Welcome Spring!

Exciting week!

We have had a very exciting week so far! First of all, Eli has made some huge breakthroughs in speech. He has been doing speech since last May and always works really hard and practices at home, but it is slow going. He can make so many sounds he wasn't able to before, but hasn't ever been able to make a "k" sound (it always came out as a "t"). His speech teacher at school has really been working on it to the point that she was putting on a glove every time and pushing down his tongue with her finger to force the sound to the back of the throat. Here at home he would put his own finger on his tongue to work on it. I guess all the practice has paid off! This week he can officially do a "k" sound without a finger pushing his tongue down! His speech teacher was just as excited as I was! Today she excitedly pulled me in to show me how he could do it on several words. Amazing! He got a special certificate award for doing it on his own finally. Another breakthrough was at Heartspring. One of his main issues with speech is that he substitutes an "l" sound for a lot of things (which has always baffled his speech teachers because "l" is usually a very difficult sound for kids). For example "soap" he would say "loap" or "sock" is "slock" or "yo-yo" would have been "lo-lo". His speech teacher taught him to do this sort of smile when he does his "y" sound and something just clicked with him and he can do it now! "Les" is now "yes" all of a sudden and it is awesome! We went out and celebrated tonight at Braum's because we are so proud of how hard he has worked!

Another fun thing this week was his preschool Olympic day today. He had so much fun! They got to do a parade with their torches and flags and did all sorts of games that worked on team work and sportsmanship. He asked Brandon to come several times, so I was so glad Brandon was able to get off work for a couple of hours to come. Eli did great and had a wonderful time with his classmates. At the end, they had an awards ceremony where they all got a medal and were so proud. Cora had fun playing with the other siblings and cheering Eli on!

We got Eli's lab results back today, which added to my excitement. His celiac test came back negative (which we expected because he eats gluten free), but he tested high for wheat allergy (they'll retest him next year to see where he is at)! I have never suspected that he had an allergy because his symptoms seem a little different, he has more of the intolerance symptoms. Most parents probably wouldn't be dancing a jig at this news, but I was! Just the thought that this could possibly be an allergy that most kids OUTGROW restored hope. I had a sense of doom at the thought of Celiac because it is tied to so many other cancers, autoimmune disorders and life long health problems. If it is just an allergy there is a high chance he will outgrow it by adulthood. Dear God let this be TRUE for him!

4 Year Appointment

I have been nervous for a while about Eli's 4 year checkup (knowing it was going to involve shots and a blood draw). I shouldn't have been worried at all! He loves our pediatrician and was fine with going. We've got one growing boy! At four years old, he weighs 35 lbs (50%) and is 39 1/2 inches tall (30%). He has grown 3 inches and gained 3 lbs since last year. He has really averaged out compared to the other kids at school, and blends right into the crowd (compared to when he was a baby and seemed a lot smaller than the other kids). His blood pressure was 90/54 and his pulse was 80. He's GREAT! I was shocked when we got to the shots part of the appointment. He got two shots and NEVER cried! They did an amazing job of distracting him and he was very proud of himself afterwards. He got a special toy Cobra snake afterwards for making it through. Next, we had to head to the lab for blood work. Normally it's just a finger prick, but because we decided to have several different tests done they had to do a vein draw. I was scared to death, but once again he NEVER cried! He was amazing. I was blown away. The doctor is checking the normal blood panel she always does, and then we are also having the Celiac tests run, wheat allergy test, and the B vitamins checked (since he's gluten free). I have such a huge sense of relief today getting this all over with! I'm very thankful that Eli is healthy and happy and growing and developing well. Praise God!

ABC's

Cora LOVES to sing! She knows so many songs and it's so fun to watch her sing!

22 Months

I want to freeze Cora at this age. I LOVE it! At 22 months:

1. She tells everyone how to spell her name. "C-O-R-A...CORA!" She thinks she's writing it on the sidewalk with chalk or when she's coloring. It's so cute!

2. She knows all her letters and loves to sing her "ABC's"

3. She sleeps in a big girl bed. The only glitch we've found is that once in a while she will get out of bed really early (like 5) and come to our room. I have to take her back to bed and she'll usually go back to sleep for a while longer. This has made for some grumpy mornings. She LOVES her bed, though, and plays in it throughout the day.

