September 30

Eli is 35 weeks old today!

He was born when I was 35 weeks pregnant.

It's a trend right now to do "40 weeks in/40 weeks out" pictures - you know, if you can remember. Usually they show a big pregnant belly, and then a mom holding a 9.5 month old.

Unfortunately, Eli came early, and we don't have any pictures of my big pregnant belly with him. It's just one more sad aspect of the prematurity thing. 

So instead, I have pictures of brand-new baby Eli, after growing in my belly for 35 weeks, and present-day baby Eli, after growing in the world for 35 weeks. Chris and I gave these our best effort, despite the fact that we took the pictures after dinner, in the dim evening light, with crazy children running around underfoot. Our images aren't nearly as lovely as Amber's amazing newborn photos, but they certainly do tell a story.

We were lucky - very lucky - that Eli was a healthy preemie. He spent no time in the NICU, and he came home from the hospital right away. Still, he was a five and a half pound preemie, and now he is a healthy, normal baby boy. These pictures stand as evidence of all that we have to be thankful for. We are blessed.

Do you remember Eli's awesome forehead wrinkles? The loose, baggy skin around his arms and legs? Now he is plump and wrinkle-free and juicy and delicious.

Oh! That little hand grabbing Chris' thumb? The dark hair?

Now he's chubby and has knuckle dimples and his hair is much lighter, with a hint of curl.

Ha! This pose was the hardest to mimic. See his feet up by my neck? He's so big now!

I totally couldn't even reach him to kiss him for this one. I am so thankful for how healthy he is, how much he has grown, and how normal he is now.

In fact, I stopped in to weigh him today, and he clocked in at 16 pounds, 15 ounces! For the past four months (half his life!) Eli has been hanging out just below the 15th percentile.

Today, he actually reached it! Our little man is officially in the fifteenth percentile!Way to go, Eli!

Eli also took two great naps today, despite having his whole morning disrupted by errand-running and a playdate. (Have you guys been praying for me?) His second afternoon nap happened right when it was time to get Caleb off the bus, so I let him sleep and brought the baby monitor along with me.

No Eli = room in the ring sling for Lily.

She was so, so happy!

September 29

I'm just feeling grouchy and annoyed with everything.

I could write an extensive blog post complaining about this season of life, but I won't. Instead, here's a picture of Eli in his bouncer.

I don't like the kind of mom I've been the past few days, and I feel powerless to change it. I don't like being grouchy and annoyed, but I'm pretty sure my children are being obnoxious and annoying, which is causing me to be grouchy and annoyed. It's a vicious cycle that's exacerbated by the fact that Eli isn't napping the way he normally does and by the fact that Daisy is being a really challenging four-year-old right now. 

And we all know how I feel about four-year-olds.

I know that I should be the change I want to see in my world (thanks, Ghandi), but it's hard to be that change when my children have run me ragged.

I know that this is just a season, and I'm trying not to wish this stage of my children's lives away, but goodness. I'm over it. I'm ready to move on to the next stage, please.

But. 

Caleb reads chapter books now.

Lily dances now, and has suddenly taken an interest in using the potty.

I'm pretty sure Daisy is figuring out how to read.

Eli will be crawling soon, I can feel it.

I think maybe it's all so painful now because they are growing, and growth is always uncomfortable.

Right?

September 28

Happy 8-month birthday to Eli! He celebrated the day by taking crummy naps and being generally irritable. I'm really hoping he's working on a tooth, but the reality is that his first tooth is probably still a few months away.

Still, I tried my best to take his birthday pictures. We tried outside, where he wanted to Eat All The Leaves.

I suppose that's really a hallmark of an 8-month-old, though, so I decided to roll with it.

Eli has finally mastered sitting, and is - for the most part - stable and trustworthy. He tips over occasionally, but he can now sit and pivot and reach with 95% stability.

I know, Amber. You and Miss Edie-who-walked-the-moment-she-was-born are laughing at this, but we don't mind. Your family clearly dominates; mine will sit on the sidelines and watch, hopefully without tipping over.

Eli also showed me today that he can do a pretty impressive army crawl! It's still new enough to be a novelty, rather than his go-to mode of transportation, but I was excited nonetheless.

Mmm.... leaves...

Ack... stems...

Nom nom nom!

Yuck!

Let's try this again...

