Last month, shortly before Thanksgiving, we got to celebrate two years of having our sweet Elijah with us.
Elijah is my Sweet Boy, as I’ve called him since he was a newborn. He really is sweet, gets along with everyone, and is completely adorable. It wasn’t hard to find cute pictures of Elijah for this post! He’s always smiling for the camera.
Elijah loves to help. He loves to throw things in the trash or sink, help me move laundry into the dryer, and “sweep”. We’ve probably lost a lot of forks due to his helping! It’s certainly not uncommon to find random items (socks, cups, spatulas…) in the trash. He also loves to make messes, and flashes the cutest I’m-so-proud-of-myself smile when he gets caught.
But, Elijah does have some weaknesses. First of all, he doesn’t need much sleep. This could be related to his ongoing thyroid treatment. (We’ll find out more about that in a few months.) But, no matter the reason, Elijah gets up early. He used to stay up late. He used to get up during the night. We finally broke those habits, but, alas, now he won’t sleep past 6. He wakes up ready to go and screams until we get him (or the whole house wakes up). As soon as he is up, he’s chipper as anything and toddles around the living room chattering to himself and admiring the Christmas lights. It’s not uncommon for him to crash before he makes it to nap time, and I find him sleeping on the couch, in his high chair, or sometimes even in my own arms.
Elijah also has a strong will. When he doesn’t like dinner, when he’s told, “No”, or when he can’t communicate what he wants, he gets angry. He’s so cute, sometimes we can’t help but laugh, but we try hard to end the tantrums as we’re able. He usually recovers pretty suddenly, often when there’s food involved.
Elijah tends to get himself into trouble. There was the terrible time he chocked on a toy when he was not-yet-one, but he’s always finding himself in similar situations. He’ll climb up somewhere and get stuck. He’ll find all sorts of household items that he shouldn’t play with (anywhere we go!). Sometimes the situations he gets himself into are so funny, I don’t know whether to help him out first or stop and take a picture.
Elijah loves to eat. I mentioned that he’s chipper in the morning, but that’s only after we give him his early morning snack. Sometimes that’s followed by a late-early-morning snack, then breakfast, a mid-morning snack (if it’s a good day), lunch, afternoon snack, dinner, and a dessert (which is frequently some sort of fruit). Any tears, for any reason, can usually be ended with a snack. This boy loves to eat.
Elijah loves his siblings and loves to be a part of whatever is going on. Whenever Dan asks the kids if they want to do something fun or eat something yummy, he joins in the rest of the family, raising his hand and yelling, “ME!!!”. He’ll play happily with anyone, or just by himself, but is only starting to learn how to respond when he’s told to share. One of his favorite things to do is wrestle with Dan in the evenings. He also gets excited anytime anyone is going out of the house and will eagerly bring his shoes over and insist on coming along. (It’s hard to say no to that!)
Elijah is quiet. He’s always been quiet, or at least, I’ve always seen him as a quiet person. By quiet, I don’t mean he can’t be loud, but that he’s not much of a talker. He doesn’t like to say words when put on the spot and he doesn’t like to say things unless he knows he can say them correctly. Still, he’s picking up new words frequently. When I tell him, “I love you!” and he repeats back, “Wuv ooh!” it just melts my heart.
So, is Elijah ready to be a big brother? Well, I’d say he was pretty much born ready. Paul has always demanded my attention, even when Elijah was a newborn, so Elijah learned to spend less time with Mommy. Or he learned to share. Or he learned to be happy with Dan. When he does get to be with Mommy, he often still has to share with Paul. It’s not uncommon to find both boys perched on my lap together, one on each leg. He still loves his snuggles though, and I love the moments when I get to snuggle him, even if it is only at 6 AM.
“What should I write in Paul’s birthday card this year?”, I asked Dan in the middle of our spring break vacation to Georgia.
“Put something in there about his spunk and charisma”.
Paul is spunky and charismatic, ferociously loyal and stubbornly independent. And he’s entered into the threes. And we’re enjoying them so far. 🙂
Lydia is a people watcher. She likes attention and praise, but she’ll watch what other people do and imitate them. Abby is a follower. She’ll sweetly follow just about anyone, anywhere, doing anything. Paul is his own man. He struts around like he’s in charge. He takes matters into his own hands. When he gets an idea in his head, nothing can stop him. He’s adorably independent and doesn’t care if anyone is leading or following.
He’s also super cute. 😀
He loves the colors orange and blue and he’s obsessed with baseball. He picks little items and obsesses over them for a while, bringing them in the car, to the dinner table, and even to bed. Some of his little obsessions over the past year have included: his little orange New Testament (which was really mine and I never offered it to him, but he declared it “My Bible” and was so persistent that no one bothered to fight him), a plastic toy crow bar, a parrot puppet, my kitchen tongs, a whisk, and Elijah’s long-abandoned pacifier.
Despite all his independence, Paul gets overwhelmed the most easily out of our four children. In those moments, he sits on my lap, holds my hair in one hand, sucks his two favorite fingers, and periodically looks up and me and says, “Hi Mommy”. As soon as his basic needs are met (food, sleep, and some snuggles if things are getting to overwhelming) he’s back to his confident self.
I say surprisingly because Paul wasn’t very quick to start talking. He still doesn’t say a ton, but he picks up on things easily and often surprises us with what he knows. Often I’ll ask the girls to do a task or tell Paul we can do something fun (play baseball or go outside, usually) after we finish a chore. The girls are slower to help and often get distracted, but not Paul. Paul is all business helping set or clear the table, sweep, or put away groceries. In fact, he often jumps in just to be helpful without my asking or mentioning any incentive. And, though he’s still learning, his helping often is actually helpful, even doing things I’ve never taught or consciously shown him how to do.
Last year we were struggling to get Paul to speak. We would ask questions, read stories, point at the pictures or facial features and ask him what they were. Nothing. Then, on some random day, he would start spouting off all these words we never knew he knew. He’s sharp, for sure, but doesn’t like to show off.
Even though Paul is not the youngest, he often ends up being the one who gets his way. “Orange bowl”. “Music on”. “Watch baseball!”. “No, Abby! Off the field! Lydia, play baseball with me!”. He’s so confident, insistent, and cute, that once we understand what he wants, he usually gets it.
Oh, and Paul loves music. He loves the singing at church and he loves instruments. If we let him, he likes to hang out up front when church is over by all the instruments. He latched on to Lydia’s toy drum from when she was a baby and it has become his. We got him a real box (cajon) drum for his birthday and he loves dragging it around the house to play while the girls dance, music plays in the computer, someone is singing, or we have a guest over playing a ukulele (which also fascinated him).
So there’s a glimpse of our three-year-old in a nutshell. He’s really and endearing little boy everyone should get to know. We enjoy having him around immensely.
Happy birthday Paul! We love you!
