Life at 2 1/2

I can't even believe that we have an almost 2 1/2 year old. This age is so fun, so challenging, and always comical. We have our fair share of 'will he make it to 3' moments, but quickly buck up and realize, 3 will most likely be even more challenging :). Eli is a serious talker. He talks all.day.long about anything and everything, and to anyone that will listen. He's been coming up with the funniest things lately, and it's definitely time to put some of them in writing before we forget them. So get ready for some random pictures I never blogged & more facts than you care to know :).
We're so thankful to have him completely potty trained (except for bed time), and are so proud of him for making this such an easy transition. Once we found out how to make #2 on the potty less traumatic, there have been no tears involved! That has made life much less stressful for the little guy, and for me too :).

He's still very social everywhere we go, and refers to kids of all ages as his 'friends.' He talks about 'school' all of the time, even though he's never stepped foot in a real school. He thinks that when he goes to our sitters house, that its school. Poor kid is going to be in for a shock when he realizes that school doesn't consist of hours of Thomas the train play.

He's still pretty scared of thunder storms. Here he is hiding out in our pantry during one...
He and Danny have been going golfing together at least once a week for the past few months. I love that this is their 'guy time,' and know that they both love this time together. It won't be long before Eli is golfing right along with the big guys. But until then, he'll stick to raking sand traps and 'helping' get golf balls into the hole a little faster. They also spend a lot of time golfing in the front yard after dinner every night.


He now knows his ABC's from start to finish. He loves to sing, and there's no way you're stepping foot out of his room at bedtime without singing at least 2 songs with him. And he's always doing a little dance jig while we sing. His first requests are always 'Jesus Loves me' and 'You are My Sunshine.'

He's moved into the 3 year old class at church now that he's potty trained and feeling oh so big. I love that he's finally getting a Bible lesson every Sunday, and is getting use to more of a classroom setting. He just eats up this time each week with the 'big kids.' We always ask him on the way home what he did at church, and his normal responses are that he played with Kres, ate goldfish, colored a picture, played in the tent, and drew on the chalkboard.

He had his very first ice cream truck experience last week. I lost count of how many times he said the word 'delicious' while scarfing that ice cream down.
'Mmmmmm, delicious!'

He loves to be outside.
And I guess you could say he has quite the sweet tooth...
He's a lover of hide & go seek, and is finally starting to play somewhat by the rules. He pretends that he can't find us when we're hiding, just like we do him. He says, 'Hmmmm, where could that mommy be?!'

For some reason in the last week or so, Eli's started calling me mom. Now he thinks it's funny and does it on purpose. To me it just makes him seem like he's 13, not 2. I'm hanging onto my 'mommy title' for as long as I can! I'm just not use to hearing 'Ok, MOM!'

And now for some fun Eli-ism's....
-Okie dokie = 'dokie dokie'
-Last week we were checking out at Ross, and the cashier was putting my receipt in the bag. Eli looked at her and said, 'Watch out!!! There's a snake in the bag!' Completely random...and got a great response out of the cashier!
-He's called me 'son' a few times recently. Like just today he said, 'Hey! Where ya going, son?!'
-In true 2 year old fashion, he's found ways to spice up the typical NO. Instead of just saying NO, he now says 'No sireeee' or 'No way.' Lovely...
-Just yesterday he was telling me something in the car, and I said, 'Oh! how cool!' and he replied with a, 'Yep, actually it is.'
-He uses the phrase, 'I almost forgot' a lot, but never at the appropriate time. And it sounds more like, 'I almostsss forgots.'
-I guess he's heard me say, 'In a few minutes' or, 'in a second.' Because this week he told me, 'Ok mom, in 3 seconds.'
-He's really started copying everything that we say and do. Whenever we walk into the house, he opens the door to let Bailey out of our bedroom, and greets her with a 'Hi Bailey girl' or a 'come on honey.' And just this morning with a, 'wake up silly girl.'
-He says 'I can't do it' in an English accent. We have no idea how that started.

We're SO thankful for this sweet sweet boy. I can't imagine our days without his contagious laugh and fun personality. We never lose sight of how important our role is as his parents. Such a great responsibility. So humbling each and every day.

In everything set them an example by doing what is good. Titus 2:7