Eli's been four for almost six months now, and while it's easy to take the kid for granted because he's so easy to have around, lately he's been reminding me he's there and won't be ignored. Here's a run-down of our #2's extremes.
The highs:
One wacky sense of humor. No one in our family cracks us up more than Eli. The kid says some seriously off-the-wall remarks and some surprisingly clever quips, all of which keep us rolling. After church today, Eli declared himself "top notch" for drying some of the rain off Lizzy's car. So random.
Newfound love of the world of academia. After resisting my efforts with his education, Eli has decided in his own time that he loves "reading" books, writing letters and stories, counting, and learning new things. He spouted off something about evaporation today as we were driving home from church, something I assume he learned at preschool this week, that made me realize he's absorbing information even when I think he's not. He adores Grandma Preschool with Stephen's mom, where for an hour or two a week he gets to learn about odd and even numbers, lowercase letters, science, seasons, animals, reading comprehension, and on and on.
The world of make-believe. I love it when kids hit that age where they can pretend play all day long. Eli loves to imagine he's a Star Wars character, or a Mario Cart driver, or a pirate, or a school kid, or a baby, or a Backyardigan. You name it, he'll find a costume and a creative world to match it.
Playing with Bennett and Bennett's friends. Boy, does Eli love his brother. Yesterday, Stephen took Eli to the barber shop with him, and the first thing Eli said was, "Do you think I can bring a second lollipop home for Bennett?" He's always thinking of his big brother, eagerly waiting for the school day to end so he can play with him. Sometimes I feel kind of bad that so few of Eli's friends are his own age. His sociality has always revolved around his brother's, and I'm afraid I haven't been very good about helping Eli make friends his own age.
The lows:
Rebel without a cause. He's always had that little streak of second child defiance, but lately the disobedience has reached new heights as he vehemently and persistently chooses not to do what we ask of him. He loses almost every privilege--i.e. treats, video games, shows, outings, etc.--several times a week, if not every day.
Colossal cry sessions. Talk about crying stamina. It always starts out so simple, being told he can't bring a toy on our walk to school (ever the rule), and then the neverending weeping and wimpering kick in. He'll keep going the whole way there and the whole way home sometimes, which can be a good twenty to thirty minutes, and I don't think he'd stop if I didn't find a creative incentive or punishment to make it end.
Finger fixation. Eli has a strange addiction to his hands. He's always biting or sucking on his fingers, something we didn't realize he was doing for a long time until we started noticing the shocking amount of hangnails on the kid's hands. He's sucked a few of them so hard a whole layer of skin, and the connected fingernail, has come off and/or bled.
Physicality. Eli throws his body around in soccer like it's a contact sport, karate-kicking the ball with his entire body rather than just kicking it. That seems to be his style. Why just sit on a couch when you can fling yourself into it? Why just walk to my room when I can full-speed run and crash into a wall or two on the way? It's not always a bad thing, but we're confident our E.R. trips with this child are nowhere near being over.
We love our Eli. He makes us smile. He makes us scratch our heads. I can't wait to see what the future holds for this kid, or maybe better said, what he will bring to his own future.
