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."

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.

My two year old

Elliott has had several developments in the last month or so. The first of these is a little "girlfriend", another talkative, bossy two year old cutie pie named Willa. They play together almost exclusively, hold hands, help each other put their shoes on, eat snack together, and hug and kiss goodbye. It's a trip for sure, but it's funny to see him trying to imitate David and me.

The second development is a bustling vocabulary. He talks and sings nonstop, and has added lots of fun phrases, such as:

"Why? Why? Why?" (ad nauseum)

"Whatt?" (which I write with two "T"s, to emphasize how short and crisp he says it)

"Your choices, mommy." (which means, pick one- these are your choices, mommy)

Also, he refers to himself as buddy when he is trying to talk himself through something. The other day he was trying to put on his pants, and managed to get two feet in one leg. He said, "Wrong hole, buddy," and then corrected himself.

"Stop Mommy"

"No Talking! SHHH."

"Goodbye. I go a hospital!"

As soon as my camera and computer cooperate, I'll post some videos. Sorry!

Happy mudda's day tew you!

A song from the cute blonde kid- better late than never?

Also, the shakiness is due to the fact that I was just pointing the camera over my shoulder hoping I was aiming in the right direction. I was stopped at a light when he started singing, and of course the light turned green right after he started. I assure you that I WAS paying attention to the road though.

A concert from Elliott and Elmo.

Elmo's voice is at least an octave or two too high.

Consider yourselves warned:

Things we're working on

Five minutes ago, Elliott and I were watching Bob the builder on the couch, when out of nowhere, he smacked me in the forehead. He's been a little more aggressive lately, taking other kids toys and grabbing them in the back of the head to get to whatever they are working with. He likes to watch the adult in charge, too, so he can see just what he can get away with.

So after the forehead smacking, he got a firm talking to and lost his show. When he got upset about losing his tv show, I walked away from him acting out. He came over to me and said, "You watch Bob the Builder, Mommy?" So I told him "No, we are not watching shows because Elliott is being mean. Mommy is not happy, Elliott."

To which he replied, "Where'd Mommy's happy go?"

Things I love...

Elliott sings himself to sleep. Tonight's concert has included "Do you know the muffin man", "The wheels on the bus", and now "Old MacDonald". All of these are sung loud enough that we can hear all of the words from upstairs, even though his door is shut.

Also, forgive me for being crass, but my friend Lizann insisted I share this with the blog...

This morning Elliott and I were playing with his new train set, and he (ahem) passed a little gas. Being the paranoid mother of a potty-training two year old, I start questioning him:

Me: "Do you need to go to the bathroom?"

Ell: "NO."

Me: "Are you sure?"

Ell: "No. I burped?"

Me: "You burped?"

Ell: "Pants burped."

You're welcome, and please forgive me. Thanks.