I wish you could all know Eli like we do

My poor boy Eli with the owie ears is so cranky today & has been for days. In spite of that, he's one of the cutest, sweetest, most loving boys I've ever known. This morning he was watching me put in my contacts & after I took a contact out of the case, he'd poke his finger in the solution & dab it on his eye (closed). He gives me hugs & kisses often & has even started getting his own diaper like a big boy & loves it if we make a big deal out of it. When he runs down the hall, his little cheeks bounce because he's running so fast. He loves to take showers, to be naked & to identify his pee-pee to everyone. He thinks he's so funny & will play the clown for a laugh. Eli sings & dances, loves Elmo & Bob the Builder, reading books & playing hide-&-seek. He is so much his own person. I just wish you all could know him.

Shots

Yesterday I had to take the kids in for shots. I now take them to Public Health because the nurse that gave them shots last year was just nasty & bruised the kids horribly (quarter+ sized bruises on Abby). Needless to say, Abby is pretty freaked about it all even though we're going to the "nice shot" place. The nurse that called us back was nice & started on the paperwork first. Abby just got more & more anxious & at one point even blocked herself in a corner of the office with a wire bookshelf in front of her & telling me she's not coming out. Finally, I get her on my lap & she struggles & screams something awful. The nurse gives her the shot & she's so tense & wiggly, I know it had to hurt. Abby was so hysterical that she didn't even notice the second shot (probably a good thing). So after Abby, it's Eli's turn. I put Abby in the chair next to me & she's still crying loudly, but at least she's not screaming. Then I pull Eli onto my lap & as the nurse starts toward Eli with the needle, Abby wails, "No! My baby! No, no!" Eli does the silent sobbing so his body just shakes & it's almost worse than the noise Abby made. When it's all over, Eli calms down quickly & other than a little crankiness since he's got a cold & all, he's fine. Abby just kept fussing & fussing & getting herself re-worked up whenever she thought about it. She told Hans later that she didn't like getting s-h-o-t-s (I'd been spelling it & she picked up on what those letters meant quick). Then today we went to my friend Amanda's & I'd been explaining to Abby that it's important to get shots, even though they are just terrible & hurt, because shots help keep us healthy. Abby had seen a poster at Public Health of what the various diseases look like (chicken pox, measles, rubella, etc.) & she was seeming to understand since the pictures didn't look like the kids felt okay at all. Abby & Amanda talked about how the chicken pox shot is new & how Amanda & I had chicken pox when we were kids. So all this is an explanation of the picture I'm going to get Hans to show me how to get on here. It's a picture of a mama with the chicken pox since she didn't have her shots.

BMs

We're just about to head out the door to check out a new playground down the street & Abby is standing by the door, all ready to go, grunting & wiggling a little. I'm watching her & she says, "There's a poop that has to come out & it's really hurting my bum." I think she forgot she could just run down the hall to the bathroom to take care of the situation.