So many questions . . .

Elijah is definitely beginning to exhibit the curiousness of a 2 year old and, coupled with his ever-expanding verbal skills, he's become quite the little questioner.

It all started a few weeks ago with Eli understanding the concept of asking "where" someone or something went. One day he was home during nap time with Grandpa while I went shopping, and when I came home Grandpa and Grandma told me that he kept pacing around after he woke, going from the front door to the back door, and asking, "Where Momma go? Oh man. Where Momma go?" Since then he's begun to ask me every morning (without fail), "Where Daddy go? Where Grandma go? Where Grandpa go?" Usually though the subject of the question is Lexi and Tori ("Where Lexi Tori go?), even if they haven't even been at our house within the last day or two. And last Saturday we were eating breakfast at our still-for-sale-house and he started asking, "Where Uncle Jeff go?" He hadn't seen Uncle Jeff for a week, but he desperately needed to know where Uncle Jeff was. :)

Now Eli's firmly grasped the concept of "what" as well. It's cute to see him stop and have to look at everything he doesn't recognize. Then he asks, "What's that, Mommy?" or "What's this, Mommy?" Though occasionally it can get a little repetitive to have to answer a ton of questions, the majority of the time it's super-adorable since he has the cutest little inflection when he asks his questions.

He's also learned that "what" is a response. Last week I was trying to get him to pick up a game he had all over the floor before he got another one out, and he was ignoring my efforts to get him involved in the clean up. I said, "Elijah," with a more authoritative tone, and without even looking up he replied, "What?!," with an exasperated little voice. My mind fast forwarded about 11 years or so and I could just imagine that same exact expression and tone of voice coming out of my teen aged Elijah. Mom was standing in the kitchen and both she and I could barely contain our laughter. I didn't respond right away so Elijah looked at me and said, "What, Mommy? What?"

Though I'm loving seeing Eli learn and be curious about the world around him, I must say that I'm glad he hasn't picked up any of the other question statements. What and where are enough for now without having to deal with any who, when, or why questions!