Eli is THREE!

It's been three years since Elias joined our family! He is an absolutely amazing, spirited and kind-hearted little boy. He's a mess of a train wreck, passionate about everything he does (vehemently), stubborn and always good for a laugh.

This morning, I took them to Hoboken with Grandma to go see Carlo's Bake Shop. Much to Eli's dismay, I gave him the go-ahead to have as many cookies as he wanted and he graciously consumed about six (small italian cookies).

Last night I asked him what he'd like to do for our special date today and suggested ice cream or going for a "coffee." He looked at me and said, "How about we go to a bowling 'ball-y'." It was so adorable, hearing him combing ball with alley for ball-y. I have no idea where he came up the idea for his date, but we went with it. After naps Eli and I went to bowl our hearts out, bumpers and all. After about 20 minutes, the poor birthday boy got his finger squished and we were donezo with bowling.

In three years, I've learned a lot from this little ball of energy: patience and how to give grace freely. He can push your buttons faster than the speed of light, but his cheesy little grin can fix things pretty fast. I'm hoping we guide his zeal for life so he can become a fantastic person and a great leader, in time.