Elmo and words

Liam has recently developed a bit of a fascination with Elmo. So much so that we decided to get him a little Elmo toy/doll for Easter (see post below).  I have to admit I was surprised when Liam didn't immediately form a bond with the Elmo doll. In fact, I think within an hour of having Elmo, he was already throwing him on the floor.  At this point, Tara and I say sympathetically, 'Oh, poor Elmo. Did that hurt Elmo? Elmo, are you OK??'  At first Liam didn't know what to make of this, then he thought it was rather cute that T and I were lavishing attention on Elmo after he had been thrown around.  Now, he will throw Elmo on the floor and will pick him up and ask in Liam speak "You Kay, you kay?".  Then will bring him (Elmo) over to one of us for a hug and a kiss.  Liam will sometimes hug and kiss Elmo too, but he mostly prefers to throw him.  One reason is perhaps that Elmo has large plastic eyes that make a loud cracking sound when they hit the floor.  Ouch.

This morning, we had a critical moment with Elmo. As I was getting Liam ready to go. "OK, Liam, hat, boots, coat, outside" (is our current routine), Liam seemed to be hanging on to Elmo.  Given my great insight into minds of toddlers, I sensed that if I told Liam we had to leave Elmo behind, it would quickly deteriorate into something unpleasant.  I also didn't want Elmo to go to daycare thinking that something equally unpleasant might ensue the moment Elmo is 'borrowed' by one of Liam's daycare pals.  Thinking quickly, I suggested to Liam that Elmo is tired and needs to go night-night while we went off to Annette's house - his daycare provider.  At this suggestion, Liam paused for one moment, and actually agreed.  He didn't say so, but with my help, we tucked Elmo in under a blanket on the couch. A few hugs and night-nights from Liam to Elmo and we were off on our morning routine. Success!

Words are coming along fast, and for a while, we had been keeping a list.  Some recent words are 'puter' (computer), sorry, yoga (where daddy goes on Wednesday), tofu, tickle, smooshy face, and much to our surprise one day: 'I did it'.  The other big surprise has been his counting.  We usually count when we go up and down the stairs, and when we're reading his books that deal with counting.  The other day he offered up '8, 9, 10' on his own when I stopped counting at 7.  For whatever reason, he seems to leave out 4 through 6 when we count.  He goes straight from 3 to 7, or will repeat 3 until we reach 7.  Interesting.  

Here's a little smorgasbord video of 2 minutes in the life of a toddler...