OCD

I'm afraid Eliot might have a little touch of obsessive-compulsiveness. We've been giving him a chewable cough tablet before bed recently. You know - it's that time of year... anyway, tonight he pitched a huge fit when it was time to take the medicine. Usually he loves these chewables, so I was a little confused. Finally I figured it out. I accidentally gave him his tablet while he was still sitting on the bed. He didn't like that plan. He wanted to get his tablet while he was standing up. He wanted to take the pill out of the package himself and throw away the wrapper by himself, BEFORE he ate it. I had the routine all mixed up! Once we got the routine in order the fit ended just like that.

Independence

If I hear, "NO, Mommy!" one more time I'm going to scream. Eliot has a newfound independence. He wants to do everything BY HIMSELF. The problem is that he doesn't always know how to do that thing that he wants to do. If it doesn't work out he gets frustrated and cries. If I try to help him he hollers, "NO, Mommy!" If I try to teach him, explaining each step, he yells, "NO, Mommy!" Tonight he pitched a fit before bath because I accidentally touched his pants while he was trying to take them off BY HIMSELF. Then, when I threw his shirt in the laundry basket he had a total meltdown and I opted to leave the room. You see, he wanted to put his shirt in the laundry BY HIMSELF. When I returned he had totally up-ended the laundry bin and had crawled inside to find the wayward shirt, screaming the whole time. He would not let me set the laundry basket back up for him, nor hold his shirt while he did it BY HIMSELF. Finally, when he had accomplished everything that he wanted to do, the fit ended abruptly. Once again all smiles, he joyfully climbed into the tub.

camden-town redux and Santa Magic

We went to Camden today for our second annual Casual Thanksgiving get-together. (Remember last year?) We had a great time playing with all of the Camden cousins. Eliot's second cousin, Sarah, was there. She's just a few weeks older than Eliot and they made friends fast! Unfortunately, I forgot my camera, but hopefully I'll have some pictures of the two of them soon.

Brian stayed home and put up the Christmas lights on the house. When we pulled up Eliot's eyes grew as big as saucers. He dreamily stared out the window saying "Christmas lights..." So I said, "Do you think Daddy put those lights up when we were in Camden?" Eliot continued to stare out the window. He said, with all the magic that a little boy should have on Christmas, "No... SANTA."

that's MAMA to you!

This morning at school, when I got Eliot out of the car he said, filled with confidence, "all ready to go, Kim."

Thanksgiving at school

Today Eliot's school had a little Thanksgiving lunch and invited the parents. When I got there they were all sitting around their tiny little tables with construction paper Native American headdresses on. The teachers were all pilgrims. I watched for a few minutes before he realized I was there. He and Russell were sitting across from each other. They would put their hats on upside down and then erupt in a fit of laughter. Then they would pull the hat down over their eyes and start laughing again. Comedy gold, I'm telling you.

When he finally realized I was there, he came running over and hugged me. "MOMMY!" Then he took me by the arm and said, "Mommy go." He led me over to where he was sitting. Then he went to the next table and got another chair. He dragged it over to his table and positioned it right next to his own. "Mommy sit down." He said. Now tell me, how sweet is that? What a gentleman! Then he introduced me to all of his friends at the table. Well, maybe "introduce" is a strong word for it. Really he just pointed at each one and said their names.

I sat there for a few minutes, but when it came time to eat I opted for a "big-girl chair". My knees were hurting. Eliot sat with his friends for a while - NOT eating. Then sat in my lap for dessert. When the teachers brought out the cots it was time to say goodbye. Eliot was not happy to see me go, but calmed down when he realized that all of the parents were leaving. At any rate, it wall a lot of fun to eat lunch with him at school, and I think he had fun showing me around, too.

morning surprise

Yesterday morning when Eliot woke up he began talking to himself quietly in the crib. I went down to get some milk. When I returned I found Brian giggling to himself in bed. I asked what was so funny. "I just heard Eliot say, 'OH. my. GOOOSH!'" I went to see what was so incredibly amazing in the crib. There sat Eliot, beaming from ear to ear... with a HAT on! A HAT! Where, you ask, did the hat come from? I haven't a clue. I guess that's why it was amazing enough to warrant an "OH. my. GOOOOSH!"

such a neat freak!

Eliot sauntered through the living room this morning, stopping mid-room. He pointed downward and nothing in particular and said, "yucky." My first thought, of course, was "well, maybe SOMEbody should quit leaving cheerios in the corners and raisins under the sofa then it wouldn't be so yucky, now would it?! Better yet, maybe SOMEbody needs to start pulling their weight around here!" Alas, the sad truth is that if your toddler tells you your floor is "yucky" maybe SOMEbody needs to consider vacuuming more often.
(Interesting side note... Fact: Did you know that a single raisin can sustain a whole colony of dust-bunnies indefinitely? It's true. You can look it up.)

jumping!

Eliot has been VERY into jumping lately. He jumps everywhere. All evening we get the running commentary, "NUMP! NUMP! NUMP!" with each bounce. Last night he "numped" into the dining room where he caught Brian in the act of eating some leftover Halloween candy. He stopped. "Mines? Daddy? Mines?" So (after invoking Magic Word) Brian gave him a piece of his own. Within minutes "Nump! Nump! Nump!" changed to "NUMPNUMPNUMP!" as the jumping got quicker. Then, with each bounce we heard, "Candy! Candy! CandyCandyCandy!" No, Eliot, I think you've had enough.

doogle doogle

We've been living with a mystery in the Cornett house for a few weeks now. Whenever we start to sing a song Eliot will get very upset and insist that we sing, "Doogle Doogle" instead. Now, I had no clue whatsoever what song Doogle Doogle was. At first I thought it was Twinkle Twinkle, but that didn't make him happy either. Finally last night I got Eliot to sing me a little bit of "Doogle Doogle". I understood immediately what song he wanted to sing. Can you guess? Here's how it goes: "Doogle, doogle... HORSE!!! E-oh." Screaming the animal name in the middle kinda gives it away.