Big Stinker

Last night, after Eli was all dressed in his jammies, we sat down together in the recliner to read a story before bed. Eli grabbed his blankie and climbed up onto my (constantly shrinking) lap...but before we even opened the book, the baby was kick-kick-kicking away at Eli, who was apparently cramping her style, or at least her legs.

Whenever Eli sits on my lap, or even right up against me, this baby seems bound and determined to make him MOVE away from me!

Eli stared down at my rapidly moving tummy, and with a bit of disdain in his voice, said, "I've been thinking. Mommy, I sure hope this baby isn't a big stinker."

I had to admit that I have been having the same thoughts. Eli's been such a good rule follower, and has really grown into a pretty responsible little 4-year old. Is there ANY chance that this next one will be the same way?

It turns out that Eli is just as fearful of finding himself stuck with a rebellious hellion of a baby sister as I am!

So I told him, "No matter what kind of person she is, she's going to change our lives..."

Luckily, Eli's headstrong and determined enough that he stuck it out and listened to the whole story...WHILE being kicked and punched the ENTIRE TIME by his "big stinker" of a (yet to be born) baby sister.

Math or Science?

Since Eli was 2 years old, he's been interested in maps and learning about where different countries are located on the globe in my classroom. Yep, he's quickly becoming my little nerd, and I love it! :) He's always asking questions about the world around him. A few months ago, he compared himself to Curious George.

"Mommy, I'm a lot like Curious George, because he wants to know all about how things work. Is that why they call him 'curious?'"

So at Christmastime I spotted a huge interactive wall map in one of the toy store ads...and decided to buy it for Eli. My husband and I decided to wait until his "new and improved big boy room" was painted and ready for him to move into before we hung up the map. (It includes country names, animals, and other landmarks that actually attach to the map...pretty cool.)

Just this past weekend, I just couldn't help but mention to Eli that we had a surprise for him once he's moved into his new room...and he seemed pretty excited, to say the least. His face lit up, and the first words out of his mouth were...(wait for it)

"Is it something Math or Science?!"

He just turned 4 in December, and he's ecstatic, just hoping that his surprise has SOMETHING to do with Math or Science. Yep, that's my boy.

This is SO Good!

So yesterday I popped Eli's wretched, stinky blankie into the washer...and forgot to put it in the dryer until it was nearly bedtime. (Yeah, that's what happens when you're pregnant, spacey, and working more than 40 hours per week.)

Thankfully, we have a "speed dry" setting on our dryer, so there was no need to despair. Eli, however, went to look at the digital timer on the dryer several times, just to see how much longer it would be before he would be reunited with his beloved blankie.

Finally, only 10 minutes past his usual bedtime, the dryer stopped and Eli ran to the laundry room alone to rescue it. My husband and I could hear him open the dryer door, rifle through the clothes, and inhale deeply the sweet smell of a freshly washed and dryed blankie. Then we hear a loud, "Ohhhh!!! This is SOOOOO good!!!" (And I am NOT someone to overuse exclamation marks. This is seriously the way he said it. No exaggeration.)

He tore out of the laundry room and ran back to me, shoving blankie into my face. "Smell it, Mommy! Oh, it's so good..." I had to try pretty hard to sound just as ecstatic as he was about that clean blankie. But I had to admit, it DID smell pretty damn good.

Sometimes it Doesn't Take Much...

In order to say thank you to my husband, who has spent several hours stripping wall paper from Eli's soon-to-be new room, we went to Red Lobster for dinner. If you know me, you KNOW that Red Lobster is one of my least favorite places to eat...so you see, this was a BIG thank you.

At the restaurant Eli devoured an entire caesar salad on his own, and then proceeded to eat a whole biscuit, 3 orange wedges, and a whole chicken tender (NOTE: he was ready for a snack when we got home). When we were getting our coats on after dinner, Eli exclaimed loudly, for all diners to hear, "I love eating at Red Lobster! That was great food that I ate!"

Sometimes it doesn't take much to make him happy...

The "Perfect Kind" of Purple

So we're expecting our second child at the end of April. The ultrasound "detected" a girl this time, and I'm pretty excited...except when I'm hungry, or exhausted, or vomiting, or crying for no reason. Yeah, that's pretty much how it is right now.

