Eli's Words

Some new phrases from Eli:

"E eats evey-ting!"
This is the name of a They Might Be Giants song that Eli likes. He applies it to himself because we call him "E" from time to time. And he speaks the truth: E does eat everything!!

"Hope it doesn't dain (rain) t'day!"
I drew a new baseball diamond for Eli in the driveway yesterday. Since we were a bit bored, I got elaborate, adding a home and away side, bleachers, stadium lights, and a few other extras. When I was done, Eli grinned and walked all around the chalk drawings. Then he pensively said, more to himself than anyone, "Hope it doesn't dain t'day!"

"I catch her."
After the chalk drawing portion of our afternoon, I pushed Max around in the red car. One of her favorite things to do is ride down the driveway on her own. (It slopes up just enough at the end to stop her from running into the garage or house.) Eli did not accompany us to the top of the hill as he was still inspecting his stadium. When I got to the top and prepared to let her go, however, Eli threw his arms out wide and said, "I catch her."

"Chalk-ate." "Hmmmm...maybe like hamburgers."
This was a random one. Eli and I have been discussing birthdays as there have been a bunch in the last month or so (Daddy, Uncle J, D, Grandpa Jim, and a few others). When he started talking about it the other day, he named a bunch of other people we know, assuming their birthday was coming up soon too (why not?). I told him that most of them already had their birthday this year, but Grandma Cathie's would be in a month when we visit her. He told me, "She eat birfday cake? E-i eat too!!" Then he told me what kind: "Chalk-ate", which is weird because I don't think this child has had chocolate except for one bite of his great-grandmother's cake 18 months ago. Nonetheless, I said, "Maybe. But what do you know about chocolate? Have you had it?" He said, "Yes, I dike (like) it." So I asked, "What does it taste like?" (He usually answers this question with "grapes".) Today he said, "Hmmm...maybe like hamburgers." So there you have it: chocolate tastes like hamburgers.