A Light At The End Of The Tunnel

Finally. We have been struggling, STRUGGLING, with Eli and obedience recently. Small disobedience, but disobedience for the sake of it, so it has been something we've focused on. From the moment Eli woke up from his nap this afternoon, however, he was an angel. Seriously, I could not have asked for a better afternoon out of him. I took the kids out front to rake leaves and play outside as soon as they woke up. Between the rain and cold temperatures recently, we haven't had as much outdoor playtime as usual. Maddie was off and on with her mood, but given her teething situation I expected that. Eli was awesome; he raked almost the entire time with me, putting leaves in the bag to help me. And there was no whining or backtalk when I told him it was time to go inside so I could make dinner.

Once we transitioned inside, things got difficult. Maddux is hard to deal with during meal prep these days: she sees me in the kitchen and thinks she has to eat immediately. This makes things hard because she'll cry hysterically, pulling up on me and wiggling between me and the counter the whole time. Eli saw this today and helped out....all on his own. He started to share his fake food and pots with her, trying to distract her so I could cook. I never asked for his help, but he obviously recognized that it was needed. Amazing. He successfully got her to pretend cook with him (and it took two or three tries on his part), and he was incredibly sweet with her the whole time. At one point Eli was 'cooking' a few things in a pot and he cautioned her, "No touch cuz it's hot, Maddie", in a very sweet and gentle voice. Maddux looked up at him and signed 'hot'. Eli nodded and said, "Das right, Maddie. It's hot." They were having their own conversation and it was so cool to witness! She reciprocated the sibling love when it came time for her to accompany Daddy on an errand after dinner. Eli was still eating at the table and she ran over to him and hugged him (through the high-chair) before leaving. Life is good.