Making money

Eli likes to talk about working and making money. His job, if you ask him, is to make money out of leaves, trees and sticks.

He often can't take part in some other activity because of his work.

Earlier this month, I told him I was making a chore chart for him so he could do jobs around the house. He said, "Yeah, but I have an important job to do to make money out of trees, leaves and sticks and that is a lot of work, so I can't clean the house."

How do you argue with that?

He also uses that excuse even if the alternative is a fun activity. Today I told him that we might go to a friend's house and play in their sand box.

Eli: "OK, but when will I do my work?"

Mama: "Well, you can do it before we go or after you get back."

Eli: "Yeah but I have to work about 15 hours today and that's a lot of work. Maybe another day I can play, but today I have to get my work done."

Too bad his "work" doesn't include picking up his clothes or toys!

Ewan is 1!

My dear sweet Ewan,

You are one years old. Mama can't believe an entire year has gone by already.

You have the most infectious laugh, and I love to blow raspberries on your belly or tickle your knees to hear it.

You love to wrestle with Mama and Daddy. You squeal and climb all over us, especially our heads. You'd love to wrestle Eli also but we worry about you getting hurt.

You are a swift crawler and you've mastered going up stairs. You are just starting to go down the stairs safely, i.e. NOT face first! Even though your knees are SO sore that you crawl with knees off the ground in this awkward way, you aren't trying very hard to walk. You will walk if Mama is holding both of your hands, but you don't much like it. If you are distracted by toys in both hands, you will stand unassisted for a few seconds -- once you realize what is going on, you quickly sit down.

You've got two teeth on the bottom and four teeth on the top. Your top teeth are still pushing through and you've got big spaces between them. Your smile is as cute as ever -- a big wide grin that even makes most strangers remark "what a happy baby!"

In some ways, you are even more strong-willed than Eli. You get very frustrated when Mama feeds you; you want to do it yourself! You get very frustrated when you are taken out of a room that is unsafe, namely the bathroom. You get very frustrated when you can't go outside and play in the mud with Eli (you tend to eat the mud!) You scream and cry very hard, and Mama believes it is a sneak peak into what your tantrums will be like...

You are super happy to be playing with Daddy, but you still feel most comfortable with Mama. If you are in a room playing with Daddy and Mama comes in, you will cry until Mama picks you up. If Mama leaves without you, you cry very hard!

You don't like to be in your highchair eating very much, but you LOVE to drink from a cup. We still hold it for you as you tend to spill all over yourself but you don't even mind us doing that. If you are very hungry, you will still wave your arms while eating.

You are talking a lot more now, babbling away and looking at people intently when you talk. You are especially conversational in the morning, unfortunately Mama is usually very tired. You sleep much better than you did at 8 months, but you sometimes wake up hungry in the middle of the night. You are still an early riser, sometimes waking at 5:30 a.m. -- but if Mama is lucky she can get you to go back to sleep until 8 a.m.

You are quite independent, wandering off to play with toys by yourself in the playroom if Mama is doing something boring like making dinner. You like to play with anything Eli is playing with at the moment so playing with your brother alone doesn't work too well.

But Mama and Daddy can tell how much you love Eli and how much Eli loves you. One time when you were crawling on Eli to wrestle him, Eli said: "Baby can pull my hair or poke my eyes. It's OK Mama. I just love him!"

Summer solstice

We don't dare say it out loud, but I thought it would be OK to blog about: Summer is here! After too much rain -- and too many false starts to our beautiful, dry Oregon summers -- I think the summer solstice brought the summer along.

The boys celebrated at their friends' house -- with pools, sprinklers and popsicles. Ahhh, summer!

Frogs on Father's Day

The family went frog hunting on Sunday, in honor of Father's Day. Mama and Ewan left early since Ewan wanted OUT! of the carrier, at which point he scooted super fast, and headfirst, into the mucky pond. Yuck! But no worries, since frog hunting is such a perfect activity for a boy and his dad.

Eli caught a frog. Then a fish. Then he fed the fish to the frog. (Some might say "force-fed). He named the frog "Icky" or "Icthy" (it changes every time you ask!) Eli had a blast stomping around the shallow water with his rainboots on. And Daddy had a blast spending the afternoon in the woods with his big boy.

When Eli woke up on Monday morning, he asked Daddy brightly, "Is it Father's Day again?"

A party for Ewan

On Saturday we celebrated Ewan's first birthday with a party at home (we would have had it in a park if the weather had cooperated!)

Ewan ate his first cupcake! He devoured the icing, and nibbled at the carrot cake.

He had a blast with all of the people in our house. He crawled a mile-a-minute into all the rooms to check people out and he loved watching all the kids in the playroom playing.

The pig pinata that Daddy made will wait for a sunny park day! (Somehow, swinging a bat in our living room filled with kids and parents seemed like a ridiculous exercise :) )

Water play

After getting a water table from Grandma and Grandpa in California, the boys are set for the summer. Ewan loves to splash in the water, and Eli loves to put his animals and dinosaurs in it. This is a great example of how their 2 1/2 year difference is nothing at all!

