Why I Blog

I wondered today whether I'll be as expressive with Elijah when he is older.  In some ways I love the relationship we have right now that I don't want him to grow up.  But that would just be silly.  He's going to make a wonderful, wonderful adult and it would be a crime for the world not to know him as a man.

Nevertheless, after he passes a certain age, I'll bet he won't be that interested (at least outwardly) in how I feel about him; and around that same time, I'll probably get hesistant about expressing my love for him too.  Well....it's largely because I know that time is coming that I want to blog about him as much as I can now.  I hope that I'm wrong and that in some way I'll be able to let him know that I love him and he'll be interested.  But even if that's not possible, I hope that he'll be able to read this blog and know how much his dad cherishes every moment with him.

Shoba Niranyo

When Eli finishes his bath these days we wrap two towels around him....one draped over his head and the other wrapped around his body.  He has the option of being a Thirumeni (bishop), Achen (priest) or Jedi Knight (jedi knight), and lately he's been choosing Achen.  When we pick him up out of the bath tub we usually spend a moment looking in the mirror and Eli says "Dada, I want to sign shoba niranyo"....which is his reference to the call to worship that usally starts our church services.   It's so cute because he makes me sing the whole thing and he tries his best to sing along too.

A funny side story I just got from Gina is this: Gina and Eli were on their way to Chicago and Gina told Eli that his velyappacha (great grandfather) was there but that he only spoke Malayalam.  She asked Eli if he could speak in malayalam to velyappacha....and Eli said "Mama, I will say 'Shoba Niranyo'".  Unbelievable, this kid.

Wha some this?

Kind of in the manner of his prior "or some" phase (see post a few months ago) he's recently been saying "Wha some this?" when he wants to know what something is.  It's too funny and if I can capture and figure out how to post an audio clip I will.  I don't know where this linguistic obsession with "some" came from, but it's hilarious.

I Will Make Her Ticklish

Yesterday when I was driving Eli home from his grandparents' house, I told him that his mom was sad because one of her friends had gotten some bad news.  Here's a pretty close transcript of how it went:

Me: Hey buddy...when we get home we have to give mama a big hug because she is sad

(a few seconds pause)
Eli: Mama is cwying?

Me: No, but she is feeling sad because her friend is sad.

Eli: Mama's fwend is cwying?

Me: I think so.

Eli:  Dada?

Me: Yea, bud

Eli: Have to say "s'ok mama"

Me: Ok buddy....we can do that as soon as we get home.

Eli: Dada? I want to do that wight now.

Me: Well we can't buddy, we're in the car.  When we get home you can give mama a big hug and tell her you love her.

Eli: I will say "love you, miss you, kiss you".

Me: Ok buddy you do that.  And since she's sad we'll have to make her laugh and feel better.  Can you do that?

Eli: Dada?

Me: Yea.

Eli: I will tickle her.

Me (trying to hide my laugh): Great idea, buddy.  You do that.

Eli: Yea!  I will make her ticklish!

And he did.  What a cute kid.

Really....sit nexta me

I forgot to write about the title in my last post.  So whenever he is eating anything he wants me to sit next to him really close.  I can't resist when he says "Dada....can you sit nexta me" and then pulls another chair close to his.  He even does this with the little chairs at his table in the basement....needless to say sitting on those can be a bit of a challenge.  He also loves to play chest.....otherwise known as chess.  We have a chess board set up downstairs and he says "Dada....i will take your horsie" and then I take one of his and we go back and forth.  Later on we'll trade each other to get our favorite pieces back.  He knows which pieces are pawns, rooks and the king.  I taught him about the bishop pieces, but he calls them christmas trees...speaking of which...

He LOVES Christmas trees.  We put one up at our house and he just sits in front of it and stares.  He loves all of the different ornaments and, of course, the lights.  We have already put presents under the tree and Eli goes and rips the bows off and tells me that the bow fell off....yea right.  We're trying to figure out what to get him for Christmas because we want it to be something he loves.  A lot of folks are getting him musical gifts because he loves music so much....guitar from my parents, piano from Shirley.  this morning we were watching Barney's Band together and he said "Dada...can you buy a saxophone for me?  and a trombone too?"  I would love to...but perhaps when he's a bit older.  It's great being a dad.

