26 Months Old

2 years and 2 months. Eli is learning new things everyday and everyday he seems more and more grown up.

This list probably won't be that interesting to most, but it's my way to document what Eli's doing at this age.

He has moved into a toddler bed. For now it's a twin mattress on the floor against the wall, but he's all into it. He hasn't asked for his "tib" at all and enjoys his toddler bed. Some mornings we wake up to him crying and go in and find him on the floor. I'm not sure if he rolls out over the pillows or if he climbs out and gets a little disoriented. Anyway, he enjoys being surrounded by pillows and "sends." Sends = Friends = a bunch of stuffed animals.

Speaking of bedtime, Eli can say most of his prayers now. It's really cute when he prays for his brothers. He also likes to say thank you to God for things. He says "God, Daddy" or "Tank Tou God Daddy". Other things that have been popping up randomly on the "Thank you God" list: Eli's hands, Mickey's hand, Daddy's shoes, Daddy's (or Mommy's or Eli's) hair, Paula Deen, paint, "poopaste" = toothpaste.

He likes to sing. Sometimes he wants you to sing with him. Sometimes he does not. If he doesn't want you to sing with him, he'll say "Mommy, done!" Favorite songs of the moment are: Let it Snow (must sing verses 1 and 2), Up on the Housetop, Mickey Mouse Clubhouse theme song, Jingle Bells, Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star, Baa Baa Black Sheep, and Happy Birthday. He can sing the last three in their entirety all by himself.

Favorite Books of the moment: Christmas with Boz, his School Bus books (3), Animal Baby and BabyBug books. My least favorite books of the moment are Animal Baby and BabyBug books. :)

He loves to color with markers at his table. He'll sometimes sit and color up to 5 different pictures in a sitting. He also likes to glue shapes onto construction paper. He knows all the major shapes really well. He likes to trace his hand (and ours too) with marker, so bathtime now involves a lot of scrubbing hands to remove marker.

He's also still very much into cleaning. He has three vacuum cleaners and one is by his side 99% of the time. He likes the vacuum to sit by his chair and watch him eat. Sometimes the vacuum sits in the bathroom during bathtime. Sometimes when we're out, I'll ask him what he wants to do when we get home. The answer is almost always "clean with vacuum." He continues to be very thorough with his cleaning, vacuuming in corners and under the couch. He'll ask me to move things so he can vacuum under it (ottoman, plant stand, bar stools, etc). He takes it all very seriously.

He's learning to use his potty. I think I am going to do the 3 day method at the end of the month, but for now, he's trying out his new potty. He gets a sticker for each time he goes and that's a hit. He's only gone #1 for me, but he did #2 at Smita's house once. I know all of you really care about that, right? :)

He's also a good eater right now. He eats pretty much anything I put in front of him and loves peas and yogurt.

And last, a few cute sayings that have come out of his mouth. He's really putting together ideas and sometimes says the funniest things.
Pop painted the green stripes in his room navy blue and Eli really likes them. He says "Pop painted. Good job Pop."
On the way home from church, Kevin commented about Eli being a little man. Eli said "Noooooo!" We said, "you're not our little man?" And he said, "No, I a little boy."
He's learning to manipulate. He asked to watch Handy Manny one night, but we had already watched Mickey Mouse and it was bedtime. I said no. The little stinker gets up, goes into the kitchen, and asks his dad instead.