All boy!

I just can't keep Ewan inside anymore when Eli is outside playing. So yesterday, I took the laundry outside and tried to fold it on the table while the boys played. In mud. Ah yes, Ewan is ALL BOY!

Dinosaurs!

ROARRRR!

Eli is very very obsessed with dinosaurs. We read dinosaur books almost exclusively (thank you Salem Public Library for your wide selection of dinosaur books). We play with dinosaur figures (I have my eyes on a huge brachiosaurus at Toys R Us for Eli!) We pretend we are dinosaurs (sometimes too many times for this poor Mama who gets eaten by a T Rex, an allosaurus or a velociraptor multiple times a day). And at night, when I pull my covers back to fall into bed, I am greeted with plastic dinosaurs (and their sharp tails!)

This morning while reading a dinosaur book, Eli asked me how dinosaurs got sick.

Mama, being silly: "I don't know. Many people were coughing on them."

Eli: "That's a good theory, Mama. But people didn't live with the dinosaurs so they couldn't cough on them!"

(LOVE that he told me I had a good theory! He can't really say "theory" so it comes out kind of funny too!)

Then tonight at dinner, while he pretended to be a brachiosaurus who was eating trees aka broccoli (and LOTS of it!), we had this conversation:

Eli: "Do you know why brachiosaurus had lips?"

Mama: "No, why?"

Eli: "To keep their food in their mouths when they are chewing."

Mama: "Oh. Is that why people have lips?"

Eli: "No, people have lips for kissing."

Mud!

On Thursday, the sprinkler was on in Bush Park and it created the most perfect little mud stream for Eli, Ewan and Eli's friend, William, to play in! Eli and his friend built boats, ran through the mud and just generally got super messy.

Brothers

These boys look so alike to me here.

Pants?

Who needs pants when you've got your mud boots on? This is a look we like to sport more often than Mama would like to admit.

I want to be big!

Eli has to spend at least part of his day outside, even if it is pouring rain. On this particular day in early May, Ewan wanted to be outside also. It was such a sweet moment to capture -- Ewan watching Eli build with sticks in the rain. But so sad too, because Ewan SO wanted to be outside with his big brother. (And yes, my backdoor is THAT dirty!)

Climbing trees

Eli loves to climb trees. In the park the other day, he met a new friend, who was 5. This friend had never climbed trees before... until Eli showed him how. The two of them were climbing trees for the next 30 minutes.

The photos are of Eli climbing the cherry blossom tree in our backyard in early May. When he got in the tree, he needed me to hand him his chain saw so he could cut it down. (We didn't get into the fact that you might not want to cut down a tree that you are in!)

Awesome 3000

Eli ran in the big Salem race called the Awesome 3000. He was very very excited and he ran his fastest! It is a 300 m race for the 3-and-under age group. But he could have run the full 3000 m if they would let him run with Daddy!

He was most excited about the Clifford book and water bottle that they gave him at the end of the race.

Never stop talking

I don't think that 3-year-olds ever stop talking. That can get old when you are on your 6th hour of conversations and your sentences are interrupted with "Why?" every six seconds, BUT 3-year-olds also have a way of making every conversation seem VERY important. And Mama gets a kick out of them! Some recent examples:

Text delivery

Eli asked if we could invite Elliot to play one day. I said, "Yes," and then texted Elliot's mom. A few minutes later:

Eli: "Can Elliot play today?"

Mama: "I don't know. I texted him. But I haven't gotten a message back."

Eli: "I think the mailman is still delivering it."

A new rule and a time for no rules

When Eli feels shy or anxious or ?, he growls. No, it's not funny. It is quite annoying actually. But there it is. One day, I was talking to him about how it is not nice to growl at people.

Mama: "Should we write down a rule that says don't growl at people?"

Eli: "Yes. But we can growl at wild animals who are trying to eat us?"

Mama, sighing: "Yes."

Eli: "Cuz why we don't want to get eaten!"

Dadda: "There are no rules when a wild animal is trying to eat you."

Africa

Eli still talks about Africa a lot. He still really wants to visit Africa. And he worries about how we will get there, what we will see there, if we will get eaten by a lion, etc.

Eli: "Do they have dirt in Africa?"

Mama: "Yes."

Eli: "Then I think we should bring a digger so I can dig in the dirt!"

Mama: "OK."

Eli: "I think you should bring crayons and paper and toys on the plane too so I won't feel bored."

Eli, after a pause: "My bottom is going to hurt for sitting that long!"

Marriage woes

The other day, Eli asked me what Daddy told the man who was driving the UPS truck.

Mama: "He told him that he will ask his wife to move the car."

Eli: "What's a wife?"

Mama: "I am Dadda's wife. He is my husband. We call each other those names because we are married. We are married because we love each other very much ..."

Before Mama could continue discussing marriage, Eli says, "I don't want to get married."

Mama: "OK"

Eli: "You tell them that?"

Mama: "Who?"

Eli: "The man who makes people get married."

Mama: "There isn't a man who makes people get married ..."

Eli: "Then who makes people get married?"

