Copycat

So lately Elijah has been getting more demanding.  He also hasn't been sleeping well the past few nights and days but I suspect that has to do with the fact that Daddy is out of town for work.  He'll be back Saturday and my mom is coming in tonight to help me since I'm having surgery on Thursday to finally get rid of this silly cyst on my wrist (most likely caused by picking up Mr. Demanding over and over, but I digress).

Anyway, lately when he wants something--like to be taken out of his high chair or to be fed or to be picked up out of his pack and play or just to have attention paid to him--he starts making this whiny, increasingly loud and high-pitched "ehhhh!"  It is really annoying.  But then today when he did it, I thought, "Oh no, did I teach him this?" because it's surprisingly reminiscent of the way I get with Mike when he's annoying me.

"Mike, will you please CUT THAT OUT!!!"  (Imagine the voice getting increasingly loud, intense and shrill.  Poor Mike.)

So nice parenting on my part.  I sound like a toddler, therefore my son thinks, "Hey, this is the way we get stuff!" even before he can really be classified as a toddler. Whew!  I'm so glad the blood of Jesus makes me righteous because I could SO not be good on my own.

Anyway, here's a funny scene from the movie "Big Daddy" to showcase how wonderful of a parent I am (the part at 30 seconds where he throws the fries cracks me up every time): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IjO6Tjn8wS0

In other copycat news, I copied an idea from some Real Simple magazine for measuring Elijah's height as he grows.  It's basically a huge ruler you can mount on the wall in his bedroom.  Also, it's real simple to make. (Get it?  Like the magazine?  Man, I'm hilarious.)

Anyway, here's what you need:
6 foot board
Wood stain (whatever color you prefer, I used maple b/c it's more ruler-color & all the other wood in Elijah's room is the same color)
Polyurethane (buy separate stain & polyurethane)
Black paint
Stencils for numbers 1-6 (or if you want to be fancy you can buy house numbers 1-6 and tack those on then you won't have to have the stencils or the black paint)
Black permanent marker
Tape measure

Instructions:
First thing I did was stain both sides.  Then when it was dry, I measured out the inches all the way to the top.  On the foot markers I made the lines 2 inches long, the half-foot markers 1 & 1/2 inches, the quarter-foot markers 1 inch, and the other inch markers I made 1/2 an inch.  I did it in pencil first and then went over it with the permanent black marker.  Also, I started the bottom of the board at 3 inches below the 1 foot mark so that there was room to stencil in the number 1.  (This means you will mount it 9 inches from the floor.  Be sure to measure everything well or it won't accurately measure your child's height.)  Anyway, then I placed the stencils next to the foot markers and painted the numbers on there in black.  Later I am going to put a coat of polyurethane on top but the black paint is drying right now.  Once that's done, though, it will be ready to mount in his room and start measuring his height as he gets older.  I'll probably use a medium-tipped sharpie to mark his height and age each year.  It's better than marking it on the wall, I think, because if you move you can take it with you.  Enjoy!