4. Her favorite books right now are "The Poop Book", "Clifford", and "My Daddy and I"

5. She loves the "Barney song" and "Lord's Army"

6. She loves to go with Brandon out on errands (whereas Eli has started wanting to stay home with me unless it involved biking or trains).

7. She asks to be "naked" all the time. I will let her once in a while. She will run all over the house having a blast. I always put her potty out where she is if she is naked and the other day she used it after Eli told her to! Honestly, I think he is going to potty train her because she wants his approval so badly and he keeps telling her to use it. After she went, she said, "Look Elijah, I did it!" and he gave her a high five.

8. She still cries once in a while when I leave, but is fine the second I'm gone. The other night when I got home she said, "I'm so glad you're home! I cried."

9. She fights getting in the carseat once in a while.

10. She still loves all things girly and will get our her lipgloss saying she wants, "pink or sparkly". She calls necklaces "cool" or "pretty" and actually asked if she could have "earrings" the other day :-). She wears around bracelets and carries her little purses. I love it! When she has a dress on for church she will spend a lot of time watching herself twirl in the mirror declaring herself "pretty!"

11. She asks a lot of "why" or "what is that?" questions.

12. She is my little snuggle bug! I love snuggling her and I get a ton of kisses and hugs and cuddles throughout the day.

Great Wolf Lodge

We were fortunate to go to Kansas City and stay at Great Wolf Lodge on Eli's birthday weekend! I was kind of bummed that I will be recovering for a good chunk of the summer, and that we won't be able to go on a family vacation like usual. This was the perfect solution! We wanted to do something really special with the kids before Asher is born and our family changes again. We had a blast! All of our family went (even Brandon's parents drove up to come with us). We started the weekend with a birthday lunch at the T-Rex Cafe. It is a dinosaur themed cafe that was far more amazing than we could imagine! There were beautiful fish tanks all over the place and all different kinds of moving dinosaurs. The kids LOVED it! Cora was a little scared when she first walked in and saw the scary T-Rex, but once we told her it was pretend she was fine. We will definitely be back! We also stopped at Cabela's to show the kids the giant fish tanks. Eli saw a 99 lb catfish and asked, "Is that a great white shark?" Everyone got a good laugh out of that one. We spent the rest of the weekend playing at the Great Wolf Lodge waterpark. Eli was giddy with excitement the entire time. Both kids were singing the "Great Wolf Lodge song" and having fun. Eli was able to do all the big tube slides with Brandon, the medium single slides, and the little slides. It was so fun to watch him run around in excitement trying to decide what to do next. He lasted longer than any of the rest of us at the waterpark each day. Cora surprised me the most. There is a kid area that has fountains and two slides for the little ones, but besides that most of the park is for the big kids. I was worried she might not have enough to do. Boy, was I wrong! She walked up past the crying and scared 3 yr olds, counted to three, and then went down the slides exclaiming "MORE!" at the end. I could hardly believe it. She spent our entire time there going down the slides over and over again. We could hear parents trying to convince their scared older kids to do the slides using her as an example! I was so stinking proud of her! Watching both kids have so much fun was awesome! Besides the waterpark, the kids loved going to the story time, where they got to meet Violet the wolf. Eli loved playing ski ball at the arcade and we finished the trip by letting them get brother and sister wolf stuffed animals to remember it by (they have both slept with them since). It was just the pre-baby vacation we needed and I am so thankful we got to do it! Now that the birthday/vacation frenzy is over, I can focus on what we need to get prepared for this baby coming!

4 years old!

My boy is 4! I can hardly believe those words as I say them. This past year has been by far our best year with Eli. Age three was WONDERFUL! I am actually sad to see it go. After going gluten free last year, his whole world changed for the better. Tantrums stopped for the most part, talking started, his attention span increased, and most importantly he started feeling good! I feel lucky every day to have such a smart, sweet, and funny boy. There is never a dull moment around here with his hilarious comments and daily adventures. He lives in the amazing world of imagination constantly. He is growing and maturing and learning SO much! He is full of questions about how the world works and we are happy to help him figure it all out. I have loved all the "why" questions because it gives me an opportunity to teach him something new. I can just see the gears in his brain turning and soaking it all up. At four years old:

1. His favorite toys or interests are: trains (especially Thomas), railroad crossings, traffic signs, marbles, toy animals of all kinds, cars, army men, wrestling, hide and seek, playing "nests" on the bed, jumping on the trampoline, bear hunting, climbing trees or the ropes at the park, memory, High Ho Cherry O, Don't Spill the beans, Dominos, swimming, and airplanes.

