May 9, 2007

I think I'll entitle this post Fashions by Elise. You have been putting together the most interesting outfits lately. Your specialty seems to be accessorizing. You found one of my necklaces from when I was a kid. It's got pink beads with six teddy bears on the front of different colors. It must be at least 22 years old. You've been wearing in non-stop for a week now which is a first. You also have an assortment of hair accessories, rings, necklaces, and bracelets that you interchange depending on your mood. Other times, you just wear all of them at the same time.

Dresses are another big thing with you now. I blame the "Princesses" for that. You suddenly have a big interest in the Princesses. Your favorite movie is Aladdin. And we have a great big book of multiple princess stories that I have to read to you at least once or twice a day. You usually will pick a Princess Jasmine story, or Snow White.

And you are really coming out of your shell with other kids! When we go visit the Rozelles, you just run off with Evan and Hailey without a second glance at us. Dada said you guys were driving past some kids gettting off the school bus the other day and you told him you wanted to play with them. This is great, especially since school starts in 4 months!! September 10th! I hope you will be happy there.

Your other skills are really excelling too. You now have you own computer and can navigate the Nick Jr. website with ease, and play most of the games by yourself. You can write your own name, with the exception of the S. You love puzzles, and yesterday you put together a 24 piece puzzle all by yourself!! Puzzles and playing with the beach ball are your two favorite past times. You like to bounce the beach ball between us and see how high you can bounce it off your head. You are so excited for summer, so you can swim in your whale pool and plant a garden. We have already planted some strawberries and tomatoes in pots.

March 13, 2007

Great day today. It was 70 degrees out and all the snow was melting. I took you out to the pond, which was very flooded, and we followed the stream that was feeding it. We threw sticks in the water to watch them go over little waterfalls through the weeds. I'm trying to encourage your tomboy side. We met up with Josette and her daughter Olivia out there. You seemed intrigued by the older girl, but still a little shy. When we got back home you were yelling to Dada, "I made a new friend!!" Dada said, "What's her name?" You looked at me and asked, "What was her name?" Silly kid.

Then we took a walk down the cul-de-sac, and hung out with Jack, Kyla, and Keimon. You actually played with Kyla. At first, you just sort of followed her around, but once she started talking with you, you two were off playing. This has got me really excited. A friend for you in the neighborhood! Kyla is 5, and will go to Kindergarten in the fall. After your bath, we watched half of Cinderella for the first time. You were loving the parts with the mice, but you were obviously exhausted. I'm planning a vacation to Disney May of 2008. If I can arrange it, we'll have breakfast at Cinderella's castle!

February 21, 2007

You are growing up so fast. Yesterday, I picked up the packet to sign you up for Pre-school in the fall. You already know so much. You know most of your letters and can count up to 40. You can also sound out letters and know your left from right. You also delight in helping anyway that you can. Now you open the fridge and put things away, clear the table, fold laundry. You're doing very well with your reward chart, and have received two special nights out. I can't wait until summer is here and we can be outside again. Although the cold really doesn't seem to bother you a bit, but it bothers Mama.

Everyday you do something that makes me wonder what you'll become when you grow up. Your love and absolutely zero fear of bugs makes me think Entomologist. For a long while, you had been keeping a box elder bug in a tupperware container and calling him Boxy. Frequently, you'd wake up to find the lid off and Boxy having "escaped", but you always find another to replace him. One day you manhandled one of the bugs a little too much and found him lifeless next to his "toys". You were so upset and came to me crying, "I pinched Boxy too much and now he's DEADDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD!!!" Luckily, you weren't too sentimental and we were able to replace him. Now you are extra careful to be gentle with them and have figured out how to handle them without squishing them. I still get creeped out a little, when you let them crawl all over you, but just a little. It's my goal to raise you to be curious about nature and to love all creatures even the creepy crawly ones.

I also wonder about sports. The other day we went to the track, so that I could calibrate my Ipod/Nike thing. You ran all the way around the track behind me! I also think you are a good kicker, so maybe soccer. But you also show some talent at basketball. Either way I think you will be better at sports than your mother. I hope at least. I think we'll do a sports class next. There's one in Caledonia, and maybe we can meet some new friends to have playdates with.

