April 29, 2004

In the last two weeks, Kari has started to feel small movements in her belly. The little girl or guy is starting to jump around. She is constantly tired, but getting over the nausea. Unfortunately, she has not had the energy to watch Elijah, who is getting more and more energetic with each passing day. Sunday the 25th was his 2nd birthday. Chris got him every type of food that he likes for his birthday meal. That meant we were eating grapes, chips, french fries, corn dogs, mac and chees and a bunch of foods like that. Not a cohesive meal, by any stretch of the imagination. We had a cake with candy all over the frosting. He kept grabbing at it and we pretty much let him. The cake was destroyed very quickly. His favorite part was the candles. He had the trick candles that relight themselves, but he was happy to keep blowing on them, over and over. Never mind the spit on the cake. After his nap, Elijah decided to take a trip to the park behind our house. Only problem is, no adult was with him. Yes, our boy ran away from home. Kari started to panic and we ran all through the house, looking for his whereabouts. We checked outside and saw our little boy in the sandbox with no shoes and no shirt on. Of course, he did have his blanket. Have to have that. We ran out to get him back inside and all was well.

This week has been a time of preparation for Elijah's big birthday party, which is happening this week. Lots of cleaning and wrapping and such. Thankfully, we already have purchased most of his presents, so there is minimal spending in that arena. Well, yesterday, while I was at work and most people were at home, Elijah dashed off again, this time to the neightbors' house. Our next door neighbor brought him back and stated he was ringing her door bell. Well, needless to say, his mom was a little upset at his disappearance again. He also lost his blanket and pacifier, guaranteeing he wouldn't take a nap. Both were eventually located in a small, office refrigerator. No wonder he kept saying his "blankie cold."

To top off yesterday, he drove his little left hand into a nail, requiring 3 stitches. Kari called me up, hysterical. I had no idea what she was saying in her message. I call home and talk to Marie, who tells me they have gone to the hospital. It appears Elijah was bouncing on couch cushions that were on the floor and hurt himself. The cushions were off the couch because the couch was upside down. Chris was working on a broken leg. Elijah, while bouncing, somehow hit his hand on the broken leg, which happened to have nails and screws coming out of it. I'm not sure which he hit, but it was enough to require the stitches. By the time I saw him, Elijah's little hand was wrapped up in extensinve bandaging. Poor kid. The way Heather and Chris tell it, Elijah was more calm than Kari, who was ready to faint.