Leaf Jumping

Eli just had his first chance last week to experience a fall ritual for many children – jumping in leaves! At our old house we had almost zero leaves to rake up so we never did, and at Mom and Dad’s house we don’t usually rake up the leaves (who wants to rake up acres of leaves!? Not me!). But Jon and I decided one day last week after he got home from work to rake up the leaves in the front yard and make a leaf pile for Eli. At first Elijah wasn’t so sure about what he was supposed to do, but with some coaching he learned that he could run through the leaves, throw them at Mom and Dad (without getting told not to throw), and jump in them all he wanted. He would crouch down, grab two handfuls of leaves, yell, “Here I go!,” and then give a big jump into the pile. What fun!!

I think Eli’s favorite thing was when he and Daddy decided to bury Mommy in the leaf pile. And then he decided that climbing on top of Mommy and then jumping off of her was just about the greatest thing ever. Now the leaf pile is Eli’s favorite thing outside, and any time we go away or come home we need at least ten minutes in the leaves. He’ll even bring me the rake from the garage if the pile is getting a little spread out and tell me, “Rake leaf Mommy.” It is so fun to play with Eli and spend some family time just being silly together. I think I just learned why people bother to rake leaves in the first place – it’s worth it just to hear the sound of your child laughing!

Elijah mows the leaves while Mommy rakes them up.Daddy shows Eli the finer points of leaf throwing.

Daddy said it's all right if I throw these . . .
so gotcha Mom!

This is gonna be the big one! Here I go!

Daddy buried me in the leaves!

Elijah can't contain the sheer joy of

standing on top of Mommy's tushie.
Mom's buns make a great jumping platform!
Here comes Super Eli!
Now Eli is standing on Mom's tummy . . .
and jumping! Ouch.

Whatcha doing Mommy?
(that's really what he said as he jumped up and
then landed on me with his face an inch from the camera)

With his long arm span Jon snapped this picture of us.
What a cute couple. Ahh. :)

Bike Riding!

I could swear that I posted this already, but it is nowhere, so I obviously didn't. Anyway, at the end of this summer I went to a resale shop and bought a bike - my first bike since I was a teenager (I didn't learn to ride a bike until I was 11, and then I never really liked it). I hadn't ridden a bike since we went to Thailand and did a biking tour one day, and before that it was over 10 years since I'd ridden a bike. My Mom was the instigator behind everyone in the family getting bikes so we could all go on the Kent Trails together - so now Jeff and Lori, Jon (we went and got his bike from his Mom's house) and I, Noah, and, Lexi and Tori, all have bikes!!

We've gone biking together since then quite a bit, and Noah is turning into quite the biker. The first weekend we all had bikes Noah, Jon, and I went on a 6 mile ride while Lori, Mom, and Jeff, helped the girls. The next day Noah was all fired up to do a 10 mile ride. So Jon, Jeff, Noah, and I headed out to the trails. We accomplished the feat, with Noah still having plenty of energy, and the old fogeys dead-dog tired.

Elijah wasn't too sure about this bike riding thing at first - he protested quite a bit the first time we tried to put him in the bike trailer (he couldn't see Lexi and Tori and didn't like that). Now he likes it more though (I would like it too if I got snacks, a drink, books, and the pleasure of not having to do the work!). I think the cutest thing though is that he will sing to Jon while Jon is pulling him. I'll bike up beside them and hear Eli just belting out songs - Zaccheus, the B-I-B-L-E, and Old McDonald.

Besides the Kent Trails, which are great, we also found a beautiful trail in Middleville that goes through a wetland, with herons and swans, and then a beautiful forest. Two weeks ago when the weather was so nice, Mom, Jon, Eli, and I headed over there for a ride after dinner. What a gorgeous evening for a ride! I wish Jon and I had gotten more in to bike riding before, but it's better late than never! I brought my camera that day, so here are some pics of us biking . . .

Elijah's riding in comfort with snacks, books,
and toys all at his fingertips!

Eli's compartment is closed, so Dad's all ready to get on the trail!

Eli gets out of the trailer at the end of the trail and
lines up his snacks on the back of Dad's bike. Very organized, Eli!
Here's a view of the trail -
it went right through a beautiful forest and marsh land.

Elijah climbs the rail at the end of the trail
to get the wiggles out before heading back into his trailer.

Two Monkies and a Giraffe. Oh my!

