Eli funnies

In our next installment of "Eli funnies," our brave hero, Elijah, continues to incite laughter with his silly antecdotes . . .

• The baby was moving kind of funny the other day so I was pushing on the side of my stomach to persuade her to not do that anymore when Elijah noticed what I was doing. He gave me a rather cross look and said, "Mommy, don't squish her!" Trust me buddy, from the way the baby was moving, Mommy was the one getting the worse end of the bargain!
  

• Eli was doing something brilliant (of course) and I asked him, "How did you get so smart? Is your mommy smart?" To which he replied, "No, Mommy's not smart. Mommy's cute."
  

• Jon was asking Eli what the "distinguishing characteristic" of an elephant was (I don't know why either, so don't ask) and Eli thought for a second and then said, "Big." Wow, very good Eli! Then Jon asked Eli what Mommy's distinguishing characteristic was. Eli again thought for a minute and said, "Big!" Hmm. I'd like to argue, but presently I can't since it really is the truth. :)

• Eli was a bit under the weather a few weeks ago but still had his priorities in order, since he came to me and said, "I don't feel so good, Mommy. We better go to Lexi and Tori's house." Playing with cousins is better than any medicine apparently and the cure for whatever ails you!
  

• Elijah picked up the word "puke" somewhere and at his birthday party delighted everyone with his self-composed song, "I am puke." Only three words repeated over and over, but with lots of expression and musical up and downs. Grandma Amanda found the song funny and once she started laughing Eli kept going and going, and then Grandma Sherry started laughing too. Since then Eli will bust out his "I am puke" masterpiece every once and a while, while I try to ignore it, hoping this behavior will simply go away. One day I got sick of the puke song though as he was singing it over breakfast, and explained to him that most people don't like puke, but somehow he did. Eli just looked at me and said, "I'm a boy, Mommy. Boys like puke." I couldn't help but laugh at that one. A few days later he did something that I said was gross and he said, "Yeah, I like gross." I was hoping to wait a bit longer on the fondness for puke and gross things, but apparently age 3 is when it's starting for Eli!

Elijah's Three Year Old Stats

We had our first visit with our new pediatrician a few days ago and everything with Elijah checked out well! The doctor said that Eli was in excellent health, seemed to be developing ahead of schedule as far as colors, numbers, letters, etc., and looked great overall!

Eli was a little quieter than usual, which I expected with a new doctor and someone poking him and asking questions, but he did pipe up when the doctor asked him what he liked to eat and drink. She asked specifically if he liked milk and he said, "No, I like trains!" That was his answer to most things . . ."No, I like trains!" I really liked our new doctor as well and I hit it off with her right away which was a nice bonus.

Anyway, enough rambling, I know everyone wants the hard facts and silly percentiles we mothers find fascinating. Elijah weighed in at 33 pounds (he was close to 29 pounds at 2), and that put him in the 50th percentile for weight again. So he's staying consistent in that area. He grew like a weed over the last year, going from 36 1/2 inches tall to 40 1/4 inches tall. So he's back in the 95th percentile for height.

Eli has really been growing the last two months, going in to a 3T pants during that time, but now outgrowing a lot of those as well. He's so skinny though that the 4T pants, even with the adjustable waists they have now, don't quite get small enough for him. Pants too short or pants falling off, those are our choices. So if you see him walking around with high water pants now you know why!

Interestingly enough, at three Jon was 36 pounds and 40 inches tall. So he outweighed Eli but was about the same height. Jon's Mom sent me a Height Predictor that she found online, and it said that Eli will most likely be 6 foot 2 by the time he's 18. Looks like Eli may be headed for gianthood just like his Daddy and Uncle Jeremy! :)

Our tall, skinny, and very cute Elijah!

Elijah's first REAL train ride!

Besides Elijah’s birthday party over Memorial weekend, we also had the opportunity to take a scenic train ride. Elijah’s first REAL train ride!! The trip was one of Elijah’s gifts from Grandma Amanda and Grandpa Terry, so on Sunday Grandma, Grandpa, Jon, me, and Elijah, headed over to the Walled Lake Scenic Railroad to have a one hour trip. We showed up at the depot in time to see the Michigan Star Clipper Dinner Train leave the station too. Elijah had gone to see that train at the depot a few weeks ago when Grandma Amanda and Grandpa Terry watched him while we were packing, but this time he got to see it leave the station! He was a little scared at first – the train blew a very loud whistle – but then fascinated by it, especially since it crossed the road, changed lines and then came back past us a second time!

When it was time for us to board our train we first explored all the cars, and then Elijah got to choose his seat. While we waited for departure we all took turns reading “Happy Birthday Thomas” to him – a book that Grandma and Grandpa bought him at the depot before we left. And Jon took our picture from outside the train (with Eli yelling, "Daddy, get on the train!").

Eli thought the train ride was pretty cool and spent the first half mostly looking out the window as we passed things. He wanted to spot all the, “railroad lights,” as we went through the crossings, and when we went through one really big crossing where there were gates and lots of cars waiting he thought that was great.

Eli wasn’t so sure about walking around while the train was moving, but Grandma Amanda finally convinced him to give it a try. Then he loved it! We headed back to the food car and he got a chance to play with a little toy train they had back there, and also pick out a snack (Oreos, that’s my boy!). The train ride was just the right length, with Elijah only losing interest in the last 10 minutes or so (he was fading fast for naptime). He loved his choo-choo train ride and that was the first thing he told Grandma Koorndyk about when he got home on Monday! Thank you Grandma Amanda and Grandpa Terry for a great birthday present! You made a little three year olds dream come true!

