Eli's 2 1/2 Year Letter

My sweet little rascal,

The speed at which time is passing is a bit terrifying! How can it be that you have reached another half birthday?! Two and a half sounds so much older and grown up…and you certainly have grown up so much in the past six months! There are so many things I want to remember about you at this time, buddy!

That warning they give parents about the “terrible two’s?” It’s not very accurate. I think they should have called it the “extreme two’s” because right along with having some extremely grumpy/naughty behavior, you have just as many extremely cute, sweet and funny things that you do! Starting from the moment that it is “gup time!” (get up time!) to bed time in your big boy bed, you keep us on our toes. You love to ask us to “Yook, Mommy! Yook, Daddy!” as you master some new adventure (hitting and throwing balls, building towers, riding your tricycle by yourself…and so many more). You also love to follow us around, constantly asking “Daddy, do?/ Mommy do?” with the sweetest little voice. Whatever it is, we can be certain that you will be copying us in a matter of moments. Helping out often fills your days too. What would mommy do with out my special helper to load the washing machine, carry things to daddy or “keen up, keen up!” the playroom?

You are learning how to explain what you want, which is a big task! An even bigger task still is figuring out how to act when you don’t get what you want. Let me just tell you this…it is very hard to resist you when you take a deep breath, blow it out, and ask ever so sweetly, “mommy, peas?” Some of your favorite things to ask for right now? “Tandy” and “tookies,” of course! Then there is always gum! But you often surprise me with the interesting foods that you love, like shrimp (we’ve never figured out how many you can eat, because you’ve never hit a limit), feta cheese, and dinosaur trees (broccoli).

These days, you’re pretty interested in mommy’s belly and all of the baby gear that is now out. You often ask, “Ehyi (Eli) see baby, momma?” as you pull my shirt up. You think it’s incredibly funny to blow raspberries on my tummy and ask, “Baby yaf? (laugh)” Recently, you got to accompany to a check up where we heard the baby’s heart beat on the Doppler. Later that afternoon, after examining my belly, you looked at me thoughtfully and said, “Mommy, (long pause), baby go “choo, choo, choo” mimicking the sound of the baby’s heart beat on the Doppler. I guess you will be surprised when it comes out making very different noises, but I will never forget your sweet observation! I think you are getting anxious to become a big brother because you have begun to frequently ask, “Baby come out?” Trust me, buddy, you will know when it is here! We are excited to see if you will have a baby brother or sister. You generally answer whichever option we say last, but have taken to saying sister more frequently these days. Whatever we get, one thing is for sure-you will be the most wonderful big brother!

Pretending takes up a lot of your time now! I can often find you walking around the house with a phone crooked in your ear, having a a nice long conversation. Usually, you are talking to Daddy, Papa, Maddy, Emalyn (Em!) or Jordan (Zhor!) Driving is also another big favorite…whether it is your trike, play cars, or a car made out of your chairs/a laundry basket/toy bin, etc. You also love to watch the “BIG EC!” (big excavator) in the lot across the field. You’ve had a few more chances to ride with Daddy and absolutely love all things heavy equipment. Each morning when you get up, you like to tell me, “Daddy go work. Daddy drive big ec. Big ec; beep, beep, beep!” Your vocabulary is taking off like crazy now and you often string together 5 word sentences. While driving the other day you informed me, “Yook, Mom! Dat cow. Dat cow owside! Cow: MOO!” (translate: Look at that cow outside, Mom. Cow’s say moo!)

Each day you become more independent, but it makes the moments when you want to cuddle and be held so much sweeter! You have such a kind nature Eli and have already brought us more joy than you will know! As we get ready to become a family of four, we are enjoying each special moment with you even more. I love you, sweetie pie!

Love, Mommy

Winter Update...

Just a quick update...Peanut pictures, Eli's bedroom change (big boy bed now!) and our sledding trip to Leavenworth over New Years.

FAQ's

Heard A LOT lately...

"Mommy, dat?" (translate-Mommy, what is that?)
"Mommy, do?" (translate-Mommy, what are you doing?)
"Mommy, dis?" (translate-Mommy, what is this?)

Repeat it all over again with "Daddy,...." and you get the idea.

Blog-worthy...

I made "Healthy Cajun Jambalaya" last night and it was that good. Just in case you're interested...Healthy Cajun Jambalaya

This Cajun dish uses smoked turkey sausage instead of higher-fat sausage, plus plenty of vegetables, tomatoes, brown rice, shrimp & seasonings.