February 1, 2007

It's snow time! Finally there is real snow on the ground, and we have been trying to take advantage of it. Although sometimes, I think you just go outside so that you can come in and tell me, "I'm cold! I think I need some hot chocolate to warm me up!" We go sledding on the hill next to Rich's house, make snow angels, and one of your favorites, snow spray. Mama puts food coloring and water in a spray bottle so you can paint the snow. On Dada's birthday, we piled up the snow like a billboard and I put Happy Birthday! on one side and you decorated the other. On Sunday, we went over to the Rozelles and you got to ride with Mama on a sled pulled by their 4 wheeler, and you weren't scared a bit. Dave went slow for you, but I think you would have liked to go fast.

We also have started a new bedtime game of sorts. The other day you were trying to tell me that you don't sleep at all at night. That you just lay in your bed and play with your animals all night. I said that I knew that wasn't true because I check on you every night before I go to bed. You swore up and down that you don't sleep, so I told you that when I checked on you that night I would leave a mark on your nose, so that you would know I checked on you and you were sleeping. You were so delighted the next morning to see that mark on your nose that you wanted me to do it again. So every night this week you've woken up with a mark on your nose. Although last night, Dada and I both left an X on each cheek where we kissed you. You are the apple of our eyes.

January 6, 2007

Welcome to the new year!! You spent New's Eve at Grandpa's house partying with Hannah and Cale. From the sounds of it, you had a blast. It makes me so happy that you like going over to Grandpa's house, since he's a pretty special person to me.

Today we instituted Elise's Reward Chart in order to foster a little more independence in you. There are 5 categories; Getting Dressed, Eating, Cleaning Up, Being Independent, and Attitude. Each category has it's own list of criteria and you must meet the majority in order to get a star. See this is what happens when your mother is raised by educators!! Last night (first night), you got all your stars. Tonight you missed out on the getting dressed star, since we had to ask you to get dressed 5 times and you refused to let Dad help you on with your coat and said Mama had to do it. I was expecting you to be more upset about it (not that I wanted that), but you handled it well. After you get 10 stars you get a candy bar (of your choosing), and after 50 we are going to take you to Chuck E. Cheese. You seem very excited about the latter especially.

Amazing talent of the hour - You are sounding out letters! You are actually much better at this than you are at recognizing them by sight. The other day we were sounding out B, and then you just starting listing off other words that start with be all on your own!! You came up with Beaver and Butterfly. Aunt Allison and I were blown away. You can just pick a random word out of speech and tell me the letter it starts with. Your best letters are S, T, P, B, and M. Now if I could just get you to recognize them, we'd be halfway to reading!

December 25, 2006

Merry Christmas Sweet Girl!! Santa was here and left you lots of nice gifts! Dada and I went to tuck you in last night and made the mistake of mentioning that "he sees you when your sleeping", and you were freaked out from then on. We had to put you to bed in our bed because you didn't want Santa looking at you. This seems perfectly rational to me though, since I wouldn't want a strange man coming into my house watching me sleep either, even if he was bearing gifts. You did end up being successfully transferred back to your own bed later on. Mama got a wonderful present from the hospital too. They called and said I didn't have to go to work. Yay!!


Christmas morning: You appear to be shellshocked, not really knowing where to start. Your two presents from Santa were unwrapped beside the tree. A large play kitchen that makes 40 different sounds and comes complete with food, and the "barking doggy" you had wrote to Santa about. Along with an overflowing stocking. You must have been a good girl! Mommy and Daddy got you some "pets" (Littlest Pet Shop), a puzzle, books, and some polly pocket stuff. We had fun playing with our goodies all morning and then went to the airport to pick up Aunt Allison as she arrived from Tokyo. She was so excited to see you! And you love the airport. I'm glad I have a few days to relax now.

December 11, 2006

I'm getting so excited for this Christmas time! You are so excited about everything! On Saturday we went out to get our Christmas tree. Usually I'm responsible for picking it, because I'm very particular about my Christmas trees. I was eyeing one when you told me you wanted a different one. I tried to have you look at my tree, but you kept saying that you wanted this one. So we tried walking you around the whole lot, to see if you'd pick the same one. You did! You were adamant that this was the tree you wanted, so we got it. It is a very nice tree. Nice and fat like Mama likes. You did a great job of picking. You also helped decorate this year, although you like to take the ornaments on and off all the time.

The other day Daddy took you to the mall and you saw Santa (from a distance). You still don't want to sit on his lap, so last night we wrote him a letter to tell him what you'd like. All you said you wanted was a barking doggy like the one you saw at Target. I asked if there was anything else and you said to write "I love you, Santa." So we mailed it off, and I know this is a little premature, but I'm quite positive Santa will get the message.

