At least we know he's not a vampire!

Elijah was helping me get ready for dinner tonight (as usual), and I was slicing the veggies and onions. Eli was playing on his chair next to me and we were talking when he started going, "blech blech blech" at the top of his lungs. I looked over and saw that he had taken a bite out of a garlic clove that I had set aside to chop up! He was holding his tongue with his little fingers, with his face all screwed up in disgust, while yelling, "blech!"

I got the clove out of his mouth and got him a drink of water and he was fine - but after that he kept shooting the garlic evil looks. :)

Also while making dinner Elijah took a handful of corn that I had drained, climbed off his chair, and lined up the kernels in a little line on the floor. I was intrigued as to what he is doing (he likes things very organized at times), and watched him go away and play, then come back, pick up one kernel and pop it in his mouth, and then return to playing. He came back and got all the kernels, one at a time, and in perfect order in his little row! I should have picked them up (I think I read somewhere that Moms are supposed to teach things like not eating off the floor), but it was interesting to see what he was going to do. :)

So while raw garlic doesn't make the grade for Eli's palate, raw corn eaten off the floor does!

Too much ESPN?

Elijah has taken to saying "boo-yah" as an exclamation lately (and sometimes to say yes). It's so cute to hear him say it, but I think he must have picked it up from watching episodes of "Stump the Schwab" with Jon on ESPN. The host, Stuart Scott, says "boo-yah" a lot. Kids absorb so much! I don't think Jon ever thought that he'd hear his little boy walking around going, "boo- yah!!" at the top of his lungs. :)

Elijah now has an eclectic collection of exclamations, ranging from the classic, "uh oh," to the favorite of Mom, "Nuts," and the ESPN-sportscaster, "Boo-yah!"

Elijah's Potty Mouth

A few days ago we were all in the living room when Jon happened to, how shall we say this, pass gas. Elijah immediately started yelling, "poo poo, poo poo" and pointing at Jon. Priceless.

While we are on the poo poo subject, Elijah almost invariably tells me when he goes poo poo now. I think that's a pretty cool milestone, and it helps take the guess work out of if he has a dirty diaper. On Monday he went into the bathroom and stood in front of the toilet yelling poo poo. I checked it out and he was indeed going. He did that three times on Monday (with three you know whats). I don't think he's ready for potty training yet, but maybe putting a little potty chair of his own in the bathroom would be a good idea?

Then again, he could just like the word poo poo - last week whenever I asked him what sound the train made (which normally gets a choo choo) he would only respond with "poo poo" and a big laugh. I didn't think liking gross stuff and potty humor came until a few years later in a boy's life!

Weekend with the boys!

Yes, we are still alive over here (contrary to popular opinion, since we haven't posted in forever). It's been crazy busy, and I've been tired, so phhh. No posts.

As the little one does more and more cute things I feel compelled to update the blog though, so I can start posting about his insane adorableness once again.

So, a few weeks ago now Elijah and I headed off to Ohio to help my Mom look after my brother's two boys while Scott and Jill went on a much deserved cruise together. It was much more work than I thought it would be, but also much more fun! Three kids and a dog really take it out of you, even with both Mom and I there! I thought I'd post some highlights, to give you a glimpse at some of our (almost) week together.

-Elijah was a big cracker (or "dots" as he calls them) fiend. He figured out how to open up the pantry and get access to the crackers, so he would invariably be seen walking around stuffing himself full of Hot 'N Spicy Cheez-its (until he ate the rest of the bag by himself!) and then the Ritz dinosaur crackers. We'd take them away, move them to a different shelf, but it seemed like he always was able to get them anyway (hmm, maybe two other little boys were accomplices?). :)

- After one of Elijah's cracker binges, Andrew pointed to Eli's tummy (by now rather large and sticking out) and said that he had a "fatty tummy." A few nights later after dinner, Andrew told Elijah that he had a fatty tummy again, and then pointed to his own tummy and said he had a fatty tummy too, and that's where Eli got it from.

