Eli is 4

4 is just crazy old and I can't believe my first baby just had his birthday. He is such a sweet boy that is generally quite serious. Even in his seriousness, he is very entertaining. He loves his brother and is very patient with him. He really likes to watch tv, wrestle daddy (especially with the Hulk hands that Uncle Eric got him for his birthday), puzzles, work in the garden (he takes his dump truck out to our garden spot and puts dirt in it), do crafty things like painting, play dough, cutting paper, and a little coloring, and work with daddy at the farm (with Uncle Eric and Grandpa Wichert). We are still trying to coax him to learn how to catch and play ball, but he really shows very little interest in it. Surely those Wertenberger genes will come through sometime. :)

This is a picture of Eli's class singing one song on Sunday morning. He is behind the little girl in red in the front. He is making his classic mad face. We tried to record it, but I was laughing so much it is really shaky.

Eli often phrases things out of order or differently than we normally do. For example, I'll say, Eli it's time to wash your hands for lunch. He'll respond with "how do you think it's time for me to wash my hands?" 

Eli has had some health concerns with his tonsils, so we will be seeing an ENT soon after the new year. We are hoping to give him some relief as he snores all the time and really has a lot of throat-related sickness. 

We had a little birthday party for Eli on the day before his birthday. Brent's side of the family came along with Cody, Misty, and Grace. We swam at the Y and then had supper and opened presents at our house.

Look out for the HULK!

Eli & Grace

 Eli has a brain like his daddy. If he's heard it once, he remembers it. Nice for him, tough for mom as my brain doesn't really work that way. 

Birthday morning cinnamon rolls.

Presents from Mom, Dad and Micah.

He is an independent player mostly, but will surprise me and occasionally will be very social. As a socialite myself, I try to push him to interact more with his peers but he will do it out of the blue when I have nothing to do with it. He really is full of surprises for us. 

Ready for church (we left the Hulk hands at home).

Eli loves his church teachers on Tuesday morning (at Women of the Word), Wednesday night, and Sunday morning. He can usually tell us in detail what they did or learned about, but has very little to say about the other kids in his class. He has a group of church friends that we see several times a week and he usually can tell me about them. They are quite the crew! 

Attempt at a normal picture with my 4 year old on his birthday.

We sure love our little 4 year old! I just recently looked back to our pictures with him after he was born, on his first Christmas, and I just feel like it was moments ago. I know time goes quickly, but I think it speeds up every year. 

The aftermath- the day after.

4 year stats
Height: 40.5" (55th percentile)
Weight: 35.6lb (48th percentile)

Party in Sabetha.