Healthy, wealthy and wise

If the saying has any truth to it, Elijah is pretty much guaranteed health, wealth and wisdom. He has always gone to bed early and gotten up early, but lately he's going to bed even earlier and waking up earlier. Now, one would think that if we put him to bed later, he would wake up later, right? It seems intuitive, but that's not how it works with him. We have tried that and all it does is make him totally sleep deprived because he gets up at the same time every morning no matter what time he goes down. We have been putting him down for the night around 6:15 pm because he is so completely exhausted by then. He sleeps solid until about 4:30 am and then he's up and talking and playing in his crib until 6:00 am, when we finally get him out. We have a rule in our house that we have stood by since Day 1. We do not get Elijah out of his crib until 6:00 am, unless he's sick or hurt, of course. He knows that 6:00 means freedom, so that is usually when he starts to cry. The kid has an amazing internal clock. So we are wondering what we should be doing differently, or if this is just another sleep adjustment period, which is entirely possible. Tim and Katie, we love the book that your pediatrician, "The Bluth," wrote and we have followed a lot of his principles. According to what he has told you about your boys, would you say we should be putting Elijah down even earlier? What times and for how long do your boys nap?

So with all that said, we have been a bit sleep deprived lately. It's hard not to hear the constant stream of baby talk, grunts and giggles coming from the next room, starting between 4:30 and 5:00 every morning. Last weekend we went to Bemidji to visit some friends so we were able to hear all the baby noises in full stereo sound both mornings since his pack 'n play was a few feet from our bed. However, the lack of sleep didn't matter to us then because we got to spend some quality time with our friends Kendis and Chris. Oh, and Summit the puppy! They live out in the woods on a few acres of land, so it is a very peaceful place. Because we're trying to get Elijah as much sleep as possible these days, we hung around their house most of the time, which was just fine with us. We did get out to see Paul and Babe, though! Saturday night after Elijah went to bed, Chris and Kendis grilled us yummy steaks and then the four of us played Deal or No Deal and we had a blast with that. Thanks, guys, for the fun little getaway. We love your cozy home in the northern woods. Tell Summy that Elijah wishes he could have gotten more puppy kisses.

I had a message on my phone from the hospital this morning, wanting to pre-register Elijah for his surgery. My first thought was, why are they calling so far in advance? His surgery isn't for another couple of weeks! Then I looked at the calendar and realized that his surgery is one week from today! AGGHGhghghhh! We're probably only going to be in the hospital for one night and it should be a fairly standard procedure, but still, the thought of hospital time gives me the willies. I know, I know, I need to stop being a cry baby and suck it up. It will be one more hurdle to put behind us. It will feel really good to get this done.

If you haven't already, please see our information about this year's Heart Walk. We decided to help raise money for this event obviously because of Elijah, but it's a nice way to celebrate Dan's dad's life, as well. He also has heart disease and has dealt with some pretty major stuff. We are definitely a heart family! Thanks for your support in this.

Ok, now for pictures...


Paul's giant legs (look at that sweet baby face)


Daddy and Elijah picking Babe's newly renovated nose


Sweet, spaghetti-stained face


The Portas and Paul


Mmmmmmm...horse with giant teeth tastes yummy