We have one biological son named Elias. He is 4 years old and full of energy. He loves playing with his little figurines, pretending he is Spiderman or a ninja turtle, playing with building blocks, making animals with his playdough, playing baseball outside, attending swimming class, and going to the park. He is very social and thrives when he is around other children.
Elias is a really caring and compassionate child. He loves to laugh and have others laugh around him. That does lead to a lot of silly faces and tickles throughout the day. He shows extreme concern when others cry, and he tries to cheer them up with a smile or a gentle rub on the forehead. He has been asking for a brother or sister for a few years and would enjoy playing with them, singing them songs during nap time, and having a lifelong buddy to call his “best friend”! When we go to the fountain in town, Elias always throws a penny in and wishes for a baby. I believe he will be a very attentive and loving big brother and will be so excited to give the baby a big kiss!
Elias
Things that Make Elias Happy
Some of Elias's favorite movies are E.T., Moana, A Bug's Life, and Monsters Inc. We named our dog, Sulley, after the main character in Monsters Inc. Elias really enjoys watching Spiderman shows and is so excited to be Spiderman for Halloween. We will all be dressing up in the Spiderman theme. Sulley will be a spider, Maegan will be a spider web and Joshua will be Spiderman as well.
Elias loves doing movie nights with his friends. We set up a bed on the floor and make a ton of popcorn! He has grown up with a great group of friends and we meet up at least once a month. In our friend circle, we come from all walks of life: diverse ethnicities, adoption, IVF, twins, and multiple siblings, and all the parents shower the kids with love and support. Elias loves meeting with his friends for picnics at the park, hikes, the zoo, the pumpkin patch, dance parties, and playing hide and go seek in his playroom!
Elias reads a book every night before bed and currently, he really enjoys Pete the Cat, Goonies, Adventures of Spiderman, the National Geographic Kid series, and books by the Berenstein Bears.
Elias has really enjoyed cooking and baking. He loves to taste and measure all of the ingredients. He loves to help me cook dinner and make "a list" for the grocery store. At Christmas time, he likes making cookies for the neighbors and decorating a Gingerbread house. He helps to make pancakes every Sunday, and he likes to choose the fruit he wants in them or to use cookie cutters to make fun shapes. Elias is also very active in extracurricular activities. He does a weekly swim class and has recently earned two ribbons! He loves playing in the water and pretending that he is a fish. He has gone quite a few times to the golf course with Joshua and Benji and got a set of golf clubs for his birthday! He just started karate and has so much fun doing ninja moves. He also does music class in the park and plays soccer in the fall.
Elias loves spending time with his amazing grandparents. Elias calls Joshua's dad Grandpa and loves going to the beach with him or visiting him back East. Grandpa and his wife Jamie had their hands full making snow cones for his 4th birthday party! Elias calls Maegan's parents Coco and Benji. He loves spending time with them at their house playing hide and go seek and making cookies. He has so much fun exploring the local ocean caves, golfing, going to the zoo, trips to the lake, getting his face painted, and having adventures at Disneyland with them. Coco always makes him the most elaborate birthday cakes and his costumes for Halloween! He is also blessed to have a great relationship with Maegan's grandmother, Nana, and her husband Herbert. He loves going to her house to garden, play water games, and read new books. He also likes to sneak in brownie-making with Maegan's Popie from time to time and enjoys playing with the toys at Maegan's Grandma's house.
Elias loves being in nature. We live about 15 minutes from the beach and try to go there every weekend. He loves making sandcastles, digging holes, searching for shells, and running in the waves. We have fun exploring the tide pools and sticking our toes by the sea anemones for their kisses. We use this opportunity to teach him about the animals that live there and their role in the ecosystem. He is such a hands-on learner and thrives in this type of educational environment. We try to follow up our adventures with storybooks at home about the ocean or the animals we saw.
During the winter we head up to our local mountains to go sledding or hiking. We live about 45 minutes away and always get hot chocolate for the ride there. Joshua will tug Elias in the sled behind him and we try to find a spot where we can make really fun sledding tracks. Elias loves to go down with Joshua and Maegan over and over again! He also likes to eat the snow but knows not to eat the yellow snow!!
Elias loves his family dogs. Our Blue Heeler, Kiah, was his protector and followed him everywhere since he was a baby. So many pictures we have of Elias growing up has Kiah right next to him. Kiah unfortunately passed away this summer after being such a special part of our family for 14 years. She is missed and Elias loves to talk about the loving memories he had with her.
We recently adopted a Doodle named Sulley. He is 9 months old and loves to play with Elias. Sulley and Elias run around for hours in the backyard and chase each other up the slide. Sulley lets Elias give him big bear hugs, give him funny hairdos, or make his mouth into a smile. Sulley is a gentle giant who is a big kid at heart. Elias calls Sulley his friend and they get so excited to see each other every day!