Monday, February 18, 2008

Happy Presidents Day?



Yikes!!! What's happened to me? My commitment to blogging has tapered off, but not on purpose! I'll fill you in after I give you a little eliot fix. After all, isn't that what this is for?

*I think I've begun to see the start of the little monster that I've created. On a regular basis, I put things in E's pockets or his hood to see what he'll do. He typically just pulls them out or ignores them completely. The other night I was on the floor of his room cleaning up before bed and he was making his "tickle tickle" sound while tickling my neck. Then he stopped and came around to see my face, while grinning quite mischeiviously. It took me a minute but I figured out that he'd hid a puzzle piece in my hoodie. Little turkey.

*We have a Memory game that features pics of his favorite cartoon characters, the Backyardigans. Just to see what would happen I pulled out one of each card and set it in front of him. Then I gave him one that matched them. He studied it carefully and then grabbed the match and handed it to me! Brilliance!!! We repeated the same thing and he correctly matched the cards 8 times!!

*Eliot has decided that walking on your tip-toes is a better way of getting from point a to point b. We're hoping it's just a stage.

*We've been trying to catch a picture of it, but Eliot has started standing like Russ on purpose. Every once in awhile, probably more often than he realized, Russ will stand with his arms crossed leaning against the pillar that separates our living room from our dining room. Typically it's when he's in the middle of a task but takes a second to watch something on the television. Three times now, Eliot has gotten up from his chair to lean against the pillar with his little arms crossed while watching cartoons. It kills us.

*Eliot has a new job around the house and he loves it!!! See below:

I read this idea in a magazine and loved it! You remove the middle sections from the swiffer pole and put them to work! Eliot absolutely loves it!


Speaking of new jobs, that's where I've been. A week and a half ago, I started subbing full-time at a school I used to work at years ago. They were in need of a permanent sub and we could use a boost in our finances while things gear back up to where they were pre-guate. It's a blessing in terms of providing for our finances but it's been really hard for me. I hate leaving Eliot (who's at home with Russ since he also works from home) each day and I'm not ready to go back to teaching. I will go back someday when all our children are in school but it's not for me right now. It's only until June so I'm just hunkering down and doing it. It's definitely an adventure so far! My list of experiences over the last 7 school days include second grade, fourth grade, fifth and sixth grade, 7/8 self-contained special edu, and music for grades 5-8. Um...yikes. If I ever was needing a practice on any behavior management skills, this is it!

5 comments:

Amanda said...

He has to be the cutest little guy in the whole world!!! Please keep trying to get that picture of El standing like Russ...it could go in the scrapbook right next to the picture of dad and Russ sitting the exact sameway while watching sports.
I am praying that your next few months only get better with the teaching stuff.
I can't wait to come up for some El time in April...I am more than excited about that weekend with him.
Love you guys!!!

Heather S. said...

Lucy walks on her toes, too! I think it's a phase, Kevin says I walk on my toes sometimes - who knows!!
I'm totally impressed with the memory matching. I don't think Lucy would even be interested - I may have to try.
I will be praying for you as you continue to work the next couple of months!!!

K.M.L said...

Hopefully subbing will go well the next couple of months...is this the place where I used to work too??? Eliot is TOO cute swiffering around the house. :) You crack me up!

Jodie Allen said...

we do the swiffering thing too... and i just taught bailey how to use the hose on the dyson! yesterday parker was swiffering and bails was vacuuming! can't get better than that!

oh, and i want to give you my homemade matching game... it's awesome and if he likes matching he'll love this idea (and it's easy to make!)

OH, and i gave you an award on my blog tonight! enjoy!

Jon said...

Grant says to tell Eli that the Backyardigans DO ROCK!

[singing] YOU'RE BACKYARD FRIENDS THE BACKYARDIGANS.......[singing]