November 14, 2006

I have a new idea for a career for you. Playwright! When we play you have to script everything, and I must say you can be quite the difficult director. You get very upset when I don't say my lines just right. Most of our scenes are based on Backyardigans shows (your favorite TV show). It usually goes something like this.

Elise: (breathless and spoken very fast) I'm Lady Tasha, and you're Butler Tyrone. You go in the closet and then I open the door and you fall out and I say, "Oh my goodness! Who put you in there Butler Tyrone." And then you say, "I don't know." And then I say, "Where are my jewels?" and then you say, "It must have been the jewel thief!" And so on and so forth.

We also have to play the Guess Who I am? game all the time. 98% of the time you are one of the Backyardigans, and then every now and then you are some kind of animal. The other day you were playing this game while sitting down for lunch. So I asked you, "Am I ever going to be able to play with Elise again? I miss her." Well, this sent you into hysterics practically, you were crying so hard. Oh my sensitive girl.

November 12, 2006

My big girl! You are getting so big. I am sometimes taken aback when I see you, you seem so tall now. I can barely find any pants to fit you. If they fit in the waist, they're too short, and the ones that are long enough, fall off your little butt. So I've had to safety pin most of them. You are doing many things for yourself now, going potty, getting dressed, feeding your fish. You can write all the letters of your name except S. You love to give snuggles too, which is Mama's favorite thing. Tuesday we're going to go have lunch with Dada a work, so you can see the presses "rollin". You always ask Dada if they're rollin.

Lately, you've been having a hard time with me going to work. Everyday you ask, "Do you have to go to work today Mama?" If I say No, I get a "Yay!!" and if I say Yes, I get "Ohhhhh....." and sometimes crying. It's hard because I do want to be with you, but I do like work too. It's hard to explain to a three year old. I don't want you to think that I like work better than being with you, but I don't want you to think that I hate my work either. I'm proud to have a job that I like most of the time, and even if I could be a stay at home mom, I don't know that I would. I probably wouldn't work full time, but it's nice to get out of the house sometimes. I know you will understand that when you are older.

November 1, 2006

Well the Halloween festivites are over. Friday night we carved pumpkins, well Mama and Dada carved pumpkins and you watched. We tried to get you to scoop out the "pumpkin ookies", but you only managed a couple of seeds before you decided that was not your thing. Dada did his usual obsessive seed collecting, and then proceeded to carve his pumpkin with a power drill and what I believe are routing bits. I carved your pumpkin in typical jacko-lantern style. Then Dada shared his finished pumpkin seeds with you, and I think that was your favorite part.

Last night was Halloween, and you had a blast again, although it was colder than last year. You were very excited to go Trick or Treating, and kept asking, "When's it going to be here?" You went as a kitty cat.
I wanted to find you just a regular fuzzy kitty cat costume, but all they had were these fashion kitties with leopard print or pink faux fur. I hate that! You're 3!! But what can you do? We went to Pine Edge again this year, since that worked so well last year. Both Maddie and you agreed to skip the "shaking houses", which were the ones with strobe lights. Last year, you had made it all the way around the subdivision, but despite Mama's layering job (3 shirts, 3 pairs of pants, one jacket, and mittens), you were convulsing with shivers half way through. So we went home, had some hot chocolate, and ate candy.

I'm including some pictures of you in your costume, and one that I took when we were playing in the leaf piles the other day. What a beautiful fall girl you are!

October 30, 2006

Lots of milestones around here lately!! Yesterday, you started drawing portraits of Mama and Dada, but it was still hard to decipher what was what. Well, today we have our first recognizable drawings, which is so exciting! I am including them here. The gray one is a picture of Mama, and the blue one is a picture of Dada. Dada has arms and legs, but apparently I only have legs. Oh, well. You can also write all the letters of your name, with the exception of S. You still need a bit of coaching on that and the E sometimes ends up with 4 horizontal lines instead of 3, but we'll take it.

Dada has been working with you on your computer skills, primarily mouse control. After just a few days you are doing so much better! There is one Dora game you can even play by yourself. And you can type your name, with very little coaching. Computer literacy is obviously a big thing around this house ;)

I'm also including a photo of you playing at Boardwalk (the castle). We were playing hide and seek, and it was a very cold, windy fall day. How cool is it that I get to play with you on the same playground I played at when I was a kid!

