A day in the life of Eli

Ben and I were looking back at old videos one morning, reminiscing about Alison as a baby and all the cute things she did. We quickly realized all the things we did with her that we haven't done with Eli, and I began to feel immensely guilty. Books, music, sign language, Elmo, beginning words, activities...what happened to all these things with #2? I always assumed all of our kids would have the same upbringing, but this made me realized that Eli's life so far has been completely different than Alison's. Our life is completely different and for that matter, I'm completely different. I kept wondering if this different is good or bad. Is no TV better than watching Elmo learn about his hands and feet? Are 5 books a day better than 1? Is a 10 am nap better than going to a siblings outing? I don't know how all these things will affect Eli, but I do know that I don't ever want Eli to just live in Alison's shadow.

So here's a day in life of Eli:

First, breakfast is a must. Nothing can happen until food is in the tummy.
And don't even think about giving him small bites. If it doesn't look like Alison's food, he will dump it on the floor.

Then he's off...
to find a remote

and watch the neighbor boy play basketball

and pull daddy's nice books off the bookshelf.

Then, it's time to find the tape and Hope directory in mommy's desk,

and play some piano with sister.


He eats lunch and then takes an 1.5 hour nap.
But who can sleep when there's Word Whammers to throw on the floor.

and cabinet doors to open and close.

Somewhere in his day, he finds time to push kitties around on the dining room chairs and practice his clapping and standing.

And like any good little brother, he enjoys chasing his little sister around the house.

It's time for dinner, and after the loud grunts and leg kicks for food have ceased, he's actually pretty good at feeding himself and will eat anything.

As bedtime approaches, he likes to wind down while chasing the vacuum

and pulling everything out of his dresser.

He goes to bed easily and sleeps a solid 12 hours...just enough time for mommy to clean up the house and rest up for another adventurous day.

I wish I could say I was exaggerating on this story, but everything documented happens on a daily basis-multiple times. I've picked up the alphabet that has been thrown all of the kitchen hundreds of times. This morning when I was putting the clothes back in the drawers I found a dirty diaper that had been hidden in there. I've found myself yelling, "Don't eat Cinderella's dress!" and "don't throw your sister's panties!" Life is completely different than what I expected or imagined, but I love it. I love this little boy more than anything and I love the spice he brings to this house.