Wednesday, July 27, 2011

Serious about his stickers

As I mentioned, I have been working hard to keep Elliott from the tv lately, and it seems like art projects work out the best. After combing through the internet to get other moms' ideas of activities for two-year-olds, I made a list and set out for Michael's (craft store). I found several little things to add to my bag of tricks, and this afternoon while I was putting away the groceries, I put a few of them to the test.

After a disastrous attempt at stamps (he ended up falling off his chair somehow- I have no idea), and markers, and crayons, we finally landed on these foam stickers I found. I gave him a piece of construction paper and a pile of stickers and showed him how it worked. He has been quietly for about 10 minutes now, and we have gotten more stickers twice. I went to sit at the table with him and watch him create.

E: "I'm working."
N: "Yes, I see. You are working very hard."
E: "No, go 'way. I'm working."

I see how it is. But I walked away and am leaving him be. I'm learning it's best not to mess with a quiet, busy two-year-old.

Tuesday, July 26, 2011

Time out

Elliott just came up to me and pointed to a toy school bus in the corner.
"He's in time out. He pushed my motorbike. He's in time out."
I asked him if he was going to go tell him why he was in time out.
"He have no eyes. He have no face. He's not a big boy!" Well, obviously. My mistake. And after a minute, he got the bus out of the corner to ride again.
He just returned the bus to time out though, because "He not listening again. He's sad."

Sunday, July 24, 2011

And we're back.

I can't believe how fast this summer has gone by. We will be moving to Oklahoma in 3 or 4 weeks, David is about to become Dr. Ingram, and Elliott is getting bigger and smarter every day. We started out this summer going outside, having playdates, going to summer festivals, etc. Then one day it was oppressively hot and I decided to let Elliott watch several pbs tv shows. It took 5 minutes for him to become a full blown TV addict (I wanna watch Cars! I wanna watch Eh-mo! I wanna watch Go GO GABBA!) and then we had to reel it back a bit. So as we crept closer and closer to moving day, I made a "bucket list" of things to do in Ann Arbor (which David apparently finds cheesy, but I guess I'm pretty cheesy sometimes so whatever) and we have steadily crossed things off. We took him canoeing, to the petting zoo, to the water park, and to several outdoor summer concerts. I bought water paints, washable markers, and made playdough in an effort to give him things to do instead of watching tv. It's a slow process, but he's currently making up a song called "Where's the little girl?" because he can't find the girl from his playmobil farm set. I count that as progress.

Elliott constantly amazes me with his imagination, and each day I find myself adding something to my mental bank of things-he-has-figured-out-early. When you ask him why something is happening (like why he is in time out, for example), about half of the time he can tell you why ("Acause. I spit out my food in a floor." or "Acause. I threw Daddy's toy.")
Are you sad? "No. I grey."
He wants to see just how much you will let him get away with. He likes to go to the "big pool" which is the city pool, but he does NOT want to get in lately. He'd rather stay on the s
ide with a toy and make you play fetch, or find a random stranger to go hug- which can be pretty awkward. New people moved in next door and he greets them by saying "Hi Neighbor!" When he hugs me, he says "Oh Sweetheart, I love you too." If you ask him a question, he either answers with, "Yeah, I think so" or "No, I don't really think so." Earlier, I spelled a phrase I shouldn't have said, and Elliott said "Don't say that mommy" (I don't think he can spell...). I was looking through my archives a few days ago and Elliott is just as I imagined he would be- a insatiably curious chatterbox.