talking talking talking!

Eli is in a language development spurt. Brandon and I were just mentioning that he's only added a few new words to his vocab in the past couple months and were hoping he'd have some growth in that area soon. Well we got our answer! This week he has broken out a lot of new words and is trying to say things he's never said before. This week alone he's started saying "I LOVE ya", "Dave", "Boo boo", "Cheetah", "Cheese", and more that I can't remember at the moment. He's also babbling sentences in his own made up words, especially when he's playing on his own. It's really fun to listen to him talking to himself while he jumps in leaves or scribbles in chalk on the sidewalk. One word he's been saying in his sentences is "abrilla" in a sort of Italian/Spanish way. Who knows what it means to him, but it's so cute.

Eli had his first official huge toddler melt down yesterday. It was so amazing I called Brandon so he could hear it in the background. It was all over the fact he wanted to go do chalk while I was making lunch, but I told him he had to wait until after we ate. Oh, was he mad. He was screaming chalk over and over again and cried and cried. I think I might have gotten a quick glimpse of the terrible twos. When switching activities Eli has been doing really well on not getting mad (like leaving the park, coming inside, etc.) as long as we give him a 5, 3, and 1 minute warning. Then, I praise him like crazy for listening and not getting upset. He's definitely doing better than I would expect (still has his moments though).

I am getting into the Christmas spirit around here. No, I haven't broken out the decorations or music (although I want to), I do have Eli's Christmas shopping DONE! Done, I tell ya! We just got him a few things (since he's not going to care at this age anyway and will be smothered with presents from relatives). It's nice to have it done though. Especially since I'll have the baby to shop for after December 8 when we find out boy or girl. I really would like to have presents under the tree when we get one after coming home from Plano, so now I'm ready! By the way...I'm feeling little baby kicks! Here's a video of Eli doing "cart wheels". He tries so hard!