The runaway bunny

Today, Elias is in love with this book, a good ole' fashion tragedy of sorts. To me, sounds like the little bunny is trying to individuate a bit from mother bunny, but she just keeps pulling her back to him. It must be hard for mother bunny, but even worse, hard for the little bunny because in the end, he almost hopelessly resigns to never being able to break free from his mom. I wonder why it appeals to Elias?

I do feel like he is my little runaway bunny from time to time, not only because he seems to get into pickles I would often not condone, but mostly I think because my little bunny is growing so fast, there's no way to catch him. He amazes me daily and it feels weird/impossible to try and capture all of the things he does from day to day. Like, how we talk to each other now. Our conversations that he starts from the moment he wakes up until night night time. "Ella? Gar-we? Hei? Pipoo? Juice, yo. Shake shake shake. Sun, up sky bright bright. Toast butt-a." This is how our morning starts. Often, with an adamant request to wear his slippers. He has a word for them, it's close, but it is escaping me. It goes on like this all day, with Elias proudly ID-ing anything he knows the words to, saying "Morn" to passersby or greeting any face with "Hi?" It's fun.

Elias has become quite a quirky little bug over the passed few weeks. It started when my mom came to visit. He refused to take off a certain pair of socks and them further refuced to wear shoes. He HAD to wear his slippers, as if it were a matter of national security. So, he wore the slippers. A battle I need not pick, but the issues are becoming more diverse and with rapid speed. It keeps me on my toes. Like, for instance, today, Elias was very drawn to a certain green crayon while coloring. He wanted desperately to carry it to infinity and beyond. I weighed the pros and cons: happy baby versus drawn upon walls, floors, furniture, etc. The crayon lost and we had to learn to leave the crayons in the kitchen. He got it toward the end and I definitely empathisized with him about how hard it was to not be able to take the crayon with him everywhere. I guess setting limits is my job, it's just most often a very difficult one, especially when faced with an unhappy camper.

Elias has become very lovey lately. He likes to cuddle with me at night, sometimes I sing to him. Currently, we are singing Christmas songs. Off season, we were singing Mary had a little lamb, Ba ba black sheep, Twinkle Twinkle and ABC. The last three all carry the same tune, and I often find singing these lulls momma to sleep. He's been doling out lots of hugs and kisses to friends, family and the like. Not to Santa, however. Never to Santa (or Satan, is it?). Yesterday, Brad was hugging me on the couch and I asked Elias if he wanted to come up on the couch for some love and up he came, first to rest his head on my chest and give me a kiss and then to rest his head on Brad's chest. It was very sweet.

Oh, recent discovery is that Elias likes to play tea. Last Friday at indoor park, Elias played with a toy tea pot and tea cup for hours, pretending to pour and drink and offering to others. He also carried one in each hand, even when he was trying to get into the fire and police cars. It appeared quite a challenge, but Elias seems to grasps the concent "you snooze you lose" thus never letting anything he truly cares about out of his possession until it is time.

"Bright bright"

This morning, Elias woke up too early in too good of a mood! 5:45 is just too soon for me. Plus, I think I have finally caught the boy's cold. Yeah. When we got out of bed, we walked into the bathroom and turned on the light. Elias said "Bright, bright," just like I had said yesterday morning when the lights hurt our sleepy eyes. He's really getting it, on so many levels.

Just lately, he has been starting to count to six, repeat words in songs, and identify letters all over the place. He knows O, Y, N, A, at the very least. He is amazing me everyday with what he can do, like beginning to use objects as tools to achieve some end, like standing on the diapers to get to the sink. I even moved the diapers to the other side of the bathroom, thinking Elias would be outwitted (because standing on the diapers to peer into the sink is a dangerous game). He couldn't be foiled. He just walked right up to the diapers, picked them up and put them back in front of the sink to climb onto. He's an industrious one. His brain is developing so fast, it is crazy, I am amazed more and more each day.

Elias's teeth are coming in faster than I can count. Just before Thanksgiving, I realized that it wasn't just the molars that were poking through, but also one canine. And today, it looks as though all four canines are pushing there way through. He is really doing well, emoitonally and physically considering the pain he must be in. The upside to teeth is that he can pretty much eat anything now. Meat, bread, oranges, etc. And, I am less and less having to modify the food to make it "safe." Elias has taken, all of the sudden, to throwing everything, food included, however, we're not too psyched about that. I think before he starts using a spoon, he'll have to master the art of flinging his food.

Elias's favorite new pasttime around the house is emptying out the pantry. Soup cans and cocoa tins go flying! He also ejoys stacking the contents of the pantry, which can be super funny if, for example, he tries to put a huge tub of Crisco onto a box of Jello, or something. I although he does enjoy the pantry, I think he wears a little pin that says, "I'd rather be emptying out the fridge."

Outside of the house, Elias has been enjoying the company of several lady friends. At the indoor park last week, he was spotted smooching and hugging Ashlin, a baby from our playgroup. It was very sweet. Elias was sitting in his Little Tikes red and yellow coup when Ashlin strolled up the driver's side and leaned her head in for a kiss. Elias graciously reciprocated and flashed a big grin. Ashlin then went in for a big hug. Very cute. Elias has also been enjoying the company of a Miss Piper. I think he and Piper are best buds. He really lights up around her and interacts with her more than I have seen him interact with any other child. Yesterday, he allowed Piper to feed him some tasty snacks, isn't she just the sweetest little nurturer? It was too darn cute! And, of course, they both seem delighted to kiss each other goodbye upon prompting. It is so sweet, I could just explode! On the lovey note, Elias has also been hugging and kissing his toys, his babies. When he was sick, I offered him his fuzzy duck to hold, he grabbed it and hugged it so tightly, it was just so sweet. He is such a sweet boy.

Elias is sleeping now. And, as I was putting him down for a rest, I was thinking how remarkable it is that he has been in my life for 15 almost 16 months! Time has really flown by and geez oh man, how much has he changed? Craziness, wonderful, wouldn't trade it for anything in the world craziness! He looks so peaceful sleeping. He reminds me of Brad.