At least we know he's not a vampire!

Elijah was helping me get ready for dinner tonight (as usual), and I was slicing the veggies and onions. Eli was playing on his chair next to me and we were talking when he started going, "blech blech blech" at the top of his lungs. I looked over and saw that he had taken a bite out of a garlic clove that I had set aside to chop up! He was holding his tongue with his little fingers, with his face all screwed up in disgust, while yelling, "blech!"

I got the clove out of his mouth and got him a drink of water and he was fine - but after that he kept shooting the garlic evil looks. :)

Also while making dinner Elijah took a handful of corn that I had drained, climbed off his chair, and lined up the kernels in a little line on the floor. I was intrigued as to what he is doing (he likes things very organized at times), and watched him go away and play, then come back, pick up one kernel and pop it in his mouth, and then return to playing. He came back and got all the kernels, one at a time, and in perfect order in his little row! I should have picked them up (I think I read somewhere that Moms are supposed to teach things like not eating off the floor), but it was interesting to see what he was going to do. :)

So while raw garlic doesn't make the grade for Eli's palate, raw corn eaten off the floor does!

Too much ESPN?

Elijah has taken to saying "boo-yah" as an exclamation lately (and sometimes to say yes). It's so cute to hear him say it, but I think he must have picked it up from watching episodes of "Stump the Schwab" with Jon on ESPN. The host, Stuart Scott, says "boo-yah" a lot. Kids absorb so much! I don't think Jon ever thought that he'd hear his little boy walking around going, "boo- yah!!" at the top of his lungs. :)

Elijah now has an eclectic collection of exclamations, ranging from the classic, "uh oh," to the favorite of Mom, "Nuts," and the ESPN-sportscaster, "Boo-yah!"

Elijah's Potty Mouth

A few days ago we were all in the living room when Jon happened to, how shall we say this, pass gas. Elijah immediately started yelling, "poo poo, poo poo" and pointing at Jon. Priceless.

While we are on the poo poo subject, Elijah almost invariably tells me when he goes poo poo now. I think that's a pretty cool milestone, and it helps take the guess work out of if he has a dirty diaper. On Monday he went into the bathroom and stood in front of the toilet yelling poo poo. I checked it out and he was indeed going. He did that three times on Monday (with three you know whats). I don't think he's ready for potty training yet, but maybe putting a little potty chair of his own in the bathroom would be a good idea?

Then again, he could just like the word poo poo - last week whenever I asked him what sound the train made (which normally gets a choo choo) he would only respond with "poo poo" and a big laugh. I didn't think liking gross stuff and potty humor came until a few years later in a boy's life!

Weekend with the boys!

Yes, we are still alive over here (contrary to popular opinion, since we haven't posted in forever). It's been crazy busy, and I've been tired, so phhh. No posts.

As the little one does more and more cute things I feel compelled to update the blog though, so I can start posting about his insane adorableness once again.

So, a few weeks ago now Elijah and I headed off to Ohio to help my Mom look after my brother's two boys while Scott and Jill went on a much deserved cruise together. It was much more work than I thought it would be, but also much more fun! Three kids and a dog really take it out of you, even with both Mom and I there! I thought I'd post some highlights, to give you a glimpse at some of our (almost) week together.

-Elijah was a big cracker (or "dots" as he calls them) fiend. He figured out how to open up the pantry and get access to the crackers, so he would invariably be seen walking around stuffing himself full of Hot 'N Spicy Cheez-its (until he ate the rest of the bag by himself!) and then the Ritz dinosaur crackers. We'd take them away, move them to a different shelf, but it seemed like he always was able to get them anyway (hmm, maybe two other little boys were accomplices?). :)

- After one of Elijah's cracker binges, Andrew pointed to Eli's tummy (by now rather large and sticking out) and said that he had a "fatty tummy." A few nights later after dinner, Andrew told Elijah that he had a fatty tummy again, and then pointed to his own tummy and said he had a fatty tummy too, and that's where Eli got it from.

- I played "I Spy" with Andrew while making lunch one day, and it was so cute to see him try and guess the things I spied, and then try to pick something out himself for me to guess. Invariably he would stand right next to it, or couldn't keep his eyes off whatever object he chose. Then when I would do several incorrect guesses and questions he would roll his eyes (how dumb can this lady be?) and then give me additional details (It's green and round . . . and behind the chair . . . and is right next to my foot!). We had a lot of fun!

- On Sunday night Andrew and Nathan and I were playing the "I Spy Spooky Mansion" computer game together while Elijah was watching . . . until Elijah got sick of us not paying attention to him and turned the computer off. On a game that you can't save! All our hard work down the drain! Andrew was a little upset with Elijah, and Nathan kept saying, "He just wants us to spend time playing with him is all." After Elijah went to bed the boys and Grandma restarted the I Spy game - only to have the power go out when they had just finished and were reading the secret clue! Oh no! That game was not destined to get finished that night!

