Monkeying Around

I'm proud of my son all the time. For being smart, for being strong, for being funny - and probably to his detriment, I tell him (and everyone else) all the time. But yesterday I was proud for a different reason.

As throngs of people descended on Monkey Joe's Sunday around noon, we were there to collect his "prize" for having gotten his stickers at school all week. It. was. crazy. busy. Kids everywhere, butting in line, pushing each other down, bouncing on top of each other, wiping their noses on each other. A mother's nightmare. But Ely insisted, and I had promised. As he ran off to join them, I said a little prayer to the God of Childhood Infectious Diseases (should there be one in some religion somewhere).

All day long I watched my son and marveled at the things he had learned, even if they were things I never intended to teach. He let littler children go in front of him, and patiently waited as they carried their little chunky thighs up the foam stairs. He never got upset when bigger children on their way to conquest of the giant bouncy slide blew by him and knocked him down. After descending the inflated stairs from each mom-can't-see-you-and-gets-really-nervous obstacle course, he'd do a scan, locate my bright pink sweatshirt, smile, and hop onto the next collossal monstrosity. When older girls blocked the tops of the slides - requiring passwords, playing exclusionary games, waging friendship wars that in only a few years turn into hurtful cliques - he calmly said "Excuse me" and wedged his way through without pushing or violence. He was hyper-aware in each bouncy castle, checking to make sure he wouldn't jump on anyone or get in anyone's path as they cartwheeled into the walls.

And then, in one still-unbelievable incident, he took my breath away. He had climbed into one of the giant bounce castles and began trying to show me his "C drop" that he learned on the trampoline in gymnastics. Meanwhile, the mother next to me was yelling at her 6 or 7-year-old daughter, asking her to please help her 20-month-old brother, still in diapers, out of the way-too-busy-for-a-little-baby bounce house. Her daughter was ignoring her, as daughters often do, but I could tell Mom was getting increasingly nervous as her son literally was tossed among the waves of jumpers. Ely had been listening (shocker!). He calmly scooted over on his knees to the little one, took his tiny hand, and gently helped him crawl his way toward the mesh opening. Like a boy far beyond his 4 years, he said to the little one, "Let's go find your mama."  The mother scooped up her son in a relieved hug, and Ely picked up where he left off - mid-C drop - as if nothing extraordinary had just happened.

Ely, unbeknownst to him, reminded me how important it is to live compassion. Not *teach* compassion, for it is a virtue difficult to instill in another except by example. Daddy shows him to always be careful of "the babies" - our tiny infant plants in the yard. Mama shows him how to help elderly strangers at the grocery store. His school teachers help him take turns and wait patiently in line. Somehow and even without siblings to care for (and perhaps because he doesn't have siblings to fight with), he has learned compassion. And for this, mama couldn't be prouder.

Ely is Four!

Today Ely is 4! Greg and I both had a few tears this morning as we woke up to a house decorated with balloons, birthday banners, streamers and presents. Three seemed like he was still a "little boy" but 4 feels so much older. Ely even said he "missed being 3" this morning!

 Although I have not been faithful at all with this blog, I've tried to document all of Ely's milestones throughout the years: one, two, three, and now four. It's more for my purposes than anything - trying not to forget all the nuances of his personality as it grows and changes. Trying to remember his interests, routines, favorites, and accomplishments, lest I ever forget.

At 4, Ely:
-- Is 40.5" tall (60th percentile) and weighs 40 pounds (75th percentile).

--Has his dad’s penchant for storytelling. He weaves elaborate tales which are always a healthy blend of truth and imagination. His vocabulary has never slowed down.

--Loves school. He goes every day to Berean Baptist Christian School in Rockford, which has an excellent pre-school program. He has been there since June 2012 and will be going into K-4 in May. The group of teachers there are fantastic and he has grown up so much since he started (a mixed blessing, of course). However, he does have a serious case of “the wiggle worms” as he calls them and has trouble staying in his seat…sounds like dad, right?!?

--Started gymnastics at the beginning of January. He goes to J&J Tumbling in Pecatonica, thanks to a Christmas gift of classes from Grandma and Pop. He’s been to 3 classes already and he loves the extra activity on these winter nights when we can’t get outside!