October 23, 2006

I can't decide if I should be pleased or very worried about you. You are sooooo sensitive. You and Dada were playing in the play room the other day. You were looking for a specific toy and said to him, "Damnit! I can't find it." Dada, knowing that you didn't know that was a bad word, simply said, "Sweetie, where did you hear that word? That's not a nice word, and we don't want you to say it." You were inconsolable for 15 minutes. This happens everytime you think you have dissappointed us, and you really haven't gotten into any real trouble yet. I explained to you that you weren't in trouble, Mama was the one who did something wrong, I shouldn't have said that word. It didn't matter though, you still cried and cried.

You also seem very concerned about Mom and Dad's moods. You have taken to asking us, "Are you happy, Mama?" It's like you feel it is your responsibility to keep us happy. We love you so much sweetheart. I'm happy you are sensitive to other peoples feelings, but I worry you will be hurt by other kids at school if you are so sensitive.

October 14, 2006

Today we went to the Post Family Farm in Hudsonville to hunt down some pumpkins. It was a pretty crisp day, but the sun came out and it ended up being pretty nice. They had lots of neat little activities for you. Your favorite was the pumpkin train, which was a string of 12 barrels that were painted orange and cut out with a seat and steering wheel. They were pulled by a lawn tractor around a little field. You looked so serious driving your little barrel. You turned the wheel side to side and made motor noises with your lips, every now and then waving to all your adoring fans in the crowd standing in line. I was shocked when you agreed to ride the horse with me. His name was Samson and we sat on him together while he made a couple of loops around the corral. At this point, Dad and I were really kicking ourselves for leaving the camera in the car. We saw some goats, sheep, ponies, and baby kittens.

We rode the hayride, and ate cider and pumpkin donuts. On the hayride, you turned into quite the little actress rolling around in the hay and throwing it up in the air, all the while smiling at the other passengers like "look at me, aren't I the cutest thing you've ever seen?" We picked out pumpkins next. You picked out a wee little pumpkin, and carried it all the way back to the car. You would have thought it weighed two tons by the way you were heaving it around. I love days like this.

September 23, 2006

Well, today you past a milestone of toddlerhood. You had asked me for some scissors so you could "cut orange's hair." Orange, incidentally, is a blue and green rubber ball, but I digress. I figured there was no harm in it, because orange doesn't really have hair, so you'd just be pretending. A little while later you called out to me and asked, "Mama, can I cut my hair?" I said, "Yes..I mean NO!!" And went running in there. It was too late of course, you had already cut a medium sized chunk. I think you were scared because I ran in there so fast, and you started crying. I told you it was okay, and of course it is. You can only see where the hair is missing if your hair is brushed all nicely, and how often is that really? I figure this is something pretty much ever kid does at some point.

Last night there was a thunderstorm, so Daddy and I were laying in bed with you a while. You looked about as happy as you can be having the undivided attention of both your parents. Daddy was on one side and I was on the other all mushed into your double bed. We had to kick out your 50 stuffed animals and 2 dozen books in order to fit. You and Daddy were playing the silly things game where you take turns making up silly things. For example, "Did you ever see a goose walking on your arm?" "Did you ever see a flower growing out of your head?" Etc, etc. There was much giggly and whenever you two would seem to finally settle down Dada would tickle you or you would pinch my nose and we'd all start laughing again. Dada and I kept sneaking huge grin glances at each other, like we both were thinking, "isn't she the most wonderful thing you've ever seen?"

PS - I added this picture for two reason, a)it features "orange", and b) it's a nice picture of you playing with your Daddy.

September 11, 2006

Grandpa was over the other day. You were so excited to show him all your new skills. You demonstrated your ability to somersault, peddle a tricycle, write the letter E, and kick a ball. You also played a lovely little diddy on the piano which you have entitled the Polly Pocket song. How proud you make me! Grandpa was very impressed, especially by your ball kicking abilities. You may have a future in soccer. You can really kick the ball far and straight.

You never cease to amaze me. You come up with things out of no where. We stopped to look at the huge full moon and the many stars. You got up and went over to the window and whispered something, then came back to me. You told me, "I made a wish Mama." I asked you what you wished for and you told me very excitedly, "A garden!" A garden... that is a wonderful idea, and I'm so proud that you would wish for something like a garden instead of the Polly Pocket limosine. But my darling, it's fall. How do I explain to a 3 year old that you can't grow a garden in fall in Michigan?

