Eli's talking a bit more

Since Kaila and Tristen arrived Eli has become a little chatter box. He is actually saying "Please" instead of his old "ssss." He is saying snack and sip, and a lot of other words that have for some reason left me at the moment.

I am attempting to get some of the chatter box on video, but he isn't quite cooperating. Here is what I have been able to get so far.

But I'll keep working on it.

The many faces of Hannah

Hannah has many personalities, and many faces to go along with those personalities.

We have her normal, contemplative face. This is when she ponders the worlds troubles trying to solve all that is wrong to make the world a better place.

Then we have her growl face.

This means she's trying to be funny, but she usually ends up scaring everyone away.

This is her mean face.

This shows only when she is truly angry, and it is warning sign that only those prepared for her attitude should cross her path.

Personally, I send her to her room whenever this face emerges.

This is her irritated face.
It tends to come out a lot whenever I have my camera. Hmm, interesting.

And my personal favorite, the Kool Aid mustache face. Who doesn't love a cutie with big brown eyes and a red Kool Aid mustache.

I mean, what's not to love?

Eli has found his calling

The other day in attempt to get Hannah to ride like a big girl with just two wheels I removed the training wheels from her new bike. Of course this involved getting the correct size wrench, loosening the bolts, removing the training wheels, and then tightening the bolts back on. Pretty simple task that only took a few minutes. After I was done I set the wrench down and walked to the street with Hannah to help her practice. When we came back to the driveway this is what I found.
A bit nerve wracking to walk up and find your two year holding a wrench, sitting next to his sister's old bike, with a little smirk on his face. Ben said, "He's just removing the training wheels."

JUST REMOVING THE TRAINING WHEELS!!!???!!! Um.....he's 2!!!

And he really was removing the training wheels. He worked on one side. Loosened it up until it was able to be removed with his fingers. And then at his dad's direction.....

He switched to the other side.

See the tongue poking out between his lips. That's some serious concentration there.

He worked on this side for quite a while. I guess cause his Dad moved onto another project.

In the end, he loosened both wheels until they were about to fall off.

And then...he either lost interest or moved onto something more interesting. I'm not sure which.

But we're pretty sure Eli has found his calling. Guess it's time to get him some tools of his own, and maybe offer up a few things that he can take apart.

And as Grandpa suggested.....make certain we never allow him to see anyone working on a car, or we may come out and find all four tires removed!

I'm a Cowboy Baby!!!

About a year ago my older sister married Kent. The nut (my sister, not Kent, well maybe both, but anyway) decided that she wanted both of my children and me in the wedding. (You can see the pictures of the wedding here.) Well, the whole ring bearer thing didn't turn out too well for Eli. He hated the cowboy boots my sister wanted him to wear, and refused to wear the cowboy hat she had spent a small fortune on.

Well, a few days ago I was redoing Eli's closet and found the hat wrapped up on the very top shelf of his closet. I thought to myself, "How silly. I should let him play with the hat. It's not doing anyone any good sitting up here." So I took the hat down and instantly Eli was in love.

Another side note. Previously in his life Eli hated anything on his head. No hats, no hoods, nothing. He would scream and pitch a fit until the annoying article of head decor was removed. But recently Ben placed his hard hat on Eli's head, and Eli thought it was pretty cool. Since then, he'll allow hats on his head for short periods.

So when I took the hat down and handed it to Eli, he was instantly in love. He started wearing the hat all around the house. His favorite thing to do is to stand in front of the glass doors of my curio cabinet and try the hat on in different positions.
I'm pretty sure he's thinking, "I'm so dog gone handsome."

The moral of the story. Make sure your child will wear hats before your sister spends a small fortune on a cowboy hat that your child won't touch. And if your child doesn't like hats.....duct tape a hat to his/her head a few weeks before the said event so they'll like hats.

Oh, and thirdly, my baby is just about the cutest kid on the planet!!!!

Quotes of the Day

We're sitting at the dinner table eating Chicken Fried Rice.

Tristen to Ben: "Why are you eating rice with a fork? That's just not right."

Ben: "Why are you eating rice with a spoon?"

Tristen (make sure to add the VERY sarcastic tone): "Cause that's how you're supposed to eat it!!"

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Still sitting at the dinner table.

Tristen: "Why can't we go swimming?"

Ben & Kaila: "Cause it's raining."

Tristen: "But why can't we go screaming."

Hannah (add sarcastic 13 year old tone): "CAUSE IT'S RAINING DUDE!!!"