--Is learning to read. Ely knows most of his letter sounds, and can tackle three and four letter words and sound out each letter to put it all together. We’re just in the beginning stages, but every night at book time we have a little reading thrown in – it won’t be long now and definitely before kindergarten. His favorite books are anything and everything, but especially "Wacky Wednesday", the Little Critter series, Curious George, and anything with superheroes.

--Is learning to write. Thanks in part to school, Ely now can write all of his letters pretty consistently and numbers up to 15. I can ask him, “How do you spell [insert three letter word]?” and he will sound it out in his head and write it on paper. He also writes his name, “mama”, and “dad” a lot.

--Can count to 30 and beyond and recognize numbers up to 30. Reading the calendar to see what’s for lunch each day helps! J He can also count backwards from 10.

--Buttons his own pants and shirts, zips his jackets, and gets dressed and undressed all by himself, including shoes and coats.

--Uses scissors, sometimes better than I do. Something about men and their ability to use tools….

--Eats virtually nothing. Eating is always a struggle for him, unless its chocolate chip cookies. He does love chicken nuggets, yogurt, bananas, grapes, eggs and turkey sausage, cheese and crackers, spaghetti, pancakes, and peas and corn. Other things are a complete gamble day-to-day.

--Loves the Avengers and all things Marvel Comics. He has DVDs, books, t-shirts, action figures (even a couple rare ones we’ve had to buy on ebay so he can have a complete set), and even Captain America shoes. His favorite is the Incredible Hulk, because “Hulk is the strongest there is!” His 4^th birthday party tonight is Avengers-themed, and we’re going to Chuck E. Cheese with a few of his buddies from school.

--Has to have tubes in his ears. Again. His first pair fell out in June, just in time for swimming all summer long. But the ear infections and constant fluid started up again last fall, and the doctors recommend another set, plus an adenoidectomy. Hopefully this will be his last set! His surgery is the second week of February, so we are nervously awaiting a speedy recovery.

--Loves "stories and songs" and "huggies and kissies" every night before bed. We tell the story of our day or of past events, Daddy sings "the Ya-yo song" - a made-up song using Ely's nickname, and Mama sings "Goodnight my someone" from the Music Man or sometimes Christmas songs (his favorite is Hark the Herald Angels Sing). He sleeps with Daisy the Duck (not the Mickey one, the one from Jane Simmons stories), a penguin named "Penny", an assorted lot of other "guys" (his stuffed animals), and he has to say goodnight to his whinnying stick horse "Ginny" before turning out the lights.

Good things.

I have been very remiss in updating this blog, as usual. Life moves at break-neck pace, as usual. More than ever I have wanted things to slow down, and as my husband put it the other night as we were lamenting the speed of life, "Honey, it won't be as good as it is now for very long in life, so let's enjoy this." Well spoken, for sure. Here are a few of the good things that have happened lately.

1. Greg's new job. He started back in March at Severson Dells Nature Center near our home in Winnebago. The job, the people, the day-to-day "work" could not be better for him. This is the job he waited his whole life for, and what a gift to have it already at 30 instead of waiting until you're close to retirement to finally be doing the work you wanted to do all along. He's writing, discovering a talent he didn't really know he had, though anyone could have told him that he's a gifted storyteller. We just spent a lovely weekend camping as a family with several other families at Severson Dells, and no one could have guessed that he was working. There is finally peace in our home when we don't have to spend our night together venting about work.

Greg leading a group at Pecatonica Forest Preserve.

2. My job. I have now been with Girl Scouts for about 2.5 years, and it continues to get better and better. I now work quite frequently with our national Research Institute and have paired my two skills quite nicely - writing and math. A funny combination, but it all seems to work in a marriage of grant writing, program evaluation, and outcomes reporting. Boring stuff to most, I know. But nothing tops reading comments on a survey from an 11-year-old girl struggling with bullying at school, "I want to thank everyone for sitting down and listening to my problems." No one could EVER tell me that Girl Scouts is about cookies and badges. :)

