Eli is still growning up too fast. He was officially 21 months old on Thursday. He's doing things that are too big boy for me, and he looks like a big boy while doing them, too. It's fun to watch him grow and be able to do more and more on his own, but I'll miss the baby boy stage.
He's been riding his tricylcle everywhere, but can't push the pedals quite yet, so I've been pushing him all around the neighborhood. This is exactly why I got the tricycle with the nice push handle that we'll remove once he gets the hang of it. Then instead of pushing, I'll be chasing! Eli also likes his helmet and enjoys wearing it around the house. It's cool because it's like Daddy's helmet!
He's also still working on potty training, which is a slow process, but we're making progress. We've been doing potty training drills outside (and inside) lately, which means bare-bottomed outside with potty ready. The warm December weather has been nice for this. He's been taking off clothes with no problem, and getting dressed by himself for the most part. This is very entertaining for John and I as you can see in the pictures.
Eli's gotten pretty good at brushing his teeth now as well. He continues to help around the house, like feeding Boone, putting things away, picking up his messes, finding things for us, telling me when he's hungry, thirsty, etc. There are several things like this that he's been doing for awhile now, but now I'm noticing that he continues to master these skills, and that he really can do these by himself and doesn't really need my help. This is to be expected, I know. His vocabulary and verbal communication is taking off as well. I know that he's always been listening and storing up words for later, but now they're coming out! All of a sudden he'll point out something and tell me about it and tell me what it is. I get so excited when this happens! I should also mention that his favorite phrase lately is "No, mine!" I'm not too excited about that one!
As you can see in these pictures at the computer, Eli thinks he's a big boy! There was nothing on the screen, but he pretends he's working and knows exactly what to do. I don't know what that face is all about in the first picture!
It sure is fun to watch the things he does and how he goes about doing things. I can see his mind working and problem solving. He thinks he can do it all himself and his way, but we know that's not exactly how it works. I guess that comes with the territory. It's so fun to watch all this growing and learning, but it's bittersweet.
Yes, we now officially have chickens living in our back yard! Have we gone nuts? This is like a dream come true for John. He's been working on the chicken coop for weeks now and finally finished it last weekend. So, yesterday we went to a great store with all kinds of farmin' stuff, including chickens. They were only seven bucks a piece. We got all hens, no roosters. I'm excited about the eggs that we'll be getting for free. We eat a lot of eggs. John's looking forward to the other benefits like fertilizer, aerating the soil, possible meat, etc. Eli loves "his" chickens, too. He calls them "chichens". He keeps wanting us to go outside to look at them with him. Eli also keeps trying to kick the chickens and take their food, so we'll have to work on that. Boone is actually doing well with them. He seems a little scared and unsure of them and just tries to go sniff them. We have even named our chickens: Nugget, Dumplin, Noodle, and Pot Pie...and yes, we can tell them apart. Hopefully they are happy in their new home. It's gotta be better than the dirty, tiny metal cage they were in at the store. 
