Eli Updates

We've had a particularly good few days with Eli. Yesterday he was just a gem, through and through. He shared, he used his manners, he played with Mommy and was very 'involved' in his play, and he rolled with the flow, even when plans changed. Today has been almost as good. Although we'd planned on a gym trip this morning (meaning the kid-zone for Eli, which he wasn't excited about), we ended up walking with Noah and his mom instead. Even though Eli loves Noah, he really wanted to stay home and play catch with Mommy, as he reminded me about 20 times on the way to our walk. In the end he had a good walk and was rewarded with a trip to see the horses afterward. We walked all the way down to the Polo fields so Eli, Maddie and Noah could see the horses. There were five or six behind a short wooden fence when we arrived. They were very friendly too; the horses came right over and stuck their heads over the fence to investigate us. Eli was not at all scared and he put his hand out several times to pet them. (I didn't let him because the owner wasn't nearby and my knowledge of horses and how to handle them is non-existent.)

Our neighbors were outside when we returned home, so Eli and Maddux played with them for a few minutes before we ate lunch. Eli shared so well with both the girl and boy, and didn't give me any lip when I gave him a 1-minute warning before we had to go inside. My favorite moment came during lunch: Eli was eating a banana and broke off a small piece, held it out, and said, "I got small piece for Max." Life is good when your toddler willingly and independently shares.

Eli is really into imagination these days. He often leaves toys in specific spots in the house with the explanation that they are sleeping, or eating, or a myriad of other activities. Last night when Lehr put Eli to bed, the last request Eli made was for Daddy to take his turtle downstairs. Lehr obliged, but asked what the turtle was going to do down there while Eli slept. E told him to make the turtle some eggs and water. Ooooookaaaaaaay. Door closed; conversation finished. First thing Eli said to me when I woke him up this morning: "Turtle downstairs eatin' eggs." Stuff sticks with this kid!

On the Time-Out front, we've made progress!! This weekend we started with 'the chair'. Instead of a carpet square or a step for Eli to sit on, we placed a kitchen chair in the other room for him to sit on during his allotted time out (we're up to 4 minutes). Genius. I will admit I had next to no hope that this would work, but so far so good. For now anyway! We've had about four time outs in the last few days and he has yet to get out of one without permission. I can see the light!! The tunnel is almost behind me!

In closing, Eli's baseball fever is running high. He loves loves LOVES playing catch these days. In the last week I've been working with him to get 'in front' of the ball when I toss it to him. (Since he insists on using a real baseball, I often toss it to him as a bounce, so he has some warning.) He repeats "in frunt ov ball!" back to me randomly during our play, and he really takes the advice to heart most of the time! Please hear me when I say that I praise him for his effort, regardless of his ability, as I feel the former is more important. But lately I have been able to praise the success a lot more.