Mr In-Trouble

Eli was fairly good last night, playing with his brother and sister much of the night. Of course, there were fights—there always are—but he did not whine nearly as much. He did get into the cabinets and refrigerator a lot, scarfing down some things and wasting others. Then, he did something we were not happy about. Huts had the teakettle going on the stove. Eli climbed up onto the counter and grabbed the kettle. Miraculously he did not burn himself—thank you, God. Huts scolded him, and that was that for a while.

Once the older two went to bed, the turmoil began again, this time with Eli getting a real spanking. He hasn’t been into that much trouble in a while, and he was very upset. It took him about half an hour to calm down and then he snuggled next to Huts and fell asleep tight. He stayed in his bed all night and was not pleased that he had to get up early this morning. By the time we left, he was his usual chipper self, happy to be watching “Lady and the Tramp.” He loves dog movies, so ‘101 Dalmatians” it is next.

In All Fairness

Eli can be just as sweet as he is rotten. After telling you “No!” and running away, he sometimes returns in two seconds and give you a huge smile and a peck on the lips. He will bring you tissue, clippers and most anything else you want. He will help you cook and clean—much more willing to put things away than his siblings. He can be nice to his siblings, sharing his toys with them and his food.

The best time is when he is tuckered out and climbs onto the couch next to you. He snuggles in tight and drifts away into dreamland, leaving you wondering what he’s thinking about and what he will be up to next.

The Epitome

Obstinate...Check!
Forceful...Check!
Unruly...Check!
Tantrums...Triple Check!

Eli has become the epitome of the terrible two's. Most of his response's to our requests are an emphatic "NO". He doesn't do what we tell him, he runs away when we try to get him to do anything, he is picky and we are always wrong. He'll get a snack, then not eat it and repeat the cycle. He'll undress from his jammies nightly and run around in a diaper, then throw a fit while we force him back into them at bedtime. While he is cute when he stuffs his Grandma's possessions in his jammies and runs around with them, he doesn't take it well when we tell him to give them back.

Christian and Tori version of terrible two's were not this pronounced. I have to put that up to their demeanor being so laid back. Eli is anything but laid back. He has to be involved in everything and will fight (including hitting, but no biting) his siblings for his things. He is going to be a bear to teach about sharing. Time-outs when he turns into the Tasmanian Devil don't help, swatting him sometimes aggravates the situation, distraction seems to be our only ally at the moment and it is temporary in a lot of cases. He just goes back to being aggrieved when he remembers he was crying and screaming. You know, because we are monstrous parents who force him to do things he doesn't want to do like sit in his car seat! He's a Category 5 Hurricane of terrible two's and we've got 6 more months of stormy weather, I hope he grows out of it in that time.

Sick Christmas

Eli was the last to get the Christmas bug. He was able to open his presents without any problem and he seemed to like most of them. He got a lot of Spongebob, Handy Manny and vehicles for Christmas. He got sick in the afternoon after a glass of milk, but after his bath seemed mostly OK, just a bit clingy. He was a bit shy with the new people around but warmed up to them all by Saturday night, just in time for them to leave. By Monday he was ready to go and he was mostly a good kid on the trip to KC. The DVD player in the car kept him entertained and kept the DVD's intact for the entire trip. It was a long trip, but he made it in pretty good spirits, even with a short nap.

With the long trip, late dinner and slow service he was a bit crabby by the time he got fed that night. He was ready to got the next day, but his shyness kicked in when the babysitting kids started to arrive. He was mostly OK as long as we were in sight, but a few times he got antsy even when we were around. Once we got to Monkey Business, he was all about playing. He started in the toddler section, but eventually moved to the big kid bouncies. At 2 he is just like his brother...mostly fearless. He climbed to the highest slide they had by himself and went down it. Another long bouncy had multiple hills (6 and 8 feet tall) and multiple obstacles to navigate. He went through it 3 times before he tired out. It was a lot of work for a 2 year old! He and his cousin Sophia came home and fell asleep quickly for a long nap. They both were worn out.

Eli's shyness returned that night when my siblings and spouses showed up. All the new people scared him a bit and he didn't have time to get to be comfortable around them. He enjoyed ripping his presents open and finding all the vehicles and gadgets. However, he hated the Monkey! It scared him once it started rolling on the floor, so that was one of the last times he saw the monkey. He made the trip home with little issue and an early nap. He made it through our last celebration on Thursday. He only made it to 10 on New Year's Eve (we weren't going to let him stay up), so he was ready on New Years Day bright and early. He was pretty good the rest of the weekend and was ready to see his friends at the sitter's today even though he didn't want to get up. Hopefully he'll be back to his normal routine after tonight.

Mr. Chatterbox

Everyday Eli spits out a new word, often more than one. This morning it was back seat. He wants to sit in the back seat with his sister, but it’s the third row and he can’t buckle himself into his seat like Tori can. That’s why we put him in the second row. We can get him in easier there and hand him what he wants. He wants to be a big kid like his brother and sister and keeps getting on the scale. He is not yet 30 pounds, but as soon as he gets there, I am putting him in a booster seat. Then he will feel like a big boy, and soon he may even be able to sit in the third row and buckle himself in.

