The Mess Continues

Eli is on a roll in terms of making messes. Tonight he decided to put his bowl of noodles on his head like a hat. This was a follow up to the blackberry jam bagel yesterday. Now, he had eaten the majority of the noodles prior to this, which was good, but he still ended up with quite a few on his head. He was having a good time and looked so cute that we couldn't possibly get mad. Plus, there was no tomato sauce involved which would have been much worse.

Messy Face

This is Eli after eating a bagel with blackberry jam on it. What a mess!

Help! I Have Fallen and Cannot Get Back Up!

Eli decided to use the Little People bin as a chair today and soon discovered that was not a great idea. I couldn't help but laugh at him with his tuckus stuck in the bin and no way to get out. I had to take a few pictures of him in this silly predicament even though he obviously was not as amused as Mommy was. I did rescue him once I took these few shots.

Buzz Buzz

Today we buzzed Eli's hair. He has had a weird habit of pulling his hair out with his right hand while sucking his left thumb. He does it most when he is trying to soothe himself or put himself to sleep. If he finds hair on the floor, he will play with it while he sucks his thumb. We aren't sure why he does it but have done everything we could think of to get him to stop. He has a blanket and several stuffed friends he loves that we put in his bed with him. We tried cutting his hair short to see if that would help. Unfortunately, he has continued to pull his hair out. Allen went in to get him after a nap the other day, and Eli was covered in hair he had pulled out. It had gotten to the point that he looked absolutely ridiculous with no hair on top and lots of hair in the back and on the sides. He looked like a strange old man.

We felt like the only option was to buzz his hair. I did not want to do it because he has beautful, soft blonde hair that I adore. I love playing with and snuggling his hair. I was also afraid that the baby hair would be replaced with big boy hair once it grew in that wasn't as soft or as nice as it has been.

Before

He sat still at the beginning of the hair cut, but after a few minutes, he started crying. We tried explaining why we were doing it, but who knows how much he understood of what we were saying. It seemed like he was sad that his hair was not going to be there to pull any more, but I may have just been reading more into it than was actually there.

After

The buzz cut looked very strange at first, but we have gotten used to it. He still looks adorable, and I like the feel of his fuzzy head more than I thought I would. Hopefully, this will be a short-lived solution and that he will soon have a full head of hair again.

Yogurt

Eli successfully used a spoon to feed himself yogurt this morning. He didn't make too much of a mess and really enjoyed doing it himself. What a big boy!

Ducky Towel Revisited

Like his big brother before him, Eli loves to wear the ducky towels after a bath. When Caleb was 18 months old, we bought him a ducky towel. The purchase coincided with the move to our new house and soon became part of the bath time routine. Caleb loved the towel so much that we had to buy a second one so that he would always have a clean one to use. He was sad when he outgrew the ducky towels, so we replaced them with big boy frog and monkey ones.

Caleb - May 2005

Fast forward to today, and Eli is 17 months old. The ducky towel has now been passed down to him, and he loves it as much as Bubba did. I had been wanting to try it on him but was waiting until he was walking well as I was afraid he might slip on the tile in the bathroom. He was well overdue the change in towels as the baby towels were getting way too small.

Eli - July 2008

I love that simple things make my boys so happy.

Melancholy Motherhood

My close friend, Jessica, used the phrase "melancholy motherhood" today, and I found it to be very fitting as I have been feeling a bit sad the past couple of days. My boys are growing up much faster than I want them to, and there is nothing I can do about it. Most days, I don't notice the little changes in them as we are busy about our normal routine. But I have paid more attention lately and am trying hard to burn the memories of them in these moments into my brain so that I will not forget them.

For example, I have discovered what a sponge Eli is. He is no longer our little helpless baby. He is now a walking and talking toddler. In the car yesterday on the way to swim lessons, Caleb and I were telling knock knock jokes. Caleb has recently discovered jokes and has fun creating silly ones to make me laugh. We were taking turns telling jokes when I heard the words "knock knock" come from the back seat and realized they came out of Eli's mouth. Eli's vocabulary is expanding each and every day as he experiments with the new sounds his cute little mouth can make. Some fun ones lately have been bubble, ball ball, and bye. As you can see, Eli has a thing for B words right now. So getting back to knock knock jokes, Eli continued saying knock knock over and over again. When he said it, he would then wait for me to say, "Who's there?" before starting to laugh. He totally understood that the joke was supposed to be funny. So Caleb and I tried teaching him how to tell the rest of a knock knock joke, and would you believe that he got it. I was amazed!