Eli is also working on his eating skills. His favorite foods right now are avocados, bananas, sweet potatoes, string cheese, and frozen broccoli florets. He's still nursing approximately 6 times a day, but the number jumps to about 37 times a day when you factor in his nighttime nursing. 

Luckily (?) he's still in bed with me, so it's not that big of a deal.

Who am I kidding? It's a huge deal, I'm exhausted, and I can't wait for this child to figure things out and sleep through the night in his own crib.

But that seems to be a long time off, so I'm lying to myself trying to make peace with it.

Eventually the leaf-eating got to the point of utter ridiculousness, so we came inside. 

Hi there, handsome!

Then Eli found this plastic bag, and it became his new favorite toy.

(Yes, Mom. I know that plastic bags are a suffocation hazard, and that they should never be used as toys. I promise I was an arm's length from Eli the whole time, and I never looked away from him.)

If video of babies playing with plastic bags doesn't stress you out, this is a funny (but long and boring) video of not quite 3 minutes of Eli playing with a bag.

To be honest, it's probably only funny and cute to me and to Chris. 

My mom will either enjoy it or have a panic attack from it.

Auntie Grace will like it.

The rest of you can probably skip it. But I think it's sweet.

Just like I think this goofy little face is sweet!

Seriously. He's always this sweet.

Don't you just want to kiss him? I do. I'm pretty sure he's asleep in the Ergo on Chris' chest right now, but I may go wake him up and kiss him.

Just kidding. We'll get plenty of snuggle time all night long, so I don't need to do anything rash. (Can you tell I am sleep-deprived and bitter?

Also, this is my big boy reading his FIRST CHAPTER BOOK EVER! 

I was kind of excited for him. Also, it's at the reading level they expect him to reach by the end of the school year, but he can read it now! Yay, Caleb! This former English teacher is so proud of her little reader!

September 27

Today was one of those days where nothing seemed to go right, and everything was terrible and awful. Really, nothing major or catastrophic happened. I think it just happened that everyone in our family was grouchy or tired or grumpy, and things just devolved into a pile of annoyance.

The day started out fine.

Chris and Caleb were camping with the Boy Scouts, so it was just me and the little three. I set the timer on the coffee pot so that I would have a fresh pot of coffee waiting for me when I woke up, and Daisy had the decency to sleep/play quietly in her bed until after 7, which never happens.

But then I had to tell her to get dressed for church four times.

And we couldn't be late because I was working in the nursery.

And Lily, who typically sleeps until 7:30 or 8, woke up at 6:50.

*grumble, grumble, grouch*

We made it to church on time and my sweet friend Jessica filled Chris' spot in the nursery, so I got to spend the morning drinking coffee and talking with a friend, but Eli was unusually unhappy.

And then we got home and Chris and Caleb got home and Caleb was exhausted and Daisy didn't know how to behave around the brother she missed so badly and Lily was overtired and so was Eli and... yuck.

My mom stopped by on her way home from church, so at least there was a brief moment of sunshine.

Hi, naked baby!

Eli had just finished demolishing a lunch of gluten-free seed bread, sweet potato, and banana. I say "demolishing" rather than "eating", because I'm not sure whether he actually consumed anything, or just broke it into pieces and smeared it on his plate. Either way, he was covered in food and had to have a thorough wipe-down before he could be handed off to Grandma.

Finally, finally, finally, it was nap time for everyone. Caleb and Daisy freaked out when Chris told them that they needed to take a nap.

It was Oktoberfest this weekend, and I really wanted to go. Do you remember exactly a year ago when we went and had so much fun? Chris and I devised a plan, in which we would bring dinner to Oktoberfest instead of waiting in absurd lines to pay ridiculous prices for not-so-great food. I sent him to the store to pick up provisions, only to discover while he was gone that Oktoberfest was over at 5:00 today. It was 3:15 and Lily was still napping, and I realized that Oktoberfest wasn't going to happen for us this year.

So instead, we took our picnic to a nearby park. 

Eli was pretty happy with that!

Daisy, however... 

Girl is a mess. I keep telling myself that it's just the fact that she's four. She was a delightful three-year-old, and will be a fabulous five-year-old. Four is just challenging. But boy, she is a mean four-year-old, especially to Caleb. 

Eventually, it was time to stop playing and start eating our picnic dinner.

Three little ducklings, lined up in a row!

Where's the fourth, you ask? 

On a blanket with Daddy, eating a carrot and some clementine.