3. Ely's school. At the end of May, Ely began attending Berean Baptist Preschool in Rockford. We pulled him out of his daycare after getting frustrated with the amount of TV watching and junk food eating we observed there. Daily, he would beg us not to take him to daycare, and he'd come home wound up from being stuck inside watching TV all day. We learned about the summer program for 3-5 year olds at Berean when we attended an open house to check out their K-3 program in the Fall. We were sold on the K-3 program, and thought, why not start him earlier during the summer? It was the best choice we could have made. He is having a blast at school and loving all the activity and his teachers, who are a very nice and disciplined bunch of women. Every week they focus on two letters, they have a weekly theme (hawaiian luau, farm, circus, cowboy, etc.) for crafts and dress up, they go swimming in kiddie pools outside every Tuesday, a field trip on the bus every Wednesday, and a hike into a nearby park every Thursday, not to mention daily (sometimes twice daily) trips outside to the playground or to the gym, and lots of toys and games to play with. I can tell he absolutely loves it and has never once wanted to stay home on a Monday morning!
Ely on "cowboy day" at school.

4. Greg's bodybuilding. At the end of April, Greg competed in his very first amateur bodybuilding competition. He worked for a year to bulk himself up, then for the last 4 months, burn it all off to reveal lots of hardened muscle. He worked extremely hard and ended up placing second in his weight class. He lost only to the man that won his weight class, age class, and the entire overall competition, so we felt the second place finish was definitely an accomplishment. I'm not sure if he'll ever do it again, but I think he may have his sights set on a bench press competition next.

Greg and I with his trophy right after his competition.

5. Greg and I's trip. Greg and I escaped to New Glarus, WI, over Mother's Day weekend to have a relaxing weekend of eating, shopping for plants, and more eating. We spent two nights at the Chalet Landhaus and took in all the Swiss history and culture the town had to offer, especially the cheese and pastries! It was so much fun to get away just the two of us.

Greg in one of the many greenhouses we visited.

6. Ely and I's garden. Ely and I planted a garden this year (ok, mostly me) and we are very excited that despite our minimal efforts, it is producing! We had a crop of aobout 15 radishes early in the season, our zucchini is going gangbusters with three good-sized squash that have already been harvested and devoured, we have summer squash, onions, and peas that will be ready in another month or so, pepper plants that are still small but may produce, and a whole host of fall items like butternut squash, indian corn, giant pumpkins, jack-o-lantern pumpkins, and baby pie pumpkins growing taller everyday.
Ely with his radish harvest.

7. Summer landscaping and activities. The yard has exploded with plants! Greg, in all his mastery of botany, has transformed our yard and house into a real woodland retreat, now complete with a pond and soon a working waterfall, thanks to his father's day present of a solar waterfall pump. It has been so terribly hot and dry that it has been difficult to do as much as we would like, but all the watering of plants keeps us busy after work at night! We have also been on many hikes (including a nice day trip to Starved Rock State Park), a few camp outs in the yard and Severson Dells, and a couple of canoe trips with Ely. We dominated the Memorial Day parade in Pecatonica, we've gone "swimming" a few times in Ely's pool, and we got the ok from his ear doctor to go swimming more this summer since his ear tubes have come out.

Our new pond, but this picture does not show it in its completion...more to follow!

8. Upcoming vacations. I am excited to get away to NYC again (I went in March) to go to a short conference in July, and the whole family including my mom will be traveling to Devil's Lake again at the end of August to stay at Nordic Pines Resort, where we stayed two years ago. We also need to plan a trip to Lincoln Park Zoo, since Greg's sister is staying very near there this summer, and possibly fit in a trip to the Aquarium in Dubuque, the Milwaukee Zoo, or even Shedd Aquarium. Then in September, Greg and I will have another short getaway, this time to the Twin Cities to celebrate a good friend's wedding.

9. Ely's gum. I know it's not monumental, but just another sign of his growing up. Ely learned how to chew gum. He'll keep the same piece for up to 2 hours if you let him. He thinks it's the best thing ever. In the last couple months, he's also gotten a big boy bed, learned how to get dressed and undressed all by himself, and can even do some buttons. He's learning how to write some letters at school and can write his name now. He had his 3-year-old preschool screening and scored in the 89th percentile, meaning he is closer to a 4-year-old intellectually in most areas. We are so proud, but that doesn't stop us from wanting him to stay little sometimes! (and he also grew an inch and half since his 3rd birthday only 4 months ago!)
Ely and his gum.

