2 Years, 1 Month

Eli recently turned two years and one month. I am not sure if I will continue to do these monthly updates now that he is two because the many of the significant milestones (sitting up, walking, talking, etc)have been reached and the growth isn't as exciting. However, the once a month updates are good for people like my Mom who like to see photos of Eli. So, we'll see...

Eli is talking away! He says things all the time that are remarkable, amazing and funny. I wonder how he learns those things. It's especially funny to hear him repeat things that we say. Sometimes he'll answer me "yes Babe" which he hears from George. It's hilarious. He is full on speaking in sentences and is daily refining his knowledge and grammar. If he says something a little wrong (like missing "the", "from", "for" in a sentence). I will restate it once and am so impressed when the next time he says it right. A few weeks ago, he said "Papa, thank you this shovel." So I said, "Papa, thank you for this shovel" and the next time, he include the "for" in whatever sentence he was saying at the time. He soaks things up so quickly.

Here are some photos from this last month.



He has started to learn "pretend" playing. Here he is reading to his animals. He also loves to pretend to cook.





Eli likes to "help" me cook and will sit for so long on the counter while I am cooking. Here he is "helping" during a power outage.




Sometimes he seems more grown up than two. One day we went to get groceries and stopped to get a snack at a coffee shop after. We just sat, ate and talked for over an hour. It was really fun and sweet. He didn't run around, just chilled with Mom. It's nice to be able to sit and rest when we are out with him now.



He loves hanging out with Papa, especially when there is ice cream involved!



We are taking a little time each day to do "school." He learns so quickly that I thought I could try teaching him simple things like letters, numbers, colors, shapes, etc. He likes it so far so we'll see how it goes. He can count to ten which is fun. I don't have teaching experience or learning tools (like books, puzzles, interactive learning toys etc) so we are improvising.



He is not a great eater. If left up to him, he would live on milk alone. However, he loves eggs (in any form) and really enjoys peeling boiled eggs himself.



It used to be hard to get a good photo of him, but now he loves saying "cheese!"



He is still obsessed with drumming and will do it anytime, with anything. And with a lampshade on his head... it's even more fun!



My Mom sent Eli a bear with holly berries on it so we call it Christmas Bear. He is so attached to it. He takes it everywhere and loves it so much. Here he is with Christmas Bear at the grocery store. It was a little chilly so of course, Christmas Bear needed a jacket too!

And lastly, the hair. Mixed race children often have a head full of curly hair. I was hoping for a nice big fro. What I got was wild, fuzzy hair that is more like mine than George's. I don't really know what to do with it. The best solution seems to be to wet it and let it dry. Usually it will stay in semi nice curls. Eventually it goes wild and fuzzy again. Here is the before... (Eli's a bit dramatic and insists on being covered with a towel in case a drop of water or detangler dares to drop on his clothes. It's a battle I am ok with conceding.)





The after...