My Sweet E-I

Because Jacob was significantly speech delayed as a toddler, I'm not used to having a conversation with a child under the age of 4.  So, it blew my mind and tickled me to death to hear Eli (not yet 3) talking to me about his day after he returned from riding with his daddy to visit his grandfather ("Pops") in the hospital today.

Our conversation went something like this:

Me: "Did you have a good time today, Eli?"
Eli: "Go see Pops.  Pops at doctors."
Me:  "Really??  What else did you do?"
Eli:  "Throw rocks.  I pet dogs."
Me:  "What did you eat?"
Eli:  "I eat Chinese.  Man cook E-I's food.  Man cook E-I's noodles.  E-I eat cookie."  (Jason explained that they watched the cook prepare their food).

I will pause to point out 3 distinct characteristics of Eli's speech....he talks about himself in third person A LOT.  He says, "E-I (for Eli) do this," or "E-I don't like time-out...."  We call it Eli's Elmo talk.  Another thing, he adds an "s" onto the end of nearly EVERY word.  Everything is plural for some odd reason.  Last, he has the sweetest raspy or somewhat hoarse voice.  Whatever it is, it is 100% Eli and I can never get enough of hearing it.

Here's the rest of our conversation:

Me:  "Daddy said you were a good boy.  I'm so proud of you."
Eli:  "Grandma like E-I's Titans jersey.  Jacob Titans jersey, too." (They both wore Titans jerseys)
Me:  "What was your favorite thing you did today?"
Eli:  "I push Pops."
Me:  Thinking that maybe he wrestled with Pops, I turned to Jason and said, "Did he really push  Pops?"
Jason:  "Yeah, he pushed him in his wheelchair."

{Insert mommy's heart melting}

My sweet, sweet E-I...so many things you could've named as your favorite on this big day you shared with just the boys...your first taste of Chinese food, dressing like your brother (which THRILLS you), throwing rocks in a parking lot (which THRILLS any boy) or petting dogs.  But, you said it was pushing your Pops in his wheelchair.  What a reflection of your sweet little heart.  I'm sure seeing you and the sunshine that you brought into the room was Pops' favorite thing today, too.