Sit nexta me

Continuing previous threads....Eli has been really into me lately.  He comes over and grabs my hand and makes me come into the family room to join him in whatever he's doing....drawing on his MagnaDoodle, dancing to Barney's Band or playing catch.  Catch is a lot of fun with him.....he catches about 1 out of every 4 I throw him and loves playing.  He also likes to slam dunk a tennis ball into a basket.

My latest trick with him is a disappearing act.  He thinks I can make two tennis balls disappear and then suddenly they appear in my mouth and I cough them out.  I tried the trick the other day and he loved it; Gina wasn't fooled, though.

He loves watching Barney.  There's one episode in which Barney and the gang learn about marching bands....and whenever it's on Eli grabs his toy instruments and marches around with them.  He's so cute and I'm doing my best to get it on video.....more classic footage for the wedding video.

Fight Club

I've recently been very sad about having to teach Elijah how to defend himself.  He's only 2 yrs 3 months (almost) but already has to deal with kids being physically agressive at school.  He's been really unhappy at daycare lately and we suspect it's because some boys are pushing and hitting him.  Apparently he doesn't do anything back.  It really makes me mad to think that he's being punished for being a good kid.

Recently I started teaching him how to punch and sternly say "stop it" if someone pushes him or hits him....but it breaks my heart to have to do so.  This morning I at one point while he was watching Barney he spontaneously got up from the chair and started dancing around and asked me to dance too.  It was too cute, but in light of what's been going on I found myself getting emotional.  I want him to be a kid as long as possible and not have to worry about all of the jerks in this world.

We're not sure at this point what we're going to do.  I'm torn between pushing him to deal with it and grow and providing a better environment for him.  I don't know if what he's experiencing at the daycare is normal or not.  One thing Gina observed is that when he's in other settings with kids they don't just randomly hit and push each other.....it typically revolves around a toy each one wants or something.  I just don't know.  I love him and hate the thought of anyone hurting him.  If anyone reads this and has some advice/encouragement please share.

Pancake Spiders

Eli went to daycare today and we knew that they were going to be having a party and making "pancake spiders."  Of course, Elijah is allergic to dairy and egg so normally pancakes are out of the question.  Gina, however, found a pancake recipe that does not use dairy and egg.....it simply involves pancake mix and Sprite.  I tasted them and they're not the best....but at least he'll be able to participate.  This morning when I dropped him off he was so adamant that I not forget his pancake mix and he wanted to make his pancake spider....and he looked so cute decked out in his orange and white and black seasonal clothing.

S'OK Dada

Eli's like any other toddler in that he takes quite a few spills every day and needs to be comforted.  Usually we'll pick him up and pat the ouchie, tell him "it's okay" and he'll put his head down on my shoulder.  Yesterday I played in an intramural soccer match and injured myself.  This morning I naturally was very sore and strained my back trying to pick him up, so I just lay down on the couch.  I forgot about my pain when Eli came up to me, starting patting my arm and said "S'OK dada, s'ok dada".  Too cute.

Daycare

This is our second school year in Michigan and it has gotten tougher on all of us.  Gina is working full-time again at a great school, but she is away from home far more than she likes to be.  My classes actually are a little easier, but Eli is still finding himself in daycare more than last year.  His daycare is fantastic (Morningstar)....they really take good care of him and keep a low kid to teach ratio.  But we still feel horrible sending him there all day.  I hope that can change next year.

His teachers are Miss Audrey, Miss Jenny, Miss Stacey and Miss Chris.  He talks about all of them profusely when he gets home.  He also talks about his frends: Parker, Caleb, Vincent, Nathan, Lola.  And he tells me about all of the fun they have in the tot lot (their playground).

The best part of my day is when I go to pick him up.  Typcially, I walk into the daycare center and no one's there; they're all outside in the tot lot.  I try to get out there as inconspicuously as possible and watch Eli playing for a few minutes.  He usually is on a toy car and likes to ride it over a small hill they have set up for the toddlers.  The other day I went and he was running around the lot with a mass of other kids.  After about two minutes he saw me and his reaction was enough to bring a smile to any Dad's face. His eyes got real big, he was smiling from ear to ear and he took off and ran with all his might, Spiderman sneakers lighting up the whole way over to the fence where I was standing with his arms outstretched towards me the whole time.  As he got closer I could hear him saying "coming, coming!" which is his way of asking me to pick him up.  As soon as I pick him up he waves to everyone and says bye.  It doesn't get any better than that.