Here is a joke between Eli and I:

Eli - Knock knock.

Mommy - Who's there?

Eli - Boo

Mommy - Boo who?

Eli [in unintelligible baby talk] - Don't cry, Mommy. It's just a joke.

Eli [laughing and smiling after telling his funny joke]


Eli is not the only one around here who is growing up too fast. Today, I looked at Caleb and was amazed at the big boy I saw. He is not my little baby any more. His features have matured, and he has gotten so tall. He cannot wait to be 5 and have his Spider-Man birthday party, which he is already planning even though it is still 122 days away. He also cannot wait to be 6 so that he can start losing teeth to put under his pillow for the tooth fairy. He is busy contemplating who he will marry and how soon he can have kids. He wants to teach his kids everything he knows and plans to share his toys with them. He wants to work with Daddy at his office and plans to live nearby so that we can all have dinner together regularly. His interests are varied and change almost daily. Today he was obsessed with his green army men. Wednesday and Thursday he was obsessed with puppets. Who knows what will capture his imagination tomorrow.

Caleb likes to talk and hold long conversations. He comes up with the funniest things. During a recent conversation, Caleb decided that God was like a witch. We had been discussing how God made things, and I guess that was the easiest way for him to understand God's powers, especially since he knows he cannot see God like he sees people around him. What God does is magical in his eyes, so it made sense to him to think of God as a witch. His understanding of witches is limited to them doing magic, and he thinks that witches can be boys or girls. I love how his mind works and how he tries to make sense of the world around him.

There are many days where I want to pull my hair out, run away, or sell my kids, but I know that one day I will miss these times. I will want to come back to today and relive it all over again. I try to remember that when I am in the trenches dealing with dirty diapers, whining, screaming, crying, and so on. I must treasure these times! And so I will write them down to look back at. And I will sing along with Trace Adkins


You're gonna miss this.

You're gonna want this back.

You're gonna wish these days

Hadn't gone by so fast.

These are some good times,

So take a good look around.

You may not know it now,

But you're gonna miss this.

Eli Can Walk

Eli is officially walking on his own. He has been walking with help for a while now, but he has been hesitant to take any steps on his own. He recently learned how to stand up by himself, but he would not take any steps. He preferred plopping back down on his bottom. It was a very funny game to him.

He has become braver in the last few days and has been practicing walking on his own. Although not a pro yet, we are sure he will be running all over the place soon.

So proud of himself

My favorite part of Eli learning to walk is when he walks to me. He gives me a huge bear hug once he gets to me that is so sweet. I just love it!

Eli the Mountain Climber

Eli has recently discovered how much fun it is to climb on things. He has some soft foam play forms to climb on, but he often tries climbing on things he is not supposed to. Today, he climbed on the Little People garage. For some reason, every toddler that we have known loves to climb on the garage. I am not sure what the appeal is other than it is just the right height for climbing up on.

First, Eli climbed up on his knees and then climbed down. He repeated this up and down sequence for quite a while.

Then he tried sitting on the garage and ended up straddling it. He got stuck as he was only partly sitting on the garage with his bottom wedged between two pieces that were sliding apart slowly. Luckily, Mommy was there to rescue him.

Sweet Angel Baby

Have you ever seen such a sweet angel baby before?

Eli Loves His Daddy

Throughout my pregnancy, Allen wondered how he could possibly love Eli as much as he loves Caleb. Allen and Caleb have a really special bond and are very close. Caleb is a mini-Daddy in looks and in some personality traits. Allen worried that he and Eli would not have the same sort of bond.

When Eli was born, those concerns went away of course as Daddy fell in love with Eli as instantly as he had with Caleb. The longer Eli was around, the more Allen started teasing, though, that Eli loved his Mommy more than his Daddy. Eli is definitely a Mama's boy in many ways. But that doesn't mean that he loves his Daddy any less. In fact, when Daddy comes home from work, Eli yells, "Dada," and crawls as quickly as he can to the front door. He now fights Caleb to be the first one Daddy hugs and kisses. Eli has been able to say, "Mama," for a while now, but he definitely prefers saying, "Dada." These are some pictures of Eli with his Daddy tonight that show the special relationship they are building.

