Mr. Mayor

Several months ago, I was giving the boys a shower and things were getting crazy.  I called out to Spencer, "Come help!  It's Maniac City in here!"  Spencer came quickly and asked Eliot, "Are you the mayor of Maniac City?"  And that's how it all got started.  From that moment on, Eliot was Mr. Mayor and Peter was Mr. Deputy Mayor--or as Eliot says, Mr. Defany Mayor.  For a time, the nickname took such hold of Eliot's imagination that he refused to be addressed by anything but Mr. Mayor, which (thanks to diminishing returns) started to get annoying.  Fortunately, the novelty has worn off and it has become a fun little nickname that we use now and then.  Eliot still gets a kick out of it.

Our Mr. Mayor is doing well.  For the most part he is a great Big Brother.  He tries to teach Peter words, and is quick to remind him to share.

He loves to help with everything, whether it's mixing cookie dough or "fixing" a fan that broke down.

He's getting pretty independent.  Peter has been waking up in the night lately--I blame molars coming in--and the other day I was absolutely exhausted.  Eliot didn't fall asleep for an afternoon nap so I went in to get him, and ended up crashing on his bed (Peter naps in our bedroom).  Eliot enjoyed putting Mommy down for a nap and closed the door on his way out.  I could hear him out there talking to his stuffed animals, "D'you wanna read dis book?  Sh'we do dat?"  When I came out, this is what I found:

He loves to have books read to him.  For a while he and I were working our way through Little House on the Prairie.  We read a chapter each night and he really enjoyed it.  Lately he has been interested in learning the French words for things and enjoys telling me that he and Peter look out "lafnet" ( his pronunciation of the word for 'window') for Daddy to come home.  Which, in fact, they do.

Our apartment overlooks the mailboxes and Spencer always checks the mail when he arrives home.  The sound of the little metal door shutting is like a bell going off for Pavlov's dog.  Eliot and Peter will hurry to the window, climb up on chairs, and shout 'hello' to Daddy.  I'm not going to lie, it's pretty adorable.

Recently he has taken to calling me 'Mum-mum' and he uses it whenever he addresses me, "Where are we going, Mum-mum?"  "Is this water cold, Mum-mum?"  It's not clear to me how this got started, and I'm not sure how long it will last.  But it's pretty cute, so I try not to draw attention to it lest he become self-conscious and drop it.

He's just a delight, and we love him so much!