Big Boy Elliot

Elliot has been a ton of fun lately. He's talking up a storm and keeps me quite entertained. I never cease to be amazed at the things he picks up and the things he is able to understand when I explain them to him. He loves learning about how stuff works- like hinges, air conditioning vents, phone chargers, and sinks. One day he was talking to Aaron about paper. Aaron asked him him where he thought paper came from. He thought about it for a little while and then responded, "Paper comes from books!" Aaron told him that paper actually comes from trees, and he refused to believe that logic. So, Aaron ended up showing him an animated YouTube video about how paper is made. Elliot was enthralled and asked to watch the paper video in lieu of a bedtime story for several days in a row until he had it pretty much memorized. 

Potty training treat. It has been a wild ride that sadly is not yet at an end. 

Few things make me happier than finding Elliot in weird places reading himself books

Few things make Elliot happier than helping with any project that involves screwdrivers

Elliot snitching frozen imitation crab meat. This kid loves all things cold. He will eat frozen mixed vegetables straight from the bag. We stick his plate of food in the freezer most nights to cool down his dinner.

Elliot went through a phase where we could bribe him to do pretty much anything for a skittle. We moved him to his "big boy room" with a bed instead of a crib, and told him he could get a skittle in the morning if he stayed in his bed. He fell asleep by the door, but we wouldn't hear a peep out of him until the morning. I'd open the door to get him and the first thing he would say is "time to get my skittle!"

Then we went on vacation and everything was ruined. The skittle totally lost its power. He would burst out of the room 10 seconds after being tucked in. We moved him back to the crib thinking it would be a punishment and that he would agree to stay in bed in order to regain his big boy status, but it turns out that he loves his crib way more. Eventually we started locking him in his room. After several nights of vigorous protest, he now doesn't even check the door most nights. 

Clothes dumped on the ground in a "how dare you lock my door" protest

We installed a child lock on the front door after Elliot unlocked the deadbolt to run outside.
He was half naked.
And a friend happened to be walking up to the door to drop something off and witnessed the whole thing.

Father-son robot building project

They have since moved onto building robots that are actually robots

 Aaron was working on his robot, Elliot was practicing his scissor skills, and I was drilling holes into our new worm bins. 

Elliot loves all things craft related. He's a big time fan of story time crafts from the library and clubhouse.

Elliot catch phrases:

"I have good idea! I pretend to be yo baby!"

"Wrap me up like little tiny baby!"

(He says these two to me all. the. time.)

"oooooooooooh, das good idea!"

"reeeeeallyyyyyyyy?!?!?" (in the highest pitch a human voice has ever produced)

"Ouch! That hurts people!" (This one is yelled whenever we do anything he doesn't like, regardless of whether or not he was actually hurt. He has also been known to say "stop hitting me mommy" when I am not hitting him. This is wonderfully awkward in public.)

He periodically gathers all the pillows in the house to build roads or forts.

But don't worry folks! He promised that he will grow up very slowly.