Elliott Is Three!!

Three years old already? How on earth did that happen?? Time certainly has sped up, especially these last 5-6 months since Audrey came along! Speaking of Audrey, I think that watching Elliott grow in his role of big bother has been my favourite part of these last few months. He is just so sweet with her! Right from the start he has always wanted to hold her and kiss her. He can't walk past her without stopping to give her a hug or a kiss. When she starts crying he will try to comfort her by saying "It's ok Audrey. I'm here." or "It's ok Audrey, Mommy's almost done" (say, if I'm busy doing dishes etc) or he'll sing Twinkle twinkle or the alphabet to her. Even if I have left them both in the living room and Elliott is watching a show on TV and she starts fussing, he will move from the couch to beside her and while keeping his eyes glued on the screen he'll say "It's ok Audrey" and put his arm around her. It's equally hilarious and adorable to watch. Just this morning I walked into the living room where Elliott was putting stickers onto a sheet of paper while standing at the ottoman, and she was fussing, and he moved down to the floor beside her and said "It's ok Audrey, you can watch me do this" And now, while this story didn't happen with Audrey, I think it proves his big bro skills even more...



A couple days ago I had a little boy in the dayhome who was only a year old (not yet walking) and he was quite upset because I was making something in the food processor which was quite loud. He was crying each time I turned it on and by the end had quite a booger-y nose. I had to run another kid downstairs for her nap, and when I came back upstairs and without even looking at the boy I went straight to the bathroom to grab toilet paper to wipe his nose. Elliott saw me and said
"I wiped his nose" Ummmm, what?
"You wiped his nose?" I asked. "With what??" (I was guessing his hand or something equally gross like his sleeve or a tea towel)
"With toilet paper"
"Show me"
Sure enough, he takes me into the bathroom and shows me the crumpled up piece of toilet paper covered in boogers, and the kids face is actually clean. He did a good job! And even threw it away in the garbage!

Soo... big brother skills? Check!

Let's see, what else do I normally write about with these yearly updates...

Food! Elliott definitely has his likes and dislikes, and overall we are so blessed that he isn't too picky an eater. His favourites include chicken, meatballs, soft tacos, pizza, burgers, lasagna, pasta with creamy sauces, dips (especially garlic mayo) Oh, and he LOVES fish. White fish like cod or sole, but also salmon. He'll eat a bigger piece than I do! His favourite vegetables are raw cucumber and orange peppers and cooked cauliflower and carrots. He used to love cooked mushrooms, then one day decided they were yucky. His dislikes include red sauces (unless it's in lasagna) and he doesn't love potatoes. He eats scrambled eggs almost every morning (so thankful he grew out of that allergy!) and his favourite lunch is a turkey wrap (turkey, cheese and garlic mayo in a tortilla) with a side of cucumbers and orange peppers.

He still naps- usually from 12-1. He has started to not fall asleep right away, so I think the end may be near. He wakes up grumpy from some naps, but the last couple weeks have actually been pretty good. Before that he would wake up screaming 4-5 days a week. It was a horrible phase which I hope not to repeat!

We started putting him to bed half an hour earlier (7:30 instead of 8) about a month ago and it has really improved his sleep! He's never been a great sleeper - always woken 1-2 times a night, but then would go through phases of it being more like 4-5 times a night. Now he sleeps through the night completely 4-5 times a week, and wakes up once to pee only a couple times a week. So so amazing! I can't even explain what a giant answer to prayer this has been! He even sleeps longer some days too - where before he would run to our room mere moments after his Gro Clock would turn to the sun (at 6 am) but now he wakes up anywhere between 6-7. Like, I'm actually not shocked when he sleeps until 6:30 now. Trust me when I say this is a brand new development!

Speaking of peeing in the middle of the night - He is potty trained and has been since July. I'm writing this down partially because I think I'll probably forget once Audrey gets closer to potty training age, haha. So, for the record he was 2 years, 3 months old. We potty trained him in a day and a half using the 3 Day Potty Training Method. It was about a million times easier than we expected it to be, and yes, we realize that doesn't mean it will be this easy with Audrey ;)

Some of Elliott's favourite things to do are to help us in the kitchen- both with cooking and dishes. Also, to fix anything and everything with his tools (especially if Daddy has his tools out for any reason! He'll run and get the matching tool! He loves playing with his cars and his dinosaurs the most these days. He is such a social kid- he'll walk right up to kids he doesn't know and start playing. (Sometimes he'll even introduce himself. We're working on that, haha) He loves to play and wrestle, and so if anyone wrestles around with him (adults especially) they will become his new best friend. He really loves adult men and will walk right up and start talking... and then try to jump on and wrestle with them, haha. He is so smart, and asks so many thoughtful questions (I mean, I get a lot of "Why??" too, but really! He asks good questions!) I joke with him that he'll be driving in no time because he asks so many questions while I drive.
"Why you not going Mommy? The yight is green" (we were turning left)
"Why we going so slow here?" (school zone)

and he says such smart things all the time..
"It snowed so I need to shovel"

and sounds like such a grown up sometimes!
"It's fine you don't want to bring your water bottle, but I'll bring mine" (I had just said we didn't need to bring them because we were just running to the store)

He asks me all the time "How your day Mommy?" and if I get frustrated with him for something he immediately prays for me and says "Dear Jesus, help Mommy have good day and not be upset!" then he asks "Your day good now Mommy?" (hard to say no after that!)

Oh, and how this boy loves Jesus! Already, I can see how he has a relationship with Him. Anytime he gets hurt he asks Jesus to make it better. Especially if he's bleeding, haha. He has a tiny freckle on one of his hands, and one day out of nowhere he said "Jesus made that dot. That's how He made me" And he asks such good questions! "If Jesus is up in Heaven than how can he be here with us?" (I'm taking suggestions on how to answer that, by the way!) I love how when he thanks Jesus for something he looks up and says it a little louder, just to make sure he hears him <3

Oh, how I love this boy!