Aaron Delane

I was so excited to have my Mom and Dad come visit our new home this March. I am pretty sure they flew in on the 7th and flew out on the 18th. We did a terrible job of documenting their trip, taking almost zero photos of anyone but Eli (shocker). Most of the trip Mom and Dad kept Eli during the day while Abby and I worked, with us spending time together on the weekends and during two days  I took off to stay home.

As I pulled into the garage with Mom and Dad, Abby and Eli were standing in the doorway waiting. Eli saw Dad through the windshield and just started yelling, “PA! PA! PA!” It was like he couldn’t believe he was here.

Mom of course has a whole suitcase of gifts. A month later, Eli’s favorite is by far the Superman blanket she sewed him.

Eli is really draw to Dad. He will just crawl up in his lap and sit. A quick shot of them reading a book together.

Eli LOVES to run back and forth across our library area. I will jump over him as he runs and he is totally fearless.

Mom helped Eli jump over me.

In the words of Eli, “ready. set. GO!”

Growing up.

I love seeing him sitting in a chair reading by himself. He likes this chair so much we moved it into his room.

He is a sweet kid. He is going through the terrible twos, but we are doing ur best to get through it. Amazingly, when we sit him in his time-out chair he doesn’t try to get down. He may scream and cry, but he doesn’t even try to get down until we say he can.

Mom and Dad said to us, “Take us to see the Amish.” Kind of a funny request, but we decided we could take them up to Shipshewana. We spent the day driving up, walking around, eating, and then driving back. This is the only picture we have from that day.

And then, of course, the day Mom and Dad leave we try and get some shots of them with Eli.

We loved having them visit.

Mom and Dad, come back soon.

At the beginning of March we had our biggest snow of the year. It snowed and snowed and we probably got a foot of snow. Abby was home with Eli the next day and took him out to play.

He loves snow and likes to pick it up and throw it.

Most of all he likes to eat it.

My beautiful little family.

Together they made this snowman.

Later I came home and we played in the snow again.

Together we made a bigger snowman. I really havent done much snowman building in my life so I am not too good at it.

We got three things that resembled spheres on top of one another and added some decoration.

We then walked over to the church parking lot which had been plowed and had really large piles of snow to climb on. The snow was really deep and it was hard for Eli to walk in it. He enjoyed standing at the top of the pile and throwing snow balls down.

All in all, it was a really good day.

Line

I have a big house project on the horizon. In preparation for it I decided to clean the garage today. Around 8:30 I went out and spent four therapeutic hours taking this unorganized mess and turning it into a highly functional space.

I didn’t take a before picture, but this is one from about an hour in.

Here is the finished product.

I removed a crappy particle board bookcase from next to the door and replaced it with a shelf hung under the peg board and light.

The large middle cabinet is now organized.

I took out a makeshift small wood bookcase next to the extension shelf to make more wall space. Then I added a Tupperware on top of the extension and used it to organize small items like screws, nails, wall anchors, etc.

Over here I just generally cleaned up, moving the doors so they are accessible (we are donating them) and reattaching some peg board.

While cleaning up I rediscovered this mantle we removed from the fireplace area. I added it to my dartboard area. It looks so great. I had been hoping to put a shelf there anyway to hold drinks while we play. But now I have an entire mantle!

Later in the day I spray painted white the little wood piece holding the darts. Abby offered to put a sheet of cardboard to cover the mantle and then paint a fake fire.

Speaking of fire…

When we first began renovations on the house we decided we wanted to remove the fireplace face and paint it. Well, when we removed it, we sort of broke what attached it to the masonry. So we had to figure out a new way to do so. Luckily Grandpa Jerry has been in construction his whole life and took on the project for himself. Today we celebrated his birthday and when he arrives he had his tools in tow. Off we went reattaching the face (it was painted long ago.) It took some doing we we got it done. And then we built a little fire. You can see there is a guard in front of the fireplace, just to make sure Eli doesn’t get burned.

So we now have a working fireplace! Just in time for Spring. Ha. Oh well, it will be very useful in the fall when it gets cold again. Hope to update the tile in front of it sometime in the future.

Another little project that happened this weekend was the trimming of the hedge. The previous owners had let it grow out over the driveway. Since we both park in the garage, it is sort of in the way when Abby pulls in. So we trimmed it back. Totally bare right now, but much more functional and it will fill in later.

Such a great weekend.

