Silly Boys

HAPPY BIRTHDAY POP!

We Love You!

What a Memory

Last night I was getting ready to read Eli his books at bedtime (he chooses two each night). He made his selections and then said he wanted to read Thomas' Railway Word Book, a book my Aunt Darlene gave him at Christmas. Well that book wasn't upstairs, so I told him we'd read the two he had in hand. He replied, "Well I can just read it to you." Then without the book or any prompts, he recited the entire thing from memory. I have read that book to him quite a few times, but even I didn't remember half of it.

Here is what he recited:
Percy pushes a freight car to James.
James' coupling hook connects to the coupling chain.
James holds coal in a special bin called a tender.
He uses his whistle to talk to a bird.
A porter puts a suitcase on the train.
A passenger walks to the coach.
Henry has had an accident.
The breakdown train uses a crane to lift Henry back onto the track.
Thomas crosses the viaduct over the river.
His driver waves to people in the house.
Snow makes Thomas' wheels slip.
He uses his snowplow to clear the tracks.
Mavis and Thomas meet at the junction.
Mavis is a diesel engine pulling a load of gravel.
James picks up fish at the dock.
A sailor ties up his boat with a strong rope.
Thomas' tank is filled with water from the water tower.
Heat from the firebox turns the water to steam.
Toby is an old-fashioned tram engine.
Instead of a whistle, he has a bell.
Gordon spins around on the turntable.
The trains rest in the shed at night.
Thomas' lamp sits on his lamp rod.
Good night, Thomas.

Ice Cream for Breakfast

While ice cream for breakfast seems perfectly reasonable to me, it's not on the list of acceptable breakfast foods for Eli. :)

But he was excited when this plate was placed in front of him (inspiration from pinterest). Toast, bananas, strawberry, and whipped cream... a delicious ice cream cone!

Conversations with a 3 year old

I was explaining to Eli that boys grow up to be men and girls grow up to be women. He seemed to understand the concept. But when my parents were here, I asked Eli what he would be when he got older and he thought and said...."Ah..... a woman!"

Eli enjoyed playing on my parents' ipad last week. At dinner this week he asked me, "Hey, where is that special computer called an ipad?" This is funny to me because he probably asked them what it was when he first saw it and the answer probably was 'a special computer called an ipad.' I think he must think that's it's full name!

At bedtime, Eli and I started talking nonsense. Here's the conversation:
E: "Ah....pickle juice!"
Me: (laughed)
E: "Ah.... bumpers!"
Me: "Ah....Huey Lewis and the News"
E: "Huey Lewis and the News?! That's a funny word. Are we doing silly talk?"
Me: "It sure sounds like it."
E: Say some-sing else silly.
Me: "Ah.... pickles and pistachios!"
E: (bursts out laughing) "Pickles and stachios!! What are stachios?"
Me: They are nuts...like peanuts."
E: "Like M&M peanuts?"
Me: "Well, sort of buddy..."

I left shortly after, then hear a call for Mommy a second later. I go back in to see what stalling tactic he's going to employ and I hear this:
E: "Mommy, I need help closing my eyes."

Ry-Ry-Roo

This is Ryan. He's at risk for becoming a neglected child. Spencer has been battling pneumonia and requires quite a bit of extra attention with nebulizer treatments, doses of medicine, temperatute taking, and extra snuggling.

We're lucky that Ryan is pretty self-sufficient- for a 10 month old anyway. He can entertain himself, soothe himself to sleep, and feed himself fairly well. He also likes chasing Eli from room to room to see what he's doing.

This kid is so adventurous and non-stop. He has to be in the middle of the action at all times. He has recently discovered Eli's play kitchen. He loves to dump out the bin of fake food and "eat" it. I often see him crawling around with asparagus or eggplant hanging out of his mouth. I look forward to the wind down time with him- he's still enough to snuggle and rest his head on my shoulder. I take advantage of the moments when I can sit and rock him in the nursery.

He's pulling himself up on things so he can get a better look. He's pretty destructive, so we have to be careful with him around Eli's breakable things.

He's developed quite a list of nicknames from us. I'm afraid the poor kid is never going to learn his name because we call him all kinds of crazy things. And by we, I mean me. And then Eli just because he's repeating me. Here's a few-- Ry, Ry-Ry, Ry-Ry-Roo (and his brother Spencie Poo), Roos, Roosies, Ry-Ry-Roobie-Doobie, Rybo, Rys. See what I mean? Poor kid.

Coloring

Eli went through a phase where he wanted nothing to do with coloring or anything crafty. But the past couple of months he began to show an interest again. I've noticed a huge improvement in his coloring skills- in his focus and thoroughness (I know that's not a word, but you get it). And he's super proud of every project and wants it displayed on the refrigerator right away!

New Specs for Spence

Someone got some new specs! Spencer got glasses a few weeks ago, and I just got around to posting a picture. He's nearly twice as far-sighted as most babies his age, and both of his eyes cross when he attempts to focus. The crossing should be fixed with eye surgery in February, but he'll most likely continue wearing the glasses afterward.

He looks very cute, but man are they a pain! He yanks them off, slobbers on them. He'll roll over and they'll rotate halfway across his face. I've even caught Ryan trying to yank them off his face.