Things to Remember: Eli at 5

Height: 45"
Weight: 47 lbs
Favorite Food: Spaghetti and Meatballs (runner up: Taco Salad)
Favorite Book: The Book with No Pictures
Favorite Show: Angry Birds
Favorite Song: "Thunder" by Imagine Dragons
Favorite Clothing Item: Sweatpants
When he grows up he wants to be: crane operator
Most Common Phrase: "Stiiiiiiiiillll hungry!"
Biggest fear: Wearing not-sweatpants

At five years-old Eli is officially A KID.  He can be trusted to communicate, follow instructions, and is relatively independent.  He eats, washes, dresses and poops without assistance and has found that, by the power of the stool, nothing in the house is truly out of his reach.  My baby is gone, but in his place is a strong little boy working on the holy trinity of being kind, funny, and smart.  My favorite phrase of his lately is, "you're often right, Mom".  Did I mention smart?

It has become very apparent to us that Eli's love language is touch. He is, in fact, SO affectionate that we've had "The Consent Talk" early and often (if Porter doesn't want a kiss then you can't just grab him and kiss him!...  Yes, I do know that his cheeks are so chunky.")  His favorite thing in the world is when we all wrestle in the living room and nothing makes him feel more loved than snuggles.

Eli is my buddy, and sticks close to my side no matter where I am so that we can "be each other's body guard".  Whatever I am doing he must also do- laundry, bed making, cooking, hanging out in the bathroom (we're working on privacy over here), or taking the garbage out.  It's both wonderful and exasperating at times, but I know I will miss him terribly when he starts kindergarten in the fall!

This kid has been very into camouflaging lately, and we are often required to look for him.  Usually, it's both easy and entertaining, as below, but sometimes he is SO QUIET that it takes some real effort!

Our two most consistent activities lately have been legos and drawing.  As of his birthday, Eli has reached lego level: diabolical.  As in, the TINY ONES.  The ones that fit into every crack and crevice of our house but you can't lose because you might need them to build the next cool thing.  Truth be told I probably love building with them as much if not more than he does, so I'm willing to live with them for next decade or so.  Still, I prefer the drawing. Eli is discovering his love of writing along with the drawing and I love watching his world expand!

The older he gets, the more Eli anticipates his birthday. Turning five was talked about basically since turning four, and I felt a lot of pressure going into the big day.  I'm coming to realize that having a birthday kid can be pretty difficult: they're emotional, feeling entitled, hyped up, sugared up, and waaaaay overstimulated.  Despite this, I think we managed a pretty awesome birthday!

Eli wanted "power pancakes with whip cream and ONE strawberry" for his breakfast, McDonald's (of ALL PLACES) for lunch, spaghetti for dinner, and he spent most of the day playing with his cool new crane and lording his new toys over Porter, for whom the day was pretty distressing.

We had a fun, hectic Angry Birds party with Eli's besties.  The kids were old enough to come without parents and consequently very little actual food was eaten, chaos reigned and it was quite loud.  Sooo... success!

Eli's preschool does a "Day to Shine" on your birthday where the family can come for the day and the child does a little spotlight segment.  Eli absolutely loves his preschool and has been looking forward to this since August.  It was surprisingly fun for me and Zach as well- we enjoyed seeing what Eli does at school and getting to know the other kids and teachers.  Porter was in heaven and just fit himself right in.  My respect for those teachers has reached new levels.

To conclude, in my incredibly unbiased opinion, Eli is the best.  We love him tremendously.
Happy birthday kiddo!