houpley

Well, we are all moved in and only had three boxes left to unpack so we did what everyone does with the last three miscellaneous boxes and put them in the attic to one day be discovered, maybe right before a garage sale and as is typical we will say "apparently we never really needed this so and so..." Actually, I just went through those last few boxes and can officially say that as of this very moment we are 100% moved in. Box-free! The move back to the natural state was the very end of May ... so ... about four months to get every last box unpacked? Not too shabby. Of course, all of that was made possible from the help of friends and family which in turn was at the top of the list of reasons to return to the land of opportunity. In the meantime, Eric and my parents have been digging in the yard and it is starting to really shape up. The place was very overgrown and had not seen any yardwork-love in more than 5 years.Sometimes it seems endless, but when I look back at b...

Eli is right in the middle of the roll-call phase.  Every activity – working, laundry, sleeping, eating, walking – are regularly assigned to the people around him and even those who live elsewhere. The roll-call game is one of my favorite because he drags it out and sing-song-says it like a little grown-up. As if his list is almost as exhausting as the actual activity he is checking off. Here’s how it works. Eric will be working on a project in the garage: Mama? Daddy workin.’ Yes. Silence while contemplating this information and then a sing-songy unleashing… Daaaaddy workin.’ Eeeeli workin.’ Jaaaaackson workin.’ Granddaaaad workin.’ Eeeelvis workin.’ Izzyyyy workin.’ Apparently, there is a lot of working going on around here.

Whether we are doing the telling or the listening, our family loves a good story.  We want to know every detail.  Start from when the door bell rang, the phone was ring-ringing, you walked in the room, the first glance – ok-go! Give us the details. My heart soared when the firstborn walked in sweaty from his latest adventure, set his kitchen chair in the middle of the kitchen floor, plopped down, turned his blue eyes up to mine and said: "OK mama, let me take it from the top…"

Theatrics – we’ve got some. Who doesn’t love a good show? A silly dance? A whirlwind of living-room gymnastics? A costume-filled talent show? The boys – they do it all. Non-stop entertainment. But Eli has discovered he has a real knack for DJ-ing. Last Saturday morning, it was 8 a.m. and we were doing the classic parent-weekend-sleep-in-dance, where Eric and I try to hang on to a few more precious, teeny-tiny moments of fake-almost-sleep while Eli dances in our hair.  Sometimes you can catch 20 or so more seconds by just letting Eli ramble and sing and chat away during a good snuggle.  During this particular morning, Eli started singing a little Happy Birthday. When he was finished, he popped his tiny face into mine and asked: What song? What song, mama? Slightly taken aback, I struggled to think of a song that Eli would know the words. Ring-around-the rosie? He responded by launching into the tune. After about two and ½ lines in, he once again popped...

Every night I try to stick to a bedtime routine.  It really helps Eli, who has always had a few sleep issues, prepare himself for bed. After bath, we do the last diaper change, get him his drink, pick a lovey and then walk down the hall to say all of our good nights to all the various people and dogs along the way.  Once in his room he asks to turn off the ceiling fan, watches me turn off his blue elephant lamp and while I close his blinds he softly says “Good night guys. Good night day. See you tomorrow.” Then while we rock and cuddle I try to softly whisper to him so to create a calming environment.  I whisper the basics, “I love you…sweet boy…ready for night-night…etc.” But the other night all of our evening procedures came to halt when I started whispering and Eli finally grabs my face, looks into my mouth and repeats in the classic shout-whisper: “WHAT? WHAAAT? WHAAAAAT?”

Every child always brings with it a few words or phrases that end up becoming a permanent part of our day to day verbiage. Even now, after six years, we still use Jackson’s ‘nack for snack and staw-bappys for strawberries. Eli has not only provided the adorable   terr-stee for thirsty and   tookie for cookie but there is also one of my faves:   teek-a-boo.   Beyond his baby phrasing is that sometimes he uses a British accent. We aren’t sure where this popped up but it is heart-melting. He will pronounce his “no” with such a pronounced N and extreme pursed lip that it has a few added syllables and is all UK. When he couples that with “I don’t!” I start to put the kettle on for some afternoon tea.