- I played "I Spy" with Andrew while making lunch one day, and it was so cute to see him try and guess the things I spied, and then try to pick something out himself for me to guess. Invariably he would stand right next to it, or couldn't keep his eyes off whatever object he chose. Then when I would do several incorrect guesses and questions he would roll his eyes (how dumb can this lady be?) and then give me additional details (It's green and round . . . and behind the chair . . . and is right next to my foot!). We had a lot of fun!

- On Sunday night Andrew and Nathan and I were playing the "I Spy Spooky Mansion" computer game together while Elijah was watching . . . until Elijah got sick of us not paying attention to him and turned the computer off. On a game that you can't save! All our hard work down the drain! Andrew was a little upset with Elijah, and Nathan kept saying, "He just wants us to spend time playing with him is all." After Elijah went to bed the boys and Grandma restarted the I Spy game - only to have the power go out when they had just finished and were reading the secret clue! Oh no! That game was not destined to get finished that night!

- When the power went out we had about a 15 minute search (by the light of my cell phone display) looking for matches. They were right in the cupboard of course . . . doh. Then we had a 15 minute conversation about why we couldn't sleep with the candles lit all night.

- While the power was out the topic of power plants came up somehow. Andrew asked what a power plant was, and Grandma provided him with an in-depth answer. To which he turned to Nathan and said, "Are those like the power plants they have on Jimmy Neutron?" When Nathan answered yes, Andrew turned to Grandma and told her that he did actually know what a power plant was then - he had seen them on tv. What a new generation!

We also went to a cool children's museum, played outside (though I wouldn't really classify the two hours I spent shoveling ice and snow as playing!), and went to a Valentine's Day party at Nathan's school on Friday! We had so much fun together, and Elijah misses his Natey and Drew now (by the end of the time together he was saying "Nate" and starting to say "Drew"). Jon showed Eli the picture of Nathan and Andrew that we have on the fridge a few days after we got back home and Elijah went crazy, smiling and laughing, and then looking for them. We miss our boys!

Eli Tidbits

Here are some Eli funnies from the last day:

- We were eating lunch and I put an additional serving of pasta on his plate and said it was hot - which immediately led to the customary blowing on it by Elijah and myself. Except that Eli had a mouth full of green beans. Which he shot straight across the room. I tried not to laugh but couldn't manage it. He just had this expression of surprise and then amazement on his face when he did it. Of course, I then had to backpedal and try and convince him that shooting food out of your mouth and across the room is actually not funny at all.

- I called Jon to say hi at lunch and Elijah was playing in the sink (we had just done the dishes). I put Jon on speakerphone to say hi to Eli, and turned the water off so he could hear better. Elijah promptly started saying, "bye bye dada" and then pointing at the sink handle and saying, "on!" Guess playing in the water trumps talking to daddy! Sorry Jon!

- At IKEA with Stacy and Kelly this weekend I bought a small dustpan and broom so Eli could help me when I got out the big broom. Tonight after dinner I got them out to sweep the floor, handing Eli his set, and getting ready to use mine. Elijah gave me a cross look, reached over and grabbed my broom and then handed me his little one. Silly, Mom, thinking that the big, appropriately-sized broom is actually yours!

- At the library today we played with the computers for a bit and then went to look at books - except that Elijah had to keep running back to say "bye bye" to the computer. Clever little boy, clever - but Mom is on to your stalling tactics. :)

- I had to call the ladies in my Bible study group tonight to let them know our meeting was canceled (it's snowing and blowing like crazy here!), and would obviously end my conversations saying goodbye. After just a few calls Elijah figured out what was going on and had to be near me to yell "bye bye!" whenever I said goodbye. It was so cute! And I think because I couldn't pay much attention to him much while I was spending an hour making calls, he got all affectionate with me and would run up behind me yelling, "mama," and then hug my neck or stop and give me a kiss. My heart = puddle.