I laughed really hard at this picture, remembering my dad's days working for the airlines and all of the stories he told about crazy people with tin foil in their hats to protect them from the microwaves.

When she doesn't know I'm watching, Daisy is sweet.

Then she looks up, notices me, and turns on this face: 

Not to be outdone...

It's Foil Man!

Oh my goodness. This girl and her eyes. 

She tripped and fell and scraped her knee and palm. Both were bleeding, and we barely realized it. The girl is tough as nails; it's a stark contrast to her dramatic big brother and sister, who wail and gnash their teeth at a hangnail.

Before we headed home for an early bedtime, I tried to take a picture of all four on the stone ledge.

Don't worry, Ma. Chris was right behind the ledge, spotting Eli the whole time. He was never at risk.

This cracks me up. Daisy is trying so hard to be helpful: she is giving me her best painful grimace smile and trying to force Eli to smile, too.

Realizing it wasn't working, I asked the kids to show me their best silly faces. 

Even sweet Lily does a silly face now, which is awesome. I love that the older three are being silly, and Eli looks utterly offended by their silly faces. 

And then we came home and they screamed and cried and Eli was ridiculous about bedtime and I wished I could go away for a long while. But this is just a season, and a short one at that. So, with the help of an extra glass of wine, I am counting my many blessings today, and I am thankful.

September 26

Well.

I was going to write a rambling post about how Chris and Caleb are camping with the Boy Scouts, but I managed to get all three (all three!!!) remaining children to sleep in their own respective beds, but...

Eli started screaming.

Of course he did.

This child. I really think he may be broken. Can anyone offer me a reasonable explanation why he is perfectly content to nap in his crib during the day, but at night he is completely incapable of doing the same thing? I'm not even asking for all night here. I'm asking for my baby to sleep for an hour and a half - maybe three, if I'm feeling frisky! - on his own, in his crib. You know, like he does at nap time. 

Eli does not think that is a reasonable expectation, and I'm about ready to check his return policy. I mean, it's been nearly eight months, but still. I should be able to trade him in for a child that sleeps, right? 

So. I put Daisy and Lily down, and then I tried to put Eli down. After thirty minutes of snuggling and nursing, I tried to put him in his crib. Based on the way he screamed, the child must have thought I was trying to murder him. I gave him some time, but he only screamed louder and harder and with more violence.

So I spent another hour snuggling and rocking and nursing him. 

Boom. Sound asleep in my arms. 

Transferred him to the crib.

Boo-yah. Asleep in the crib. 

Laundry. Dishes. Blog... nope. Screaming again. He lasted forty minutes.

Some day. Some day, he will sleep on his own. Some day, he will sleep through the night. Some day,  I will get a full night's sleep.

Some day.

At least Lily loves him. I was running around, trying to get dinner made and I left Eli, Lily, and Daisy on my bed. Lily scooted over until she was rightnexttohim and they were both happy.

They just didn't want to smile for my camera.

Lily even wrapped her arm around him and patted him on the back.

Goodness, that girl is the sweetest two-year-old I've ever met. This morning, she told me, "I yuv you, too, Mommy!" for the very first time and I melted into the biggest puddle of goo that ever existed. I don't remember the first time Caleb or Daisy told me they loved me, but this was distinct and intentional and unprovoked, and I totally needed it. My sweet girl.

And my screaming baby, who I should totally tend to.

Some day I will look back on this season with fondness. Just not some day soon.

September 25

Today was the kind of day where, at the end of the day, I wondered what on earth I did all day.

I'm pretty sure my only real accomplishment was taking all three children to the library for ten minutes to borrow a movie for Friday Night Movie Night. (We chose Shrek. The kids thought it was funny, but I'm pretty sure they don't have the life experience to appreciate 75% of the jokes.)

Here's a token picture of Eli, since this is Every Day with Eli, and I'm supposed to post a picture of him every day:

What? There's a blue glow to his face?

I have no idea what you're talking about. He totally wasn't watching the movie with the rest of the family.

(OK, maybe he did for about five minutes. He clearly enjoyed it. Perhaps it's because he's a prodigy who does get the other 75% of the jokes.)

There. No more movie. Hi there, handsome!

And this post is late because when we finally got the older three to bed, and Eli situated in the Ergo with Chris, I went to the gym. I've started lifting weights again, and I'm feeling quite pleased about that. If I don't have lovely, toned arms in a month, however, I may have other things to say about lifting weights.

