Happy Birthday, Mr. Man

On the weekend, we celebrated the birth of this dude:

He is so adorable! This is my favourite picture of Elliot because it sums up his entire babyhood: snuggled up close to his mama and entirely unimpressed with the world.  

I have been trying to figure out what I should write about Elliot for his birthday post, and it is hard because I feel like Elliot's story has already been told.We all know about his colicky babyhood, his dare-devil toddler antics, and his unique perspective on the world that makes him oh, so very hilarious and yet very insightful at times. So, I decided last night, in the wee hours of the morning, to simply profess my love to this guy and to celebrate the bright future I see before him.

Elliot, and I have a very special bond. Being such a difficult baby, a busy toddler, and a high-needs child, he has really forced me to stretch as a mother. He has taught me compassion, patience, and love. He has taught me to not sweat the small stuff, to be ready for anything, and most of all, he has taught me to love myself in spite of my faults. Like no other child, Elliot seems to have a way of drawing out my bad side, the impatient mama who is quick to yell and lose her cool, but like no other child, he simply accepts her and loves her. When I lose my cool, Elliot will often wrap his arms around me and ask if I need to take a break. When the other kids tease me because of my quick temper or all the times I make mistakes like forgetting to pack a lunch or to remind them about something important, Elliot is always the first to remind them that I am trying my best. I have only learnt compassion, patience, and love because this is how Elliot treats me. He doesn't expect anything from me. He just loves me for being his mama. Elliot truly is a remarkable person!

When we asked Elliot how he wanted to celebrate his birthday this year, he told us that he wanted one friend over to spend the night. We were shocked! Avery was disgusted.

But that means you will only get one present!

Elliot then explained that he only wanted one friend over because it would be less stressful for him. According to Elliot, having more than one friend over means you spend more time worrying if everyone is having fun or getting along than having fun yourself. Good point! And so on Friday night, Elliot's best buddy Isaac came over for a sleepover, and we took them to see Iron Man 3. They ate frozen pizzas and cupcakes and drank copious amounts of Kool-Aid. This was the easiest birthday party in history, and Elliot enjoyed every minute of it!

Some of Elliot's favourite things right now include:

-the Xbox

-Scout

-Nerf guns

-popcorn, popcorn, and more popcorn,

-a can of Coke, which his grammie keeps on hand at all times in the event that he may stop in for a visit

-pizza pops, again another treat found at both of his grandmothers and always kept well-stocked in the event of a visit

-the Hobbit movie

-playing army

-comic books

AND . . .

-his Ipod Touch, which enables him to "facetime" with friends

Elliot's future goals:

1. To serve a mission

2. To marry a girl who believes in God (his words)

3. To raise a family

How cute is that? Ever since he was little, Elliot has always talked about getting married and having kids. I love how simple and yet how meaningful each of these goals are. They say so much about Elliot. For being such a young guy, Elliot has a lot of faith and he has a strong testimony of God. Elliot also loves nothing more than the peace, security and love that can be found in a family. Elliot, I know how much each of these goals mean to you and I am confident that you will achieve each and every one of them.

(It is also interesting to compare Elliot's goals with those of his sister and brother. Zoe wants to become a doctor and marry a quarterback from BYU, a Latter Day Saint university in Utah, who will later go on to play for the New England Patriots.  Avery wants to become a professional soccer player, marry a supermodel, and move to Spain . . . tee hee!)

Elliot, I can't believe how grown up you have become. I love how much family means to you and how you insist upon all of us curling up to watch movies together (with popcorn) on a frequent basis. I love how kind you are to your friends and how enthusiastic you are when you play with your brother. I love your energy, your imagination, and your intensity! You are an amazing boy, and I am confident that you will become an even more amazing man when you grow up. Like I told your sister and brother on their birthdays, I didn't think it was ever possible, but I love you more today than the first day I laid eyes upon you.

Happy Birthday, Mr. Man!

 

A Decade with Elliot

Guess whose birthday it is today!

This zany guy's:

  And it is not just any birthday, but his 10th!  That's double digits, baby!

To quote his father yesterday, "I can't believe he actually survived the first ten years of his life".  Seriously, though, it truly is a miracle!  Here are just a few examples of his near-death experiences:

• Elliot was collicky, and he needed to be strapped to my body in the sling at ALL hours of the day.  He cried all the time, and nothing, except for me reading books to him, would calm him down.  Unfortunately, I did not discover this trick until three months into his crying blitz.  You may be interested to know that his favourite book was "Wuthering Heights".  Explains a lot doesn't it?  You may be asking yourself how does colic constitute itself as a near-death experience, but if you are asking yourself this, then I am 99.9% sure that you have never had a collicky child.  It is a miracle that any of them or their parents survive!