The upcoming arrival of "Zucchini," as Eli sincerely hopes to name her, is bringing about some room changes at our house. Eli will be moving out of his small/nursery-ish room and into the much larger guest room. So we're in the middle of stripping off tons of nasty wallpaper in the guest room to accomodate Eli and his strong opinions on design. In addition to this, we need to repaint Eli's current, VERY red accent wall.

I was picturing something like a soft green color for the baby's room...but Eli had other ideas. I took him with me to the paint store, since his sense of design and color is FAR more advanced than my own. Pretty sad, but seriously, he knows his stuff. The kid walked into Sherwinn-Williams, walked to the paint samples, and exclaims, "This is it! This is what I was thinking of. It's the perfect kind of purple!"

It looked REALLY purple to me...so I tried to affirm his choice while also trying to change his mind completely. I should have known better. He stuck with his choice.

I have since painted the accent wall in the nursery, where Eli still resides, since he said he didn't mind being in a room with one purple wall, as it was indeed "the perfect kind of purple." I must admit, it looks fantastic.

Now to decide on the paint color for HIS new room! Here we go again...

Bad Dream

My 4-year old kept me and my husband up pretty much ALL night last night, due to his bad dream. Yes, I understand that this is a normal part of parenthood. But I don't think he understands that it makes Mommy and Daddy complete zombies for the 24 hours following a sleepless night.

So this evening we're getting ready to head upstairs to get ready for bed, and I realize he's following me...like seriously less than 2 steps behind me, to the point that I actually stepped on the little guy when I turned around!

He finally let loose and told me that his bad dream involved the "Big Bad Wolf" saying "really horrible things that he was going to do to us." Luckily, I was ready with a (hopefully) fool-proof plan.

I had painted the first coat of paint in my son's room earlier today, as we're getting it ready to become the nursery for our next kid, due in April. So...thinking on my toes, I told him that animals, ESPECIALLY wolves, HATE the smell of fresh paint, and they will run howling the other way if they even catch a WHIFF of paint.

...And he was asleep 5 minutes later. Sometimes my level of Mommy genius surprises even myself.

Apple Corn

Ok, so first off, I have to let it be known that Eli is sleeping in his "big boy bed" for the first time tonight. Thanks to the video monitor, I can tell you that he is sleeping peacefully (so far), with his hands stretched out far above his head.

And now for the official "slice."

This morning Eli was eating an apple, just crunching off hearty bites while holding the apple in a death grip with not one but two hands. He loves it that I don't always have to slice his apple up for him anymore...and I like the fact that he's eating the skin, since it's good for him, UNLESS you read health articles that are now warning parents against allowing kids of any age to eat unpeeled fruits, since they may still contain a large amount of fertilizers, etc. But that's ANOTHER story!

So this evening, as Eli's playing a counting game on the laptop, he starts mumbling something about "apple corn." So I asked him what he was talking about, and he asked me, "What's apple corn?"

Huh???

"Um, show me what you mean, Eli."
"Mommy, sometimes this monkey (on the computer game) throws an apple corn instead of an apple. What's apple corn?"

Yep. He was talking about the CORE of an apple. That stupid computer monkey was trying to trick him into counting the core as a whole apple, which threw off his total apple count (as they dropped from the trees and into his basket). Monkeys are nothing but trouble, I tell ya. At least he was only throwing apple cores, and not poo.

So any-hoo, one more misconception has been cleared up in the life of my (almost) 3 and a 1/2 year old sweetie. It's nice that I can still teach him something...every once in a while.

Slice of Life Challenge

Hmmm...what have I learned about myself as a writer/blogger?

Over the past 31 days of "slicing" about Eli, I've learned:

-3-year olds can provide a limitless supply of potential writing material...as long as you tape record them constantly, or follow them around with a notepad saying, "Could you repeat that for Mommy?"

-Writing definitely requires a bit of planning/prewriting/and thinking. It's what I ask my students to do on a daily basis. (Talk about getting a taste of my own medicine!)