September 24

This summer, my kids rocked our library's summer reading program. They raced through the levels, and won all of the prizes. Caleb did so well that he was entered into a raffle for Cardinals tickets, and guess what? He won! I spent a lot of time searching for just the right game, with just the right seats for those tickets. After months of waiting, tonight was the night!

We try to see Fredbird at every game, but I think this may be the first picture of our entire family of six with him. 

We usually prefer to sit in the left field bleachers, but with Caleb's free tickets, our only option was right field bleachers. (Really, even those were almost not an option; they wanted us to just pick nosebleed seats. But I kept searching and finally found some bleacher seats for us, because I know that bleachers are the best when you have as many little ones as we do!)

Caleb was feeling grumpy at the beginning of the game. Can you tell?

Surely you can't tell that he was being grouchy.

(Side note: he woke up this morning and got dressed for school in his Cardinals gear. Kid knew today was the day, and he was excited!)

Can you also tell that Doesn't-Nap-Any-More-Daisy took a nap today?

And then there was Miss Lily. She was so cute and funny at the game! She clapped every time there was something to clap for or along with, and she danced to every song. She is possibly the most adorable two-year-old that ever lived.

This boy did great, too! He wanted to eat all the things, and spent a good while gnawing on my hot dog, trying desperately (and unsuccessfully) to get more than just a taste.

See? Eli + hot dog.

Mama is not amused. She wants to eat her own hot dog, by golly!

I attempted to take a family selfie, but apparently the six-person selfie is a skill that must be practiced and refined.

This was the best I got.

Caleb was happy by then.

Oh my goodness. Are you dying from the cuteness? I am dying.

And then, the thing that we always worry about happened.

The Cardinals hit a home run.

When the Cards hit a homer, there are fireworks. And my bizarre  quirky children don't like loud noises, or surprises, or fireworks.

Tonight, we witnessed not one, but two home runs. Chris and I both held our breath and waited for the screaming and crying to start....

and it never did.

Do you see the surprise and delight in his eyes?

Ladies and gentlemen, we are officially past the "afraid of fireworks" stage.

Lily was thrilled.

Daisy covered her ears out of habit, but really she didn't mind the fireworks at all.

And Eli? 

Babywearing FTW.

September 23

Exciting things happened today:

Caleb's first Running Club of the school year

a play date at the Butterfly House with my friend Jen and her kiddos

tree trimmers working to clear branches around the power lines in the back yard

And I didn't take pictures of any of it. What do I have pictures of?

Sweet Eli, sound asleep. I happened to have my phone with me when I nursed him to sleep and laid him in his crib, so I snapped a quick picture. Sleep, sweet baby.

I later learned that he was running a low fever - 100.2. Poor kid. I'm hoping maybe he's working on getting his first tooth? But knowing my kids and their penchant for waiting until they're practically adolescents before they get their first teeth, it's probably just a virus.

(Seriously about the teeth, though. The other day I stumbled across this blog post that I wrote exactly 11 months ago.  

In it, I wrote of Lily: 

Also? Those four teeth. So funny! But seriously - will the girl ever get any more teeth, or will she be 12 and all of her friends will be complaining about braces and she'll be like, "I wish I could get braces, but I only have FOUR TEETH!"?

I crack myself up sometimes.

But Eli's fever/general fussiness meant that he woke up from his nap sooner than he should have. I didn't realize that at the time, though, and thought he was just ready to be awake. Since Lily and Daisy were both napping, I brought Eli into my bed to snuggle, but he was really unhappy. This was what I had to do to make him happy:

(For those of you who can't/don't want to watch, it's fifteen seconds of me snuggling and bouncing Eli while reclining on my bed.)

But fussy bear was fussy, so I decided to wrap that baby up.

The local babywearing group I'm a part of does "Work it Out Wednesdays", where they encourage you to try a new carry each Wednesday and share pictures with the group. Today's post was a Front Reinforced Torso Rebozo. 

Eli and I rocked it.

And then he fell asleep. It was that darn fever, I tell you!

After he woke from his nap, I took his clothes off and gave him some peppermint essential oil on his spin and skin-to-skin time (I wore a low-backed tank top and wrapped him on my back). An hour of that brought his fever down a full degree, which I thought was pretty impressive. I was also able to make dinner and get Caleb off the bus, despite my fussy baby. Let's hope he sleeps well tonight and wakes up fever-free; this mama has MOPS in the morning!