Catching Up.. We Could Be Here Awhile!

It's been two months since I blogged. During that time Eli has said about 2^9832 hilarious things, exactly none of which I can remember well enough to write for you. He is the most animated, dramatic, somewhat bipolar little boy I've ever known. Life with Eli is like being on a spastic roller coaster. One second you're up, the next you're down, and the next you're both up and down at the same time, finding yourself confused and wondering how that's even possible. It seems he is always laughing loudly, screaming uncontrollably, or transitioning wildly between the two. He can often be found red-faced, laughing, and covered in tears. He does everything with great intensity.

Eli is an incredibly bright boy who has quite the artistic streak. He colors much better than his older sister, works longer and harder on his drawings (which are just absolutely awesome), and has better handwriting (at least the few letters he knows how to write!) than Chlo. He soaks up everything he hears, and doesn't even let on that he knows anything. He can often be overheard correcting Chloe on her scripture memorization, reminding her of the next president in the sequence, or telling her the correct answer for some math fact. His memorization skills are really something. He knows his phonics pretty well, and recognizes his letter and numbers. He would probably be learning to read if I would just take the time to teach him, but I figure we have plenty of time for that next year. He is very put out that he can not go to Kindergarten next year, and bemoans the fact that he is only four on a daily basis. Between his height and cognitive abilities, one could almost mistake him for a soon-to-be kindergartner, but his emotional immaturity quickly shatters that illusion! I just hope he grows out of it. I can't really say that I ever did.

Eli loves superheroes, and rarely goes anywhere without at least some piece of costume. He is more often than not clad with capes and masks and sabers and swords. He has a great imagination, and is a lot of fun to play with. He creates hugely complicated good guy/bad guy scenarios that rarely make sense to anyone but him, but they keep him happily busy.

He has a new found obsession with dead worms. There is currently a little pile of them on my front porch. Why would I let him do this? I don't really know. I've tried to talk to him about it, but he keeps collecting them, and as a parent, one must choose one's battles.

Eli is finally sleeping pretty well for the first time in four years. He relapsed a little last week, but is doing well this week. Fingers crossed that he keeps it up!

One post can't even begin to expound upon all that is Eli, so I will try to write more often in the weeks to come. But, for now, my mind is glazing and my fingers are cramping, so I will leave you with a little Eli-ism from last week's trip to the mall (to FINALLY finish acquiring wedding necessities): "(with a voice of discovery) Mom! I figured it out!! I get it now! The mall is a real-life maze! The stores are the dead-ends, and we just keep walking around and around and around until we are very tired and very thirsty and THEN we finally figure it out and can finally find our way out to the car!"
And all the men said, "Amen brother!"