Two Tempting

In less than a week, Elijah has immortalized his legacy as a 2 year old. It seems as though his body senses he is quickly approaching 3 year old status (his birthday is in November). He appears to be set on a course that will make the most of every piece of mischief that finds him!
Several days ago, Eli walked into his bedroom clenching a crayon in his fist. I was busy taking care of Seth, so I told Eli, "Go put that crayon back on the table. Crayons have to stay in the dining room." (Not a new rule - they all know that one). As he strutted back down the hallway towards the dining room, I heard a very suspicious sound. As soon as I could, I checked the hallway wall; there are big bright purple scribbles all over the white wall! Kind of reminds me of the children's book, Harold and the Purple Crayon.
Yesterday, the sugar bowl was overlooked when the table was cleared from breakfast. Shortly before lunchtime, Chris and I walk into the dining room. There is Elijah, body stretched across the table, spoon in hand, wet sugar all over his face. His lips look like rock candy. As I carry him off to the sink to wash him off, he protests, "But I wike to eat da yalt (the salt)!"
And then today, (where are my brains? clearly they were lost during childbirth), Jacob and Savannah had some gum after lunch. Elijah asked for some, and since he asked so nicely and has recently learned how to chew it, I gave him a very small piece. About 20 minutes ago, he came to me with gum smeared in his hair. I ask him what happened. He tells me, "I nidn't want chew it anymore yo I pud it in my hair." Uh huh. I rack my brain (which obviously has serious deficiencies) for all the ideas I've ever read in parenting magazines on how to remove gum from hair. I come up with two ideas. The first is to rub peanut butter into the gum. Since Elijah is allergic to peanuts, I choose option 2. Rub a piece of ice on the imbedded gum. This hardens the gum and allows you to pull the hair off. I try this for a while. It appears this would be a good option if it were longer hair and if it were not a 2 year old boy trying to stand still. I give up and cut the gum out. Since his hair is already short, I hope it's not as noticable where I cut.
"It's like this: When I was a child, I spoke and thought and reasoned as a child does. But when I grew up I put away childish things...All that I know now is partial and incomplete, but then I will know everything completely just as God knows me now. There are three things that will endure - faith, hope, and love - and the greatest of these is love (1 Corinthians 13:11-13)."