Laundry, Bath and Bed...

I will admit it--I am within a few weeks of baby two now and I was starting to get nervous. Eli is still a BABY!! I am about to have two tiny children, both of whom still need me to do everything for them. (And Eli nixed his second nap a month or two ago!) I think Eli sensed my fear and has decided to cross some thresholds into little kid-dom. I am happy, but also a little sad since it means he's growing up. Here's a few examples of what I mean!

1. Yesterday, Eli and I were playing in his room. To make a longish story short, he basically started carrying his clothes from his dirty clothes hamper into the laundry area and putting them in the open washing machine!! I guess he decided it was time to do his laundry!! It was hilarious. He carried armfuls and threw them in, and also tiny things, like a few stray socks, until it was all in. Then he pointed at it and whined, as if to say, "Okay mom, I have done my part--now you get it going."

2. Over the past few nights we have been doing something new. I can say, "Eli, do you want a bath?" He really likes them, so he promptly makes a beeline for the stairs and to the bathroom. He then opens the cabinet with toys in it and picks what toys he wants for his bath. Then he helps me take his clothes off so he can get in!! When I think it's time I say, "Eli, let's get out" and I grab the towel. He stands up, holds up his hands for me and I pick him up. No crying, or whining, just a happy boy beginning to end. Miraculous! He has also stopped crying when I brush his teeth!

3. Tonight a new first took place. I said, "Eli, are you ready to go to bed?" It was 7:25, about five minutes until his bedtime. He ran over, grabbed his blanket, and went to the stairs. I wondered what he would do. He climbed all the stairs, blanket in hand, and then walked to his room, and over to his bed. I picked him up, said, "Give mommy a kiss". He did, smooching noise and all (he is really good at it) and then I laid him down. He smiled at me as I covered him with a blanket and I said, "Night night" and left. No tears, just a little boy tucked into his crib! WOW! Maybe we will be ready for a bed before long...

Also, I thought I would throw in a few more photos from Christmas. Here's one of Eli on Santa's lap. He did pretty well!! My brave little guy! No tears from him...

While my mom was here, she did a LOT of sewing (Again! She sewed a lot here in September too) for Dora's room. Eli was fascinated and wanted to sit on her lap ALL THE TIME. He was actually really good (unlike when Mommy puts him on her lap while sewing) and sat very nicely on her lap. It was too cute to pass up. By the by, my mom made curtains, at least two blankets, the better part of two wall hanging quilts (which I finished up), a laundry basket liner, three care bear wall hangings and so on... She was a BUSY BEE!! I am almost done with everything (still working on Isadora's bed quilt)... Once it's done I will put up photos of the nursery.

I am throwing in a photo of Eli's photo shoot with my mom. He won't pose for photos with me anymore, but he would go sit down every time my mom wanted to take photos of him! Funny!

And lastly, we had Haven and Teresa and their kids here for several days. I didn't do so well with the camera, but right at the end, we caught a few shots. Here's Whit, Haven and all the kids. They actually watched them all while my mom, Teresa and I all went shopping! Nice! I think Whit did all the "heavy lifting" since when we came back, he knew Clarissa's diaper had been changed... yeah, my husband is awesome! He never shirks changing diapers. What a guy!!