Dear Eli...

Dear Eli,

Oh how I miss you as I write this right now.  You are off having a sleep over with Grammy and Grampy for a couple days.  This is something that you do about once a month since they live a little further from us. You love going to your grandparents house.   You often go to Mimi and Buppa's on Saturday nights so daddy and I can have a date night.  We are VERY BLESSED to have parents who care for you,  love and adore you more than anything.  You get so excited when you know you are going to have a sleep over.  You love to help me pack your bag and you rattle off things you remember doing the last time you were there.  Your face lights up in anticipation of your visit and your sweet smile is priceless.  Although we look forward to a little alone/quiet time, I CANNOT WAIT to hold you and see you after a short time apart.  I get this inner excitement like a little kid on Christmas when I get to see you :)  It really is a blessing the relationship that you share with both sets of grandparents.  You are one special little boy!

This past week you have been so intrigued and interested n the book "Heaven is For Real."  You request it every night before bed and you love to help narrate it as I go along.  You ask a million questions about Jesus and the Angels and Heaven.  It's amazing to watch your little wheels turning as you take it all in.  You are very observant of the little details and just the other day we were at a friends house and you made reference to something in the book.  You saw a crown that belonged to the little girl and you said with excitement "look at this crown mommy, it is just like the one Jesus wears."  I had to think about it and remembered the picture from the book that you were relating it to.  I really believe your spirit absorbs more than we realize because you tell me every morning that Jesus visits you in your room.  Daddy asked you the other day what Jesus  says to you and you thought about it for 10 seconds and then said, "He said I get a baby sister."  I wasn't there in the moment, but daddy said he knew Jesus was speaking to you by the way you told him.  He said it brought tears to his eyes because you really believe it.  I asked you the same question later that day and you gave me the same answer word for word.  For me, this ministered to my heart because I've been struggling with wanting to have a little sibling for you.  Through you telling me this, you have brought hope to mommy's heart.  I know in His time this joy will come true!

You are the greatest little helper.  You want to help me do everything.  It's so funny to watch the excitement in your eyes when you are able to help me cook, vacuum, fold laundry, make the bed, and even clean the toilet.  I know this excitement for cleaning will not last forever, so I'm trying to savor these moments we have :)  For Christmas, Mimi and Buppa bought you a little dyson vacuum and you go all over the house with it.  You tell me all the time, "I help you clean the house" and then you sing the song "clean up, clean up everybody everywhere, clean up, clean up, everybody do your share."  You are the best help and you love leaving your mark in the kitchen.  You make eggs with me every morning.  You tell me "we have to have a bowl and a whisk."  I crack the eggs, and you help stir all the ingredients in one by one.  I find that you are more into eating food when you help prepare it.  So thankful that you are not a picky eater.  You have a very diversified appetite.   One of your favorite things to eat is Pad Thai.  You ask for "snacks" all the time when you are hungry.  Some of your favorites are raisins, bananas, cutie oranges, cheese itz, black olives, cucumbers and dip, applesauce and yogurt.  You do not like me helping you.  You like to do it all yourself and you like to sit at the table like a big person.  You do a great job at getting most of the yogurt and applesauce in your mouth without making a mess.  You even peeled your own cutie orange this week after I got it started for you.  If there is a will there is a way with you.  You will figure it out no matter what!

Some of your favorite toys right now are your cash register (from Grampy and Grammy), breakfast play dough set from (from Great Grampy and Grammy), dump truck (from Mimi and Buppa) that you fill with your stuffed animal friends and you haul them around the house and your camera (from Uncle Jordan) which you take pictures of anyone and everything.  You love playing outdoors and if it were up to you, you would never come in.  Daddy built you a fort with a tunnel in the snow recently and you thought it was a big deal.  You loved having that alone time with him!

We usually go to Sams Club for our monthly routine grocery run and in between for staple items that we run out of.  It is our families weekend shopping date.  We don't usually tell you we are going because you get so excited and ask for "pizza" all the way.  When we drive into the parking lot you exclaim, "Sam's Club" and immediately want out so we can go in for our weekly date.  I think you love this place because many of the employees know you by now and you love all the taste testers that they put out to try.  When we leave you expect the lady at the door to draw you a picture on the receipt because that's what they always do.  If someone fails to, you make note of it and ask why there is no picture.   You carry that receipt with you like you've won a great prize!

Football season is big around our house and you are catching on to it.  You know daddy's favorite team is the Patriots and you know the difference between all the sports when you see them on tv.  We went to your first hockey game last Friday night and you had a lot of fun.  It was a UMaine game which daddy was excited about since that was his school and you were able to wear your hockey jersey.  You loved the mascot "bananas" the black bear and the funny thing is, is that daddy used to be that bear that skated on the ice in Orono.  Everytime the guys in front of us clapped and cheered, you joined in and clapped with them.  Buppa and uncle Tyler were at the game and you decided that you would rather sit with them over us for part of it.  When we went to take you away, you were not happy.  I can tell that you love your male bonding time :)

Now that you are "officially" potty trained during the day, you have now become more independent with it.  You like to go in and get on the potty all by yourself.  You know to put your little toilet seat on top of the big seat, you push your stool up to it and you know how to pull your underwear down.  As of this week, your new thing is wanting to stand instead of sit.  Surprisingly, you do this quite well and you look like such a big kid.  I feel as though you are growing up so fast and you are only 2!  We haven't had a poo accident in 2 weeks so we are on a roll.  This is one happy momma here :)

Can't wait to see you my little man!  I miss you when we are apart.   I can't remember life without you in it because you have always seemed like you were a part.  "You are My Sunshine", as I always sing to you.  This is OUR song and it never grows old!

Love you so much!
Mommy