-When I knew I was going to have to come up with a daily writing topic, I found myself brainstorming possible ideas the night before...mostly when I should have been sleeping, of course. As I always say to my students, "You're thinking like a writer!" :)

***Thank you, SOL Challenge, for forcing...err, coercing...um, encouraging me (that sounds a bit more positive) into blogging about my sweetie pie little boy. It's been fun, and I plan to continue the blog, although perhaps not on a daily basis.

Thanks also to Ruth, who introduced me to the challenge in the first place. :)

Bedtime Chat

Tonight after Eli was all changed into his jammies and resting in my arms...he wanted to chat.

"Maybe we could sit in the dark and talk, Mommy?" he asked as we settled into the rocker/recliner together.

"I love talking with you, Eli. What do you want to talk about?" (I'm not stupid. I know that my boy won't always want to sit and talk with me. So I don't let these moments pass by.)

"Mmm...maybe we talk about our favorite Wow! Wow! Wubbzy episodes? Mine is Wubb Idol."

(If you don't know about Wow! Wow! Wubbzy...where have you been?! Wake up and start watching! Eli's fav episode, Wubb Idol, features Beyonce as one of the characters/singers. The song they sing is CRAZY addictive, though. It's running through my head as I type.)

Anyhoo...after chatting about Wubbzy for nearly 5 minutes, he was ready to hit the hay. Gotta love our bedtime chats.

Missing Puck

On Monday when I got home from work, Eli was waiting at the door for me, as he sometimes does. (Usually if he meets me at the door, it means he's in a VERY good mood, which is good for ALL of us.)

So my mom (Eli's babysitter) left, and Eli asked to use the laptop up on my bed. We got all "snugged in" together on the bed, with the laptop perched on a pillow on Eli's little lap.

While we were waiting for his favorite website to load, Eli got a solemn look on his face, pushed the laptop off of his pillow, and looked me right in the eye.

"I miss Puck, Mommy. Do you still miss Puck?"

"I miss Puck every day, Eli."

"Me too, but I gonna take good care of you, Mommy..." and then he paused to rub my arm before asking, "So did Daddy say we can get another cat, or what?"

"Not yet, baby...but I'm working on it."

So if any of you happen to talk to my husband, tell him that we're ready for another cat! Please.

"Snug me in!"

This morning, as I was getting ready to go to work, I checked the video monitor and noticed that Eli was awake, but still lying in bed curled up with Blankie (Blankie is so important that he DESERVES a capital letter).

So I tiptoed into his room and said, "Good morning. Are you still sleepy?"

"Yes. Please 'snug me in,' Mommy."

I love the way we make up and use these nonsense words/phrases that are pretty much only meaningful to us. I 'snugged him in,' which consists of covering him up snugly with his robot comforter, and placing Blankie in a certain position on top of the comforter (with the tag facing toward his face), told him I'd see him after work, and said, "I love you."

Eli smiled a sleepy boy smile, and said, "I love you too, Mommy."

Definitely a good start to my day.

Are We There Yet?

Eli and I were in the car together (on our way home) today when this conversation began...

Eli: I not gonna say 'Are we there yet? Are we there yet?' That is SO annoying.

Me: Yep. That would be annoying. Your Uncle Kyle (my brother) used to say that ALL the time when we were little. It used to drive me crazy!

Eli (very adamantly): I not gonna do it, Mommy. And I not gonna let ANYBODY drive you crazy!

Me: Thanks Eli. It's good to know you're looking out for me.

Little Helper

This evening as I was putting Eli back into his car seat, my sunglasses kept falling off the top of my head, where I had them perched precariously. Finally, Eli reached up and carefully removed the sunglasses for me, and held them until I got him all buckled in.

"I always help you out, Mommy," he said with a smile. "I'm your little helper!"

I hope he always will be.

Talking to "You Know Who"

Tonight as we sat down to eat dinner, Eli jumped up and said he had to use the bathroom. When he got in there, he closed the door as usual. But I could hear him talking...

Sometimes he'll sing a little tune while he's doing his business, but it didn't sound like singing tonight. So I stepped quietly toward the bathroom door and listened. This is the "conversation" I overheard between Eli and...you guessed it, HIS PENIS!