- When the power went out we had about a 15 minute search (by the light of my cell phone display) looking for matches. They were right in the cupboard of course . . . doh. Then we had a 15 minute conversation about why we couldn't sleep with the candles lit all night.

- While the power was out the topic of power plants came up somehow. Andrew asked what a power plant was, and Grandma provided him with an in-depth answer. To which he turned to Nathan and said, "Are those like the power plants they have on Jimmy Neutron?" When Nathan answered yes, Andrew turned to Grandma and told her that he did actually know what a power plant was then - he had seen them on tv. What a new generation!

We also went to a cool children's museum, played outside (though I wouldn't really classify the two hours I spent shoveling ice and snow as playing!), and went to a Valentine's Day party at Nathan's school on Friday! We had so much fun together, and Elijah misses his Natey and Drew now (by the end of the time together he was saying "Nate" and starting to say "Drew"). Jon showed Eli the picture of Nathan and Andrew that we have on the fridge a few days after we got back home and Elijah went crazy, smiling and laughing, and then looking for them. We miss our boys!

Eli Tidbits

Here are some Eli funnies from the last day:

- We were eating lunch and I put an additional serving of pasta on his plate and said it was hot - which immediately led to the customary blowing on it by Elijah and myself. Except that Eli had a mouth full of green beans. Which he shot straight across the room. I tried not to laugh but couldn't manage it. He just had this expression of surprise and then amazement on his face when he did it. Of course, I then had to backpedal and try and convince him that shooting food out of your mouth and across the room is actually not funny at all.

- I called Jon to say hi at lunch and Elijah was playing in the sink (we had just done the dishes). I put Jon on speakerphone to say hi to Eli, and turned the water off so he could hear better. Elijah promptly started saying, "bye bye dada" and then pointing at the sink handle and saying, "on!" Guess playing in the water trumps talking to daddy! Sorry Jon!

- At IKEA with Stacy and Kelly this weekend I bought a small dustpan and broom so Eli could help me when I got out the big broom. Tonight after dinner I got them out to sweep the floor, handing Eli his set, and getting ready to use mine. Elijah gave me a cross look, reached over and grabbed my broom and then handed me his little one. Silly, Mom, thinking that the big, appropriately-sized broom is actually yours!

- At the library today we played with the computers for a bit and then went to look at books - except that Elijah had to keep running back to say "bye bye" to the computer. Clever little boy, clever - but Mom is on to your stalling tactics. :)

- I had to call the ladies in my Bible study group tonight to let them know our meeting was canceled (it's snowing and blowing like crazy here!), and would obviously end my conversations saying goodbye. After just a few calls Elijah figured out what was going on and had to be near me to yell "bye bye!" whenever I said goodbye. It was so cute! And I think because I couldn't pay much attention to him much while I was spending an hour making calls, he got all affectionate with me and would run up behind me yelling, "mama," and then hug my neck or stop and give me a kiss. My heart = puddle.

What Goes Around Comes Around

As the title suggests, Elijah's tummy bug transferred to the rest of our little family pretty quickly. By Thursday his tummy had seemed to calm down, just in time for Mom and Dad's to act up. As an added perk I (Missy) had flu-like symptoms as well - a fever, the chills, aches everywhere, and a headache. Yucky!!

On Saturday morning I thought I felt a lot better - good enough to go to my morning Bible study meeting and also tell my cousins from out of town to keep our appointed weekend plans and come on over. I did pretty well, and actually had an appetite back. But then came the fateful decision to have some pop at the movie we went to. Major bloating and my tummy was not pleased. You can't take it back once you've done it though! Then to top it off, while we painted pottery I got a bagel and cream cheese from Panera. I don't know what I was thinking! At the time it sounded really good and I thought the bread would be good for my tummy. Cream cheese isn't usually recommended for upset stomachs though! After pottery we rented a movie and headed back home, but within an hour I was done for. Back to the vomiting/diarrhea/flu stuff all over again!

Sunday I felt a lot better again - and actually stayed that way! I was very tired though and took a nice long nap after Stacy and Kelly left for home. And now I'm feeling back to my old self 100%!

Fortunately Jon only got a mild case of the tummy bug and could take care of me and Elijah without much problem. On the positive side of things, I got a chance to read a lot of books in the bathroom, and lost 5 pounds from the whole thing. I don't think I'd want to be sick like that very often, but with side effects like that being sick every once in a while sure is tempting!

