Eli has developed a style all his own. It has come to evolve over time. It first began with Eli wanting to tuck his pants into his boots. This is okay if he's outside playing, but he started wanting to go to school like this! He didn't seem to care when I tried explaining that it just didn't look right and that boys don't wear their pants tucked into their boots. "Well, I do, Mommy!" How could I disagree with him wanting to be his own person? I gave in and allowed him to go to school with his pants tucked into his boots. 
Eli, later pointed out that Woody wears his pants tucked into his boots. Ah, yes, Woody. Woody knows so much more than Mommy does about fashion. What was I thinking?
Next, came Eli wanting to tuck his shirt into his pants, ALL shirts. This included pajama shirts and muscle t-shirts. 
One day, he even wanted to tuck his sweater into his pants. Another day, he tucked the jacket of his Batman jogging suit into his pants. Along with the shirt tucking thing, Eli decided that he really needed to wear a belt and he needed to wear jeans. So, goodbye to the days of dressing sporty. This kid wanted to wear jeans everyday! One day, he came home with a reminder sticker on his shirt about picture day. At nap time, I went in his room to check on him and found this on the floor. 
He picked out his clothes and had them ready for the next day. He even removed the sticker from his shirt and put it on the shirt he would wear the next day. After waking up from his nap, I guess he couldn't resist the nice clothes on his floor. He had to wear them that afternoon and told me he would wear another "nice shirt" tomorrow. After he got over the jeans things, he decided that he needed to wear dress pants all the time. He really likes wearing "nice pants" and "nice shirts" with his belt super tight. This is all very comical to me, and I find myself saying to my trendsetting little man, "Eli, you are something else." He has decided that he doesn't like it when I say that. He does like it, however, when I tell him he looks handsome. Recently, I bought him a tie. He wears the tie around the house a lot, and yep, you guessed it, tries tucking the tie into his pants.
His latest style is to find items of interest, many items of interest, to put on his belt and in his pockets, front and back. 
I find myself having to explain to Eli each morning that he cannot take all of these things to school. Sometimes, it is difficult for him to sit down, or even bend down, with all of these things around his waist. I have decided that as long as he doesn't want to wear a romper with a bib collar, it's all good. That's just wear I draw the line.
My sweet boy keeps me laughing everyday, and even though Stephen is not here to share these precious moments, I am thankful we are able to talk each day and I can share stories about our babies so he can laugh, too.
I knew I started a post about our Chattanooga trip, so I went looking for it. To my surprise, I found a post that was titled, "Klhhypnngvfsaa." Huh? Where did that come from? Then I remembered Bella somehow being on my Blogger app about a week ago. While she was looking at pictures, she said, "Mommy, this is not working," in her little raspy voice. When I looked, she was in Blogger. I guess her post saved. Of course, I cannot delete it, so it now becomes a post on our blog. I love you, my precious little princess!
I have wondered when this would happen. Even before Eli was born, I would read to him. After he was born, we would sit in the floor, or on the chair, or out on the swing and read books, many books. With his big brown eyes focused on each page, he was intrigued with the pictures and how the words on the page sounded as they rolled out of my mouth (or Stephen's when he wasn't working). There was an alphabet, eye level, in the playroom, and I remember when he first started to say the letters of the alphabet. Stephen and I were quite impressed with our little budding genius. Then he started pointing out letters in the book we read all the time, Brainy Baby ABCs. Wow! We had him do it over and over and had to record it, of course. Since our sweet Bella has joined our family, I have often felt, at times, like I don't do enough with Eli, as far as reading goes. For the past few months, he hasn't really had an interest in working on phonics or sight words, and when we have a moment to read during the day, he would rather be playing hide-n-seek or acting like Spiderman. I haven't forced it at all. I want him to love reading; I don't want it to be a chore for him. Over the past week though, it's as if a light has gone off in his head. It's all just clicking now. I can give him a string of letters, he will sound each letter, and then put them together. No problem. Oh how I love hearing the excitement in his voice when he figures out the word he has in front of him. Tonight, he read his very first book ever! I mean he really read the book; it wasn't memorized. He looked at each word, mostly high frequency words, and said each word, needing help with only a few. As Mom, Dad, Bella, and I sat there and listened, we were all so proud of him, and he was proud of himself, too. Way to go, Eli! (video coming soon)
Eli, later pointed out that Woody wears his pants tucked into his boots. Ah, yes, Woody. Woody knows so much more than Mommy does about fashion. What was I thinking?
One day, he even wanted to tuck his sweater into his pants. Another day, he tucked the jacket of his Batman jogging suit into his pants. Along with the shirt tucking thing, Eli decided that he really needed to wear a belt and he needed to wear jeans. So, goodbye to the days of dressing sporty. This kid wanted to wear jeans everyday! One day, he came home with a reminder sticker on his shirt about picture day. At nap time, I went in his room to check on him and found this on the floor. 
He picked out his clothes and had them ready for the next day. He even removed the sticker from his shirt and put it on the shirt he would wear the next day. After waking up from his nap, I guess he couldn't resist the nice clothes on his floor. He had to wear them that afternoon and told me he would wear another "nice shirt" tomorrow. After he got over the jeans things, he decided that he needed to wear dress pants all the time. He really likes wearing "nice pants" and "nice shirts" with his belt super tight. This is all very comical to me, and I find myself saying to my trendsetting little man, "Eli, you are something else." He has decided that he doesn't like it when I say that. He does like it, however, when I tell him he looks handsome. Recently, I bought him a tie. He wears the tie around the house a lot, and yep, you guessed it, tries tucking the tie into his pants.
His latest style is to find items of interest, many items of interest, to put on his belt and in his pockets, front and back. 
I find myself having to explain to Eli each morning that he cannot take all of these things to school. Sometimes, it is difficult for him to sit down, or even bend down, with all of these things around his waist. I have decided that as long as he doesn't want to wear a romper with a bib collar, it's all good. That's just wear I draw the line.
