"What did you just say?"

Where is the time going? It must be going faster now that Elliott is talking up a storm. I hadn’t even gotten the chance to write down some of his quirky bits of language – like “homa” for “phone,” and then all of a sudden he discovers the letter “F” and starts saying the word clearly. The last few weeks have been amazing as he puts together words and engages in more participatory play. He likes to kick the soccer ball underneath the pine tree boughs, hold up his hands in a questioning gesture and ask, “Where soccer ball be?” Then when both parties locate it, he says points and says, “Daddy get it.” He’s quick to inform us when his “placemat fell down.” It’s got a farm scene on it, and he loves to point to all the animals (and the tractor!) while eating. The animals usually get to speak, to, especially the cocadoodling rooster. He also gets a kick out of enjoying his food, saying, "Good" and "yummy" with a circle on his belly. (Speaking of bellies, he still requests regular checks on our bellybuttons.)

Elliott has surprised us with his newfound mathematical proficiency. He’s started counting. He says "two" when he's holding two of something, and sometimes he just counts for fun, often up to three or four, a few times up to eight or ten. At the top of the slide, he said, "One, two, three, six, Go!" We're not really working to teach him numbers, and I really don’t think they do anything like that at his preschool (never seen anything but play when I’ve co-oped), but I do model counting, and apparently he’s picked it up. Modeling also seems to work for manners. While pulling down his shirt sleeves, he accidentally knocked his plate to the floor. We were all a little surprised, and I said, something like, “Oops. You knocked off the plate by accident.” Then he said sweetly, “Sorry.” He's always liked saying thank you, and the few times I do ask for something it's "Can you say that politely to switch him off of whine mode." He happily chirps, "please!" and poof, his mood is happy! There’s a page in Todd Parr’s The Peace Book that says, “Peace is saying sorry when you hurt someone.” I’ve done the sign there and try to do it whenever I happen to say sorry to Elliott or anyone else. John informs me that Elliott signs sorry on that page whenever they read the book together. He also did it belatedly after some playgroup skirmish, so it seems like he's picked up on when it's appropriate. I like to think my kid might learn to be considerate just because it feels good.

Elliott has very clear opinions on books now, calling them by name and pointing or bringing them to us. We’ve been so taken aback, John and I keep asking each other, “Do you do the Head to Toe book with him a lot?” “Were you two reading the Haiku book? Why is he asking for the Haiku book?!” Barb and Roland spent several days visiting with us, so I got to hear some of this discovery anew as Elliott showed them the ropes of our house and toys.

In cooking fun, Elliott ate a bunch of butternut squash after I asked him to help put it in the pot. He’s never liked squash, and it wasn’t even that good. He enjoyed making his own pancake yesterday morning, and it sure was more enjoyable to have him occupied next to me dirtying a couple of extra bowls rather than pulling at our pantlegs all morning. I need to pay more attention to opportunities for helping. Cleaning up toys doesn’t seem to be anyone’s forte around here, unfortunately.

Elliott seems to have lost his fear of slides, and his grandmother even pronounces him intrepid. He likes to go exploring in the aforementioned “forest” (for fun, not to retrieve balls), climb up ladders at the playground and even walk down the slope in our backyard with no help (even I have trouble doing that!) He’s been disappointed by global warming’s insidious removal of snowman potential, and he doesn’t shirk from cold temps when we actually do get a taste of winter. He's still really social, too. The other day at the playground, he made friends with some third graders. We've left him a few times recently with neighbors, and he's had no problems at all. He's starting to think of his friends when they're not around, remembering that he said "Bye-bye Karey, Bye-bye Henry" after being with them one morning and asking, "Joey come?" when I said he was going to play with, Preston, the neighbor boy who sometimes plays with him and Joey.

Elliott still loves music and is very excited to dance in the driver's seat if I let him play in our car (special occasions in the driveway only). He is singing a lot more these days; I can't wait to get back into Music Together class next session after a little nap-induced hiatus. He even does the tonal patterns, and he starts singing a song if I just hint at a few words/notes.

Current obsessions include choo-choo trains, trucks and school buses. "More choo-choo train," he demands if we pass by the Metro! "See truck. Truck go by." He implores on trash day, when he fears garbage is being removed without his oversight. "School bus!" he exclaims when he sees one, following up with "people sit." We have a Little People bus but no Little People, like he does at school. I sometimes coax him into his booster chair by reminding him that if he sits there, he'll get to see out the window at all the cars and trucks that go by. Oh, and he makes sure we notice anytime a helicopter or plane flies overhead, which is often in our location. Some of this I've probably written before, but I barely can find the time to write, much less cross-check.

So there you have it. 22 months and counting.