Then and Now

7 Month Eli...March 9, 2007

7 Month Abby...June 24, 2009

Recorded for Posterity

The other night I was giving Eli a bath and randomly asked him what his eyes do. He gave me a look that said, "It seems that I should know the answer to this, but I'm pretty sure that you have never told me what my eyes do..." So we went through all of the senses. Our eyes see. Our ears hear. Our tongues taste. Our noses smell. Our fingers touch. I could see Eli contemplating this new information and mulling it around in his constantly moving brain. After a few minutes he looked at me and said, "What's my penis about?"

When he turns sixteen, let's not tell him about this post.

So Close

There is only one color that Eli can consistently identify correctly, purple. I ask him all the time what color items are and, unless it is purple, he is inaccurate. Today, however, for a bright shining moment, I was getting excited. Here is how our conversation went:

Me: What color are your shoes?
Eli: Red (CORRECT)
Me: What color is our grass?
Eli: Green (CORRECT thanks to lots of rain this spring)
Me: What color is the sky today?
Eli: Blue (CORRECT)
Me: What color is my shirt?
Eli: Etch

And then after that, everything was ETCH. I guess, for a kid that has the genetics of color identification stacked against him, we can call today progress.

Some People

This morning Eli had a favorite phrase. He began his sentences with "Some people like to..." and completed them in the following ways:

• play catch.
• change my diaper.
• go to the park.
• jump on trampolines.
• watch digger videos.

He did this for about fifteen minutes and then I never heard it again all day. The mind of a two year old.

Tradition

On Friday, May 22, 2009, I had a chance to pass along a tradition to my kids. I was able to go to the WLAP with Eli, Abby, and my dad. For all of you non-Stanton-natives, that is the We Love America Parade. The WLAP began 30 years ago, started by the principal of Stanton Elementary School. At the time, my dad was teaching sixth grade at Stanton, telling kids to "look sharp." Mom was also teaching and I was one and half years old. The WLAP, in its glory days, was a march through the streets of Stanton, every elementary child and teacher decked out in their Red, White, and Blue. All students and most spectators received a WLAP button and a flag. I remember many sweltering May days walking through Stanton singing Yankee Doodle and You're A Grand Old Flag. When I was in sixth grade, I even was able to read an essay that I had written on the steps of the court house, the final destination of the parade. Very fond memories.

I was excited to take the kids to the parade, such a memorable part of my childhood. But, pinning the traditional WLAP button on Eli made a profound impact on me, beyond what I had even anticipated. I found myself beaming with pride as I watched Eli wave his flag as the kids march by. And, with my dad there, and mom marching in her last WLAP, it was even better. Three generations of WLAPers.

Many emotions filled my heart that day. Gratefulness to the men and women who have secured the freedom we have in the United States today. Thankfulness to God for giving us ultimate freedom. The whole point of the WLAP hit me again, maybe even really for the first time.

Motherhood Lesson #952

Eli was eating his snack at the table when I heard his sweet, angelic voice call, "Mom, come look at this." I went to the table to see his hand outstretched with some brown goo on his finger. Curiosity overcame me, along with the thought of the McDonald's Happy Meal that we had for lunch. Since Andy and I are really watching what we eat, the possibility of a bit of caramel from the Apple Dippers sounded, sadly, a bit appealing. Against all sensibilities, I decided to take a lick. Needless to say, it was not caramel. I asked Eli, "where did you get this?" Eli responded, in his sweet, angelic voice, "From my ear."

Lesson learned.

Give Me a Head of Hair

We'll let the pictures tell the story...

We love her anyways...

A Season of Firsts

For Elijah

• On April 17, 2009, Eli and his dad went to Eli's FIRST ever baseball game. They saw the Lansing Lugnuts and Eli was given two real baseballs by real baseball players, ate ice cream, and purchased a mini-bat.
• On May 2, 2009, Eli, in the words of his Great Grandma Z, tinkled in a training toilet for FIRST time. He even did it a second time.
  

For Abigail

• On April 18, 2009, Abby went on her FIRST girls' road trip to Indianapolis with her mom, Grandma Z, and Aunt Jessie. She stayed in a hotel for the FIRST time and even went swimming for the FIRST time.
• On April 25, 2009, Abby rolled over, from her back to her tummy, for the FIRST time. She did it in the playroom and the whole family witnessed it.
  
