How It's Supposed to Be

Chapter Forty-Five

Six months later it is November. Elijah started crawling last month and he started sleeping through the night so that is a bonus. He also has four teeth, all in his front. We had to baby gate the whole house because he gets into everything. It is crazy how fast he is growing.

It's the Tuesday before Thanksgiving and Jimi and I are getting ready to go to my parents' house. When Jimi and I got together, we decided that Thanksgiving would be at my parents' house and Christmas would at his parents' house. This Christmas, we decided to celebrate here and then on the 26th we would head down to Alabama for a few days and celebrate Christmas with Jimi's family, then make our way back over to Georgia to celebrate with mine. We are flying down to Georgia tomorrow. It will be Elijah's first time on a plane and I hope it goes well. I haven't seen my parents since Elijah was born.

Jimi, Elijah and I are in Elijah's room packing everything he will need for the next five days. We have Elijah locked in the room with us because he will try to go down the stairs by himself. Before we started packing, I had cleaned up his room. I put all of his toys, which were all over the floor, back in his toy chest. I go to walk over to his dresser and I see Elijah pulling out one toy at a time and throwing it behind him then pulling out another toy and doing the same thing.

"Really E? I just cleaned all that up" I said and laughed. Jimi turned around and saw what Elijah was doing and laughed.

"So much for keeping his room clean" Jimi said with a chuckle.

"Yeah" I said with a laugh. We finished packing the rest of his stuff and decided to go downstairs and get dinner going. We decided to go with something simple. Cheese burgers and French fries for Jimi and I, and the baby food version of chicken and gravy with green beans and apple sauce for Elijah. Jimi wanted to grill the burgers, so once I mixed up the meat he went outside. I put the fries on a cookie sheet and put them in the oven. Elijah was getting fussy so I got his food ready as well. I put him in his high chair and heated up his food. I started feeding him while the food was cooking. By the time the food was done, Elijah finished up eating. I cleaned him up and brought his bouncer in the kitchen by the table. I brought over a few toys and put him in. Jimi brought over all the food and set it on the table. We ate while Elijah played in his bouncer.

When Jimi and I finished dinner, it was about 7:00. Elijah was nodding off in his bouncer.

"Jimi, watch him" I said quietly with a giggle. Jimi looked over at Elijah and started laughing.

"I think it's safe to say that he is ready for bed" He said.

"I'll get him ready for bed, if you want to clean up the kitchen" I said.

"Alright sounds good to me" Jimi said. He stood up and kissed Elijah on the top of his head.

"Good night little guy, I love you" he whispered. I sat at the table and watched Jimi with a smile on my face. Jimi is such a good dad. I don't know what I would do without him.

After Jimi said goodnight to Elijah, he grabbed the plates and took them over to the dishwasher. Then I stood up and carefully picked Elijah up out of his bouncer and cradled him in my arms trying not to wake him. I headed over to the stairs and slowly walked up. I made my way to his room and carefully laid him down on the changing table. He is a pretty heavy sleeper, once he's out, he's out. I was able to change his diaper and put him in his pajamas without him waking up. Once he was dressed for bed, I walked him over to the crib. I gave him a kiss on his forehead and laid him down.

"Good night baby, I love you" I whispered and gave him one more kiss on his forehead. Then I pulled the side of the crib up and locked it in place. Then I quietly walked out of his room and closed the door slightly so it was just barely open. I walked down the hall and went downstairs.