Conversations with Eli

Yesterday Kevin had the long-handled lighter out with the grill. This morning Eli asked me, "Mom, where's the red tool for candle fire?"

Eli was carrying around two little bunnies wrapped up in a blanket. Ryan was grabbing at them, and Eli was getting upset. Kevin asked him what was in the blanket, and he (not so patiently or kindly answered), "ANYTHING ISN'T IN MY BLANKET!"

The other night I was tucking Eli in bed. He was being unusually sweet, as evidenced by this exchange:
E: Mommy, I love you. You are a treasure.
M: Thanks Eli. You are too.
(I get to the door and tell him goodnight. I'm just out the door and hear him call)
E: Mommy!?
M: Yes buddy?
E: Have a good sleep, okay?

And I have no idea where this came from. This is Eli explaining "bad guys" to me.
E: Punchers are bad.
M: What? What are punchers?
E: Punchers are bad guys.
M: Why are they bad? What do they do?
E: They stay in a big van.
M: What do they do in the van?
E: They play. But not nicely because they are punchers.

And this last one is from the beach, but a good one nonetheless. Eli was not interested in playing in the ocean. We would ask him periodically if he wanted one of us to take him down to just get his feet wet. He told us no every time in a variety of ways but this excuse was the best.
His response... "No, I don't think I have time. We'll do that tomorrow."