Ingredients:
2 teaspoons olive oil
1 medium onion, diced
1 medium sweet green pepper, diced
1 medium sweet red pepper, diced
3 celery stalks, diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 16-oz package turkey kielbasa, sliced
1 14-oz can diced tomatoes, undrained
1 10-oz can diced tomatoes with green chilies, undrained
3 cups cooked brown rice
1 tsp dried thyme
1/2 tsp kosher or coarse salt
1 tsp hot pepper sauce, or to taste
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce, or to taste1 pound medium shrimp, peeled and deveined
Method
Heat oil in a large Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add onions, peppers, celery and garlic and saute for 5 to 6 minutes or until vegetables are soft. Add sausage and saute 2 to 3 minutes or until browned. Add remaining ingredients except shrimp and cook for 5 more minutes. Add uncooked shrimp and cook for 5 minutes or until shrimp is pink and cooked through. Remove from heat and serve warm with extra hot sauce.

Notes: This jambalaya is packed full of veggies, lean sausage, shrimp, and heart-healthy brown rice. The best part is that is tastes just as good as traditional jambalaya recipes

Christmas Celebrations

We had a couple Christmas celebrations this year. Wanting to start our own tradition, we spent an special evening together at home before heading out to Grandpa and Grandma's on Wednesday.

I made us all "special milk" (egg nog) which Eli LOVED and insisted on calling "fat juice." He likes to call all things to drink "juice" and apparently pronounces special as "fat." Either that or he was trying to guilt his mommy out of drinking calorie-laden beverages...


Checking out what their stockings. I'm sure Eli is thinking, "Wow, Daddy. That really stinks...I get candy and you get a toothbrush."
One of Eli's new gifts was a doctor kit from us. He insists on me being his patient many times a day-mostly so he can give me a shot. At least he kisses it better.
We headed over to the Peninsula to celebrate Christmas with Shane's family. These are the pictures teenagers hate to see...


All of his favorite things...crackers, cheese and meat!
Opening one of MANY presents!
After Eli opened this dump truck, we could not get him to open any of his other presents.
It's always so special to get to spend time with our dear Grandma Lillian! She is the dearest great granny!
Can you spot Eli? If there is a movie to be seen, you can bet he'll be there! The "older" kids had fun watching a new cartoon while the grown ups exchanged multiple jabs and laughs in our first annual White Elephant gift exchange.

December Happenings

December was a busy, fun month! Just a few pictures that capture what we (more like Eli) have been up to...

Jammies? Check! Coat? Check! Boots? Check! Eli has taken to getting ready to go "side" (outside) all by himself lately. It usually involves a backwards and shoes on the wrong feet.

The perfect little gift. Apparently, Eli has been paying attention to how Shane gets dressed and insisted that he should have a tie on last Sunday too. He even went a dredged up a ribbon and made Shane put it on!

Learning the finer points of making orange slice smiley-faces ( the lessons on posing for self-portraits were less successful)...

Saying hello to the snowman we built on our ONE snow day.

Is he not the cutest little guy ever?! We had a week of freezing weather, and Eli took to refusing to wear mittens. Instead he walked/rode around with his hands shoved in his pockets...silly boy!

"Sew-men" have been a big hit around our house. Bet you didn't know snowmen could ride horses!

We had a few guests this month, and since then, Eli has been pretty interested in the guest bedroom. Of course he likes to get all snuggled up right after I've put clean sheets on...I guess that's when it's coziest.

Decking the halls...

My Dad and Mom planted a Christmas tree "farm" a few years ago. Lucky us to get to have my Dad come spend a few days with us AND bring us a tree that he harvested just for Eli! Eli loved decorating it so much that I had to take off the ornaments over and over again so he could hang them back up. Too bad the thing fell over...twice! Note to self: rustic, charming crock does NOT make a sturdy tree stand.Hanging out with "Pop." The other kids in my family call granpa "Papa" but Eli seems to prefer just plain old "Pop." Dad had to work in Darrington and was able to stay with us for 4 nights. It was so much fun to get to spend some time with him! Eli adores his Pop and waited patiently every night for him to come home.

Ok, this isn't actually December, but who's counting? We had a blast hanging out with my family for Thanksgiving. Maddy, Kailer and Eli proved that three is not a crowd.

After we had our little family photo shoot, the kids exchanged Christmas gifts.

Let the games begin!

Ahhh!!! Welcome Christmas vacation! Today is my first day off and I am looking forward to catching up! Catching up on photo albums, messy closets, some very old painting projects, AND this blog! Look for photos soon! :-)