Happy 1st Birthday To My Little Eli

Eli has begun this horrible habit in the last day or so. Whenever I'm holding him, he finds his nostril to be the most comfortable, convenient, perhaps coziest place to rest his finger in. He's not doing anything with it but holding it there. I take it out, it goes back in. Take it out, back in it goes. It's a spectacular display of unpleasantness. And yet, even something that annoying is adorable when it's Eli doing it. Like when he takes the TV remote, points it at the TV, and clicks to another channel while simultaneously looking at us and saying "uh-ooh". We're beginning to see a mischievous little boy emerging and it frightens me a bit.

But this same little boy is also my baby. I love that I can console him like no one else can if he wakes up crying late in the evening. I love how excited he gets when he sees Jude's bowl of gook-bahb even when I just finished feeding him dinner. He squeals and looks at me excitedly as if to say that he needs a bowl of gook-bahb like no one has ever needed a bowl of gook-bahb in the history of the world. I love that already he can't seem to live with or without his older brother. I love that God reminds me of His graciousness and omnipotence when I look at my son.

It's been a couple of weeks since I last posted, but it was difficult to sit and write my usual lighthearted jibberish after the tragedy at VA Tech. Although I personally did not know anyone who died, I was devastated for the families who lost loved ones, children in particular. It's difficult to think of the world we've brought our children into and not be shaken. The world has gone on, but these families have been permanently altered and the healing is just beginning for them. To think of parents lovingly and tirelessly raising their child for some 20 years only to lose him/her in such a brief and horrific moment, well, it's overwhelming to imagine. It has caused me to realize the overwhelming love I have for my own children. Eli has been in the world for just one short year but it has been such a full year that I can't imagine my life without him.

Happy 1st birthday pumpkin! You have made my world a more colorful one.