Big Boy Bunk Beds

Well, the bunk beds are finally finished. Nate has a very laid back personality, but when it comes to woodworking he is quite the detailed perfectionist-every cut has to be perfect, every notch flawless, etc. Although it took us the entire month of September, I am thankful for his anal retentiveness as the beds are perfect. Will has been sleeping on the top for the last few nights, but tonight is Eli's first experience in a big boy bed. Kate is a little disappointed that she doesn't get to join in on the bunk bed fun, but Will promised to let her sleep with him on her birthday and that seemed to suffice.

Attempt #2

Well, our first attempt was unsuccessful. He managed to maneuver around the tape and chew through the gauze to win the victory prize of sucking his thumb. Tonight, we have tried taping mittens on his hands. When I went in to check on him, it looked like they were in tact and he was sound asleep. One small victory, but still a victory.

At first he liked it; then he realized that they were keeping him from his beloved thumb...not a big fan anymore.

Bye-Bye Thumb

We are officially trying to wean Eli of thumb sucking. With a mouth full of teeth, we felt it was time to let it go. Thus far, putting bitter and hot substances on his thumb has not phased him. We decided to try wrapping his thumbs in something that wouldn't be fun to suck on-this go around its athletic tape and a thick gauze. We'll see how it goes. It looks like he has little broken thumbs...so sad.


On a side note, Eli is already following in his father's footsteps. He loves to play the guitar and sing along...my little guitar hero.

Friday Night Football

Friday night, we decided to play a little family football in the front yard. I told Will we were going to play, and he disappeared for about five minutes and came back in full hog uniform, helmet and all. Kate didn't quite get the concept of running with the ball-she preferred to hold the ball on her head and run around in circles until Will took her down. Eli was our official center. He would squat down by the ball and repeat us, saying.."down...set...hut-hut", then he would laugh and fall down. I can tell Nate misses getting to go full throttle and take people out; on more than one occasion, I was tackled at the knees and layed out on the ground. The linebacker in him is just couldn't show mercy on any of us. Will enjoyed the game the most and assured us that his team won because he was the fastest. All in all, it was a lot of fun. Both Will and Kate did however, have to run snake drills and do bear crawls for unsportsmanlike behavior on the field. Nate was having too much fun if you ask me. Nate was being so serious as he had us huddle up, take a knee and began the motivational speech, I was laughing so hard, I cried. He ended with a little "Brown!" on three. It was hilarious...Josh, if you need a linebacker coach (or hitting dummy) at Shiloh, I may know the man for the job!