my favorite time of day

Eliot and I are lying in bed. It's after lights out, but before hugs and kisses. Eliot is silent for a few minutes, then he breaks the silence.
Eliot: Mommy? Where is my crib?
Me: Well, when you started sleeping in the big boy bed we took your crib apart and stored it in the garage.
Eliot: It's in the garage?
Me: Yes, we are keeping it there in case you ever have a little brother or sister.
Eliot mulls that over for a second in silence
Eliot: Okay Mommy. If I have a little brother or sister, they can use my crib.

I got one more thing to do before nap!

We've had a tough week with Eliot's two-year-old-ness. Everything is NO-this and NO-that. And, "Don't be mad to me!" One night I was so fed up with the fussing and baby talk that I got out an old pacifier and put it in his mouth. (For the record, Eliot never used a pacifier as a baby so this was a stunningly novel concept for him.)

As usual, though, just when I start to post his picture on E-Bay (Free shipping! Going cheap!) something happens that gives me pause. After fighting for an hour over whether or not there was going to be a nap today, I finally got the kid upstairs and in the bed. We read two stories, sang four songs and had three rounds of hugs-n-kisses and I fled the room quickly. A few minutes later I looked in the monitor only to see him climbing out of bed and returning with a book. He read every page, "See Bear Bear? That's a dinosaur. They say 'RAHR!'" A few minutes later I heard the pitter patter of feet up in his room - out of bed again. However, much to my surprise, he got back in bed without another toy or book. He laid Bear Bear down on the pillow next to him, snuggled in, tucked the covers up around both of them and went to sleep!

I learn something new every day about being a mom. Today's lesson - never underestimate your kid. When given the opportunity, there's a slim chance they'll do what they're supposed to, all on their own.

hard lessons

I have some bobby pins that I sometimes use to pin back my hair. Last night Eliot was looking at them. "Can I put one in my hair?" he asked. So I put one in his hair. "Look, Mommy! I'm a girl!" he mused. After a few minutes he was tired of it and wanted me to take it out of his hair. "OOOW! That hurt my hair! (sigh) Being a girl hurts."

family portrait

This week's theme in Eliot's class is "family". His homework assignmnet was to bring in a picture of his family to put on the big tree. The teacher sent home a leaf, and we were to affix our portrait thusly. However, because I'm pretty lazy, we don't actually have a family portrait. All of Eliot's photos include either Brian or me, but not both. Not wanting Eliot to get a bad grade on his assignment, we sat on the sofa together and Brian held the camera out in front of us for our snapshot. It only took about three tries to get a good one, but I think it turned out nicely. Behold: OUR FAMILY PORTRAIT

vignettes

Eliot and Daddy discuss right and wrong.
Eliot: I can't say that.
Daddy: You can't say what?
Eliot: That word!
Daddy: What word?
Eliot: Doo-doo.
Daddy: I don't know if "doo-doo" is all THAT bad.
Eliot: NO DADDY! Don't say that word!

Eliot and Mommy get dressed for the day.
Mommy: Eliot, go ahead and take off your PJ's so you can put on your clothes.
Eliot: I can't. I'm dancing.
Eliot proceeds with his song that he has, apparently, made up in his head.
Eliot (singing): OOOHhh! You can do it! You can dance! OOOhhh yes you CAAAAN!
Mommy: Oh, was that the end?
Eliot (taking a bow): Thank you! Thank you!
Then, and only then, does he start getting undressed.

vacation week

Eliot had a big week off last week. He spent Monday with Gigi. He LOOOVES Gigi's house because she takes him to the park!
Tuesday he was with Aunt Gaines. They ran all over the place - first the library, then down to UAB where Gaines works. Somehow, while at UAB, he fell and skinned his knees. But don't feel bad for him! Aunt Gaines took him to the CVS (his favorite store EVER) and bought him some bandaids with DORA on them. He couldn't have been happier to have skinned-up knees.
Wednesday was with Mama. BORING! We did manage to visit my office for a little while and got to meet all of my office friends. Then we ventured over to Daddy's office for a few minutes.
Thursday was Gaines' friend, Kate. They had a quiet day around the house. Apparently Eliot took a very long afternoon nap. I think he needed it!
Friday was split between Mama, Daddy and Grandmother Galloway. Brian had to go to Grandmother's to fix her computer so he took Eliot with him. He got to spend some time alone with her while Brian went to the store. Apparently, he talked about it all the way home, singing "Grandmother Galloway! Grandmother... Grandmother... Graaaandmooother!!" all the way home. When he got home he refused to get out of the car. I came down to find him sitting in the back seat. I asked if he was going to come upstairs and he said that he was NOT coming upstairs, that he was going back to Grandmother's house. "You sit there", pointing at the driver's side. "I'll get in my carseat." Unfortunately for him, we had to just pretend to go back to Grandmother's house, as she lives quite a long way away, plus, she was busy playing bridge.
So this morning I dropped him off at school where he was very excited to be a super-duper GRASSHOPPER. Ms. Charlotte had wisely decided to start the day outside on the big playground, where the kids were way too excited to be upset about the new setting. I can't wait to see how the day goes. I will, of course, post the news.