Jon forgot his laptop at home Thursday morning, so he had to come back and pick it up from home. Jon found Eli and I in the kitchen, with Elijah eating breakfast and talking about his monkey pajamas. Eli was saying he was a monkey baby and Mommy was a monkey Mommy. Jon asked Eli, "Is Daddy a monkey?" and Eli said, predictably, "No!" Jon then asked Eli, "Then what is Daddy?" Eli thought for about two seconds then replied, "Giraffe!" Yep, Eli, your tall Daddy does resemble a giraffe a lot more than a monkey!

Building, playing, talking . . . another week in Eli's life!

The last week Elijah has been so hilarious, and this Tuesday he did some really cute things.

First on Tuesday I was changing his diaper and his hip was making a little popping noise as I moved his leg. So I told Eli that his hip was making noises. He got a perplexed look on his face, pointed to his hip area and said, "What's in there Mommy? A hippo?" That made me laugh so hard, and then I had to explain that where his leg meets the rest of his body is called his hip. I guess a two year old probably is not as familiar with the word hip as he is with the word hippo!

Later Tuesday morning Elijah took out my Mom's boxes of Jello and pudding mixes, put them in his shopping cart and wheeled them all over the house (doing "groceries" as he said). After a bit I heard him get quiet - the first sign of trouble - so I went to check out what he was up to. I went into our bedroom and found that Eli had built quite the tower of Jello boxes. I couldn't believe how tall his tower was! I watched him for a bit, and even took a video, and then his tower fell over. Rather than being excited, Elijah threw a little fit and demanded that "Mommy build tower again" - acting like it was all my fault that it fell down in the first place. I tried to rebuild it but mine wasn't nearly as stable as Elijah's tower was. Guess he has the building knack.

I'll have to ask Grandpa if Jello is a structurally sound building material.

After the tower incident Eli wanted to play Reader Rabbit on the computer. Since I had to pick up our room I thought that would be a good activity for him for a bit. Jon had told me that Eli had gotten really good with the mouse, but I didn't really believe it. . . until I saw him moving the mouse around the screen really smoothly! Before he would just click the buttons over and over or scroll the little wheel, but not actually move the mouse. He picked up how to do it from somewhere though. I took a video of him playing the shape game (you move shapes with the mouse from the bottom of the screen to where they go in the outline of something - a train, a boat, etc. - and then they explode out and you get a new something to fill in with shapes). The shape game is one of Eli's favorites since the shapes explode at the end - "Boom! Boom!," as Eli says. The shape I took a video of was a train, but after that one was done a sailboat came up, and Eli said, "Grandma's boat!" The video stopped right after that (my memory card was full), but Eli kept saying, "Grandma's boat! Grandma's boat!" It was really cute!

It's the most wonderful time of the year . . .

Fall is both my and Jon's favorite time of year. The cooler weather, the college football (don't talk to us about Michigan this year please though), the opportunity to celebrate our birthdays, and the chance to get apple cider. Apple cider is Jon's favorite beverage, and he fancies himself quite the connoisseur of cider. Growing up, Jon lived near the Franklin Cider Mill, so that has been our "favorite" cider and donuts (nerds that we are we've actually been to quite a few cider mills for comparison). Anyway, we always visit it each fall, sometimes multiple times a season, and have been known to freeze cider so Jon can have his cider craving fulfilled during the winter months. With us moving to the other side of the state we don't live near it anymore, so it was a special treat when we visited it a few weekends ago. The place was packed to the gills, and and Jon wasn't too happy with the price of the cider ($8 a gallon!!), so we probably won't be back this year again, but we still had a good time.

Elijah is old enough to have the cider now, and he did enjoy it quite a bit. I think we enjoyed hearing him say the word "cider" even more though. It's quite cute. The donuts and the ducks were the biggest hit with him though. The cider mill sits on a stream, which hosts an impressive population of ducks. These lucky duckies (I couldn't wait to type that) are living large and eating the most expensive duck food around - cider mill donuts. I would imagine these ducks have the highest cholesterol of any other ducks known to man, since their diet is a steady stream of deep-fried donuts tossed from the sticky paws of the toddlers that line the banks of the stream. Some parents had the sense to bring cheaper duck food - crackers or bread - but Eli's parents weren't part of that smart pack. Instead we watched Eli throw bits and pieces of the ridiculously priced donuts to the ducks. Eli got a kick out of it, and, really, he was doing us a favor since otherwise those extra donuts would have found their way into our mouths. Better to fatten the ducks than fatten me I suppose! Jon's already exploring the cider options near Grand Rapids, and though some of the cider may not be quite as good, at least it's a whole lot cheaper! :)

I've waited my whole life for this cider . . .
and man is it good!

Eli tries to bean the ducks with the food.These ducks are hungry, Mom. Keep the donuts coming.