Elijah's first real puke! What a milestone! :(

On Sunday afternoon we headed to our friends Matt and Carrie's house for a Super Bowl party, and Elijah was having a lot of fun playing with their daughter Tara (okay, her toys mainly), when he wanted to climb up in Jon's lap for a rest. Then he suddenly threw up over Jon's shoulder (what a little party-puker, haha)! Jon's shoulder was hit pretty good, though most of it actually landed in a baby gift bag we had given our friends Jason and Katy who are expecting their first little one in a few weeks. So that was fortunate for Matt and Carrie's carpet, and not so fortunate for one of the books we had given Jason and Katy. Playtime Peek-a-boo is a goner!

Elijah started having some diarrhea as well and went through all his diapers, but he was much happier after throwing up, and seemed to be doing fine after that. Jon and I thought maybe it was something he ate earlier in the day, since he didn't seem to have other symptoms and seemed okay after throwing up. Eli went to bed at home just fine and with no more tummy issues, but then at 1:30 in the morning Eli woke up crying and covered in vomit (and with poo inside his jammies from top to bottom). Middle of the night cleanup is not fun, and he actually ended up in bed with us (with towels over everything just in case). He threw up one more time in our bed (thank goodness for those towels!) and then he fell asleep between Jon and I.

Today there were no more throwing up incidents, but lots of poo and crying (both baby and mommy). All day Elijah would vary between just wanting to cuddle on the couch and wanting to play. He was under his slide playing this morning while I was trying to figure out what to feed him for lunch, when he started crying like he had hurt himself. I headed over and asked what was wrong and he started screaming, "poo poo, poo poo!" and lifting his bottom off of the floor. All day he would just scream when he went and then scream as I changed him and re-diapered him. Eli's little bottom is just fiery red, even though I'm putting cream on every time I change him. I tried giving him a bath to clean him up a little, but he screamed the minute his butt hit the water (even though I made sure the temperature was only lukewarm) and he was almost inconsolable after that. The whole day was pretty awful for both of us.

At one point this afternoon Jon (who came home early to bring Pedialyte and support) and I counted changing Elijah three times in less than 10 minutes. We'd get his diaper changed, stand him up, he'd walk over to play with a toy and then we'd hear a huge explosion in his pants. Then new diaper, new pants, new socks, etc. I was thinking that I'd skip putting new sweatpants on him since they just got dirty so fast (I've done 3 loads of laundry today!), but it was too cold for that. And then I thought that I actually really liked having the exploding poo contained in the sweatpants instead of exploding all over the carpet!

Tonight Elijah seems a little better (no exploding poo for three hours, woohoo!), but Jon is feeling queasy. Uh oh! We'll see what happens!

One positive thing to come out of this is that we found out Elijah doesn't mind drinking Pedialyte. We have the bubblegum flavor and Elijah guzzled it down all day long - we called it his "bubble juice" and he seemed to like that (he can say both of those words, so that helps!). Hopefully that will help keep him from getting dehydrated and he can be on the road to recovery soon. Puking and pooing babies aren't such a fun thing for anyone!

Nice 'do, Eli. Headbands are very manly.

Eli saw me with a headband in my hair the other day and insisted that he get one too. Since we don't have a girl whose hair I get to put in pigtails and ponytails I guess I'll have to settle for this for now! My little boy in a headband . . . oh my!

I'm confident enough in my babyboyhood to wear this headband.

Elijah the Snowplow!

Since we’ve been getting a little bit of snow lately, and Elijah LOVES to be outside, we went to Home Depot and picked up an Eli sized shovel last week. Now Elijah can help us shovel the driveway! He seems to really like pushing the snow with his little shovel (though he doesn’t like having his mittens on while doing it!). It’s actually a help too, since he does quite a nice job, even if he doesn’t shovel in a straight line!

Good shoveling Eli!
Dad, can't you see I already did that part?
I better make sure to get the sidewalk clear,
that's where I do most of my running!

The snow goes outside, Eli! Not in to the garage silly!

Now if only we could stop him from running into the street the time outside would be more enjoyable for Mom and Dad! Eli actually runs to the end of the driveway, turns around to look back at you, waits for you to say, “We stay in the driveway, not the street,” and then takes two steps backwards into the street! Then when you step forward to go get him he turns around and takes off running as fast as he can! He had only been doing this with me (Missy), which left Jon feeling pretty smug (“He doesn’t do that with me at all, honey!”). But now he does it to Jon too (ha!). Thankfully we live on a cul-de-sac so we have zero traffic to worry about. Elijah’s definitely testing the boundaries and limits though. He really doesn’t like when he immediately gets taken inside when he goes in the street, so hopefully the consequences will start sinking in soon! He loves being outside so much, that I’d like to spend more time there without worrying about the street.