You Not My Mama

Gosh.. I hope Elio doesn't turn into another African dictator.  I've been following what's been happening with Laurent Gbagbo in Cote d'Ivoire and I've read a fair amount of African history, and well, Elio's behavior is starting to resemble that of an African dictator.  Or maybe it's just that some African dictators behave like three year olds.

Today Laurent Gbagbo was captured at his hotel in Abidjan after refusing to give up the presidency to its rightful owner, Alassane Outtara.  The BBC characterized Gbagbo as short tempered, closed to new ideas and outsiders.  Sounds kind of like Elio.  Elio's patience lasts as long as it took your to read this last sentence, and when we go to someplace new, his first question is usually "When are we going home?"

We went to a beautiful eco-lodge nestled in the mountains in Swaziland over the weekend.  It was a kid's dream. They could run and play everywhere.  There were all these streams to splash in, rocks to climb, cable TV in the TV room.  Elio did all the playing and having fun, but the first night, as we were about to go to bed, Elio said, "I want to go to my house.  When we go to my house?" 

He's also been learning new expressions and figures of speech from who knows where.  We're trying to get him off his bottle, which we are not really winning.  Usually, when he asks me for his bottle, he starts out very nice.  "I want my tee-tee please."  Tee-tee is milk.  I respond (very nicely too).
 "No, we aren't having tee tee, but we can read a book and I'll lie down with you." 
Then, it starts to escalate to "I want my tee tee." Then, "I want my tee tee now."  When I finally refuse to give in, he has been known to scream, "I'm not your mama anymore."  Nalia then jumps in and corrects him, reminding him that he was never my mama in the first place.  I try not to laugh. 
He is getting more sophisticated though, because tonight, at the end of the battle (which I lost, for the record), he screeched, "And mommy, YOU not my mama."  
Any suggestions on bottle weaning of 3 year old are appreciated!