Sleeps Like a Wolf

Eli definitely takes after the Wolf side of the family. We have decided that he has Pop Pop's ears and metabolism. Well, today, we discovered that he also inherited Pop Pop's ability to sleep anywhere at any time. Mommy, who also has this ability, used to fall asleep in class all the time in college. I promise that I was not bored (most of the time!); I was just exhausted constantly.

Right before his nap today, I came out to the living room to find Eli sitting on top of the blocks' container crying. See Exhibits A and B.

Exhibit A

Exhibit B

Imagine now for a moment Eli asleep while sitting on top of his blocks. When I asked Caleb why Eli was crying, he said it was because a noise from the TV woke him up. Apparently, Eli was so sleepy that once he had made a seat out of the blocks he had fallen asleep. I just wish I had seen it myself and had been able to take a photograph of it. The thought of it made me laugh, especially as I knew that this little apple of mine did not fall far from the Wolf family tree.

Can You Turn Your Head Like a Penguin?

Eli's favorite animal right now is definitely a penguin. He loves Eric Carle's book From Head to Toe, which has a part where it asks if you can turn your head like a penguin. It was one of the first movements from the book that he could imitate.

We read Elmo Loves You recently, and as soon as he saw the page with penguins on it, he immediately began turning his head. I was amazed that he not only recognized the penguins which look different than the ones in the Carle book but that he also remembered to turn his head like one. Since then, every time he sees a penguin, he immediately turns his head. It is so cute to watch.

Knowing how much Eli likes penguins, Caleb decided to find his stuffed penguins for them to play with tonight. Eli immediately started turning his head when Caleb gave him one. Eli also snuggled and kissed his penguin. I can't wait to take Eli to Sea World again to see the penguins. I think he will love seeing live ones, especially since he loves seeing real animals up close.

A Typical Day in Eli's Life

A typical day in Eli's life, after nursing and getting dressed, usually begins with reading books in his room. He is obsessed with books these days and begs for us to read to him constantly. His favorites right now are The Monster at the End of This Book, Another Monster at the End of the Book, Elmo Loves You, I Love You Through and Through, Away in a Manger (which must be sung), and Animal Hide-and-Seek. Today, Caleb read to Eli.

When he gets bored of reading books and playing in his room, Eli will crawl out to the living room to see what Caleb is up to. Today, the boys decided that they wanted to play with cars. Eli loved this and had a lot of fun rolling the cars around the house.

When he wasn't playing with the cars this morning, Eli was practicing standing up on his own, which is his newest trick. He has taken a few steps by himself and will soon be walking.

After a nap, Eli is ready to play again. Today, he decided to crawl around the house in a downward facing dog position (yoga pose). Both of his arms and legs were straight and his behind was high up in the air. He also did some more standing up on his own.

It is obvious when Eli is about ready for bed. His playing will slow down, and he will often sit sucking his thumb watching TV. Today, he snuggled a soft blanket like Linus while watching TV.

Tomorrow will begin another day of playing, growing, and having fun.

Computer Geek

Eli wants to be a big boy so badly and just cannot understand why he cannot do all the cool things Caleb gets to do. Eli's favorite word right now is "Bubba," which is what he calls Caleb. He says it constantly, and it is so cute.

When we got a new computer last fall, we gave Caleb our old computer to use. We reorganized the office and set up a small desk for Caleb. Caleb often plays on his computer while I am working on mine. Eli has become very interested in the computers of late. Today, he begged to sit at Caleb's computer and play. I put him in the chair and let him bang on the keyboard for a little while with the computer off. He had a great time and was so proud of himself.

Eli Loves Being Outside

Eli is obsessed with being outside these days. He crawls to the door and begs to go out by signing "please" over and over again. If you ask him if he wants to go out, he will nod his head up and down vehemently. Once outside, he throws a fit when it is time to come back in the house.

These are some pictures of him crawling in the grass. I especially love it when he crawls with straight legs and his tuckus in the air. It is so cute. He will also crawl on concrete even though it must hurt his knees and feet. All that matters to him is that he is outside and that he has some perceived freedom.