December 10

Eli had another really  rough night last night. He slept in his crib until 10:30, like he usually does. But since he's been sleeping so poorly lately, I decided maybe it was time to try keeping him in his crib longer. So I nursed him in his room and put him back down in his crib, where he slept... 

until midnight.

Bummer. 

I was hoping it would be a magic trick, but it wasn't. At that point, I brought him into bed with me, where he wiggled and squirmed and fussed and nursed until 5am. Then he was wide awake, and I had to keep him distracted until Chris was ready for him at 5:45. Not cool, Eli.

I got up a little after 7 and immediately put Eli down for his nap. He was sound asleep by 7:30, which was perfect. It meant that he could nap while I got Caleb ready for school and on the bus, and while I got Daisy ready for school. He'd wake up right when it was time to take her to preschool, and from there we could go to a playdate with MOPS friends. He would be well-rested and content.

Except that he woke up at 8:00, and all of my plans for the morning were ruined.

The playdate was at 10:00 at a fast food place 25 minutes away. By 10:00, Eli would be ready for another nap, and a fussy, tired baby at a fast food playdate that far from home is a recipe for disaster. So I cancelled.

We got Caleb on the bus, and I sat down to eat a quick breakfast before taking Daisy to preschool. When I was ready, the children were nowhere to be found. (Sound familiar? It happens a lot in this house. I swear I'm a good mom. My kids just  have ninja skills.) Apparently, the girls went to play in Caleb and Daisy's room, and Eli crawled all the way down the long hallway to join them. I opened Caleb and Daisy's door and found this:

Daisy and Lily both had their backpacks on, and Eli was in his jammies, wearing a purple crown, as happy as can be. I literally slammed the door and ran to the kitchen to grab my camera and snap these pictures. Eli was so, so, SO pleased with himself, and it was hilarious.

Of course, he immediately began crawling toward me.

Can you see the determination as he crawls, combined with the proudness because of his crown?

Daisy confessed happily that she put the crown on him, and she was so tickled that he liked it.
(Also, look at his tongue. Weird!)

Eli was so happy with that crown that I kept it on him when we dropped Daisy off at preschool, and she was excited to show her teacher how cute Eli was.

Since I was all ready to do something, we decided to visit Jenny at work. Remember how she was promoted to General Manager a month or so ago? Her new store is seven minutes from our house, so the little two and I went there for second breakfast. They were so excited to see Jenny, and she was happy to show of her adorable niece and nephew to her new crew.

After that, the day went mostly downhill, with more crummy naps from Eli. One highlight was introducing Caleb to the Star Wars game for Hour of Code this week. He really enjoyed it, and it got me excited about the possibilities in homeschooling. I'd love to learn to write computer code alongside him!

In related news, I emailed his teacher today with the news that we are considering homeschooling, and asked to meet with her to discuss. She hasn't replied, but I feel like we are getting closer to really doing this thing.