Airplane!!!
Eli and his new wondrous wonders. I love being able to share some of the many adorable and often admirable things Eli is doing. His newest sweet attribute is saying the word, 'Hi.' He says it in the sweetest Eli voice, which is high pitched and almost a whisper with the beginning 'h' sound being very emphasized and breathy. His greeting is always accompanied with the most heart warming smile- a miracle since medical science thought that Eli would not have the ability to smile and show emotion because that was where his worst brain injury was sustained: on his right temperal lobe- the emotion control area.
I love how Eli is so welcoming and loving. He loves to look up with big cheerful eyes and say, "hi!". He is particularly fond of children that are still young but a few years older than he is. He follows them around trying to imitate them, laughing with sheer delight whenever he succeeds.
Lately, we have been focusing on recognizing objects that are part of our daily life that might otherwise go un-noticed. Eli doesn't pass by a bush with out giving it a pat and exclaiming with all his might, "uush!" He is also really into throwing dried leaves and dirt. This makes him laugh as he watches it float down to the ground.
Another thing I have been pointing out for the past few weeks is airplanes. It took him a few days to catch on to what all the hype was about. But now, if he even so much as hears a lawn mower down the street he has his head tilted back and mouth wide open.
A few nights ago, after a nice time rollerblading through the neighborhood together, we sat out on our lawn watching the sunset. It was a beautiful display of God's majesty love and power. I sat watching it with Eli and remarked aloud, "It is amazing that the same God who can create such a vast beautiful sunset created you and created this sunset for your enjoyment because He loves you and wants to bless you. The same God that is holding all of creation in His hands has you in His hands too."
His power is so infinite and yet His love is so intimate!!!
As Eli and I watched the sky we also noticed an unusual amount of planes flying overhead. The jetstream must have been just so that the flight pattern was right over our house. There was a regular pattern of planes flying over just about once a minute.
Eli was delighted to point each and every plane out to me with unwavering fervor. We had so much fun getting all excited when we heard another one coming towards us from a distance. As soon as it caught the sunlight and we could see it we'd both exclaim, "airplane- AIRPLANE!" Eli with his arms reaching towards the sky.
I think the cutest mommy moment happened not when Eli was pointing out a plane but instead when there was a lull in the overhead activity. Eli looked at me and so sweetly asked with just about the sweetest expression he's ever made, 'more'- doing the hand sign of knocking his fists together. I looked at him so helpless and said, "I'm sorry but mommy doesn't control the planes in the sky. She can't put more up there. I sorry sweetheart."
Oh, if I could have, I'd have put the coolest plane EVER up in the sky- an old red plane that could do tricks; or maybe the Wright brother's plane or wait...maybe a Blue Angel- yeah that'd be really neat...a Blue Angel! Unfortunately, as awesome as us moms are and as many talents that we must have to be able to do our job- putting planes in the sky is not on our list of abilities. How do you explain that to an 18 month old who has so enjoyed such an incredible entertaining air display and is not ready for it to be over?!?
Luckily, a few seconds later Eli found a cool stick and was on to assisting the bushes in our yard with their identity crisis... all was well and orderly in the Buffington household and in the sky.
posted by Kellie # 11:34 PM
