My "5 Loves of Eli" With Photo Shoot

One lovely evening in Fall, David and Eli took off together to do a photo shoot.  Eli's getting better about posing, and David's becoming better and better at his photography skills.  They had a great time together, with beautiful results!

In honor of Eli turning 5 years old, here are 5 things I love about him:

1.) His creative imagination and love of dress-up play.  Eli has become quite the collector of hats and helmets--knight, soldier, Iron Man, police officer, coal miner, construction worker, pirate, safari, etc.  His dress-up box is already overflowing, and it always makes me smile when he walks out of his room dressed in a new creation, acting out a new character.

2.) His open affection.  Eli tells me 20 times a day that he loves me.  I've often heard, "I love you more than any boy loves his mom."  :)  He loves playing the "I love you more than..." game, where we always try to "one-up" the other.  He gives me lots and lots of hugs and embraces (or tight squeezes, like he calls them) and enjoys a good cuddle session.

3.) His friendly nature.  Eli doesn't know strangers.  He'll go up to any adult(s) or kid(s) and strike up a conversation.  We've never experienced that "cling-to-my-leg" shyness with him.  He makes fast friends and puts a smile on others' faces with his friendliness.

4.) The way his eyes light up and how giddy he gets when he's excited about, or looking forward to something.  Every day while we're having breakfast, Eli looks behind him at the calendar on the wall, points to the different dates and asks "What are we doing on that day?  He's happy about each and every one.  He loves to think and plan ahead and anxiously anticipates special outings or events.

5.)  He made me a Mother.  I will always be grateful that I could start out my mothering journey with Eli.  I've felt guilty at times that he was/is our guinea pig and we didn't always know or do the right thing to parent him, but we are learning and growing together.  He stretches me to reach new levels of patience with his stubborness, but he's also taught me the importance of allowing him to be him.  He is his own wonderful little person with big ideas in his small head.  I'm glad I get to be the one to love and guide him.