Eli: You need to point down!
Penis (using a slightly higher pitched voice than Eli's usual voice): I don't feel like it!
Eli (pleading): But I don't want to pee everywhere!
Penis: Oh, ok.
Eli: Thank you very much.

Enough said.

Sarcophagus

So Eli's been watching bits and pieces of news stories about the ongoing tragedy in Japan. He was asking about the nuclear reactor newsflash that described the possible attempt to contain the radiation using a concrete "sarcophagus." His first question was, "What's that word mean?"

So Daddy tried to explain that it would be like building a box around it, to keep the radiation from coming out. Eli practiced saying sar-coph-a-gus that day. He seemed satisfied with my husband's explanation.

Today, while digging through the toy box, Eli referred to it as a sarcophagus. He explained that it's a box that holds his toys, just like the concrete sarcophagus on the news. He even used the word correctly, pronounced so that we could understand him. Whoa.

Mouse

My husband took Eli on a walk this past weekend. While on the walk, apparently Eli started walking backward, then forward again, and finally turning around in circles like a crazy man.

My husband asked Eli, "What are you doing?"

Eli, the tech-savvy boy that spends FAR too much time on the laptop and iPad, easily replied, "There's a mouse (computer kind...not the squeak squeak kind) controlling me! It's making me go all different ways!"

Seriously? Gotta love the imagination of a 3-year old. :)

You Don't Want to See!

While my husband and I were finishing our dinner, Eli ran full blast into the kitchen (after having been excused from the table) and asked for a tissue.

My husband asked the obvious question, "What do you need it for?"

"You DON'T want to see what this stuff!" Eli exclaimed. Now THAT peaked my interest.

It ended up being water that spilled out of the AquaDoodle-ish pen he was "painting" with. I wish I had been able to capture the look on his face, though! I thought he was going to be in some serious trouble...and so did he. Crisis avoided.

Big Plans

Apparently Eli has got some BIG plans for his future. This evening, in the car on the way home, Eli started explaining his plans for building a restaurant.

We did tell him that he needed to attend college (IU Kelley School of Business, of course :)) first, before going into the restaurant biz.

He's been talking about this for a while, but today he reviewed the fact that it's going to be called "Stucco and Brick" and will be located on an island (the island part was Daddy's idea...), and they will serve ice pops for dessert.

So...in about 20 years, Google (if that's still the term being used in 2 decades) "Stucco and Brick," and come to Eli's restaurant! Come hungry, and be ready to enjoy an ice pop after your meal.

Dressing Up

Today my husband brought home a plastic beaded necklace (with shamrocks on it) and gave it to Eli, who promptly said, "Thank you" and happily put the necklace over his head.

He must have found another necklace in the toy box at some point, because we noticed later that he was wearing two strings of beads around his neck. When asked why he was wearing both necklaces at the same time, Eli quickly replied, "Because TWO necklaces are FANCY, Daddy."

Quite true.

Introductions

I took Eli to the Pet Refuge (a no-kill animal shelter) to look at the cats up for adoption this evening. When asked by a volunteer if we were looking for a specific kind/color of cat, I opened my mouth to speak...and Eli beat me to it!

"We want a black cat," he stated very matter-of-factly.

(You may remember that his original color preference was green.)

**NOTE: I did explain to him that just because Puck (our cat that passed away in February at the age of nearly 16) was black doesn't mean that we HAVE to choose another black cat. He continued to approach primarily black cats anyway...)

Anyhoo, we had a nice time looking at all of the cats available for adoption. Many of them were in the main cat room, able to roam around and approach us if they felt like it.

Eli insisted on introducing himself formally to each cat he saw, which took quite a while. I enjoyed observing the "conversation" firsthand. The kid is just SO stinkin' sweet sometimes.

"Hi, kitty. My name's Eli." Then, while the cat was staring at him (most likely sizing up the strange but oddly polite 3-year old boy in front of him/her), Eli would say to me, "What's the cat's name? (pause) I think the cat is trying to figure out MY name." :) Ah, to be inside the mind of Eli.

The lesson to be learned? Always introduce yourself politely when meeting a cat for the first time.