22 Months

Wow.  Eli is almost 2! I absolutely can't believe it.  Then again, I guess I can.  After all, I have been treating him like a two-year old for quite some time now.  I guess that's what happens when your older sibling is ultra-mature.

He has really grown and changed and matured so much since the last time I wrote a substantial post about him.  His vocabulary never ceases to amaze me, and although he doesn't know all of the letters and numbers yet, he has recently developed a great deal of interest in learning them.  It's been neat to see him follow in his sister's footsteps in some ways, while being completely different in so many others.  He has recently started pointing to the letters on my Carolina sweatshirt (I wear it a LOT, I am a SAHM, afterall ;) ) and naming them with random letters.  Chloe learned her first letters by doing the same thing!  On the other hand, he still thinks the only purpose of puzzles is to see how many directions you can get the pieces to fly when you sling them across the room. 

I think that Eli is going to be my math child.  While he does love books, especially manly truck ones, he is particularly quick to catch on to number related games.  The other night at the table, he pounded a saltine into a million pieces, then proceeded to count them, reaching the number 17 with nary a mistake!  I had never heard him count past 3 before, so I was certainly stunned.

He is completely excited about Christmas, and loves to look at lights, and touch things that aren't to be touched.  Though, admittedly, after the first couple of days, he has been quicker to obey than to touch and break. 

He loves to sing.  He and I do a mean duet every night at bedtime of You Are My Sunshine.  It's Billboard material, for sure.

He wants to be bigger than he is.  He still can't jump, but he does a mean somersault.  He spends his days adoring his big sister, and trying to be just like her.  He is still a comedian, a cuddlebug, and a ladies' man.  He brings joy into our home, along with a load of stress, but it's good for me!

Favorites:

Songs- You are My Sunshine, Away in a Manger, Eskimo Love

Foods- Pizza, Oranges, Peaches, Grapes, Fruit Snacks, Goldfish, Hot chocolate (aka "coffee")

Things to Do- Bug Sissy, Go to Park, Cry in the Swing, Go to the Store, Cry in the Cart, Go to Church, Cry in the SS nursery (never in the toddler nursery though), Playing every kind of ball (and he knows the name of each), Putting non-edible things in his mouth

Things He Likes- Train Tracks, Elephant, Christmas Lights (which he calls "Dora lights" for whatever reason), Airplanes, Flirting with the little girls

TV- Thomas, Barney, most of PBS Kids