Happy Halloween!

Eli had several Halloween celebrations -- starting yesterday at Dada's work, then a Saturday morning costume contest at the Salem Saturday Market, then a photo shoot of the four boys from the SJ and then ending today with trick-or-treating in our neighborhood. At first he had absolutely no idea what was going on, but by the end he was an old pro -- even saying something similar to "trick-or-treat."

Oh, and kissed a goat dressed as a baby at the market!

Almost...

Eli is quite good at putting together puzzles. Before Eli could talk, Michael would say, "almost, almost..." while Eli tried to fit the piece into its proper place.

Then when Eli could talk, he started saying "almost, almost..." (although it comes out, "ahmost, ahmost) to himself as he was trying to fit his pieces in the puzzle.

And tonight, when Michael was doing a puzzle with Eli, and Michael was pretending to have a hard time fitting the piece in its spot, Eli said, "Ahmost Dadda, ahmost Dadda..."

Tools

Yesterday when Eli woke up, he was rubbing his eyes.

I said, "Do your eyes hurt?"

Eli said, "Yes."

I said, "Do you want me to fix it?"

He got this bright look on his face and said, "Tools!"

Ride?

Eli is obsessed with riding animals. Every animal we see in a book -- snakes, porcupines, alligators, giraffes, bugs -- he says, "Ride?" "Ride?"

I have been very careful to tell him which animals people ride and which animals people don't ride. It seemed to me like he was categorizing the animals: those we ride, and those we don't ride.

Michael thinks I am being too literal. So Michael tells Eli, "Yes, Dadda rides alligators. In fact, Dadda rode one to work today."

Eli gets a confused look on his face, and then nods and says, "Yes."

Dadda is magical :)

Mama play too!

This morning, Michael got Eli out of bed and was playing with him in the living room before I came downstairs. When Eli heard me coming down, he raced up the stairs to meet me and took my hand to bring me to the living room.

"Are you playing with Dadda?," I asked him.

"Mama. Play. Too," Eli said.

I believe that is his first three- word sentence. Pretty sophisticated stuff!

No voice

Eli has been very patient with Mama since she lost her voice on Tuesday (a head cold thing).

I've been whispering all week to Eli, and he usually stops what he is doing and listens very carefully to what I say. He definitely knows what a tap on the shoulder means now too.

When Zula is barking in the backyard, Eli runs and opens the backdoor and yells, "Zooo, la, come!" One time, Zula actually listened.

He's been very good about playing low-key games since I've been sick. He is having so much fun with his animal sticker book and drawing with markers. During our typical dance time, he is OK if I sit on the couch and watch and clap instead of actually dancing with him.

A random note: one of my favorite new Eli words is mayonnaise. It comes out "may-maise."

Boo-boo, er, rosy cheeks

Lately, Eli has been very concerned by drawings of rosy cheeks on kids or animals in books. He furrows his brow and points to the rosy cheeks and says," Boo-boo," or "Owww."

He also sometimes tries to pick up pictures in the books and asks for help. Not sure if the picture looks so real that he thinks it should be 3-D or if he thinks it is a sticker book!

Duh, Mama, I used my hands!

Eli likes to drive our car. In order for that to be a safe playtime, I make sure the driver's side window is halfway down, Eli has keys that do not include the actual key to the car, the emergency brake is on, the car is in the garage, the garage door is shut, and the garage door opener is on the roof of the car. Only then is Eli allowed to play in the car, and only then am I comfortable enough to be in the kitchen for 45 seconds or less before checking in on him.

Last week, while Eli was playing in the car, I went inside to grab his shoes for a walk. When I walked back to the garage, the garage door was opening.

I was shocked. I pointed to the roof of the car. "But the garage door opener is on the roof."

Eli smiled broadly and stuck his hand, clutching the opener in his fist, out the halfway-opened window. Then he pointed to the roof and nodded.

"But how did you reach the opener, Eli!?!? It was on the roof of the car!"

Eli furrowed his brow. He looked at the opener. He looked confused.

Then he smiled and said: "Hands."

A pumpkin patch!

Eli and his good buddies Koren and Elliot went to E.Z. Orchards Friday to pick pumpkins, pet some farm animals, eat pumpkin donuts, sit on hay and ride miniature tractors. It wore Eli out so much that he slept for 3.5 hours when he got home.