December 8

That stinker baby of mine woke up at 5 am again today.

It's like he can tell time. 

Chris took him from 5:45 until he left for work at 7, and I put Eli down for his morning nap at 7:30. It's ridiculous. When I left his room, I heard Lily talking in her room. I had my phone with me, so I was able to capture what I see every morning and almost every naptime when she wakes up:

Lily, sitting on the edge of her bed, reading books. When she wakes up, she never gets out of bed. She doesn't turn on the light. She sits there in the dark, pulling books from her bookshelf, reading them to herself. Eventually, she will get bored and start calling for me. I keep telling her that she can get out of bed and come find me; we even practiced it for a while and made it a game. But this is what she prefers. Funny girl.

We got Caleb on the bus, and Eli slept. I delayed taking Daisy to preschool because Eli was still sleeping, but finally at 9:20 I went in and woke him up. Once Daisy was at school, the little ones and I had the morning at our disposal. I didn't really want to go anywhere, so we went home. When we saw my mom yesterday, she gave me a flat sheet she found at a thrift store. It was half striped and half polka dotted, and she thought it was so much fun that she bought it. As soon as I saw it, I had a plan. 

Today, I made that plan happen.

I know. Best fort ever, right? I took the Christmas lights out of the box forts of the other day - the boxes were in the way and annoying me - and taped them to the underside of a folding card table. I arranged the sheet, pinned it, cut it, and sewed a few seams. Voila! An absolutely awesome, removable, reusable fort!

These were the only pictures I took of it, but the kids were so pumped!

I finished right before it was time to go get Daisy. Once everyone was fed and down for naps, I actually crawled into bed, too. I haven't napped in months, but Eli has been waking up a lot at night lately, and I am exhausted. He woke up from his nap an hour later, and we had a lovely time in the late afternoon sunshine in his room.

As I changed his diaper, I marveled at how chubby and solid he's getting. He has come so far; we have come so far. Remember when I was legitimately concerned that I may never be able to nurse him normally? Remember when he was so little and skinny and delicate? 

Look at him now.

He is perfect.

We are blessed.

I am thankful.

So, so thankful.

And remember how I wrote the other day that I couldn't really tell much about his personality? Today he showed me that he actually has quite a personality, thank you very much. He also showed me why he hasn't been sleeping well lately: cognitive and physical advances.

Today, Eli showed me that he is definitely trying to sign "milk".

He also tried to say "milk".

He started trying to wave.

Instead of trying to use the sign I'm teaching him for "more", he started saying, "Mo!"

He pulled up to standing again and again and again, and even did Downward Dog a few times!

I can't be too annoyed at my lost sleep when this little boy is learning and growing so much. It's funny, though, that it all seems to happen at once!

Lens distortion = Eli looks like a baby seal pup, don't you think?

We were having so much fun that I even turned on my camera remote and took a few pictures with me in them. I am rumpled, frizzy, and may not have brushed my teeth. My shirt is stretched out from nursing so many babies, and I am wearing the one pair of jeans that fit my battered postpartum body. 

But I am happy and thankful, and I want to remember our sunny afternoon together.

And then everyone else woke up and it was time to get Caleb and Chris stayed late at work for a Christmas party so I had to handle after school and dinner and  bathtime by myself...

As I made dinner, I heard the kids running and scurrying around back in the bedrooms, but I didn't know what they were up to. Once dinner was ready, I got a chance to see.

They made a "shoe store".

They gathered every pair of shoes they could find and arranged them by size, then laid out a row of socks, too. I'm confident that if I hadn't interrupted them, they would have laid out every single pair of socks, too.

I don't know who the mastermind was behind this plan, but I certainly appreciate the orderliness and attention to detail! Even more, I appreciate that when I told them to put it all away, they did. Quickly, cheerfully, and thoroughly. I was most impressed.

Caleb begged to call Grandma and invite her over to help with bedtime. She didn't answer her phone, so he left the sweetest voice mail message for her. She couldn't say no, and she arrived after everyone was bathed and in jammies. I could have handled bedtime without her help, but it really was nice to have her there!