Trying to Keep Up!

I am finding that I am blogging more frequently these days on Elijah's blog. It is my best attempt to keep up with all the ways that he is growing and changing.

Today, I would say is really the first time where Elijah actually "played" with other kids. I don't know if something clicked for him developmentally, but it felt very different from other times I have seen him interact with other kids. There were some clues that he was starting to recognize others more and that the concept of "playing together or with each other" was forming, but today, he played together and with two older kids--both a little older than three years old. He played car, "talked" to them, and laughed with them. He even ventured off without us into another room with Daya's grandson and didn't even seem phased by it. Something clicked for him, it seems.

I am also realizing that he is using signs to communicate a complete thought. Before, it was one word here or there, but he is now putting signs together to form a complete thought. For example, during meal time, he signed "thank you," than a cross for "Jesus." Interesting to watch....

Oh yes, I can't forget this. At a store today, there were small "potty" or "toilets" that toddlers use during potty training. For the last couple of weeks, each time Elijah is straining as he is pooping, I have been intentionally saying, "Elijah, are you pooping?" I figured somehow he would eventually make the connection as to what pooping is. So today, he saw toddler "toilets" and seemed to want to sit and play with them. So, I sat him on one and told him that this is what you use for "pooping and peeing." He sat on one of the toilets and made a grunting noise. I thought he was just letting me know that he understands that it is used for pooping. Lo and behold, he had actually pooped sitting on the toilet in his diaper. Now, I don't know whether it is just a coincidence or whether he really understood the concept of pooping, but I think I might try potty training him in September after we return from the States.

I laugh at the fact that Paul and I are already s-p-e-l-l-i-n-g words so that he can't understand what we are saying! :D