Valentine Cookies

The other night while Scottie was at a board meeting, Eli and I made Valentine cookies. The other day he asked if we could make tree and star cookies again, I told him that Christmas was over, but we could make heart shaped cookies for Valentine's Day. We went to the store, picked out heart shaped cookie cutters, more sprinkles and some ingredients. Then the other night we got to work. This time his favorite parts were all the tactile experiences, he loved putting flour on the counter top and playing with the dough. Of course, he loved the sprinkles too, this time he would sprinkle a few sprinkles, eat a few, sprinkle a few, and eat a few. Another favorite part was that after he ate a few cookies, and I had started cleaning up, I gave him some of the stray sprinkles from the pan, he ate them straight. You can see from the pictures that he got into his job of flouring the counter top with zeal. After making the cookies, it was definitely time to take a bath. All in all it was a very enjoyable night.

READING!!!

Eli has very little interest in toys right now, all he wants to do is read, read, READ!!! It's funny because before and right after Christmas I was starting to think how little he wanted to read. We were squeezing in a few night time stories a day, and not much more. He was spending the rest of his days doing puzzles, playing with Duplos, playing with Play Doh, playing with his car ramp, playing with his farm and throwing soft balls all over the house. Now, lately, he's completely switched. All he wants to do, with the exception of his one hour of video time, is read. His favorites right now are Dr. Seuss, Curious George, Mercer Mayer, his Elmo books, and Maisy always holds a place at the top too. He either wants us to read to him, or if we're busy or driving, he'll "read" to himself. He's memorized the first page of The Lorax and Yertle the Turtle and the first six pages of Green Eggs and Ham. I think he's also memorized most of the Foot Book, too. Of course while listening to him recite the first page of The Lorax and Yertle the Turtle you have to use your imagination a little because the words are long, and I don't think he knows what many of them mean. It's still adorable and puts a smile on my face while I'm driving.

Here are two pictures of Eli and Daddy's interesting reading posture the other night.

Bob at Imagine It -- Day 2

We were so enamored with our new find, and our new membership, that we went back for more fun the next day.

The neat thing about the Children's Museum is that there is so much to see, we seem to "discover" something new each time. His new favorites on the second day were magnetic fishing and playing in the play house. The play house has a complete kitchen with a dishwasher, cupboard, sink, stove, oven and play food -- hours of fun.





We also packed a picnic lunch that day and found a very cool park right across the street. We ate our lunch and Eli got to play on the "Rolly" slide (something we'd never seen before), climb on the fake rocks, climb through the tunnels and of course ride his perennial favorite -- the twisty slide.

Belatedely -- Bob at Imagine It

This past Saturday we spent our third fun-filled day at Imagine It in Atlanta. We didn't bring the camera, but I figured that I should FINALLY post an entry about our first visit...

Over the Christmas break, Grammie, Uncle Brian, Scott, Eli and I all went to the Children's Museum in Atlanta to see their Bob the Builder exhibit. The museum is called Imagine It and Scott and I were quite impressed. In fact, we joined for the year with some of our Christmas money. Seana had actually spotted the exhibit months ago on signs in Atlanta, and had told me about it since she knew that Eli loves Bob the Builder. But, I wasn't sure about it, since I knew that those museums tend to be expensive and you never can tell how age appropriate something will be or how much Eli will enjoy it. Then, Grammie was working at the thrift store and a woman who had a two year old grandson raved about it. So, not only did we have a two year old's testimonial, but now Grammie wanted to come and pay (thanks Mom!)

The Bob the Builder exhibit was a hit. He enjoyed interacting with the characters from Bob. In fact, he seemed a little star struck. Brian even got in on the fun.






The little show they put on a few times each day was a little over his head. They had staff members dressed up as builders, but Eli kept asking, "Where's Bob?" So, we decided to walk around and play while the show was going.


Eli really liked the little display of buttons. It had buttons for each of the characters and when he pushed them they would say their lines from the show. In fact, all of the characters had hidden buttons on them. I thought Eli would want to drive Muck, Lofty and Scoop, but instead he had more fun looking for their hidden buttons.


Eli found this yellow Bob hat lying around, they provided them for kids to use for dress up. It completed his Bob outfit. He loves his Bob overalls and coordinating Bob shirt. After wearing the hat for a while, Eli put his hat on Uncle Brian who wasn't too impressed.



The Bob exhibit featured Bob Duplos. Eli wasn't too interested, as he got most of the Bob Duplos for Christmas. But, he did go over to them, found the Roley and headed off. We had no idea where he was going. I guess he decided that the little Roley belonged with the big Roley. Pretty cute.


The Bob the Builder exhibit was definitely a hit, but the reason we joined is that the standing exhibits at the museum were just as good if not better. Two of Eli's favorites were the Moon Sand table (I think we spent at least an hour there) and the painting on the wall.