Sitting and throwing is much easier than standing.

Eli Quotes

We've been busy the last few weeks, but Elijah has still been cracking us up with the things he says. I've been jotting the quotes down for us to remember, and thought I'd post some here so everyone else can read what a silly things Eli is saying lately . . .

• At home two weeks ago Jon handed Eli a toy and Eli replied, "Thanks, hon!" Grandma Koorndyk says "hon" all the time, so I think he heard it from her. :)
• Also at home, Elijah came around the corner into the living room yelling, "Uh oh, uh oh! Diaper falling down!" while trying to hold his very wet and saggy diaper up. One side was undone, and he was waddling towards us with his knees together. I couldn't find the camera fast enough to get a picture of the very concerned expression he had on his face, but I'll never forget the look.
• Jon went to check on Eli, who was napping quite late one Saturday. Jon asked, "Are you awake?" Eli said, "No." Jon then said, "Do you want pizza?" Eli's head shot up and he shouted, "Pizza come home! Pizza come home! Pizza please!"
• I was sitting on the couch in Canton watching something on tv a few Saturdays ago when Eli came into the room, climbed up in my lap, and then put his hands on both my shoulders and his face about 3 inches away from mine. He looked me right in the eye and then said, "Mommy, I will hug you." Then he gave me a huge hug, right around my neck. Moments like that make all the sacrifices of parenthood worth it.
• After dinner last week I said, "Oh, Eli" for some reason, and Eli just looked at me and said, "Oh, Mommy," with the exact same expression and tone of voice I had used. What a cutie.
• I was headed outside last Saturday and yelled down the hall to Eli (playing in his room) to ask if he was ready to go outside. Eli yelled back, "Not yet! Wanna read another book!" Choosing reading over playing outside? Another proof that he is the child of Jon and I (both bookworms).
• Eli heard the my dad's grandfather clock chiming the hour a few weekends ago and came running down the hall to me yelling, "Clock is ringing! Lunch time today!"
• Elijah likes having a snack before bed (something he doesn't usually get) and last week when we told him it was bedtime he headed to the utensil drawer, opened it, and took out one of his spoons. Then he opened the lazy susan cabinet where the cereal is kept, twirled it around, and proclaimed, "Breakfast. I eat breakfast now." Nice try buddy, but breakfast comes after bedtime, not before. :)
• Eli has picked up some very adult sounding expressions and words, including "tomorrow," "maybe," and "a minute." So it's pretty routine to hear him say things like, "Play ball maybe?" or, if he doesn't get something right away he'll ask, "Popcorn tomorrow?" And if I say we don't have time to do something because we have to go he'll ask, "Mommy play a minute maybe?" It all sounds so strange coming out of a toddler's mouth, but he uses the phrases correctly at least!
• Elijah's favorite way to say yes is either "yep!" or "okay!" I can't even describe the expression he uses when he says it, but it is just priceless. I keep trying to get him saying it on camera but of course he clams up the minute he sees the camera in my hand.
  
• Eli walked in to our room the other night after dinner, while Jon and I were standing there talking, and said, "Hey guys," then turned around and walked back out. I'm guessing that when he's 16 we'll be addressed the exact same way as he quickly exits wherever we are.
  
• Elijah likes to tell us stories now. He'll say, "I read you now," and then he'll open up the book, turn the pages, and say, "Crash. Boom. Dora. The end." And then laugh like crazy. Good story, bud, good story.
• Mom and I just got home from taking Eli to the playground, and as we were leaving he said, "Bye-bye playground. Too dark. Go home. I'm little bit tired maybe." Quite the monologue for a 2 year old, but all of it true. It was dark, it was time to go home, and he was a little bit tired!
  

Princess Mama

The other day, as I was playing with Eli in Grandpa and Grandma Koorndyk’s family room, Eli and I were looking at the covers of some of their VHS kids’ videos, I decided to try and play a little memory game with Eli.

I picked up the Shrek movie, turned it over to the back, and showed it to Eli.



I pointed to each of the characters on the back of the movie in turn, and told Eli, "This is Shrek, this is Princess Fiona, this is the dragon, this is the Donkey, and this is Prince Farquaad." (In case you're wondering – yes, I did have to look up the spelling of that last one for this blog post!)

Then, I pointed at the picture of Princess Fiona again, and asked Eli, “Who is this?” I was curious if Eli would remember and repeat the name I had just told him.

But Eli, with a big grin on his face, responded, “Mama!”

I thought that was so cute, and got a big laugh out of it. I’m not sure Eli realized what Daddy had found so funny, but he laughed along with me anyway. :-)