Tuesday, December 7, 2010

Choo choo peanut buttah...

Every Tuesday, Mr. John brings a guitar to Elliott's class and plays songs for the kids. He comes to the class I teach too, and he usually just sings one song and works in melodies of other ones occasionally. But he loves the peanut song, and now I do too. I discovered that Elliott liked to sing this song when he found a cardboard cutout of a guitar and pretended to play it while singing "Choo Choo Train, Choo Choo Train" over and over again.
Don't understand what we're saying? The words are
A peanut sat on a railroad track,
his heart was all aflutter (or if you're Ell, a-fuddah)
along came a big old choo choo train (if you don't sing the next line, he gets stuck here)
Choo Choo Peanut Butter (Ell: Buddah)!

Monday, December 6, 2010

Where I finally post new pictures

I recently gave away a few of our outgrown baby items, like the bassinet and changing table that we were given. That led to a panic that I was going to immediately get pregnant with number two and have no furniture for him/her, but I've since calmed down. The recipient gave Elliott a little wagon full of wooden blocks as a thank you, and he loves them. He raced around our living room pulling the little wagon for probably twenty minutes.
Then he'd round the corner too quickly and catch the corner of the wagon on the leg of the coffe table, and say "stuck!" until I helped him get it going again. Oh, and you thought I was kidding about the kid never wearing pants, didn't you. Ha. I only wish.
He likes to build towers with them, but since building vertically tends to require balance and coordination, he prefers to lay them across the table and build a horizontal "tower", saying "DID IT!", like lining them all up takes a lot of his concentration. Also, I've recently learned that Elliott calls anything red Elmo.
Then as we were getting ready for our Thanksgiving festivities, I decided to let Elliott have his very first hot chocolate. Have you ever seen a kid eat his first cupcake or taste their first hot chocolate? It's very high on the things-I-recommend-that-you-do list.
He started out slowly spooning out the mini marshmallows to make sure I hadn't tricked him into eating something nutritious. When the coast was clear, he relaxed and went for it.

I think he was looking at me to make sure I was still his mother. Like he was thinking, "aren't you the same woman that feeds me peas and that disgusting chicken stuff? Where have you been hiding this stuff?"
When he finally tasted the cocoa, he started drinking it like he was afraid any minute I might snatch it away and give him a piece of broccoli instead.
This is a face that has shut out the outside world. Also, when he finished eating a marshmallow, he'd pull the spoon out of his mouth with a flourish, eyes still closed, like he was getting away with something that I must not have figured out yet.
Hope you enjoyed that as much as I did. Next, I'll post video of him singing the Peanut Butter song. Prepare yourselves for some unintelligible cuteness.

Friday, December 3, 2010

My life, currently

First, I promise to put up new pictures of Elliott this weekend. I haven't been taking as many as I used to, mostly because we are still working hard on potty training and he is usually either in his underwear or completely naked below the waist. The faster I can get his bare bottom on the potty, the better.

Which brings me to a little story. This afternoon I had Elliott sit on the potty, but he hadn't gone yet. So I left off his underwear and let him sit on the potty when he felt the need. This usually goes pretty smoothly, so I wasn't terribly concerned. Then I looked over and saw Elliott standing awkwardly by the Christmas tree. I knew the face he was making, and RAN over to him only to see that he had done his business. In. The. FLOOR.

Now, according to the potty training advice givers, you should never make a big deal about "accidents". You should just have them help clean up the mess and themselves, and casually mention that we use the potty to do their business.

The advice givers would not have liked my reaction. I mean, I didn't freak out, but casual I was not. It was more like this:

Nicki: What are you doing? NONONO! We do NOT poop in the floor!
Elliott: Pee pee.
N: Not pee pee. You pooped in my floor. That is NOT acceptable Elliott.
E: No pee pee.
N: Right, no pee pee. You are supposed to use the potty.
E. Potty! Did it!
N: UGH! (lots of grumbling as I'm putting him on the potty, cleaning up the mess, bleaching the floor, etc). That is NOT what we do. That's gross, Elliott.
E: Gross, Eyyitt. Gross, Eyyitt. Gross, Eyyitt.

Now I have to fight back laughing so that he knows he didn't just get off the hook, but it is pretty difficult. We go down the stairs to the bathroom.

Nicki: Where DO we go poop?
Elliott: (long pause) Potty!
N: That's right. We use the potty. Not the floor. Do you know why?
E: Gross, Eyyitt. Gross, Eyyitt.

Just in case you thought my cute kid was so cute that you are considering stealing him or making your own. It isn't all fun and games. But it is pretty funny sometimes.