• On April 29, 2009, Abby's FIRST tooth finally made its appearance.
  

The Difference a Year Makes

These pictures were both taken on Easter: 2008 and 2009. Both were taken by Andy. Both were taken at the end of the day. Both of them have me in my pajamas. But, both of them did not have, well, both...kiddos, that is. Actually in 2008 on Easter, I was pregnant but just did not know it yet. When we took that picture we had no idea that on the next Easter, Abby would be sitting on my lap. We had no idea what was to come, how our lives would again be blessed by the coming of a child. We had no idea that our home was going to hold pink clothes or hair bows or little dollies.

When we were taking this picture on Sunday, I found myself remembering the one from last year, a favorite...it's even on our fridge. Things change. I also, however, found myself remembering what doesn't change...an Empty Tomb and a Risen Lord.

Happy Easter...a few days late.

The Chomper

Eli cycles through favorite toys quite frequently. His most recent favorite toy was a monster/alien thing that came in a Happy Meal. Eli named him "Quilt." Hmmm. At the same time that Quilt joined our family, Eli's actual quilt was in the wash, therefore meaning he had a different blanket on his bed. Maybe the two are connected, though I am not sure. One of the millions of times I have wished to be in Eli's head. Now, Quilt is abandoned at the bottom of the toy box.

Before Quilt, Eli's favorite toy was a hair clip of mine that he named "The Chomper." The Chomper made trips to Kohl's and Target and spent a few nights with Eli. Eli thought it was quite hilarious to chomp Chomper onto things, including Abby's toes. What I thought was hilarious was the random places that I found Chomper chomped after the kids went to bed or during nap time. Chomper has long since disappeared. Thankfully, I got my hair cut last night and maybe, by the time Chomper resurfaces, my hair will be long enough to again be chomped.

In the Year 2000

So, I can't help but be on bit reflective on this Final Four Day 2009. Anothert time that Michigan State went to the Final Four was in the year 2000, when I was 22 years old and a senior at MSU. Yeah. Things are a little different now.

In the Year 2000:

• I was not anybody's wife.
• No one called me Mommy.
• I thought I was really busy and had lots of responsibilities. That makes me smile now.
  
• I had never had a real job, or, resigned from a real job, for that matter.
• 7:00 PM was when my night was just starting to get going, instead of just starting to wind down.
• I had never bought a house.
• I could pretty much do whatever I wanted, whenever I wanted.
• Sleeping in meant 11 or so, not 7.
• It must be said... I had no stretch marks.

All that said, this Final Four brings with it new joys. Instead of watching the game at Breslin with friends, I will watch it with my family, eating McDonald's in front of the TV. I will watch Eli point out Sparty every time he sees him. I'll watch Andy hold his daughter. And I'll love it just as much as I loved that game in 2000. Provided that we win, of course.

Thank You Disney Channel

Yesterday Eli and I (Sarah) were playing with blocks in his room. He was working on building statues and then proceeded to ask me to build the Great Sphinx. I took a minute to ponder...was he really saying what I thought he was saying? Eli went on to elaborate that it would need "feets." Yup. He knew exactly what he was requesting. A long time ago we saw an episode of The Little Einsteins in which the Great Sphinx was a main character. The kid has a crazy memory, which on many occasions, including this one, really stretches the creativity of his mother.

The Clouds are Broken

By some miracle, I have a few minutes to spare this morning. Faced with my choices of what to do with this precious time, I stood looking at the giant pile of dishes in the sink and then my gaze traveled to the floor covered with toys. It was in that moment I decided that this was the perfect time to try my hand at blogging. So, armed with my morning cup of coffee, here I am.

I have been thinking about updating this blog in recent weeks. We have found Eli to be particularly funny lately, saying things that make us laugh quite hard. For example, last week Eli and I were eating breakfast and he was staring quite intently out the window. He looked at me quite matter-of-factly and said, "The clouds are broken." I looked out the window and was amused to see that the low layer of clouds was indeed "broken" with intermittant patches of sunlight. Eli has also requested before a snack of "broken cheese," which I finally determined was shredded cheese. I am constantly amazed at how he sees the world and how he puts words together to describe it.

It is moments like these that have made me think it is time to update our blog. "The clouds are broken..." That's just too cute to keep to yourself.