Guess Who is 2?

It's Mr. E!  Elliot turned two this past Saturday.  Here are some important things you need to know about Elliot at two:

He talks a whole lot!  His sentences usually contain 4 words, but sometimes he'll slip a 5er or 6er in there.  Some of his more commonly heard phrases/sentences are:
No, Sissy!
I'm sorry, Sissy.
Watch "Cars" now, please?
Play with trains?
I need somepin.
Oh, no! Oh, no! Oh, noooooo!
I can't/can do it.
Help/Hold/Excuse you me.

He loves to play with planes, trains, and automobiles.  We recently visited our Hill Country cousins, and Elliot was mesmerized with our 5 year old cousin's Thomas collection.  If he wasn't eating, sleeping, or playing in the backyard, he was glued to the train table and making all kinds of "mobile" noises.

His favorite foods are blueberries, grapes, and "ice cream".  He's never actually had ice cream, but he has had fruit sorbet and soy/almond milk alternatives.  He also thinks hummus is ice cream...and Mommy is happy to let him continue to think that for a while!

Last month, Mommy started introducing dairy into his diet.  He's had some cheese, yogurt, and sour cream and seems to be doing well with all of it.  Mommy and Daddy never intend for him to be a complete dairy kid, but they would like him to be able to enjoy it every once in a while.  He loves drinking almond and coconut milks, so they have no intention of trying to switch him to cow's milk.

Since the end of May, he's had diarrhea nearly every day.  He's been checked for rotovirus, taken a 3 day medication, and had some dietary changes.  He'll have a few diarrhea free days here and there, but it always comes back.  This week, Mommy and E went to a GI specialist.  The GI feels quite certain that he has "toddler's diarrhea", but she also had him tested for Celiac Disease just to rule it out.  In addition, he's had 3 separate bouts with random fever in the last month, so our regular pedi also did some blood work on him last week.  She checked his white blood cell count and did a scan for Crohn's. All the labs from our pedi came back normal, and we should here back about the Celiac test in the next day or two.  At the very least, we know he's not contagious, is growing and gaining weight at an appropriate rate, and has a super healthy appetite...so we can deal with a few messy poops each day!

Oh, and the diarrhea was an issue for several weeks before Mommy started giving him dairy...so it's not dairy induced!

He is super cuddly!

He loves to make me laugh and to laugh at me.

His favorite books are "Where the Wild Things Are", "Things that Go", and just about anything else anyone will read to him.  He will sit through most all of my longer picture books, which is surprising for a little guy who's nearly always on the go.

He's a rough-and-tough, adventuresome guy.

He claims he can hear the ocean in seashells, bathtub water, running toilets, green beans, and pumice stones.  Impressive claims from a person who's never actually been to the ocean.