10. Family and friends. We've had an abundance of family lately. In a good way. We still incorporate my mom in many activities, and recently she converted all of her family's old home movies onto DVD. It was so good to see my grandfather and aunt again through that lens, and learn more about who my family was through my grandfather's eyes behind the lens. My dad came in town for a while in April and May and had fun getting to know Ely better. Greg's cousin Chase has been a wonderful addition to our activities and Ely adores him. "Uncle" Trevor joined us on a campout in the yard. My brother was able to come for an impromptu visit this week and it has been tremendous to see him again. "Uncle" Don has become a fixture in Ely's life now that he is officially Greg's boss and we see quite a bit more of him. We even had some friends from college visit this past weekend with their two daughters. How lucky we are to have all these people, past and present, a part of our lives. And it's gotten us thinking about plans for the 10th Anniversary of Turkeypalooza this November! :)
Our cousin Chase and Ely playing in the pool.

Thanks for sticking with me this long! :)

Greg's New Job

I know I don't often write posts about anyone but Ely, (after all, he is why I started this blog in the first place!), but lately Greg is the one deserving of the accolades and attention!

Greg recently accepted his dream job with Severson Dells Nature Center, which is operated by the Winnebago County Forest Preserve District. I remember getting so emotional while looking over his cover letter because it truly is like "coming home" for him and for our family (which is exactly how his "new" co-workers put it on his welcome card his first day of work). Severson Dells has shaped both of our upbringings and has been a major factor in our adult lives as well. It would be the better part of a book to explain all the ways this place and its people have intertwined with our lives, but here are a few of the most notable.
-Both Greg and I began taking walks at Severson either before we were born, or shortly after in the comfort of a stroller.
-We spent many days as a child exploring its trails and visiting for school programs.
-When Greg was in high school, he volunteered there and even interned there during breaks from college.
-We almost always visited when we were home from college or Minnesota.
-When we moved back to IL, we both re-kindled our relationship with Severson by joining the Board of Directors.
-In January 2008, Greg, through his good relationship with many conservation organizations and the Severson director (who Ely has termed "Uncle Don"), Greg was allowed to take 4 sections of the signature Bur Oak that fell, one half of a "twin" set of trees on the Severson property. One sits in the education center at Severson, and another sits as our table in our living room. In December 2008, Greg purchased the photographs by Brad Nordlof of the twin oaks to proudly display above our couch. (See blog post here).
-When we bought our house in 2008, it's proximity to Severson was one of the main highlights.
-Ely's baby shower in January 2009 was at Severson Dells - its significance in his life started early.
-My stint on the board was short-lived; after I had Ely and went back to work, the particular job I had did not allow me to take time off for board meetings. Greg stayed on a bit longer until it became a conflict of interest at his job.
-Ely's first outdoor walk in his carrier was at Severson Dells on a particularly warm day in mid-March at 6 weeks old.
-Ely's first canoe trip - a short paddle down the Kish River - was presided over by none other than "Uncle" Don, who baptized him that day to nature. Don wrote about it in his published volume of canoeing stories, Life Afloat.
-Since he could walk, we've been on countless walks at Severson Dells with Ely, always throwing sticks and rocks into Hall Creek, picking grass in the prairie, and stopping to look for frogs in the pond. He saw his first deer there, heard his first owl there, and pelted me (and others) with his first snowball there. :) And maybe I shouldn't say this, but since it's quite a rite of passage for a guy, it's also the first place he took his first outdoor pee!

Every morning when we pass by on our way to daycare and work, Ely says "Good Morning See-Some Dells" and now, he says "Good Morning Dad!" We couldn't be prouder.

Wonderful Three!

I bet all three of my readers wondered where I was all these months! I feel terrible for not writing about Christmas and our holidays - especially because they were so much fun and very special. Maybe someday I'll get around to it, so it's not lost to my memory forever.

But for now, I have to spend some time celebrating Ely's 3rd birthday! Ely turned 3 on February 6, and as I posted on Facebook, I really feel like this is more my birthday. It was on this day in 2009 that I was born into love - one greater than I imagined ever being capable of. Motherhood has taught me more than any job, any relationship, any experience.

Enough about me though - Ely, Ely, Ely! I can't believe how much this boy has grown and changed in a year. At two (last year's birthday post), I thought he was pretty advanced and that all of that thinking and learning might taper off a little bit as progressed through the year. Boy, was I wrong! Ely has his own very independent, very precise style - he remembers virtually everything, but often truly listens to anything (we only know that he "hears" because he can repeat back the instruction we've given him, only if he's is bossing someone else around!) He talks nearly incessantly, and so well that people usually guess that he's turning 4 or 5 instead of 3. He's entered into more of a hyper stage than he's ever been in before, largely attributed to the "cooped up-ness" he experiences at daycare (something we're hoping to change in the next year).