One final highlight of the day -- Bob appeared. Late that afternoon, Big Bob (as we affectionately called him) appeared and had a little show. Eli was transfixed, and it redeemed the earlier show. Eli loved to watch him dance and when it was time to take pictures with Bob Eli actually said that he was interested!!! So, we gave it a shot, he was okay until Big Bob reached out and touched him, then he hid his face against me. But, it was serious progress, there may be hope yet for pictures with Santa next year.

Other (a few weeks older) Firsts

I realized after posting the last entry that we had a few other firsts from the first weeks of the new year that I hadn't posted yet because he got sick. The other firsts are taking his first bubble bath and playing porch ball.

Amazingly, Eli had never had a bubble bath before about a month ago. I guess my thinking was more task oriented. It was actually Scott's idea, and Eli loves it.





Then, a few days after the bubble bath, we had a stay in our pajamas day. It was raining most of the day, but finally there was a break in the rain and Eli wanted to go outside. We didn't get him dressed, but played "Porch Ball" instead. He had to stand on the dry porch and throw the ball back and forth to me. Scott thought we were pretty hilarious, or maybe he said ridiculous and broke out the camera.

A Big Sigh of Relief and a Week of Firsts

We went to my OB appointment on Thursday afternoon to check on my Placenta Previa. I was trying to emotionally brace myself for the worst and hope for the best. But, YAY! it's no longer a problem. I'm so relieved. I know that a C-Section is always possible, but I've drastically reduced my chances and I don't have to worry about any "restricted activities" for the duration. Another YAY!!!

This week for Eli has been a week of firsts and healing. He's still congested and his nose is still running, but it's slowed down to a trickle. Now he has chapped lips, a chapped nose, and a chapped hand -- all fall out of the drippy nose. But, all in all, a MUCH better week than last week, thank God!

In terms of firsts, this week Eli finger painted for the first time. I wasn't sure how he'd react to the goopy experience, but he loved it. Actually, I think his favorite part was the physical sensation on his hands (and arms!). As he painted more and more, the paint somehow kept creeping up his arm towards his pushed up sleeve.



He also figured out how to brush his own teeth and wash his own hands completely by himself. Teeth brushing has never been fun, and it was very hard to convince him to try toothpaste. About six months ago he wanted to try a little of our toothpaste on his toothbrush, and he hated it. We use a minty Tom's of Maine toothpaste that I think in retrospect is very strong for a first time user. A few months later I went to the health food store and bought a "starter" Tom's of Maine toothpaste that was Strawberry flavored and has no fluoride so it's safe to swallow. He wasn't impressed. Finally, I decided that we needed to spend some quality time in the toothpaste aisle together. He picked out a Thomas the Train starter toothpaste, and after one slow night, he now loves it.

But, the really cute thing is that he is now just tall enough to reach the faucet in his bathroom with his tall stool. So, now he brushes his own teeth and washes his own hands, about five times per day. Of course a good portion of the time is spent playing in the water. Though my hippie side cringes, the water waste isn't too bad, and we are trying to limit it without stifling his new interest in personal cleanliness. It also reminds me of a story from my childhood. When my Mom brought me home from the hospital she asked my Dad what he and Seana had been doing together during her absence. He said that she spent most of her time playing in the sink. It must be a two year old thing. Although I think in Seana's case she was sitting in the sink which makes more sense in early fall in San Diego, than in frigid January in Georgia. So here are a few pictures of his new independent clean streak. Notice the tippy toes required to turn on and off the tap.





Another new thing this week is that he's putting on his "Big Boy Shoes" all by himself. He's been putting on and taking off his crocs since this summer, but with the temperatures so cold this week, I've insisted on his closed toed shoes. He took the initiative one morning, and now refuses help.




Finally, this isn't really a first, but sort of, we went to and joined Jumping Jelly Beans yesterday. My MOMS playgroup was held there yesterday morning. Eli and I had a ball, he was so excited that when he woke up from his nap he wanted to take Daddy and show him. We decided to pay a few extra dollars and join for the month of January. We figured with the temperatures being so low lately, that it might be a good temporary substitute for the park. For those of you not familiar with them, Jumping Jelly Beans is a jumping place full of inflatable things to climb on, slide on and jump on. They don't charge for adults but they encourage you to jump with your child. It's a hoot. It wasn't Eli's first time at one of these jumping things, I had a free coupon early last winter, but it was the first time he was really big enough to enjoy it. It was pretty cool to watch how much his climbing skills and confidence improved during the few hours we were there. While we did attempt to take pictures of the jumping and the sliding, none of them came out -- way too blurry. But, here are a few pictures of a few other attractions there, balls and ride on toys. We attracted a little boy named Corbin who played catch with us.