Elliot Lately.

I haven't done a post on this little monkey lately so I thought I would sum up the last couple of months in one post.

So much has been going on with this boy as far as how much he is developing and what a little clown he's been! He seriously lights up our days and also makes us pull our hair out. ;)

He's officially twenty-two months! He will be two in January and of course I have already started the planning for his party. 

He is so full of energy that my brain can't quite comprehend how he's still going at eight at night when he's had his bath and is ready for bed. One minute he's drinking his milk and the next he's up jumping on the bed. It can be exhausting but the way he makes us laugh makes up for it. 

We have been implementing time-outs and we have had quite a few. Sometimes I cannot help but go and hug him because he will be sitting there, sometimes crying, and he will look at me and tell me "sowwy" in the sweetest voice. Ugh this kid! He knows exactly what he's doing to his mama's heart. It works really well with Jack too. ;)

He's so feisty and knows exactly what he wants. That can be a problem and it goes back to our being able to be at a store for fifteen minutes max. I tried just letting him be and when we need to go to another aisle or part of the store (or wherever we are) we tell him to say bye bye to whatever he's doing and go with us. Most of the time it works, sometimes it doesn't.

Silliness is in his blood. We are such dorks and are joking with each other half of the time and Elliot is the same. We scold him and he will bust out some moves to make us laugh, say something funny, or just look us straight in the eye and smile, giggle, touch our faces, whatever he thinks will work. He makes everyone laugh and when he doesn't make it to daycare, the girls miss him so much! They tell us he's the one who makes them laugh and keeps their day interesting. No doubt there!

I know I say he's very opinionated and feisty but he's also the most loving kid! Every single place we go he makes an impression. We get told that he's a very special kid, and he is! He will go up to a complete stranger and stand there until they turn around to say hi to him. He shakes hands, gives fist bumps, high fives and in some instances (cashier at Home Goods) kisses! I know, he's my kid, I have to brag about him a little! Or a lot. :)

He will point at us and say mama, dada then point at himself and say Elliot. Heart melted.

He can tell you the ABC's, numbers in Spanish and English, with help of course, and working on that has been so much fun! It's something he loves to do. When he wants to do it. Colors on the other hand have been harder! He will say something is blue twice in a row then when he picks it up again he says it's green. He will get there. 

He's still eating pretty good but sometimes goes on eating strikes. I have to tell him I'm going to eat his food or actually eat a spoonful and say "yummy" a million times so that he can then eat it. He can still eat a thousand bananas in one sitting and drink gallons of milk.

Now he says "I love you" and I will never get tired of asking him to say it. It sounds more like "I lah yuuuu" and I love it and him. He sees Jack and I hugging and immediately says "hug" arms wide open waiting for hugs from each of us. We also love when he goes up to us to hug our legs. He's the sweetest!

I will give him a pen and paper (doodling is one of his favorite activities with a pen, just like Jack, go figure) he sits down and yells "guys, guys!!" Once he has our attention, he swears he's writing his name as he says "Eeeelliooot". If that's not the cutest thing ever, I don't know what is.

There's so much more to my boy but I won't bore you with a book! So more in another post. :)

I'll bore you with some pics instead. ;)

Happy Friday!

Play & Learn.

I've mentioned that I take full advantage of my time with Elliot as a working mom and I always think I might as well teach him something while I'm at it. He's always shown interest in books and loves for us to read to him while pointing things out as we say them. He also goes in the room on his own, sits down, pops a book open and pretends to read. Cutest thing in the world although he has shred some to pieces, not so cute. I didn't know where to start, but I did know I wanted him to start saying more words and learn shapes and colors. I got him some word cards from the one dollar section at Target but they're so flimsy and the words are hard. They have two characters to show one word in some of them so that makes them a little confusing when I point and say the word while he's looking at two things. Blank stare from this little one. He did learn how to say Mini "mimi" and Mickey "mitty". My heart melts every time.







I cannot remember how I came across these cards for first words and these for colors and shapes on Amazon, but I remember thinking they looked like they would work. And they do! Also, if your kid likes to chew on them, rip them, throw them around, etc these are great because they're thick enough to withstand toddlerness. :)

They all have the touch and feel feature which is cool, and a little weird like the cat and dog, but they're so good for their little senses! It took a few tries but he's learning so much! They come with a parent card that gives you ideas on how and what to play. I started with the easier words and things he already recognizes along with some simple ones I knew he would catch on. Our favorite game to play is laying the cards on the floor then I ask him "where is the dog?, where is the corn?" and he will go and grab them and bring them to me. I'm also teaching him some order and ask him to stack them on the side because usually he just tosses them and they go flying across the room.

Another one is to hold up the card and ask him what it is, he will usually run around yelling "co, co, co" for corn or "toos" for shoes, "doddy" for doggy, etc. He's starting to recognize more and more! Sometimes of course he just wants to play so I don't force it on him. Only when I see he's truly interested and sits down to play. I bought the colors and shapes too but I won't start with those until I get more words in. They're super affordable and cute. They're a great way to get a toddler to learn!

I wanted to share these from my own experience with them. We love them and it's never too early to start learning! Potty training is next. ;)

Happy Monday!