Mommy, mommy, mommy, mommy, mommy!

Well, this latest phase of life with a toddler has certainly been, well, interesting.  The 'Terrible Twos' might be the most appropriate moniker I've ever heard of.  Eli has pretty much been a snotty mess for a month straight, with a couple ear infections and who knows what else sprinkled in there.  Just this morning he told me his belly hurt.  I really want to get past this winter and its germs with all speed.  We don't know if it's the sickness or what, but lately he's had plenty of crazy tantrums and has taken to waking up at 5 in the morning screaming.  All of this has come at the same time as a hardcore mommy phase.  Some of our exchanges are downright ridiculous.

Eli:  I want some milk!
Dad:  Ok, I'll get you some.
Eli:  NO!
Dad:  You just asked me for milk.
Eli:  I want mommy to get it!
Dad:  Well, I've already made it.  Here you go.
Eli:  NO!  MOMMY DO IT!  *throws sippy cup across room*
Mom:  *picks up milk*  Here, Eli.
Eli:  I don't want the milk!
Mom:  Alright, I'll put it back in the fridge.
Eli:  NO!  I WANT MY MILK...WAAAAAAAAHHHH  *15 minute tantrum ensues*

Last night was the first night he's slept past 6 am in a while, so that's a step back in the right direction.  Rebecca said she thinks of moments like these as Eli basically saying, "I want to be independent!  I don't want to be independent!"  That rings so true and does seem to be the big struggle.  Hopefully our household can get rid of all the little ailments and get back on track.  There is a ray of hope for Rebecca.  During one of the most recent meltdowns, Eli started screaming, "DADDY, DADDY, DADDY!"  She shot me a sideways glance, cracked a smile and mouthed, "YES!" at me.  Uh oh.  :)  

The Snowy Day

Every once in a while, we actually get snow in North Carolina.  The last time we really got a decent snow Eli was only about a year old and had not been walking very long.  He didn't even really like the crunching sound of the snow under his feet at that point.  The 2 year old incarnation of Eli was all about the snow.  He did his first snow angel and we even got started on a snowman that fell by the wayside once we got out the sled.  As you can see, he was a fan of the sled and the snow in general.  I'm a fan of it too, until 8am Monday morning when I have to navigate these roads to work.

The last two or three weeks Eli has been fighting ear infections, which has been no fun for anyone in our house.  As I type this, he is sitting in Rebecca's lap digging at his ear.  He is bouncing back though and the sweet boy is making a reappearance, finally replacing the angry, whiny little demon child we have seen recently.  Once this stuff is in the rearview mirror we plan on being gluttons and attacking the potty training head-on.  Yikes!  

I need a pick.

Before and after

Bill has written every blog update since this thing started and for that and many other things I am very thankful. The holidays have been busy and a bit emotional. Eli completed his time at Mrs. Linda's daycare and I definitely had the hardest time saying goodbye. Mrs. Linda did a great job teaching and caring for Eli. He was 100% ready to go from being in a daycare of 4 kids to a daycare of a lot of kids. He loves the new Preschool. We took him there for a couple of days before and after Christmas and didn't cry once. He talked about his friends and new teachers over the holidays. Christmas was really fun with our families. Eli had a great time with his cousins Jack and Grady. He loves his family and talks about them all the time. He also loves mac-n-cheese. About a week ago we were going through his nighttime routine and after he said "I yuv you Mommy," he looked right in my eyes and whispered "Mommy, I yuv mac-n-cheese." He just says the funniest things these days. The other day he said "I don't want to wear the the pants. I want to wear the jeans." Like father like son as far as jeans and t-shirts go.

Eli spent a couple of days with Nana and Papa (Bill's folks) while Bill and I spent New Year's with great friends. Thank you Nana and Papa! With the new year came a nasty cold for Eli. He turned into a little monster and we were wondering what happened to our sweet kid. He wasn't just pitiful and sad. Eli was angry with seemingly endless tantrums. We finally took him to the doc on Wednesday because we didn't know what else to do. All the conditions were right for an ear infection but it wasn't infected yet. DeeDee (my mom) came and saved us and the other kids at daycare. Friday afternoon Mom said he sat on his little stool, put his elbow on his knee and his head on his hand and declared "my ear hurts." He also said "my head broke." Since starting the antibiotic, we feel like we might be able to go out in public again.  :)

I love you, Mommy.

Ahh, the holidays.  Christmas trees, green and red, family, gifts, and great food.  Oh yeah, let's not forget communicable disease.  Groups of little kids become amazing germ distributors, so if you have a toddler, he or she WILL get sick.  No two ways about it.  Our little guy is sick right now.  It's made all the more pitiful by the fact that he can verbalize how he is feeling now.  When you hear Eli, who is 100 miles an hour all the time, say something like, "Daddy, I'm really tired." at 4pm you know something is amiss.  It's not all negative though...  He does become a little more snuggly and last night he whispered in Rebecca's ear, totally unsolicited, "I love you, Mommy."  It was so incredibly sweet that I can't believe she didn't start crying uncontrollably right then and there.  Get well soon, Eli!  We need you full force for the holidays.

Birthdays and Holidays

Eli turned 2 in mid-November.  I can't believe how much he's grown physically and mentally this year.  It's hard to imagine a bigger jump in both departments at any other point in his life.  We feel so incredibly fortunate to have such an awesome little guy in our lives, even though he can throw an epic tantrum occasionally.  :)  Rebecca made him an awesome cake, truly a work of art.  Eli loves construction equipment so he was psyched to see an excavator cake on his birthday.  We had quite a few people over at our house for his party and there were lots of kids running around and playing.  It got off to a bit of a rocky start with a good number of people arriving before he woke up from his nap.  He came out of his room to a bunch of strangers in the house and went into immediate meltdown mode.  After a short stint outside he came back in and all was well.

Christmas is rapidly approaching and even though this is Eli's second Christmas it is the first one where he will be actively participating.  He doesn't really understand Santa Claus but he still thinks he's cool.  He helped decorate the tree this year and is a big fan of Christmas lights.  We'll be in the car and he will ask us to listen to Christmas music.  This year has been really interesting because we have realized that we need to start building our own Christmas traditions for Eli.  Experiencing Christmas through your child makes it so much easier to get into the holiday spirit.  It's going to be a lot of fun watching him tear through presents and get excited about being with family this year.  

I promise we didn't teach him to sing it this way.

For some reason when Eli sings the Hokey Pokey, it comes out "Do the Hokey Pokey, turn your ass around..." I swear we didn't teach it like that but we sure had to get it on film. :)