Downsense, Moke and Babytalk

Eli's over two now, but he now will intentionally say things as he did when he was a baby to be cute.  If we're upstairs in the bedroom, he'll say "Dada.....Elijah want to go downsense" then I'll say "it's downSTAIRS, not downsense" and of course that only strengthens his determination to say downsense.

He does the same thing with milk.  He knows that it's called milk, but he'll say "Dada I want some moke" and then later say "Dad, babies say MOKE, Elijah say milk".  He also talks about himself a lot in the third person, in case you hadn't noticed.

He'll say other things in babytalk and even does a great fake cry.  Yesterday Gina was sitting with him in the family and asked him to do his fake cry and he did a great one....very believable.

Or some....

One of the cutest things Elijah did for a few months (June - August 06) was to add "or some" to the ends of some of his sentences.  For example, he'll say "Dada" and I'll say "Yea, buddy" and he'll say "I need some juice or some."  It's so funny.....I think he must have heard us say "or someting" (e.g. I need some water or something) and started using it for everything.  The best would be when he was sleepy and there would be a long pause e.g. "Dada......I need some moke......or some" and I would just bust out laughing.

Two minutes old

Elijah turned 2 a few weeks ago and he is as much a character now as he's ever been.  If you ask him how old he is he says "two minutes."  We had a party for him down in Chicago over Labor Day weekend with many of his young friends (Alexis, Isabelle, Jaden, Josiah, Nathan, Alisha, Emily, Luke and many others).  We set up a kidde pool and wate rslide outside and they were a real hit.  Elijah loves playing in the water.  We also set up a pinata with candy that was an even bigger hit.....pun intended.  Elijah's cousin (technically, uncle) Stephen was the one who finally broke the pinata and the kids went nuts going for all of the candy.  Their parents thanked us for the hours of sugar buzz that awaited them.

Two Fantastic Days

Tonight ended two of the most precious days I've experienced with Gina and Elijah so far. I was sick with the flu this week and was forced to spend a lot of time at home. Gina was off on Friday and was planning to watch Elijah all day. Since I was home, I hung out with them while I could, and it soon became apparent that Elijah really liked having BOTH of us around at the same time. He was in such a good mood and was being exceptionally cute. He clearly understands the word "it" because he uses it so often now.....grabs a book and says "read it", sees something interesting and says "hold it", puts something down and says "put it", motions to throw it and says....well, you get the idea. He was running around our living room throwing a pair of toy balls excalaiming "Wow!" each time he let go of them. And it warms my heart when he waddles toward me saying "Coming! Coming!" indicating that he wants to come wherever I'm going.

Lately he's been coming into bed with us in the early hours of the morning.....a practice we've been much more accepting of than before. He settles down right away and usually sleeps well for a few more hours. Most recently, he's decided that he wants to sleep perpendicular to us.....feet burrowing into Gina's stomach, head burrowing into mine. Even with our king size bed I often find myself teetering on the edge. Sometimes I'll quietly get up to get a sip of water or something only to hear "Dada" coming from my wide-awake son....ready for a morning of fun. He throws his hands up and rolls over to the side of the bed pleading "Down! Coming!" and, no matter how sleepy I am, I just can't refuse.

Not sure if I wrote about this before, but this kid has definitely proven he's a true Cherian; his favorite activity is making coffee. He needs a little help, but he knows the whole process. "Wa-ter" he exclaims as he sticks his hand in the coffee pot to check if there already is some there; "Pilter" telling me to get a coffee filter; "Means" to get the coffee beans; "Watch Out" telling me to watch out for the coffee grinder; and finally "Pow" when we open up the grinder to see the powder. Too cute.

Much more I could write, but I'm sleepy......and he'll be starting a whole new day of unbelievably cute Elijah-isms soon anyway. I love this kid and I love being a dad.