“I just like frogs.  And animals.”

Africa is agreeing with Eli.  We know he’s having a blast because we usually find him out in the yard collecting sticks and leaves, and building houses for ants.

The rest of Eli’s mind continues to revolve around trains, trucks, and distant planets.  He is always asking “why” and trying to figure out how things work.

He doesn’t eat his lunch at school because he says he’s “too busy,” but when he comes home he knows how to make a bowl of kashi all by himself!

Eli notices everything without paying attention, which means he can recite conversations and entire scenes from movies, but we still have to call him ten times to come to the table for dinner.  At night when putting on his pajamas for bed, he tells fascinating stories about the ghosts other kids have seen at school.  “If you see a ghost and stick your hand through it, it comes out the other side.  So you see, it’s not real.  It’s just imagination!”  He has a pretty good head on his shoulders.

I could try to capture more of Eli in words, but maybe it’s better to let Eli’s own words do that:

“I have lizard eyes.  And I won’t get lost because I have a satellite in me.”

While eating a popsicle: “You should eat these at the North Pole, they wouldn’t melt.”

“Horses can’t ride on airplanes, they would knock all the drinks down.”

When his tooth was loose:  “I can only eat bananas, jelly beans, and soft chocolate candy.”

“The rabbits eat your flowers, Mimi, because you don’t have any carrots and they need something to eat.”

“Do they have cat hair vacuums around this town?  Oma needs a special cat hair vacuum.”

“Remember when there was gas flowing over the back porch, when Opa left the grill on?”

“That was The Hague right there!  They have a lot of hay.”

“When you have antibodies in your body, does that mean you have ants in you?”

“Can I have a barbecue sauce sandwich?”

Eli is busy, and keeps us busy too.  He likes music,

electronics,

fireworks,

And even with all his big-kid interests, he is still our little boy.

He is pretty much perfect.  We love you Eli!