and when you're in this "mode" your voice lowers several octaves and I pull out my college theatre knowledge to keep a straight face.

You are still a very cautious child (all thirty pounds of you) but seem to be getting braver about things.  I personally love having a cautious child as we don't need to add to our number of ER visits, but am so proud when you conquer something yourself like a bounce house full of rambunctious children or COTTON CANDY.

 

Speaking of cotton candy, you had your first taste of it and do you know what you did?? You took the treat off of the paper cone like a bow on a present and handed it to your dad.  You then put the cone to your lips and tipped your head back to "drink" whatever candy was in it.  PRICELESS.  Once you figured out that the candy was the fluffy stuff you got excited and immediately knowledgeable and killed it.  YOU.LOVE.SUGAR. (That's my baby.)

 

Eliot you are so smart and sweet.  Space, dinosaurs, chickens hatching from eggs (for some odd reason), and cooking have captured your attention.  I thank school for this entirely.  They introduce you to new delightful subjects every day and you latch onto them. 

(Eliot's impression of a chick hatching)

 

Here are some of your interests:

 

Favorite Food: pizza

Favorite Drink: water

Favorite Show: Mighty Machines

Favorite Snack: Fruit Snacks

Favorite Dessert: Tiramisu

Favorite Color: Yellow

Halloween Costume (bc I know this will change): a ghost

Favorite Toy: Train Table

Best Friend: Embry

 

"I just want to watch my show, Mom. Quit looking at me and asking questions."

 

Okay! So there you go. 

 

E, you're the best thing that has ever happened to us. 

 

Mom and Dad

Forever Young

 

I'm watching Patrick spin Eliot around so that he can feel like Super Man (whom he just discovered).  I am in awe of this precious child's imagination and his love of adventure.  It makes me emotional as I silently pray, "God, let time stop just for a day. I can't get enough of this precious boy." 

 

I know that one day this little innocent will back talk me and think I'm totally lame.  He won't believe that he can fly to go rescue someone or that he, as sure as it's hotter than the hinges right now, can go put out a fire BY HIMSELF.  He truly believes he can do this and I love him for it. 

 

Right now he is telling knock-knock jokes in the middle of his prayers and purposefully passing gas to get a laugh out of Dad and squealing every time it thunders and asking me a billion questions.

 

He is almost three and a half and I'm not going to pretend that this age has been unicorns and rainbows.  We have had our rough days of looking at each other and asking, "What has possessed our child??"  But today, with the sun coming through our dining room window while he and Patrick giggle and "fly"...I soak it in.   

 

There is a new version out of Forever Young by Bob Dylan that plays on Kids Place Live XM.  Every time it comes on I turn it up and weep.  Feel the feelings, y'all. (Below is the Bob D. version as the Andrew and Polly version isn't up yet.)

 

What a sweet prayer for a child.  For me. Now excuse me while I go get a tissue.

 

 

 

Progressing and Reporting

Eliot has finished his school year (well, awhile ago) and I wanted to post his letter from his teachers and his "progress report".  I love that Eliot is in a day school and is learning constantly.  I also find it kind of funny that he gets "evaluated".  I'm kind of like my friend Julie and feel like if he's safe, having fun, and isn't at my ankles while I'm trying to work...we are all good here.

 

Regardless, it's nice to hear what others say about your child as they seem to act totally different at school then at home.  Gasp! Who would've thunk it.

 

 

 

 

I will really miss these teachers.  They were always so real with me and let me know the good, the bad, and the ugly.  We could all laugh together in the hall over things he said and did that day and it's a nice little bonding you can have with someone who deeply cares for your child.  It takes a village, folks.

 

Okay, so on to the progress report.  The evaluation scale goes like this:

 

1.  New lesson

2.  Making progress

3.  Mastered

 

I will point out the ones that Patrick and I noticed right off the bat and had a good chuckle over, puffed out with pride over, or thought "Whoopsie! We might need to work on that." I'll go ahead and calm some of your thoughts and say that he got A LOT of 2's as I imagine everyone did. Ha!

 

Communication skills (3) ...Duh.

Group Time Cooperation (3) ..This actually surprised us as he is naturally a loner. 

Manners (2)..Whoops!

Rolling a rug (3)..This is serious life application folks. 

Sorting (3)...He gets this from his Daddy.  So neat and likes things in order!

Puzzles (3)...Love!

Flower Arranging (3) ...Also serious life application.

Geometric shapes (3)...Has been enthralled with shapes since he was a baby so this was neat.

Measuring cups (1)...This equals fractions.  Bless it.  He will get a double dose of unlucky genes there.

Self Confidence (2)..He seems to think he hung the moon at our house so maybe this is good that at school he is down a peg. 

Environment, sea animals, and wild animal flash cards (3)...Daddy's influence and I LOVE it.

Painting (3)

Days of the week (2)..has to sing them. Heehee.

Works without disturbing others (2)..I always FAILED at this bc I talked too much.  I have an inkling that is not his problem.  My guess is that he's telling them how to do it.  Ha!!

Relates well to peers (3)..Honestly this is the one that I will be most concerned about all of his years in our house. 

