January 29

Eli had his one-year checkup today, so I have all kinds of stats.

He weighed 19 pounds, 10 ounces, which puts him solidly in the 25th percentile. Way to go, Eli! In comparison, Caleb (who gestated for 6 weeks longer than Eli) weighed 20 pounds, 5 ounces at one year. How about that?

Eli's head was 18.25" in circumference, which is 57th percentile.

He is 28.25" tall, which is 6th percentile. So he's a bit short, but I don't care. He's on the charts! 

Developmentally, he is doing just fine. He does show some delays in gross motor skills, but all of our children seem to have had gross motor delays, so I'm just calling that normal.

The best part was that my mom was off work today, so I was able to drop the older three kids off at her house and only take Eli to the appointment. What a luxury!

Do you remember that I decided to make Caleb a pair of red, sparkly shoes for Christmas? I can't remember if I blogged about it; I think I was waiting to write about it until they were finished? 

Well, they still aren't finished. But Caleb decided today that they were finished enough for him to wear them.

Ok. I know sparkly shoes for a boy is a bit... unusual. But look at him. Look at how happy my man-child is. He feels like a million bucks in his red, sparkly shoes, and that is totally worth all the time I have invested in to hand-sewing the sequins and worth any sideways looks we might get. 

Worth it.

I am trying really hard to focus on loving my children for who they are right now, rather than for who I want them to be, or for who I hope they can be someday. And right now, I have a little big boy who wants red sparkly shoes, and who wants to grow his hair long. I am trying to give him the opportunity to express his individuality in a way that is appropriate for a 6-year-old boy: a trendy long/short haircut, and sparkly running shoes. I hope someday he remembers that his Mommy loved him enough to let him be who he wanted to be, but that she gave him a framework to do it appropriately.

Once we got home, a painter arrived to paint our front door. While he worked, I fed the kids lunch and put Eli down for his nap. (He woke up at 5:15 this morning, and aside from dozing for about 40 minutes in the van, had no nap until 12:30.) Then the girls went down for their naps, Gayle came to get Caleb for Speech Club and a playdate at her house, and my mom came over to stay with the sleeping babies while I did party shopping, plus two weeks worth of grocery shopping. I ended up visiting six different stores over the course of three hours.

Chris picked up Caleb and some pizza on his way home from work, and I returned home in time to put away the groceries, stuff some pizza in my face, and hop in the van with Chris and the kids for the Pinewood Derby. 

Our little racer! We all went to the Derby, even though it was from 7-9 pm, and bedtime is 7:30. In hindsight, it was a foolish decision, but the kids were so excited to see Caleb race, Daisy had made a car for the sibling race, and I had no idea what to expect. So we all went.

Caleb was feeling the love. Maybe it was those sparkly shoes.

Caleb sat up by the race track with his den mates while we sat in the back. It was long and boring.

Hi, Eli! He charmed all the people around him, crawling all over the place and pulling up onto random chairs, then smiling at strangers.

Finally, it was Caleb's turn to race.

His car - named Flamerunner - won!

Yay, Caleb!

He raced a total of four times, and won each time! Sadly, there were forty cars racing, and while his car was fast, it wasn't anywhere near the fastest. At that point (an hour past bedtime, mind you), Caleb got really upset. He was so disappointed that he didn't win, and in his mind not winning equals losing. He got pouty and sullen and cried a little bit, and I confess: I did not handle it well. I was frustrated that he couldn't see that his car might not have been the best, but it was his car, and it was good. He needed me to hug him and validate his feelings, but I was too annoyed. 

Finally, finally, finally, they opened the track up to non-Boy Scouts and Daisy and Caleb were able to race their cars.

It was close, but Caleb's car beat Daisy's.

Then we raced home and got the kids in bed by 9:30. Then Chris and I stayed up absurdly late, getting things ready for Eli's party the next day. It was a LONG day.