Quack-a-doodle-do

That is a nickname I've been using for Eli for quite some time now. Usually not to his face, but to Lehr when I am referring to his son. There are several reasons I've come to rely on this nickname, but the main one is the simple fact that Eli is a quack. Pure and simple. His silly chicken eyes should be a good enough example, but if not, here are a few others:

- Eli will pour water over his face (maybe it's an attempt to pour it over his hair/head, but he ALWAYS misses), and then try to run from it, laughing and wiping his face the whole time.

- Eli loves to identify people, objects, and body parts. He does this quite often in the car, if he's in a good mood. Usually it starts with him saying 'no', which is Eli's slang for 'nose'. Once he indicates he wants to play that game, I'll ask him where is ears are, his knees, his eyes, etc. Usually after three or four body parts, Eli will return to his 'no' on his own, and instead of pointing to it, he'll put a finger up it. Wait. It gets better. He will continue to say 'no' while he then takes the pointer finger from his other hand and places it up his other nostril. Quack-a-doodle-do.

- Eli will attempt to do a somersault on his own now. But instead of rolling forward, he'll put his head towards the ground and then fall to the side, kinda sorta, but not really rolling sideways. Much like his chicken eyes, what happens in his mind differs from the reality.

- When I put Eli down for a nap, and sometimes when Lehr puts him down at night, Eli will play in his crib for a loooong time. Pretty normal, I know. But I still use an audio monitor and so I am privy to the one-way conversations he has with himself while he's playing. "Uh Oh!!", "Hepp!!" (Help), and "Mamamamama" (but not like he's calling me - just like he's saying it) can be heard in varying tones and volumes.

I'm all out for now, but I assure you I could go on for pages about this. On a 'non' quack-a-doodle-do note, Eli is still a fan of rubbing lotion on me each day. He also loves to make sure my hair is brushed each morning. The other day he asked Lehr to help him get into the big chair with Elmo (melmo) and Howie (Hah-ee) the other day. Then Eli proceeded to read "Goodnight Moon" to them. Hopefully he'll be as concerned about the daily upkeep of his brother or sister.