Happy Birthday Eli!!!

On Sunday, November 25th, we celebrated Eli's ninth birthday - or his first, depending on how you look at it!
When Eli came downstairs in the morning and saw all of the balloons and streamers we'd set up for him, his reaction took us by surprise. We'd expected some pretty animated excitement from him, but instead he seemed out of sorts and even a little alarmed. I think that any change in our normal routine will have this effect on him for awhile, it was a good reminder for us how new everything still is for him. We sat him down at the table in front of his gift pile, and he simply looked at the neatly wrapped boxes in front of him and back at us as if to say "Okay . . . so what now?" I handed him a box, and he politely stuck it under his arm and continued staring at us. That is when we realized that he'd never opened a present before - he had no clue what to do! I helped him out by tearing a bit of the wrapping away to show him that there was a toy underneath - toys he understands! After he'd checked it out, I told him it was time to open another one. He went solo this time, but cringed as he ripped the paper and looked at us again -
"Are you sure I should be tearing stuff up? I don't think I'm supposed to tear stuff!"
I took the package from him and made a big show of ripping the paper up, rolling it into a ball and tossing it over my shoulder.
Okay - that did it - Eli absolutely adores slapstick humor. He went through this process with all of his presents, giggling hysterically every time he tossed a paper ball over his shoulder. It was too cute!
After dinner, we got out the birthday cake, which he was very impressed with until he actually took a bite. We all signed "Happy Birthday To You" and Eli signed along with us, it was so funny when we got to "You" and pointed at him. He wasn't sure who he should point at, and so we each got a turn!
I was so touched by how Eli handled all of the attention, and all of the gifts that he received. He got several Lego sets, and each time he settled down to build a new one, he would get one for Joshua to build with him. Joshua was very hesitant (birthday loot is a very sacred thing), and kept signing "No, Eli, this is yours, it's your birthday". Eli would just smile, nod, and tell Josh that he wanted to build "together". Joshua came to me and said "I feel like Eli thinks he has to share with me, would you tell him that he doesn't have to?" I went over and told Eli that all of these things were just his. I showed him the toy bins in the boys' room which are labeled "Josh", "Eli", and "Josh and Eli". I indicated that every birthday toy would belong in the bin labeled "Eli". I really think he understood, but he continued to insist that Joshua take part in the fun. How amazing for a child who has had so little, he has already learned that relationships are the real treasure in life. How many people who have been far more privileged in life never learn this?
As I indicated above, Eli is not into birthday cake. He ate all of the icing from his piece, and then let me know that he was "finished". Truthfully, I'm a little devastated by this. How can someone not like cake? It doesn't make any sense! I mean . . . it's cake! I'm not sure what all this means, but I'm getting him a full psych evaluation just in case. You can't be too careful!

Love,
Jen