What would we do without Eli?

It was with great pride and a lot of apprehension that I watched Eli figure out how to take his t-shirt off a little while ago. Pride that he's growing up and learning so well, and of course the apprehension at having to chase a toddler all over the house to re-dress him from now on! He's already been taking off his pants and sometimes his diapers but normally we keep him in a onesie so the shirts have taken longer to learn. None the less he figured it out quickly when he decided it was time for the shirt to come off! I watched as he pulled and pulled at one sleeve till his arm was out and sticking out the bottom of the shirt. Then watched as he thought his next movement through. First he pushed the shirt on that side up over his shoulder, then he looked at his shirt then pulled the neck hole down a little and looked through it. Then he pushed his shirt up over his head, almost all the way but wasn't far enough, I watch him lower it back down. Look through the whole again and this time start with the bottom of the shirt and slide it all up and off his head. The second arm of course came out easily, suddenly he's standing in front of me with this huge grin and throws his shirt at me. I don't know if I should laugh, cry or cheer his accomplishment. So he gets a good job buddy and he's off and playing.

Some of you may not know but when Eli was an infant he had an umbilical hernia, and a big one at that. His belly button stuck out a lot at that time. So now he has an outtie belly button, while he was taking off his shirt I was feeding Willa. After taking his shirt off he looks down at his chest..... Then back at me..... I knew where this was going I am actually surprised he hasn't tried to "feed" any of his stuffed animals yet. Suddenly he runs upstairs and grabs his pal Scout (little green dog that talks) He stands at the top of the stairs and looks at me again. Then down at his chest, then at me and then suddenly the light comes on and he quickly puts Scout to his..... Belly button! At this point I'm laughing so hard tears are rolling, I had seen him look from one of his tiny nipples to the other he had puffed his chest in and out and I guess they still didn't look enough like the ones I was giving Willa and lets be honest an outtie belly button does look a lot like a good nipple for latching a baby to! Or at least in his mind! So he stands there at the top of the stairs for a bit grinning at me as I'm laughing my head off and then slowly trying to keep Scout to his belly button he comes down the stairs till he reaches the bottom where he sits down for a bit and rocks side to side. At this point Willa spits up all over me (common thing to happen) and I got "Uh oh!" and grab the towel I had sitting next to me to clean up her face and um my boob. Eli jumps up from his spot and drops Scout going (Uh oh!) then he runs over and gets his discarded shirt on the floor and runs over to Scout. Picks him up and wipes his face, then he wraps the shirt around Scouts head. I don't know what that last part was about but regardless he was pretty proud of himself and laughing and clapping. Maybe thats his solution to keep from getting puked on? Wrap a towel around the baby's head to keep it from getting all over?

Finally tired of feeding his Dog he was playing when Casey came in from putting weather plastic on the windows outside. Casey went out the front door and left the wooden one open so Eli could look outside. Eli closed the door, shortly after he wanted it open and I could hear him twisting the knob and trying to pull the door open (yes we're there folks!). He doesn't yet turn the knob far enough to get it open so the door wasn't opening. Finally he stopped and ran to the other side of the door and was messing with the hinges, then he ran back and tried the door knob. Then back to the hinges, this went on several minutes before he finally gave up. I'm pretty impressed that he would think to try messing with the hinges. He's observant thats for sure and seems to be very technically inclined as well. Thats good though because Casey will have fun teaching him all kinds of stuff, from electrical, to building, to car repair etc. About the only thing Casey doesn't know much about is plumbing. Which makes for a great all around husband who can fix just about anything!

So what would we do without Eli? I have no idea! We would be very very bored I am sure of that!