Eli's Words of the Day

"Boots" -- This means cookies! When Eli is hungry, he'll sometimes point at the tin where the remaining Christmas cookies are stored and say "boots, boots!", meaning: "I want cookies!" We don't really have any idea why Eli is using the word "boots" to mean "cookies", but it's cute!

When there were lots of cookies left, on occasion Eli got to play with some of them, and he would very take them out of the tin and neatly stack them on the counter (while standing on a chair to be able to reach the counter). We don't typically give Eli much at all in the way of sugary food, but in these cases, he would be able to have a treat in the form of the occasional nibble from a cookie.

I think "boots" is the only word that Eli uses where Missy and I don't understand why Eli is using it for what he is using it for. (If that makes any sense.) :-)

"Boose" -- This means train. It can either mean trains in general, or specifically, Eli's favorite book, "Tootle". As you might have guessed, "boose" is Eli's truncated version of the word "caboose"!

"Pease" -- Eli says this to mean "please!" Or more accurately, to mean "I want that bread I'm pointing at across the table over there, irrespective of the fact that I still have some vegetables on my place and that I already finished the bread you gave me earlier!" Eli has figured out that he tends to get better results from Mom and Dad when he uses the "magic word" for his requests.
:-)

Nighttime Nuts

As we previously posted, Eli has picked up the word "nuts". Many times he'll just say it randomly, but at times he uses it properly as an interjection (to express frustration/annoyance).

One of those times was the middle of the night last night! A cold has been going around our family, and it was Eli's turn to catch it last night. (This is something of a change from Eli's daycare days, when he would frequently catch colds at daycare and bring them home to Missy and I!) Eli was up most of the night with a cough and a sore throat.

Around 4:00am, all 3 of us were semi-awake. Eli was in bed with us, and having a heavy and uncomfortable-sounding cough every 30 seconds or so, but otherwise just quietly lying down and sucking his thumb. After this had gone on for a while, Eli had a particularly bad cough, then clearly said, in a weak little voice... "nuts."

Missy and I were really unhappy that Eli wasn't feeling well, but we couldn't help but think that he was also extremely adorable! Our little boy summed up the situation quite accurately with a single word.

Fortunately, Missy tells me that Eli is feeling much better so far today! Meanwhile, I'm getting through the work day fueled by coffee, and I imagine that Missy will be taking advantage of her occasional stay-at-home mommy privilege and taking a well-deserved nap with Eli this afternoon!

What a load. Of laundry that is!

One of Elijah's favorite activities is doing a load of laundry with me. Since we seem to have a never ending supply, he gets to partake in this activity almost every other day. All we have to say is laundry or wash, and it's like he's shot out of a cannon he moves so fast to the laundry room.

Laundry's fun, if your Mommy is as silly as mine!

Eli's place is in the laundry tub next to the washer. I'll hand him clothes and he throws them in the washer (with appropriate sound effects as he sees fit), then when it's all full we get the water going and he points to the detergent for me (just in case I forget). Once that's in he starts saying, "blue stuff," (no one in the world besides me would know that's what he is saying, but he is) and pointing to the dispenser in the middle of our washer where it goes.

The blue stuff in question is the fabric softener. I don't know why I started calling it blue stuff a few months ago when he started helping me with the laundry, but I did, and now that is what Eli calls it too. Once the blue stuff is in Eli either plays in the water (unless it's hot water, in which case I'll tell him it's hot and he'll blow on it to cool it down), or starts his little "laundry tub dance," as I call it, in the tub. He holds on to the side of the tub and stamps his feet and shakes his butt. It's adorable!

Preparing my handholds so I can "shake my groove thing."

Once the water stops filling the washer then we close the lid and the washer starts swishing the clothes around - which is when break into the "washing machine dance," either moving our upper bodies side to side, pretending we're running in place, or just shaking as fast as we can.

After that then Eli usually climbs up on the washer and spins the knobs for a bit. Then he'll stand up and point to everything on the shelf until I name everything for him. A new variation in the whole routine is that Elijah has discovered the light switch and the fan switch. So sometimes we do laundry with a cool strobe-light club atmosphere going on. And with all the cool dance moves we're bustin' out while doing laundry, that's really more appropriate it, isn't it Eli? :)

Standing on the dryer, making child-safety
experts everywhere shudder! Haha!

Elijah helps with the trash . . .

Also from a few weeks ago . . . I should check my "draft" versus "published" tags a little more closely from now on when I'm writing my entries. :)

I was emptying the trash on trash day, and Elijah was helping me carry the bathroom cans and empty them into the big bag. After we emptied the downstairs bathroom trash he wanted to carry the can. So I asked him to bring the can back to the bathroom. He toddled off, went in to the bathroom, and I heard a little clink (like he was setting it down), then he came back out. I congratulated him profusely and went about other things.

When I went to actually use the bathroom a bit later I discovered that, just as I had asked, Elijah had indeed brought the trash can back in to the bathroom. Only problem is that he had put it in the toilet instead of back on the floor! Guess I'll have to be a bit more clear on my directions in the future. On the brighter side, that trash can is cleaner than it's ever been now that I've scrubbed it down! :)

You didn't say where in the bathroom to put it, Mom!

I'm so upset I'm going to hide!

This is from a few weeks ago, but I forgot to post it . . .

Elijah is firmly in the tantrum stage, and after having a tantrum where he didn't get his way one day, he skulked off in to the corner. To hide behind the plant and pout. At first he didn't think I could see him, and he kept up his upset chatter to himself. Then he saw that I saw him, and shot me a dirty look.

I'm so mad at you right now, Mommy!

Then he hunched down . . . and discovered that the leaves make good peek-a-boo props!

Hey, I see you! Peek-a-boo!

After a few times of peek-a-boo with me, Elijah remembered that he loves his mommy very much . . . even when she doesn't give in to his tantrums!

I love you Mom!