Elijah's New Big Boy Bed!

As hinted to in an earlier post, Elijah has had a change in sleeping arrangements recently, in preparation for baby number two. Elijah is now sleeping in a big boy bed, and not just any big boy bed – a “big boy Thomas bed!” About two months I started talking about big boy beds just a little, and then Eli saw in one of his Corduroy books that Corduroy was sleeping in a big bed. That got Eli all excited about being like Corduroy and sleeping in a big bed. Then we were in Target one day and he spotted Thomas sheets. I’m not a big fan of character bedding, so there’s no way I was going with the Thomas comforter, pillow, lamp, hamper, etc. etc. that they market to parents, but I thought a set of sheets would be fine, especially since Eli was SOOOOO excited about them. He started talking more and more about his big boy Thomas bed and that he was going to sleep in it.

Then a few weeks ago, after all the move hoopla had calmed down, Jon and I actually had a spare moment to go and buy a twin mattress and Bunkie board for Eli. A Bunkie board is a foundation, originally designed for bunk beds, that is essentially a board wrapped in fabric, and is just an inch or two thick instead of the big box spring. We chose a Bunkie board instead of a box spring for cost reasons (you can always buy the box spring later) and also it makes the bed low enough that Eli can climb in and out on his own without needing a stool or anything. By the time he’s going to need the additional support of a box spring, we’ll be ready to move another kid in to that bed and get him a new one. I really like it when practicality and cost savings line up. That’s a good feeling. :)

Anyway, we got the new bed set up and all ready for Elijah, and then it was time for the big reveal.

Eli's new bed, ready and waiting for him to see it!

I went and got Eli (he had been at Jeff and Lori’s all day while we got the new bed in and the baby’s crib from our house up) and then came home. He ran straight to his room and was so excited! He climbed up and recognized Cranky and Thomas and James on this bedding, and he also spotted the crib up behind him too and checked that out a bit. After a bit of exploring he discovered bouncing on the bed. I said to him that he had just found the favorite part of the bed, and he promptly stopped, climbed off the bed and looked underneath it, saying, “This is the favorite part of the bed? Let me see. Let me see the favorite part of the bed.”

Is the favorite part of the bed under here, Mommy?

After discovering the favorite part of the bed it was back on top of the bed for more bouncing and jumping action, and a new game of throwing his stuffed polar bear against the wall and then jumping around to get it back again.

My new bed is fun!

At bed time Elijah went right to sleep in his bed and slept all night without a peep! We have a railing so he can’t roll out, and he is doing great in his bed. He’s very proud of his big boy Thomas bed, and we’re proud of him for transitioning to it so easily!

I'm ready for my first night in my bed!

Sleeping like an angel . . .

Here's a video that I attempted to edit together so you could see him trying out his bed for the first time and goofing around with his polar bear. Describing the event with words pales in comparison to seeing his excitement firsthand. :)

Elijah's (second) Third Birthday Party!

Eli’s second birthday party took place Tuesday, the day after his birthday, at Grandma and Grandpa Koorndyk’s house. Eli and I spent a lot of the day getting ready – we went and picked out some balloons, chose a cake (Mommy wasn’t making two train cakes), and picked up the house together. Elijah was very excited about his cake this time as well. I was thinking we’d just get a regular cake at the store and have them write Happy Birthday on it, but lo and behold, when we got to Meijer’s what did they have on the bottom shelf of the display case but a Lightning McQueen cake! No other cake was going to do after seeing that! So a Lightning McQueen cake it was.

Dinner was a relaxing family affair again, with Grandma and Grandpa Koorndyk, Uncle Jeff and Aunt Lori, Noah, Lexi and Tori all joining us. After dinner the kids wanted to play trains a bit so the adults gabbed, but then Eli decided it was time for presents, and once again called everyone in so he could open his gifts. Another Thomas themed celebration was had, with Eli getting James the engine, Harvey the Crane engine, Annie and Clarabel (Thomas’ coaches for those not up on their imaginary-train relationships), a HUGE Thomas the Tank Engine storybook, and Thomas bath toys.

Eli was so excited to open up his new trains, and it was really funny when he opened up Clarabel (Annie and Clarabel were packaged and wrapped separately). Eli was all excited, then grabbed the next train-sized wrapped gift and said, “Now let’s open Annie!” I don’t quite know how he knew had opened Clarabel vs. Annie already, since none of us had said anything (or could tell), but he knew somehow.

Once again Elijah wanted little to do with cake and wanted to play with his new toys, but we convinced him to at least do the singing and birthday candle thing so we could all eat while he played. I think he must have gotten this no cake eating thing from Jon’s side of the family (judging from the size of the hips on my side it didn’t come from us!). :) Once Eli did eat his cake he got it everywhere, and decided that Lightning had to race all over the top of the cake. Since everyone already had their piece of cake we let him basically destroy the top of the cake with his car. You're only three once, and it's not every day you get to push a race car all over the top of a cake and get frosting everywhere!  All and all, another fun birthday party with family, and I think Elijah is enjoying this two birthday party system!