 

All of this is very sweet and endearing and kind of eye opening all at once.  It reminded me and Patrick what our goals are for E and what we hope he can accomplish in his life.  I do not care if he is smart or athletic.  I do not care if he is the best or the worst at everything.  We want Eliot to love God first, be kind to EVERYONE, and it would be an added bonus if he could have some social graces in one on one and crowded room situations.  So obviously we will need to move that 2 in manners to a 3.

 

Oh, and he must be a good flower arranger.  So, I think we are good!

 

 

Family Vacay: 2014

 

 

This is how my son wants to watch his shows on my iphone.  Bless him.  It was so early!!

 

Waiting for the rental car like a champ.  That rental car ended up being a sweet mini van!

So let me tell you about our little adventure.  It took FOREVER and a day to get this sweet swagger wagon.  Then we accidentally went on a toll road which immediately sent Patrick into convulsions and exclaiming that we would have to pay $786,897,989 in fees because we didn't sign up for a toll tag.  They don't have automatic tolls yet in Florida (come on Florida) so we have to MAIL the .75 in.  Immediately.  We didn't bring a check book (when will these go away??) so we had to get a money order from our bank.  Which we had to find a branch of.  So we ask Siri and she of course takes us to a Bank of America corporate office.  So we ask again and we finally get a walk in bank.  That does not have stamps.  Now we have to go to a drugstore and gets stamps and find a mail drop off.  I took this picture, above, when we were waiting for Patrick to mail our .75 money order.  Right before this shot, Eliot told me he wasn't sleepy at all and ready for the hotel pool. Bless. 

 

Oh, it's not over my friend.  We then decide on Chic Fil A for lunch because I mean..why not? Every person living and breathing in Tampa, FL is in this Chic Fil A. We sit outside at the only table available and as we are enjoying our scrumptious fried chicken deliciousness, Patrick gets a phone call from the airport saying we picked up the wrong suitcase.  And that the person is waiting.  So we SHOVEL our remaining food in our mouths and speed back to the airport to switch bags.  After all of this, there was nothing sweeter than seeing our Holiday Inn Express off the highway.  

 



Leaving said Holiday Inn after swimming, having a pizza party, watching (the first three minutes of) Kung Fu Panda II, jumping from bed to bed, and sleeping like the dead.

 

We can't check into our condo in Pass A Grille until three so we moseyed around St. Pete and found a beach front restaurant called Crabby Bills.  How could you not eat at a Crabby Bills?

 

I have said it once and I will say it again.  All the single ladies...find a man who cooks.  This man tirelessly played with Eliot on the beach before and after naps, would haul everything in from the beach, and then prepare an AMAZING dinner.  Every night.  And we are not talking spaghetti or scrambled eggs every night.  He meal planned and prepared an awesome menu and made sure everyone was well fed and happy.  He is seriously incredible.

Don't you love that kids today can love Mr. Rogers as much as I did and as much as my mom did? I just love him.

Eliot's first virgin pina colada!  And I just realized he preferred it naked.  All the power to him.

 



And of course he loved it.  

 

Eliot's fake smile after a complete meltdown.  He got chocolate ice cream and I ordered it in a cup with a cone on top because even an adult cannot eat ice cream fast enough on a FL summer day.  It's really pointless.  He cried during the whole thing and then drank the rest.  This is the face I got afterwards.  I guess he decided it was worth it after all. 

And then out of nowhere, he spiked a 103 fever on the first full day.  We are no strangers around here to Eliot being sick.  It happens quite often, sadly, but for some reason he is NOT a fever baby.  We have been to the ER twice and he has never had a fever either time so this was scary to us to say the least. 

Next day...felt fantastic! 

 

I just love those feet so much.

 

Let me tell you something about Pass A Grille.  It is a twenty minute drive from the Tampa airport.  It has beach one side of the town (which is one block wide) and bay on the other side.  There are a handful of restaurants and maybe two bars.  There are zero high rise condos.  The tallest building in this lovely town is six stories high.  There is no put put, no airbrush t-shirts, no spring breakers, no jet skis.  Makes us sound like fuddy duds but I'm telling you it is so peaceful and really MAKES you spend all of your time on a gorgeous beach that is one of the best in the US.  That's not my opinion that is based on votes!  We will go as long as they have us. 

This picture, above, shows one of the restaurants where people gather on the second floor patio and watch the sunset.  You can hear them clapping and cheering when it goes down.  Two or three doors down is our condo. 

 

Almost ten years, y'all!

 

So it got to where in the afternoons it was storming (which I miss so much about living in FL!) and then just decided to rain all day the last full day we had.  We took it upon ourselves to enjoy this tiny town and its history.  This is at the museum which is in an old church.  For it being so small, it actually had a ton of artifacts and books upon books of pictures.  I LOVE stuff like that so it was cool to see pictures of what it used to look like and since the town is so small there are like three families of note and a few crazy characters. 

 

My heart outside of my body.

 

And at the end of the trip, as we are waiting patiently for our flight, our child asks to be put on his head.  I actually knew exactly what he meant and kind of felt the same.  We have a great, patient traveler on our hands which is great because we are prepping him for many world adventures to come.

 

Until next June!