Wheatland Ferry

This morning we went to Willamette Mission State Park, rode the ferry across the Willamette River, threw some sticks for Zula to chase in the river and went for a very short walk. Eli had a blast. It was his first time on the ferry. He needs to get out more.

Answer me!

Tonight at the dinner table, I was cutting strawberries and Eli was eating them as fast as I could cut them. At one point, he slowed down and asked Daddy if he wanted a strawberry. Michael was a bit overtired and didn't respond.

Eli: "Want a strawberry, Daddy?"

Michael, silent.

Eli: "Want a strawberry, Daddy?"

Michael, silent.

Eli: "ANSWER ME, Daddy!"

Extraordinary activities....

It continues to amaze me that the most mundane household chores are some of Eli's favorite things to do. He woke up this morning, saw his vacuum, and said, "Mama, let's vacuum."

Not to be one to miss an opportunity to get something done with Eli, I asked Michael if he could bring the vacuum upstairs for me. Eli and I cleaned up the bathroom. Thinking we were done with that activity, I went downstairs to make breakfast. Eli followed with his little vacuum cleaner and told Daddy, "We need to clean the living room."

When I got home from the farmer's market, the living room, dining room and kitchen were vacuumed and the kitchen floor was mopped! Now we need to get Eli his own (smaller sized) mop so he can really help. I guess mopping with an adult-sized mop was a bit of a disaster :)

When I get older

Eli likes to talk about getting older and all of the things he will be able to do when he gets older.

Today he said he wanted to drive the car home (from the store, where we got a bassinet). I told him he could drive as soon as he got a driver's license. Eli said when he got older he would drive. Then I asked him what else he would do when he got older.

He thought about it for a second, and said, "Cook. Drink beer. Drink coffee."

That's right, Eli!

While driving home from the Saturday Market yesterday, Eli pointed to the railroad crossing bars and said, "Those are for the trains."

Before Mama could say anything, Eli said, "That's right, Eli!"

Then he pointed to the street and said, "That's for cars and buses."

And again, before Mama could respond, Eli said, "That's right, Eli!"

It was funny to listen to him carry a conversation on his own, praise himself and say what Mama must say to him a lot (although Mama didn't realize it!)

What's the matter?

Sometimes the funniest things 2-year-olds say are statements adults say all the time.

Today, Eli was sitting on his chair putting his sock on. His toe got stuck and I tried to help him, but ended up pulling his entire sock off.

Mama: "Oh, I'm sorry Eli. I didn't mean to pull your sock off. I was just trying to help."

I gave him his sock back.

He looked at me, totally sweetly, and said: "What's the matter with you, Mama?"

A goat dairy

Eli went on a farm tour of Fairview Farm Dairy on Sunday. We fed baby goats, milked a mama goat and saw chickens, pigs and geese. Afterward, he was treated to two cones of goat-milk ice cream -- YUM! He loved it!

Learning to balance

This spring, Eli has been biking almost every day. He is very proud of his bike, and very interested in riding it everywhere. He puts on his helmet and rides to work (which is just around the house and back). He definitely is trying to be like his Dadda, who rides to work. A typical scenario goes like this:

Eli: "Need to ride to work Mama."

Mama: "OK honey."

Eli: "I'll come home for lunch/dinner. You make it."

We are working on having him see Michael make lunch and dinner so he doesn't grow up with gross stereotypes in his head :)

Accidents happen

When we started to seriously try to get Eli to sit on his potty, we offered him his portable DVD player and his Elmo Potty video. A big hit! He watched it multiple times and learned all the songs, including one called "Accidents Happen (and that's OK!)"

We use the phrase a lot -- for potty accidents, but also for other kinds of accidents. Like the one that happens weekly around here: spilling juice across the table.

But the other day, Eli pulled it out at exactly the right moment.

I was putting away the clean dishes from the dishwasher, Michael was at the stove finishing preparing a yummy omelet breakfast and Eli was eating some fruit in the dining room.

I put two large glass containers precariously on the top shelf of our cabinet and turned away. They (predictably) fell, landing on two glasses of orange juice on the counter. All four glass products shattered into billions of shards of glass — all over the clean dishes in the dishwasher, the sink, the omelet, the floor, the moon, etc etc.

Michael sent me in to the dining room to watch Eli, who was VERY curious about the whole event and wanted to wade barefoot through the wreakage. I sat down at the dining room table with him, and he asked me multiple times what happened.

Then he put his little hand on my arm and said, "Accidents happen, Mama. It's OK."

Instead of crying, I started laughing. Perfect timing, Eli!

Baby birds, nests and eggs

Eli is very interested in baby birds, nests and eggs right now. Michael found half of a robin's egg several days ago and gave it to Eli. Before Eli smashed it (I like to think accidentally) in his fingers, he asked all sorts of questions about it: Where is the baby bird? What kind of bird? What color is it? etc etc.

Last night in the bathtub, he told me that the loofa sponge in the bath was a bird's egg. We pretended a bird hatched from it.

Then this morning he put his blanket on my bed and said, "Look Mama. I made a nest! I'ma a baby bird." (that's the photo above!)

4 mommas and 4 (plus 1) boys!

It is getting harder and harder to get our four SJ boys to be still for a camera. Here is an attempt, and as you can tell, none of the boys are looking at the camera!

Swing

We brought the swing into the backyard now that the weather is nicer and Eli was SO excited to get in it. He kept trying to reach the cherry blossoms on our tree. I haven't seen him laugh and smile this much on a swing since his first swing ride (which made it onto his Christmas card his first year!)

Interesting dinner attire....

Eli was fascinated with the bibs that I brought up from the basement for the baby. He decided he wanted to wear one for dinner that night (hmmm, I am hoping that he doesn't get a desire to be a baby again!) But he also decided to wear his construction hat at the table. It made for interesting dinner attire...

Wooden Shoe Tulip Festival

On April 18, we took Eli to the tulip festival in Woodburn. It is a Mid-Willamette Valley tradition and we felt like we should experience it. The tulips — fields and fields of them — are amazing. The rest of the experience was like being at a state fair.

Earth Day at the Oregon Garden

Eli celebrated Earth Day on April 17 at the Oregon Garden. He had a blast playing in the band, Recycleman and the Dumpster Divers. He also loved playing in the sand garden, going in and out of an earthen tunnel, learning to roll down a hill for the first time, and pumping water for watering a garden!