Girls

Eli has two friends that are girls that live within a stone's throw of our house. He plays with them often enough and he really likes them both. I never see him get nervous or giggly about them though, even though at various times he's told me that he will marry each of them. There is a girl in his class, however, that I suspect may be his first crush. "E" was in his class last year and he had a bit of a liking to her then, as well.

The fact that she is the only repeat classmate he has this year was definitely good news to Eli. They even sat at the same desk-cluster for the first month or so of 1st grade. And often times when I go to eat lunch with Eli at school, he'll be sitting with or very near her and her friends. The main reason I think Eli like-likes her is his attention to her details. He'll tell me randomly, "Mommy, "E" has pink shoes with purple laces and a little white line down the side.", or "Yesterday "E" had carrot sticks in her lunch too.", or even, "Some days "E's" hair is really curly, but usually it's just a little curly." And when she sweeps the floor in the lunchroom after she finishes her lunch (apparently it's a privilege to do that!), Eli always sticks his feel out so she has to sweep them. (This is a detail she told ME the last time I went to school for lunch. Strangely, she had a silly grin on her face as well...)

It seems as though nothing is too insignificant for Eli to notice about this girl. And when I ask him if he likes her, he grins really big and says, "Nooo." Yeah, right....you're not fooling anyone.