Six years of Eli ...

Dear Eli,

Honestly, I am having a hard time finding where to start my letter to you.  SO much has happened with you, me, and Daddy. Most of which we aren't ready to talk with you about yet.  You and I share a very special bond, and I can't explain it, but its definitely a strong one. You have me wrapped around your little finger, even though you have been going through the "terrible 3's" for three years now, I love you so much and I would move mountains to make you happy.

Here you are, Elijah Reed! Born on Thursday, May 8, 2008 at 6:01 p.m. You were 7 lbs. 5 oz. and 19.5 inches, with the biggest cone head ever! The sight of you literally made your daddy and I gasp in shock! You looked like an alien with your tall cone head all wrinkled up. haha Sorry, there's no pictures to show you. Just the mental pictures your daddy and I are scarred with. 

Happy 1st Mother's Day to me! Here we are about to leave the hospital. I was in a lot pain here in this picture but did my best to hide the pain with a smile so that I could look back on this day and remember the joy I was feeling. 

Your baby book is different from your brothers.  Sadly, its not as well made. It didn't have "watch me grow" month by month pages, but more of a list format of "firsts and favorites".  I did the best I could with writing as much important things as possible. 

Your entire first year was the best year of my life. Every single thing about it was perfect. You were the healthiest, most happy baby! It took you 6 months to sleep through the night, but that's okay. We had some great naps together. The only time you cried was during bath, if you where hungry, and in between spoon feeding bites. You loved to eat, and I couldn't shovel the food in your mouth fast enough for your liking. Your first word was "Mama", said just before 8 months old. Later in your 8th month you said "Dada".   Hearing you say "Mama" was the best sound I had ever  heard, other than hearing your first cry at birth. It amazed me how you saying 1 little word in your tiny baby voice could overwhelm my heart with joy. You crawled in your 11th month, pulled yourself to stand in your 13th month, and was walking independently on a regular basis just before turning 18 months old.

Here are some highlight pictures of you growing from month to month in your 1st year. I loved taking your pictures. You smiled all the time! I took thousands of pictures, so I really couldn't sift through too much in selecting pictures for this letter.  I quickly picked some almost at random.  There are too many adorable, and outright funny pictures of you for any album, much less a letter. 

Entering your 2nd year of life was still so blissfully perfect, but challenges soon arose. At 13 months old you had your 1st febrile seizure. Your fever in the hospital was so high, 104.7!  It was a living nightmare! I'm sorry I can't go into details. Even after 5 years, its still hard for me to replay those images in my mind. And 2 months later, you had your 2nd and last febrile seizure. This one was very different from the first, even though much shorter lived, it was more serious. But God was with me, and worked through me to help you. 

Another big event during your 15th month was me & daddy finding out that you were going to be a big brother! And that this little one shared the same due date as you! May 13th. 

When you were about 17 months old you began speech therapy with the most wonderful therapist. Her name is Michelle, and she loved you very much. You reminded her of her own little boy.  I wish you could still remember her, because you two had a special bond also. Here are some pictures from when you were 12 to 24 months... 

 HAPPY 2nd BIRTHDAY ELI !!

Your 2nd birthday was one of my most favorite days.  Its the day your baby bro and I were released from the hospital.  I was SO happy to be home to celebrate you!  You were not happy that I brought home a baby though.  In fact, you were really upset with me and tried to avoid me any chance you could. It made me sad, but I understood this transition was difficult for you. By the end of May, you had adjusted to our family of 4 and were back to your usual happy self. :)

A few months after your 2nd birthday, you got cool new braces for your feet!  Your physical therapist, Melanie, helped you with many things, and although some of your therapy sessions were difficult for you, you always did the best you could. 

These braces helped you lots!  And you wore them everyday for 1.5 years. The last day you wore them was exactly 2 months from your 4th birthday.  By the time you finished with braces, you were able to walk up and down steps, walk long distances, and jump!  But lets not get too far ahead. We need to check out year #3! Because your year #3 was awesome! 

HAPPY 3RD BIRTHDAY ELI !!