At 3, Ely:
-- Is 38.5" tall (65th percentile) and weighs 35 pounds (80th percentile). Dr. Johnson says he has very dense muscle, just like his dad. And he seems to have inherited the 6-pack abs structure too...lucky him! :)
-- Loves his home and his family. He is very much a homebody and relishes the days where he can "hang out with you, mom and dad" instead of going to daycare. He is extremely affectionate, as he always has been, and has instituted nightly group hugs before bed.
-- Has a vocabulary that would rival some adults. And uses it. All. The. Time. :)
-- Recognizes all letters and is starting to get early reading concepts down that are indicators for kindergarten readiness (the youth development person in me talking here). Knowing we read from left to right, knowing how to identify the letter a word starts with, knowing some letter sounds, etc. He can read his name, mama, dad, and we're working on a few simple words.
-- Counts to 20, sometimes. He can get to 13 easy, gets a little confused from 14-17, and can usually finish strong from 18-20. He also recognizes numbers up to 12, and when we had the advent calendar out, he was doing good in the teens.
-- Is fully potty trained since May 2011. He was able to stop wearing pull-ups over his undies at daycare in August 2011 (they wanted to wait until they were sure he would be accident free). And as a bonus, he no longer needs anyone to accompany him to the bathroom either.
-- Loves vehicles of all kinds, but especially tractors and heavy machinery. All boy here.
-- Can name all sorts of animals, plants, and birds, and about 10 different kinds of dinosaurs - his favorite bath toys!
-- Is quite the young conservationist. Farmers near our property were cutting down a large plot of trees to put in more corn. I took Ely down the lane to see them, thinking he'd be impressed by the machinery. With absolutely no prompting or suggested opinions on the topic from his parents, he immediately asked, "Why are they cutting down trees? Trees are our friends. Where are the animals going to live?" and he actually started to tear up. Then in true Keilback fashion, he got mad and started calling them "bad farmers" and tried to yell at them across the field to stop. A few days later, we asked him what he wanted for his birthday. He replied, "A gun, so I can shoot the bad farmers." Ok, Mr. Greenpeace. Not quite the right idea, but we appreciate your passion.
-- Has an outstanding memory for detail. We tell "stories" every night before bed about past events - holidays, when we went to the zoo, the Thresheree, the aquarium, etc. He will fill in details that I have forgotten MONTHS after the event took place. He remembers how to get places too, like which turns to make to go to grandma's house, daycare, and even the doctor's office (which thankfully, we have not had to visit much this year!).
-- Is super-duper, incredibly bossy. Take it from two leadership-oriented, control-freak, know-it-all, first-born parents - this guy is referred to as the Three-Foot Dictator in our house. We always walk a fine line between letting him lead and letting him know who is really boss. We play tug-of-war over that line ALL the time.
-- Still loves to watch Mickey, but in the past year, he's also grown to love movies too. His favorites are all of the Toy Story movies, Finding Nemo, The Incredibles, and Madagascar. He also loves his John Deere videos, Curious George episodes, but will only occasionally watch Thomas anymore. It's a little sad that we put away his trains and tracks this birthday to replace them with a Big Red John Deere barn and other farm implements. Makes Toy Story only more poignant for us as parents, watching some toys being left behind!
-- Figured out how to ride his tricycle and pedal up and down the driveway this fall. We can't wait to get back outside this spring!

There is so much more I could share, but it all leads to the same point - he's growing up too fast! And to answer all of family and friends' lingering questions, I think we would only ever entertain the thought of having another one IF, AND ONLY IF, we were guaranteed to have another just like him (minus the bossiness!). And knowing that's not biologically possible - don't hold your breath waiting for another Keilback addition! :)

A few of my favorite 3-year pictures:

Thankful For: Finishing Strong (Or not so much)

Apologies - I did actually start this blog back in November, but as you can see, I never finished it. But as I was re-reading it with a few months of reflection, I thought that there was some merit in posting it. So only a few months belated, here is all but the last three days in November:


This time I have a real excuse - Turkeypalooza, Thanksgiving, and a very crazy but relaxing and enjoyable week away from a computer. But I'm determined to finish strong, so here goes:

November 19: Today I am thankful for friends. I don't need to say much about Turkeypalooza, because, let's face it, you had to be there. Every year our rag-tag bunch of friends gathers at our house from all over the country (and sometimes, the globe) to join us the weekend before Thanksgiving. This was the 9th year, and we had a fantastic time. I can't believe that we are lucky enough to have friends that reserve their plane tickets 6 months in advance just to visit us. Someday, we certainly will have to return the favor.

