Tuesday, January 03, 2012

State of the Eli

I just got to spend 2 uninterrupted weeks with my sweet boy and haven't blogged about him in approximately 99 months, so I thought I'd better catch up.


Natural Disasters

My darling Eli is a small tornado.  His hobbies include:
  • Knocking lamps onto the floor (successfully breaking FOUR to date)
  • Dumping boxes or bags of food out on the ground
  • Picking up food that he has dumped on the ground
  • Climbing anything and everything.  He is, in his heart, a monkey.  He’s been found atop kitchen counters, dressers, dining tables, bar stools.  We’re trying to be really firm on the no crawling on the dining table rule.  
  • Dumping dog water onto the floor (and then frequently getting on the ground and licking it off the floor).  Our floor is warped from all of the water and Jack can frequently be found inside the bathtub licking water from the drain as we often move his water bowls to the counter.
We just spent the last two weeks at our family’s homes feeling stressed about his relentless destruction.  At our home, all drawers are tied shut, there is no access to the kitchen, and no plants are within reach.  When we go out into the real world, we fail.  He is fast, strong, dexterous and excellent at problem solving.  My mom thought she could stop him from opening some drawers by sticking a yard stick through the drawer handles.  He had the stick out and was waving it around in about 5 seconds.

Monkey indoctrination is finally paying off


Eli’s life can be measured in week, months, and entertainment obsessions.  So far, we have encountered:

  • The “Hush Little Baby” phase (short-lived)
  • The “Old MacDonald Had  a Farm” phase (we sang no fewer than 3,000 verses of that song)
  • The Dr. Seuss phase (featuring Red Fish Blue Fish, Green Eggs and Ham, The Cat in the Hat)

And now, the Curious George phase.  He loves that little monkey in books, TV shows, movies, and pictures.  Many people have speculated that his love for climbing and seeming indifference towards verbalization are related to his obsession.  Word about the monkey boys has gotten out; for Christmas and/or Hannukah, among other things, he received a monkey blanket, monkey clothes, monkey pajamas, a monkey pillow case, a monkey pillow pet, 2 sets of George books,  a DVD featuring 8 episodes of George, and monkey slipper socks .  I am considering redecorating his room in George, but I am afraid we’re just weeks away from the next obsession.  Perhaps it will be Elmo next.

Apparently a toddler can survive on bread alone


His diet stinks.  We continue to put fruit and vegetables in front of him and he continues to immediately identify them as plant life that the dogs might be interested in.  We’re currently experimenting with freeze dried fruit.  He’ll often eat cheese and meat.  Most reliably he eats carbs.  Z Bars (the kid version of Cliff or Luna Bars) are his crack.  We limit him to one Z Bar a day max, and he has let us know through very long tantrums that he thinks our policy is B.S.

Who needs words when you can stomp and cry?


He learns the important words: Z, George, Mama, Daddy, thanks, hello, no, shoes, choo choo, go!, tree, ball, bubbles, bump, box, shhhhh,  Jack and Leroy (or at least his names for them), PawPaw (twice so far).  He signs “more” and for nursing.  Rather than say yes, he usually claps and smiles excitedly.  He clearly understands when we ask him questions about what he wants to do and will usually point at the right person or dog when we test him on family names but generally gets annoyed at our “where is the ___” games

His Nature

Its funny how much of what is essentially Eli has been around since day one.  The kid is particular and lives life at the extremes.  So often he is either on top of the world laughing and squealing with joy or the world is ending and he is screaming in agony.  As I read it described on the Dr. Sears site once, he is “an impressive crier.”

Much like his mother, he is not a morning person or a too-soon-after-nap person for that matter.   We don’t like to see or talk to people for a requisite period of time after opening our eyes.

He is affectionate and cuddly.  He gives unsolicited hugs, kisses, and raspberries.  When he’s sleepy or scared he’ll put his arms around Kenny or me  and lay his head on our chests.

He loves dogs of any size and likes to hug and pet them.   Barking thrills him.

He is generally slow to warm to new adults.  Every now and then he’ll fall immediately in love with an old man (particularly those with interesting facial hair) or a youngish female.  He likes to play with other kids but often forgets not to pull hair or push them.


1 comment:

  1. Thank you!!!!! I missed your writing, this made my day!!

    ReplyDelete