The Big 0-2

I don't know how it is here already, but it is.  Eli turns TWO today!!!!  I love that he is at such a fun age, but I hate that he somehow managed to turn two in about half the time I expected it to take.

12.09.11 - Little bit of snow, lotta bit of gloomy

The day Eli was born was very gloomy, much like today, but holy cow was it cold!!!!  And, considering he was born at Carle Hospital in Urbana, I'm pretty sure the wind was ridiculous too.  I was induced at 11:00 in the morning, and he was born at 6:50 that night.  The whole day crept by, but as soon as the doctor broke my water, it was game on!  In fact, once I felt the urge to push, he was born so fast that my mom and mother-in-law didn't have time to leave the room before he was born.  Yeah, it was that intense.....from 7 cm to holding him in less than 35 minutes.  Plus, my epidural failed.  This REALLY ticked me off because I NEVER wanted to experience natural childbirth.  However, I did it, and I have the joy of nerve damage to remind me of the failed epidural.  Ah, memories.

Eli was a very, um, how shall I put this, fiendish moody little baby until about 4 1/2 months.  He generally cried the entire time he was awake.  Some of you are probably thinking, "Babies sleep all the time."  Well, I assure you it doesn't feel like all the time when all of their waking hours are filled with ear piercing shrieks and wails.  He could eat like no other child in the world.  While it routinely took newborn Ian 30-40 minutes to complete a feeding, newborn Eli could do it in 5 minutes.  FIVE minutes!!!!  Our pediatrician was shocked, to say the very least, when she witnessed such a feeding.  Generally speaking, newborns aren't quite as ferocious about eating as Eli was.

Eli is still a BIG eater at breakfast.  Lunch and supper are kind of touch and go.  He is SO happy.  Once Eli is  ready for the day, there is no stopping him.  He is the happiest, craziest, most dare-devilish little guy I could imagine.  Eli doesn't have a single molecule of fear in his body.  He will try anything!!!!!  Usually, I'm pretty impressed by his stunt skills, but every now and then something goes awry.  Like a few weeks ago when he climbed on top of the blanket draped over two club chairs and did a belly flop from three feet in the air or a couple of weeks ago when he fell off of his camel, a.k.a. the back of the chair, and crashed to the ground.

Eli has a million faces and wiggles.  He can not hide his emotions at all.  If he is ecstatic, you know it.  He just can't contain himself.  If he's ticked, you know it.  He's a lot like his mother.  He is still a HUGE mama's boy.  Cole and I used to joke that Eli's natural habitat was on my hip.  While his hip time has greatly diminished, he still makes no attempt to hide the fact that he frequently needs time with me to recharge his little batteries.

Eli is such an awesome little dude, and I am SO glad that he is ours!  :)

Last night, Eli's Godfather, Grant, and Grant's wife Lindsey came over for supper to celebrate Li-li's birthday.  They of course came bearing gifts.  A book for each boy for Christmas and a wooden garbage truck for the birthday boy!  Grant and Lindsey are such a wonderful addition to Eli's, and our, extended family, and we are SO glad they accepted our request for Grant to be Eli's Godfather.  I meant to get a picture of Eli with Grant and Lindsey and his truck, but I totally forgot.  Shucks!

Isn't this the cutest truck?  The bucket lifts up and drops the "trash" into the truck.

Eli LOVES it!!!!

Cole and I gave Eli his birthday gifts from us this morning.  He was positively beaming while we all sang to him this morning.  He got a light up Finn McMissile and four Cars 2 matchbox style cars: Finn McMissile, Holly Shiftwell, Acer, and Petrov Trunkov.  Acer and Petrov are villains, so play time is quite intense.

Eli's birthday loot from Cole, Ian, me, and a couple of $10 off a $10 purchase coupons from JC Penney

The big Finn McMissile is a flashlight

The boys had SOOOOOO much fun playing with the new toys that they forgot to ask for breakfast!  This NEVER happens, so I knew they were in toy heaven.

Later today, we will be visiting Dr. Maranon for Li's two-year well-baby check-up.  I'm pretty sure his vocabulary and conversational skills will knock her socks off as every person who listens to Eli speak is in utter shock when we tell them Eli's age.  It's pretty incredible.  And, I'm guessing that he will be in a fairly high height percentile because I feel like his 2T jammies are short on him already!

Tonight we are ordering a pizza for supper, and I'm making lemon cake with vanilla icing for dessert.  It is going to be a great day at the Anderson house.  We have a lot to celebrate when Eli's birthday rolls around because he wasn't the easiest baby to carry and bring into the world.  My pregnancy with Eli, from five weeks until the very end, made Cole and me realize how truly lucky we were with Ian, and made us appreciate both of our boys even more than we did before, which was a LOT!!!!!

Happy Birthday, Eli!