• When Elliot was 18 months old, I walked into the kitchen and found him with my open bottle of iron pills.  The pills were red, and Elliot's face was covered in the same dye.  I panicked and called Telecare, who promptly told me to get to the hospital right away because high doses of iron in an infant's system can be lethal.  WHAT?!!  I rushed him to the Emergency Room, crying the entire time and apprehensively watching for his last breath.  The doctor saw us immediately and sent us down for an X-ray to determine how many he had swallowed.  By the way, the doctor was quite upset with me because I did not know how many iron pills were left prior to Elliot's ingestion of them.  Really?  Does anyone out there truly count their vitamins?  Especially one sleep-deprived mama of two active children under the age of 4? UGH!  Here I am on the brink of witnessing my baby boy die in my arms, and he is lecturing me on counting my pills.  Don't you think I already feel like the world's worst mother?  Luckily, the X-ray showed that Elliot did not, in fact, ingest any of the pills, but rather he was licking the coating off of them.  Phew!  Needless to say, after that I become neurotic about where I stored my vitamins, but I have yet to count one. So there, Mr. Know-It-All doctor!

• Shortly after Elliot's second birthday, Derrick was "watching" him play with the other children in our neighbour's backyard.  Elliot, who was up in the tree fort, decided that it was finally time for him to test his flying skills. I kid you not!  He took a running leap out of the fort, while his father was "watching" him, and plummeted to the earth.  Derrick picked up our screaming child and ran into the house.

Me: "What hurts, Elliot?"
Elliot: "Nothing!"
Me: "Then why are you crying?"
Elliot: "Because I can't fly!"
Me: "I see."
It was at this moment that we realized Elliot is one of those people who have to experience things for themselves before they believe it.

• A few months following this incident, Elliot and Zoe were playing upstairs.  I was on the phone, when all of a sudden I heard a loud crash and screaming. I ran up the stairs to find Elliot standing on the landing amongst a million shards of glass. He had grabbed my full length mirror and thought it would make the perfect sled for going down the stairs.  He just did not take into account what would happen when that "perfect sled" hit the wall and his little body was on top of it.  Through divine intervention, Elliot escaped this ordeal without even a scratch on him.

Me: "Elliot, are you hurt?"
Elliot: "No."
Me: "Why are you crying then?"
Elliot: "Because my sled is broken!"
Me: "Of course!"

Since then, there have been stitches, more X-rays, a week in the hospital for "Cat Scratch Fever (who knew of such a thing?)", and countless dare devil attempts on bicycles and skateboards, but, thankfully, Elliot is still with us and eager to continue his exploration on the limits of the mortal body.

Here are a few more things you may, or may not, know about Elliot that we think make him pretty special:

• Elliot is a published author.  Although, he has not yet received any royalties for his award-deserving book, I am positive that with his active imagination and his love for literature, this could be a lucrative profession for him someday.

• Elliot LOVES dragons, as you can tell from the title of his book and the kite he picked out.

• Elliot's favourite food is lobster.

Or does he just like to play with it?



• Elliot does not like to wear clothes around the house (but we have insisted that he at least wear underwear.  Being one of those lackadaisical "boy moms" that I am, this has not always been the case.  It was Mr. Level-Headed's idea)

Making "goo" in his skibbies (underwear in level-headed terms)

• Elliot used to be terrified of water. In hindsight, it probably has to do with his discovery that boys can't fly, and therefore, figured boys can't swim either.  I am happy announce that he now swims like a fish, and we have a hard time getting him out of the water.

Beaching it in St. Thomas

swimming with his brother at our beach

• Elliot is up for anything at all times, especially if it involves hanging out with his favourite fellow henchman.

When these two are together you can always be sure that something is about to "go down".



Wall-climbing at Universal Studios

• Elliot LOVES fishing, and asks to go EVERYDAY after school.





Showing off his catch from ice-fishing

• Although Elliot is very athletic and plays hockey and soccer, he loves nothing more than chilling out and relaxing.

• Oh, and being the awesome younger brother that he is, driving his big sister crazy!

Looking back at all of these pictures and reflecting upon the past decade we have spent with our little man, I can not help but think how blessed we are to have him in our lives.  He was born at 12:29 am, and I was so excited to be reacquainted with his sweet spirit, that I stayed up the entire night holding him in my arms and soaking in everything about him.  With the sound of Derrick's soft snoring in the background and this warm bundle of life cradled in my arms, I remember thinking, "life has been good, but I think it is only going to get better!".

Thank you, Elliot, for being you and bringing such joy to our lives.