remember this

TJ, 20 months

When I go shopping, I make TJ ride in the cart.  On our failed walmart trip last night, Tyler let him walk and TJ picked out lots of things and put them in the cart (like a coloring book, some toys, ....).  We put them back, but seeing him be a little shopper making his own choices was just adorable.

When I ask if he's ready for breakfast, he runs into the kitchen and opens the pantry to pick a cereal.  His favorite is rice crispies.  Sometimes he asks for sugar on top.  Sometimes he asks for milk.  He usually eats it dry.  Some days he asks for waffles instead, by dragging a chair over to the toaster so he can watch and wait for the waffles to pop.

He says "Goo-go" (jugo, spanish for juice).  Sometimes he says "ciao," but usually he says "Buh-bye."  He says bubble, outside, Eshi (eli), and is going through a phase of calling Tyler "mama" which I find hilarious.  Tyler does not.

He says "No" now and is using it to assert his will like crazy.  It used to be that whenever I asked him to do something (throw this diaper away, put your milk in the fridge, close the door) he did it without question.  Now he says no just to see what will happen.  I can see it in his eyes- he is starting to test his limits.  But he isn't nasty about it.  He is just wondering if he gets to get away with saying no.

He likes to do chores with us.  I've caught him with the toilette scrubber "washing" the toilette for me, so now we close the door so he can't see us doing that one.  At the family reunion, Grandma bought a swiffer and he LOVED it.  So now he has his own swiffer and in the evenings when I sweep he swiffers the kitchen floor.

He empties the dishwasher.  When we are patient enough to help him, he puts away pots, pans, bowls, and cups.

When we give Eli the occasional bottle, TJ loves to help.  When he finds a bottle (in the dishwasher or fridge) he runs it over to Eli and sticks it in his mouth.

When Eli is crying and I don't take care of him right away, TJ tries to help.  One day he gave Eli his own binky.  A few times he tried to pick Eli up, but couldn't, so he started dragging Eli towards me instead.

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Eli, almost 3 months

Eli loves to stand up.  He gets ever so fussy if I lay him on his back where he can see me, and cries until I come over and hold his hands and help him sit up/stand up.  

He loves it when Tyler sings "hi-ho, hi-ho, it's off to work we go" and when I play patty-cake with his feet.  It makes him smile and smile.  

He does crunches when he is laying flat.