November 20: Today I am gratfeul for my in-laws. Sundays in the Fall and Winter are often spent lounging in their basement to watch football. And while I don't get much accomplished at my house, sometimes it's nice to have a different place for Ely to play, and more hands and eyes to entertain and watch him. :)

November 21: Today I am thankful that I am a trustworthy person. I seem to be told many things "in confidence", and I take great pride in the fact that people are confident in me. I know I would not have the job I have now if people could not trust me!

November 22: Today I am thankful for my very tiny little group of girlfriends. Largely composed of ex-coworkers, I enjoy the fact that even though we are all very different and in different stages of our lives, we can seem to pick up where we left off everytime we get together for sushi. And next time, it's Mexican. :)

November 23: Today left me so much to be thankful for. Ely's daycare was closed and Greg had to work, so I got a whole day to spend with Ely. We ran errands, got a haircut, spent an hour in Farm and Fleet's toy aisle browsing, went out to lunch, and then went home for a long nap and a long afternoon of playing outside and just hanging out. We capped off the day by watching Toy Story and cuddling on the couch before bed. I am thankful for everything that happened today, but suffice it to say that when Ely looks at me and says, "We're best buddies" and "I love you as big as the sky", nothing else that I'm thankful for even matters.

November 24: The "real" Thanksgiving (although any of our friends could tell you that Turkeypalooza IS the real Thanksgiving :). Today I'm thankful that I'm not the one who has to cook! :)

November 25: Ely and I weren't about to brave the Black Friday madness, so we stayed home and baked gingerbread cookies while Greg went out to work and to run some errands. He came home with our live Christmas tree, which I wanted this year since my childhood was marked by live trees. We spent the afternoon decorating it with a hodge podge of ornaments from my childhood, Greg's childhood, our first couple of trees, and a few new things. Today I am thankful for our house - which is never prettier than it is at Christmas.

November 26: Today I am thankful for a husband who still wants my attention. Sometimes it's a little overwhelming to deal with two very needy and attention-loving boys. Especially considering one is almost 3, and the other is almost 30. The both bull-rush me the minute I walk in the door, literally talking over each other to tell me about their days. I often have to make choice, and the almost-30 boy doesn't get nearly enough attention as he wants and deserves. But I am extremely thankful that my "big kid" still needs me, still wants my approval, still likes to hang out with me. Today he took me along to his "man cave" (read: gym) for his workout, and then we spent the day helping his grandma decorate her Christmas tree, and his parents agreed to watch Ely a little longer so we could go into town and buy a wreath for the fireplace. It was nice to just spend some extra time with him.

November 27:

Thankful For: Days 17 and 18

November 17: Today I am thankful for my two wonderful boys. After a raucous bout of "monkey wrestling" in which Ely and I were trying to save Goofy, Mickey, and Minnie from an evil T-Rex (Greg, of course), I realized how important these all-family wrestling sessions are to me. (Don't ask why it was called money wrestling, there were no monkeys involved.) We very rarely have time together, just the three of us, so I love it when we make the most of it and we all end up sweaty, laughing, and out of breath.

November 18: Today I'm thankful that Ely is such an outgoing child. Our friends Curtis and Josh arrived late last night for our annual Turkeypalooza celebration on Saturday, and this morning when Ely woke up, he immediately couldn't wait to see them. He has met them before, a year ago, so they may as well be strangers. But here he was playing with them, working a puzzle, and insisted on giving them hugs and kisses before we left for daycare. He loves a "new audience" and never misses a chance to show off or talk to people. Sometimes a curse, but more often, a blessing. He will have an easier time making friends and relating to people from all backgrounds. I never have possessed this kind of charisma, so I'm grateful that he's following in his father's footsteps.