What a Pair

Christian and Eli are five years apart, which means they haven't spent a lot of playtime together until recently. Christian was always busy with his Legos and Eli with everything else. Now Eli has taken an interest in the Trio blocks, so they play with them together. They also run around the couch after Tori is in bed and do other things together. Eli loves being with his big brother. You can tell by how happy he looks every time they stomp up the stairs together. Maybe they will be close after all and Tori won't always have to be the buffer.

What a Pair

Christian and Eli are five years apart, which means they haven't spent a lot of playtime together until recently. Christian was always busy with his Legos and Eli with everything else. Now Eli has taken an interest in the Trio blocks, so they play with them together. They also run around the couch after Tori is in bed and do other things together. Eli loves being with his big brother. You can tell by how happy he looks every time they stomp up the stairs together. Maybe they will be close after all and Tori won't always have to be the buffer.

Trevor

Trevor the Chevy Traverse, or Truvy, as I like to call her, has arrived. We picked her up on Friday morning. Eli went with us, and lucky for us and for him, the dealers flew through the paperwork fast. We were done in less than an hour. I tossed Eli into the back seat. He started jumping around when he realized it was our new car. He was totally excited with Sponge Bob in the DVD player above. Since then, he has learned how to shut the player and has sat in the third row, which was a pain in the tootie. We now put him in the second row right behind the driver’s seat. As long as the DVD is playing, he seems happy as a clam.

Monkey Child

Eli is quite the funny boy these days, climbing everywhere, on couches, beds, over us, up the stair rail. If it looks like he can climb it, he will give it a try. It’s nothing to find him on top of desks, shelves, countertops, etc. He thinks nothing is off limits, so we have to watch him carefully to make sure he isn’t standing high on something he shouldn’t, like the deck rails!

All Night In His Own Bed

Eli did not get much of a nap yesterday and fell asleep on the way home. He slept off and on for a coupe of hours before scarfing down everything in sight. He was one hungry, tired boy. Huts said he fell asleep about 10:30 and we didn't hear a peep from him until we went in to wake him up. He was pretty happy this morning, so he must have gotten the sleep he needed.

Good, Bad

Eli went with us last night. He was antsy before and after but sat nicely in the first conference. He fussed in the next one—big time. Usually having a teacher he doesn't know in front of him keeps in quiet, but not in the second conference. Mrs. Evans didn't faze him one bit. Booger! He was rowdy at the grocery store afterwards, shoving his kid-size cart all over the aisles and fussing a lot. We were glad to get the little crazy home!

Mr. Independent

He’s only 2, but boy, does Eli think he can do any and everything. He gets mad when we try to set up his juice box for him, he gets made when we try to help him put on his coat, he gets mad when we help him with his toys. He thinks he can do anything his siblings can and will try, try, try until he gets it.

Take last night, for instance. They redesigned the grocery store, and there are new carts for customers in training. Tori took one, Christian took one and of course Eli took one. He pushed it fairly well, but was prone to crashing it into the back of the big cart. He thought that was funny and got irritated when I tired to guide his cart. No! he shouted!

We spent an hour in there, and Eli did some grocery shopping of his own, picking out organic bananas and ice cream, which I put back when he wasn’t looking. It was pretty wild, and I am glad the store was fairly empty.

Bad Mood

I think Tori's bad mood from Sunday rubbed off on Eli for Monday. He seemed fine when I got him up, a little tired but not cranky. He didn't want breakfast, so we hopped into the car and that's when it started. He refused to accompany the kids in to before care--something which he absolutely loves doing! He refused all drinks and snacks. he refused to tell me goodbye. He was having none of us this morning! Hopefully, he gets a good nap and is in a better mood this afternoon.

On A Roll

Eli is not the wild child he once was. He's still sticky and he still gets into things, but not nearly as much now. He jabbers away, throwing out real words left and right, and chases after his brothers and sister. He smiles, throw kisses and makes my day more often than not. He's our little pale blond jabberbox!

Limping Little One

On Monday while we were leaving the sitter's Eli complained about his right foot. I thought there was something in his shoe, so I took off his shoe and sock and carried him to the car. He was OK on the car ride home. When we got home he was crabby and walking on the heel of his right foot. He was crabby from just waking up from his nap, so he seemed like he was in pain, he was just being a pain! We checked over his foot and found what we thought was a splinter. We tried to dig it out, but were unsuccessful. After his bath we figured out it was just dirt, so his parents subjected him to some minor torture for nothing. He had no bruises, fever or swelling and after he got over his crabbiness he played while walking on his heel without complaining. We verified with the sitter that nothing happened and debated on whether to take him to the Doctors. We decided to wait and see how it was the next day.

His walking improved on Tuesday and by wednesday he was almost walking normally, just a little pigeon toed on his right foot. He chased his sister around at night as fast as he could and did all his normal playing activities without complaint...at least about his foot. Thursday morning he seemed to walk almost normally as he helped his Mom take the kids to before care. We aren't sure what the issue was, but we are guessing he had a cramp or a tightened muscle from sleeping on his foot funny. As long as he's back to normal by Friday we won't be taking him to the doctor. He's been improving every day, so it must be mending itself. At least he won't be a little limper much longer.