You have officially aged out of Early Intervention, and we had to say goodbye to your speech and physical therapist. But we were also planning for an exciting new journey ... preschool! And there, you would meet 2 of the most gifted teachers I have ever met, as well as yet another amazing speech therapist. I have so many pictures of your time with Miss Courtney, Miss Kim, and therapist Ms. Orange. Here are some of your best moments of preschool ...

I can't even put into words the progress you made in this preschool "pilot program". When you started the school year, almost every word you said was echolalia or jargon, but by the end of the year, virtually no echolalia or jargon, and you could  state your thoughts in your own words. In the beginning of the year you played alone and would usually find a corner of the room to stay in and play quietly with your favorite toy.  But not long at all into the school year, you made a best friend and even had a crush on the same girl the whole year. You started to really enjoy play time with other children your age, and with your very energetic cousin too. In general, you were so much happier! There were several times I would almost tear up with happiness watching you play like all the other kids. <3

HAPPY 4th BIRTHDAY ELI !!

Your 4th year was quite challenging.  You did not get to attend as good of a school as the year before, and your teachers also were not what you needed.  So the majority of your 4th year was spent just trying to survive and do the best we could by you. We tried our best to make you as happy as possible until your 2nd preschool year was over.  I won't go into any details because this is something you should never worry about, and with any luck, won't remember this difficult year.  You did however still have plenty of fun events and good times with your family.  And you were also super excited to become a big brother again! You thought you were going to get a baby sister, but nope, another little bro! But your littlest bro wasn't due til after your 5th birthday, so for now, lets look at some of the fun you had when you were 4 ...

HAPPY 5th BIRTHDAY ELI !!

This year was loaded with awesomeness!  First of all, you graduated your 2nd year of preschool and were ready for kindergarten! Here you are in all your excitement ... 

We had as much summer time fun as we could before welcoming your new baby brother in the last week of July. Unfortunately I was huge at this point and could barely fit behind the steering wheel, and really wasn't able to do a whole lot. Daddy would help a lot so we could go out and enjoy the mild summer weather we had. :) 

JULY 24, 2013

On the same night your baby bro and I were home from the hospital, July 27th, you lost your first tooth! You had just gone to bed and was wiggling your tooth, then it popped out! You were so excited, and came downstairs to show us.  I was so glad to be home for this. :)

The tooth fairy took your tooth and left a $1 bill under your pillow! You bought a toy helicopter with it, but sadly, it didn't last very long.  Not many toys survive your kind of playing, lol.

In early September 2013 you started kindergarten at home through Virtual Academy of VA. Although this school year has gone better than I imagined, I'm not sure we will be using their curriculum next year. Here are some fun things you have done this school year ...

There have actually been lots more outdoor field trips I wanted to do with you, but because of having a new baby brother, I just couldn't juggle the bottle feedings, changes (especially his blow out poops!) and baby fussiness along with field trip adventures. We did all our field trips with Daddy's help this year. :)

We just celebrated you turning 6 years old.  And you were so excited about your birthday this year! You are over 3'10" tall now, and 48 pounds.  We got you 1 big gift to share with your younger bro this year. Two sets of EZ Fort!  You absolutely love it! And of course, some pictures to show it off...

And we are finishing up your kindergarten school year, I couldn't be more proud of how much you have learned this year.  You have done excellent in math, reading, science, and art. You do well in history also, but it's not one of your favorites. You read so well, and feel confident picking up any book and giving it your best shot at reading it by yourself. You draw on a daily basis as well, and your eye for detail is astonishing! I love that you enjoy art, as that is something I really enjoyed growing up as well. Maybe someday you will inspire me to start drawing again. 

I hope I didn't leave out something huge ....I'm getting the feeling I did though.  Maybe I'll catch it in my next letter to you. OH!  Your graduation!  We are celebrating your kindergarten graduation next week, May 13th.  It will be so special, and I can hardly wait to get pictures of you in your cap and gown!  Mommy & Daddy love you very much, even though you drive us both up a wall sometimes. haha  

Love always, 

Mommy