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!
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.
2 comments:
Hopefully the "street" situation will improve as we get closer to the summer!
- Eli will be older, and therefore doubtless better behaved. ("Terrible Twos" you say? What? La la la, I'm not listening.) :-)
- The snow and ice will be gone, so at least we don't have to worry about being on slippery footing as we run after Eli after he takes off into the street!
The running into the street thing definitely is an attention grab attempt by Eli though. If Missy or I is busy shovelling, that means we aren't paying close attention to Eli (even if we are trying to talk to him while we work), and stepping out into the road certainly does have proven effectiveness at getting Mommy or Daddy's full attention back in a hurry!
Gotta keep working on providing Eli with "positive attention" instead of "negative attention"... ("Good job there playing on the sidewalk, not in the street, Eli!") :-)
We too have a little guy who is pushing the limits - ahh the joys of a toddler! Let's pray both boys skip the "terrible twos"!! Glad to see he enjoys being a helper!
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