Ewan is 11 months old!

Ewan turns 11 months old today!

He has two teeth on top -- his second top tooth broke through just yesterday. It makes his smile look so different. He is not happy about this new development. He is cranky, picky about food, and dealing with a runny nose all the time. Ugh. This is a huge contrast to his usual SUPER happy, smiley self.

Ewan is a super fast crawler now and if you turn your back for a second, he's gone. He likes to make a break for the refrigerator or any kitchen cabinet when the door is open. He also likes to sneak his way into the bathrooms when no one is looking. Upstairs he pulls himself up on the tub and turns on the faucet (and cries LOUDLY when you take him away). Downstairs, he likes to pull himself up on the toilet, the tub and the garbage can.

Amazingly, another place he crawls to is the playroom -- to play by himself! It is absolutely incredible to me. I'll be working in the kitchen and he'll play there for awhile. Then he'll take off down the hall, scooting on his knees, all the way to the playroom. He enters, looks around and then starts playing.

His favorite toys are: Eli's big green garbage truck, his Leapfrog table, and any car or truck. He doesn't really play with any of the toys Eli played with at this age because there are so many more big-boy toys around.

Ewan's taking two naps a day these days, and they are both about two hours long. He must be resting up to keep up with his brain development and motor skills. He pulls himself along the couch and from chair to chair -- preparing to start walking soon I think! And he definitely understands more of our words. Sometimes I say, "Ewan come here, come into the kitchen for some food," and he crawls right into the kitchen. He plays peek-a-boo -- holding the napkin in front of his own face and peeking out after we say, "Where's Ewan?!" And he even responds to my "Ack, ack, ack!" which tells him not to touch whatever he is touching!

He's also eating a lot, and he's not satisfied with just pureed baby food. He wants to eat finger foods, and more importantly, he wants to eat what we are eating. We give him whatever we can from our plates and if he doesn't like it, he feeds it to Zula!

Ewan is still nursing -- about four times a day. He's still squirmy but he has many moments where he is calm, especially before bedtime.

Ah, bedtime. Ewan has been sleeping through the night for months now and this Mama is quite content about that. Ewan goes to bed about 8:30 p.m. and wakes at 6 or 7 or even 8 a.m.! Glorious!

Now that Ewan is almost one, Eli is really enjoying his little brother. One time he said, out of the blue, "I just love Ewan. I love his face. I love his eyes. I love his hair!" (He does have hair; it is very fine and very blond and VERY hard to see :) ). At the dinner table, Eli and Ewan sometimes play a tug-of-war with Eli's napkin and both of them laugh a lot. Eli loves to hug Ewan, most of the time too tightly. Eli is genuinely excited for his brother's accomplishments, which is just about the cutest thing to witness. When we said, "Ewan's top tooth broke through," Eli clapped his hands and his eyes grew bright and he said, "YAY YAY YAY! Now he can eat pretzels!"

Our family is looking forward to Ewan's first birthday in a month. Eli talks about how fun it will be for baby Ewan to eat a cupcake for the first time!

An ant problem and unspoken rules!

Yesterday at lunch, Eli was crying a little bit. Daddy had told Eli he couldn't eat his grilled cheese sandwich in the living room like Eli wanted to. When Eli asked why, Daddy explained that the crumbs would exacerbate our already bad ant problem.

Mama: "I think you should eat something and then we'll get ready for rest time."

Eli: "Why?"

Mama: "I think you will feel better. You are a little cranky from being tired."

Eli, crying harder and whining: "I'm not cranky because I'm tired... I'm cranky because of our ant problem!"

After rest time, we went for a walk to Bush Park. On the way, we ran into two older kids who live nearby. The boy, probably 7 or 8, asked Eli is he wanted to have a playdate.

Eli, very serious with his hand on his hip: "The problem is that my mom and dad don't know your mom and dad so ..."

The little boy, anxious to assure Eli that it is OK, starts telling Eli all about his family -- his mom's name, his dad's name, his phone number, etc.

Eli just shakes his head: "My mom and dad don't know your mom and dad."

I was really happy to see that Eli understood these unspoken rules about playdates. (And also a little relieved that he didn't insist on a playdate as I don't know these kids and don't really want to meet their parents!)

Airport rules

Daddy: "I want you to eat a good breakfast this morning."

Eli: "Why?"

Daddy: "Because we are driving to the airport to pick up Grandma Nancy. It's a long drive and I don't want you to get cranky.

Eli: "Cuz why they don't allow cranky kids in the airport?"

Mother's Day

It doesn't get any better than this:

Today, Michael asked Eli what he wanted to be when he grew up.

Eli thought for a moment.

"A mama."

Real or pretend cuts?

A conversation while out for a walk...

Beth to Michael: Did you see that the Superintendent is proposing to cut all school librarians from the district?

Eli: What? What happened Mama?

Mama to Eli: Oh, the schools don't have enough money so they want to cut the school's librarians to save money.

Eli: For real or pretend?

Mama, puzzled: For real.

Eli: But that will hurt when they get cut (making a sawing motion with his hand).