Here we go with the February update. As I went through February I thought “Man, so much has happened. Maybe I should go back to doing “I’m A Dad Mondays.”‘ What do you think? Should I?

Anyway, here is a picture of Eli sitting in his high chair. He looks so big in it. I mean, he is such a big kid now.

Here is a look back at Eli a little over a year ago in January of 2012. Such a change.

First of all, he had more meat on his bones back then. Secondly, he has changed so much from a baby into a little boy.

We installed a sink into our laundry room and Abby used the box and turned it into a little house. She already blogged about this, so if you want to see more about it, head on over to her site. I just put a couple pictures below.

He loves the box and we still play with it.

I love seeing my little man read. I hope that it will be a passion of his like it is mine.

We took Eli to two basketball games this year at IWU. He loved the atmosphere, and really liked clapping along when other people clapped for the players.

Any time the buzzer went off for a time out or a sub, he would make this face He thought it was so cool.

We also took him to see one of the boy’s games. This time he was less interested in the game and mostly played with his cars in the bleachers but he still had a good time.

One of Abby’s best friend’s Emily came to visit us. It was so good to have a good friend some stay with us. We all had a blast hanging out.

Abby, Emily and Eli.

We played this game where I would hide under the blanket and then throw it up and yell for Eli. He loves anything where we hide in blankets. Or really hiding anywhere. Kid is going to be a hide n seek champ.

Abby took this great picture of him running around.

Did you read Abby’s blog about the coloring table she made Eli? Its awesome. He uses it every day. Here is a couple of Abby’s drawings. I didn’t know she had the talent (I certainly don’t).

Abby and Eli using the coloring table. Look how beautiful my wife is.

When he puts on these glasses we always say “Cool Dude.”

I have mentioned before that Eli sleeps in his rocking chair for a few hours each night. Further proof.

Posted up on the couch like a boss.

We got our bar stools for the kitchen and feel like we finally had the kitchen finished. Here is us using it for the first time at breakfast.

Abby and I went on a date in February. Abby’s mom kept Eli for the day and we went shopping in Fort Wayne for house stuff, mainly for our bathroom renovation (which is complete and I really need to blog about. The change is awesome and finally makes the room feel like a master suite.) It was a good day.

My beautiful wife.

Her geeky wannabe hipster husband.

My sandwich.

I mean, I know its weird I put this in the blog, but have you ever eaten at a Firehouse Subs? That is by far the best sub place. In the hierarchy of sub places (chain only-I am sure there are lots of mom and pop sub shops that are better) it goes Firehouse Subs, Penn Station, Subway. At least that is my opinion.

Below is Eli and Abby working on the Valentine’s for his classmates. Again, Abby has blogged about this if you want to see more (the roles have flipped. She is now the consistent one, me the inconsistent one. Should I get her a domain all for herself?)

Me and my boy just chillin’. I love these quiet moments.

Eli loves to play with the measuring tape. I want to get him a kids one that is safer.

Isn’t this dude so cute? I mean, and the thing is, he KNOWS IT!

We haven’t played outside a lot this winter. Partly because of how cold it is, and partly because of Eli being sick on and off. This was a great day. Playing with the ball and climbing in trees.

Eli loved being up in the tree. I look forward to teaching him how to climb.

And then we climbed up together and he thought it was so fun to be up so high.

I was gone at a conference twice in February. During one Eli was a little sick. Abby took this picture to show me his red cheeks. But for me it just shows how beautiful he is. Those blue eyes.

Apparently Eli fell asleep really early on Abby’s lap one of those nights.

Abby tried to get him to take his albuterol treatment but he was more or less asleep while taking it.

Later when I came home I was helping give him his treatment and he was holding his cup. To me it looked like a guy at a hooka bar with a glass of wine.

To end the blog, just a fun picture showing him as both a big boy, and at the same time, as a little kid. It perfectly sums up where he is in life right now.

That’s all. Thanks for caring about our son.

January 2013 Update

Eli had a pretty good January. I think we have started to find our equilibrium here in Indiana.

Eli sleeps in a toddler bed and has since we moved into our house. Sometimes he sleeps the whole night in his bed. Some nights he wakes up and gets into his rocking chair and rocks himself back to sleep (a HUGE blessing!). Then some nights, well….he does this.

We have found him like this more than once. So weird right?