2. He LOVES riding his bike. He can't get enough of it. We usually go on one to two bike rides a day. He wears his little helmet, pushes his bike across the street, and likes watching the world race by. The faster the better. He always makes an agenda with Brandon. It goes something like this: 1. Gorilla 2. Waterfall 3. Park 4. Playground etc. It is adorable! Brandon is able to ride his biek and pull Cora in the trailer so she can be a part too (usually I walk and push her in the stroller if I'm involved).

3. He is flourishing in preschool and Sunday school. He absolutely loves his teachers Ms. Ladonna and Ms. Sheryl and his friends at school. He can write his name, rhyme, knows all the phonics, can actually sound out words, knows patterns, opposites, etc. He has been working lately on writing his numbers. He is super ahead in cognitive areas and average at fine motor skill things. He has a very rowdy class of mainly boys, but the teachers always tell me he is SO good and they never have any issues with him like the other boys.

4. Eli loves clocks. He has a learning clock that is a constant companion. He will ask what time it is and then set his little clock to the correct time. His teachers call him "Mr. Time" because he is always looking at the clock to see what time it is.

5. His best friends are: Seth Horst, cousin Gavin, all Isaacs cousins, Brodie, Piper, Asa, and Max at school.

6. One of my favorite parts of this year, has been his singing. He LOVES to sing and sings all the time. We love listening in on his little songs. He will sing songs from Chapel, Sunday School, or ones we've taught him. His favorites right now are "Bare Necessities" (from Jungle Book), "Joshua fought the battle of Jericho", "Deep and Wide", etc. He sings in a really high pitch voice. It is just adorable! When he is scared at night he will sing himself a song from school, "The Lord's my helper, I will not be afraid!"

7. Eli is a talker. It is so ironic, since he didn't talk in full sentences until he turned 3. I can just imagine how frustrating it must have been for him. He NEVER stops talking. He is a chatterbox and even continues to talk to himself or play out loud when in his room alone for nap or bedtime. His speech is constantly improving...even his teachers mentioned how much he has improved since school started. He now does speech once a week at Heartspring and once a week after school with Rainbows.

8. He got his very own rabbit this year and has done a great job being responsible for him. When the weather is nice enough, he feeds Carrot (who he named himself) hay and pellets. He always remembers to get some carrots or celery out of the fridge to take to him if we're headed outside. He loves petting him. I am so glad we got Carrot!

9. We don't have tv, but we do let him watch parts of movies or videos. His favorites are: Cars, Jungle Book (definitely his favorite), Cats. vs. Dogs, Curious George, Thomas the Train, Chicken Run, and Beauty and the Beast. He acts them all out after watching them with his little animals and figures.

10. Eli has a great spiritual connection and yearning. It is amazing the deep comments and questions that come out of this kid's mouth! He is very thoughtful and prays for different people constantly. He asks a ton of questions about God/Jesus and loves doing devotions.

11. He loves traveling anywhere. He especially loves going to the farm, Texas, or Great Wolf Lodge.

12. He talks a lot about Asher and how excited he is to have another boy. Just yesterday he said, "I am so happy that Asher is a boy! I wanted a boy SO bad. I just LOVE brothers!" He calls the baby Asher Leaf. We have no idea where the "Leaf" came from, but he tells everyone that is his name. He has already asked if he can help me give him a bath like he used to with Cora.

13. Eli is such a character. He is SO funny and cracks us up constantly. He is very imaginative and creates games for him and Cora to play. They love each other and play together all day (with a few fights sprinkled in). He is passionate in every area of his life and is a perfectionist. This can lead to some emotional moments when he can't get things exactly the way he wants it. He also has a low pain tolerance, which can lead to some drama. We still do time outs for discipline, which works wonderfully because he loves attention and doesn't like to be by himself. One great thing about this year has been the fact that he will play by himself now and let his big imagination be his guide. He is stuck like glue to Brandon when he's home and loves helping Brandon with all the projects around the house. Eli also loves going on errands with Brandon. They have a lot of boy time!

I will forever be so thankful to God for giving me Eli. Eli is constantly teaching me how to be a parent and my love is forever expanding. I look forward to seeing what age 4 has to bring and in what areas he will grow and change this upcoming year. Happy Birthday Eli Jud!