Hold me!

In the past few weeks, Elliot's vocabulary has just exploded. And, Mr. Precocious has discovered that certain phrases elicit certain responses from me.

His (and my) favorite: When he wants something from me -- like he wants to get down from his high chair or wants me to carry him somewhere -- he reaches for me and says plaintively "Hold me!!!" and then gives me a huge koala bear hug around the neck. It melts my heart every time, even when I carry him all the way home from the park because every time I suggest he get down and walk he looks at me with those huge eyes and pleads his case "Hold me!!!!!" Hug. Of course I will.

He also has turned the phrase "I do it!" into his personal mantra. Except when Elliot says it it's more like "I DO IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" I don't even think I'm using enough exclamation points to really show you how emphatic he is about it. This phrase applies to absolutely everything. Cutting onions for dinner, brushing his teeth, peeing in the toilet, locking the car door, using the scissors, playing the guitar, trimming his nails, setting the dishwasher buttons, etc. He shows an alarming disregard for how dangerous the task might be and he is so vehemently committed to following through I sometimes have to literally pry him from the task. Sometimes I don't win.

He has taken to collecting coins in his pocket. Whenever he finds one, he yells with glee "Pemmy!" ( Penny, or dime, or quarter, they are all pemmy to Elliot) and then carefully places it in his pocket. Then he stamps his feet to hear the jingling of coins in his pants and is totally and completely happy.

And even Owen was impressed when Elliot "accidentally" messed up something Owen was playing with and Elliot immediately turned to Owen and said"I sorry, Owee".

He is a little parrot repeating things back to us and finding new ways to combine his words. "Baby-drinky-table!" he said today at lunch when he wanted his milk next to his plate. Then, he broke into a huge grin when he realized that I actually understood him.