Eli goes to bed at 8:30 and we have struggled with him waking up too early (5am). We have a child-proof handle on the door so he can’t get out, and the mornings he gets in his chair, it’s great. Many mornings he stands at the door and knocks and calls for “Mommy!” We can even handle that. After a few minutes he stops. What we are really struggling with are the times he stands at the door and bangs his head. It really worries me. We have tried attaching pillows and blankets to the doors and walls so he can’t do it, but he somehow finds a way. Its a problem we are still working on.

Eli LOVES playing in blankets, tents, forts, etc. Here is one in what will one day be our library room.

He loves to run inside, ask us to sit down with him, then run back out, run around to the back, and hope we chase and catch him. Then he laughs and does it all over again.

Before bed each night, we read books in his rocking chair. Right now Winnie the Pooh is his favorite. He loves to read the one Great-Grandma Mossburg recorded for him. We also read other books like My Daddy and I, books about trucks, etc.

Eli goes back and forth between being a picky eater and eating whatever we give him. Seriously, it’s hard to predict what he will eat, even if he loved it last time. Two things we know he will always eat: rice and noodles.

The day we had our cable and internet installed Eli and I ran around outside. It was one of the nicer days this winter. We ran up and down the small hill of landscaping outside our house. He loves to run.

He also loves trucks and cars. He gets excited every time he sees one. He loves to touch them. He doesn’t care if they are dirty

Something that warms my heart: Eli reading a book all by himself.

Here is a little thing that was not cool this January; we had two really cold weeks. The giant, 10 foot wide sliding glass doors in our living room are just single pane (like the rest of the windows in this house) and have an aluminum frame. Single pane windows sweat. Aluminum frames are basically whatever temperature it is outside. That leads to stuff like this happening.

Yep, those are icicles and a frozen track. This area of the house is pretty cold compared to the rest of the house. I am sure we are losing a ton of heat (and $$$) here. One day while in Fort Wayne we happened upon a window store and popped in. We met some awesome people who came out and looked at the door and will be making a new door for us. Sadly it will take 6-8 weeks but still, the door will be new and double paned, argon gas, etc., saving us money on heating bills.

About the middle of the month we took Eli to a pediatric pulmonologist (child lung doctor) at the children’s hospital in Indianapolis. Our local pediatrician referred us because Eli was getting sick every few weeks and not much we tried was helping. Abby and I were really frustrated and felt like all the medications we had tried were useless. The visit was really helpful as the doctor explained that due to his premature birth and the numerous colds he got upon moving to Indiana, he has something called chronic lung disease of infancy. He also has asthma. Apparently he will grow out of it by age for or five. Due to these things, when Eli gets a cold, his airways get inflamed (common to colds). The problem is it takes him 6-8 weeks for his airways to get back to normal. Because he is in day care he will probably contract 1-2 more colds in that time, which means inflammation on top of inflammation, never giving him time to heal. His prescription was to remove him from daycare (crickets…crickets…) and since we can’t do that he has prescribed him an inhaler style steroid to take 2 times a day, every day. This isn’t a much different diagnosis than what we got from out doctor, except for the fact that the inhaler takes 10 seconds, not 15 minutes, and we thought the steroid was supposed to heal the cold. The Indy doctor explained it was instead a preventative medicine meant to boost his immune system. And it has worked. Well. Praise God. He has gotten one cold since and it was much easier to handle. They also gave us a prescription to add to the steroid when he has a cold. So, yea for the specialist in Indy.

I feel like, truly, the second most important thing that happened during our visit to the children’s hospital was that the doctor explained each medication, how it worked, and why we were using it. It makes all the difference. The third most important thing that happened was getting the prescriptions. So, you may ask, what was the MOST important thing? Perspective.

Walking through that hospital I saw so many children who were so very sick or disabled. I whined and complain about Eli getting so many colds. And then I saw these kids and was reminded how incredibly blessed we are to have a healthy child. And he is healthy. He just gets colds, like every other kid. Sure he is a little small with a weaker immune system than perhaps the average kid, but he is healthy compared to 99% of the kids we saw there. I felt ashamed for all my whining. And I am so glad to have been reminded to what a blessing it is to have a healthy child.

Abby had to wear a mask because she wasn’t feeling 100% and, well, its a children’s hospital.

They do a great job having toys for kids to play with in every waiting room.

Below, you can see this step stool we bought Eli. He loves it because he can be at the kitchen counter with us. He helps do dishes and loves to help cook.

You have to eat while you cook, you know, to make sure it all tastes right.

Thanks for loving and caring about our little boy.