The last straw

Today was another first for Eli.  Every time one of us brings home some sort of take out or fast food Eli is all over it.  He likes to go after our drinks and today I had a large water in a cup with a straw so I decided to let him go for it.  After just a couple minutes of coaching he got the hang of it.  He would get a little water through the straw, pause, and break into a wide grin of accomplishment afterward.  That cycle got repeated dozens of times and the excitement never wore off for him.  I don't think he's ever had that much water during the day.  We changed a lot of diapers and I shudder to think what his pamper will be like in the morning.  Anyone with a toddler will tell you how great it is to find something new that occupies their attention even for a little while.  Today that something new was the straw.  Long live the straw.

The Not-so-well-mannered Eli

So much for the well-mannered little boy.  Our daycare provider has used words such as "turkey" and "stinker" to describe him this week.  He's "that" kid at daycare right now; the one doing the pushing and shoving, the one wielding the word "no" like Excalibur.  He will grow out of this, right?  RIGHT?!  He does like to have fun though.  Check out that flying high-five in the picture.  

The renovations on our house have started and there is dirt and digging going on all over the place.  All Eli wants to do is go outside all the time and now his favorite stoop on the house has been demolished.  Luckily for us, he has developed an interest in the garden hose so we have a distraction.

The weather's turn toward Spring is great for us.  With Eli getting more active physically, being able to go to the park around the corner to let him burn his energy climbing and sliding is a treat.  Each time he comes down the slide he waits until he's at the bottom to say "WEEEE!"  It's a little like that delay between listening to Woody Durham while watching the Heels game on TV but it's quite funny.     

The Well-Mannered Eli

There a lots of things about this stage in Eli's life that we love. When bedtime comes we can ask him "Is it time for night-night?" and he will say "Night-night" and walk to his bedroom door. The second you turn the light out he usually gives you a big hug and a kiss. It really is the sweetest moment of the day and Rebecca hogs it as much as possible. He also likes to read books by himself so it's fun to watch him sit on the couch like an adult and casually flip through The Giant Jam Sandwich as if it's a Cooking Light magazine.

Eli is really into cause and effect so there is a lot of experimenting going on. "I wonder what happens if I push THIS button?" "What will mommy do if I push THIS button?" While this can be exhausting he is soaking a lot in right now. His communication is getting better by leaps and bounds. Some of the words he says are starting to sound more like they are supposed to. Lately he has embraced "Thank you." It's extremely cool to ask your 15 month old if he wants a cracker and have him say "Please" followed by a "Thank You" when you give it to him. Brilliant.

App-pull-tall

This morning Eli said his first 3 syllable word. He didn't seem to want to eat his toast so I asked him if he wanted some applesauce. He answered "app-pull-tall." Awesome! He is such a little sponge right now. Everything you do, no matter how mundane, he watches like a hawk. He is making connections that Rebecca and I are not even aware of. We definitely have to remind ourselves to be very conscious of what we say and do around him because it WILL get mimicked. It's very difficult, I mean, if Roy Williams can't stop himself from cussing how am I supposed to do it? I think it would be more than hilarious for Eli to bust out with a "frikkin'" or a "dagnabit" at daycare. That would be comedy gold.

New-tensils

There are definitely new developments in Eli-land. The one that might be having the most impact on us right now is teething. He is having a little tooth explosion right now including some molars. I'm hoping that and a recent ear infection are the main things at play behind some of his tantrums lately. Right now, all he wants to do is go outside. He strolls up to the door and, like our dog, looks back and forth between it and us. Then he will start saying "UP!" Every once in a while he'll say "Out thigh," his word for outside. When it becomes clear to him that it is not going to happen Rebecca and I brace ourselves for the full-on meltdown.

In other, more positive news Eli is starting to get the hang of utensils. He likes to spear beans with the fork and most of the time he will bring the fork to his mouth to eat the bean. It starts out that way at first and then he realizes that he can eat faster if he spears the bean, takes it off the fork with his other hand, and shoves it into his mouth. He is good at thinking outside the box. The spoon is quite a bit messier so we are going to roll with the fork for now.

Eli: The Musical

Our son loves the guitar. Every time I take it off the wall to play it he comes running over to reach for it. As you can tell from the photo he has figured out the strumming motion that produced the sound from the strings. The kid is a natural. At some point his focus inevitably turns toward the capo and then the tuning pegs which is a no-no. I wrote some music to accompany a couple of his books and songs that we sing to him all the time. He also has a little Elmo guitar of his own that he gets to rock out on in the car.

A couple of days ago he actually said the word 'guitar' while pointing at it. Very cool! It had two syllables and everything! He is starting to get the hang of making some more sounds when he talks. When he first started saying 'please' is came out as 'pee.' Now it sounds like 'peesth.' He's getting there.

Right now Eli sort of looks like Rocky after his first round with Ivan Drago. He has matching mini-shiners from repeated faceplants around the house. One of them is right above his eye from falling forward into the bookshelf. Poor little guy. We are bound to see a lot more of these with the insane amount of climbing this boy tries to do. You can't turn your head for one second. Seriously. He's a thrill seeker. At this rate he'll be skydiving at age 8.

Hugs and Kisses!

Eli, Eli, Eli. Babies are smart and most of the time smarter than you give them credit for. Just the other day we were giving Eli some yogurt and he pointed to the yogurt container and said, "Baby!" We turned it around and sure enough there was a picture of a toddler on the side. Very cool. Unfortunately, these little smart moments sometimes manifest themselves in less than ideal ways, like stacking things to use as a step to get to other dangerous places. Eli is all about doing what he wants to do right now, everything and everyone else be damned. What that means is that when his wants clash with ours we are starting to see the makings of some really entertaining temper tantrums. At least you always know where you stand with him. I'm just hoping we can hurry past this stage where disobeying us is "funny" to him. All of this behavior happens to coincide with him starting to give lots of hugs and kisses. What a little manipulator! Seriously, though, there's not much sweeter than your little kid giving you a big hug and kiss before you leave in the morning.