Scripture Power

Oh Eli. He was wired today. Which is great for you guys, because I have some good quotes for you. But for us...it's only 7:00 and we're ready for bed.

Eli was crazy today from the moment he woke up. At one point he snatched a pair of scissors and ran with them, then hurled them across the room. That's a good picture of what today was like.

Here's another visual for you:

After our rough morning, we filed into Sacrament Meeting with a few minutes to spare. As we were settling in, Eli began staring at the woman sitting behind us. With concern in his voice, he finally said to her, "Are you my mommy?"

Jeff and I looked at him confused. Then Jeff piped up, "Eli. Your mom's right here."

I gave him a wave. He seemed to acknowledge me and accept that he was stuck with me as his mom.

The meeting started. Eli was uncharacteristically calm. Just as things got quiet, Eli started staring at Jeff with the same look of concern he had earlier. Then we heard, "Daddy? Are YOU my mommy?"

Jeff: "No, Eli. I'm your Daddy."
Eli: "You not my Mommy," Said with a giggle like he realized he was being silly. Then the concerned look returned and he looked at me.
Eli: "Mommy. Are you my Mommy?"

Jeff and I died. You know how everything's funnier when you have to be quiet? We were holding back laughter for about 15 minutes at Eli's mid-church-identity-crisis.

After Eli finally figured out his family tree, he was back to his rowdy self -- meaning he threw Carson's bottle (still full of milk) at the lady sitting in front of us. It hit her back. She turned around. And laughed out loud. And then Jeff and I lost it again.

Disciplining your toddler while giggling is not very effective.

That, my friends, is why I feel like a 3-ring circus every time we go to church. But hey, at least Eli didn't escape our pew and do laps around the chapel like he did a few weeks ago. I'll take pride in whatever progress we can muster.

Here are some other Eli quotes from this week:

While trying to open my lap top:
Me: "Eli! You are not supposed to get out my computer!"
Eli: "My just have to check my emails!"

While at the park:
Me: "We have to go home. Daddy is building something and needs your help!"
Eli: "Oh! Daddy needs O'Toodles!"
(Toodles is a character on Mickey Mouse Clubhouse who gives Mickey tools to fix their problems.)

Eli and I play this game where I sing a song to him and then I'll sing it again with pauses and wait for him to fill in the right word. So this is while we were playing the game:
Me: "Scripture power keeps me safe from sin."
Eli: "Again!"
Me: "Okay, I need your help this time."
Me: "Scripture power keeps me safe from _______ "
Eli: "Carson!"

And finally, here's a blurry video for you to go along with the last quote. We read scriptures with Eli tonight, and he sat so perfectly the whole time we read. Then he spent at least a half hour flipping through the Book of Mormon jabbering about all sorts of things. It was so adorable I had to document it.
(I've been trying to figure out how to make my videos not blurry anymore, but I'm struggling. So I'm sorry for the poor quality!)