September 5, 2006

I just love this picture of you. Daddy took it yesterday when we were playing outside. I just think it totally shows how you are at 3 years old. Excited, happy, inquistive. And look just how beautiful you are. I mean, has there ever been a kid this beautiful ever? Your huge blue eyes, perfect skin, blonde locks. Gorgeous! And that's not all. You are also polite, smart, kind, considerate. I've never met a three year old that says please and thank you on such a regular basis. I've never seen a 3 year old helping other kids at the playground and telling them "Good job!" I hope you never change, I fear for the teenage years. What if you turn into one of those scowling, rude kids I see with their heads permanently attached to their cell phones and their butt cracks showing. I will be so sad!

August 30, 2006

You are my independent girl now! Yesterday was a perfect example of that. You wanted to do everything yourself. You got dressed yourself choosing a lovely ensemble of hot pink and orange striped shirt with purple floral shorts. So your underwear and shirt were on backwards, you did it yourself! When we left for gymnastics class you had to get in your carseat and buckle yourself up. Then at gymnastics, you ended up in the 4 and 5's class because Mommy messed up the schedule, but you did your best to keep up. The teacher said you did great! Then in the evening we went for a walk and you took off on your tricycle! That is the first time you have ever peddled more that a few feet on your own. Daddy and I were amazed! You looked so cute as you peddled furiously down the driveway. That's kind of how you've always been though. Most things take a while to come, but once they click with you, you're off running. I can't wait to see what you do next!

August 26th, 2006

I wish I had a picture of you and your Daddy in bed right now. Nighttime has become your Dada's special time with you. It's one of the few times you want him over me, and it causes a smile like none I have ever seen on him. A constant ear to ear grin as he encircles you with his arms. Then you let out a giant toot, and you both laugh hysterically. You retell the story of how today Dada put a can of compressed air between his legs and pretended he was farting. You thought that was hilarious!!

You are getting to be such a big girl. You always want to help, and now you actually can. You help me cook, clean, landscape, etc. You really are a great 3 year old, and from what I hear, that's unusual. You speak just like a big girl too. Today you came downstairs and Dada was on the computer and you said, "What's the weather going to be like today Dada?"

I wanted to add this picture of you with a huge smile on your face. You don't even remotely look like a baby anymore. I find you want to play with other kids more and more too. Today we had Alexys over to play, and earlier in the week Maddie and Karrie came over. I think you are going to love school next year, so many kids to play with.

Hope to post soon,

Mama

August 20, 2006

Today was a big day for you. You got to meet a big celebirty. Thomas the Tank Engine!! He was at Huckleberry Railroad in Flint. As we approached the grounds, we saw Thomas coming around the corner. Oh you were so excited! We got there an hour before our ride, so the first thing we did was walk around the grounds which was set up like an old time town. You got a Thomas tatoo. Then we went to meet Thomas. You about jumped 3 feet in the air when he "peeped"pulling up to the station. The coaches we got to ride in were 100 years old! Our ride was 40 minutes, and we got to go past houses and streets where people were out waving. You loved waving from the train. Unfortunately, we didn't get any pictures with Thomas. It was just too hard with so many people around, but you got a little certificate for riding Thomas that says you're a junior engineer.

When we got back, we had some ice cream, then went to check out the rides. We went on a old fashioned Ferris Wheel. I was watching it spin and it seemed to go really fast to me. I don't do well on any rides that spin. We were waiting to get on, and the guy went to let the people out of the car we were to ride in, the lady turned her head and puked right in the car!! I'm starting to freak now, thinking I'm going to do the same. So we wait for a clean car, and I'm freaking cause we had just had ice cream!! You had a blast though!! I'm so glad you didn't get that gene from me. You were just laughing and screaming the whole time. I made it without puking, but it was about 5 revolutions too many for me. After we exited, you were skipping all around saying "I wanna do sumpin else!".


Next we rode the Pony carts. They were these little carts attached to ponies that rocked back and forth, while the whole thing went in a circle (again really fast!). They had reins the kids held onto and a bell you could ring. When the thing started you looked a little shooken up, but then a huge smile came on your face as you held onto the reins for dear life.

We also took you on a little train, but you looked totally bored after Thomas, the ferris wheel, and the pony carts!! They also had a carousel, but it spun really fast too! I skipped it, because I didn't think my stomach could handle it. Plus, there were still lots of things to do. We went in a hay maze and played in a tent with legos and battery operated minature Thomas set. We had lots of fun in the hay maze! We were just finding our way in the first run, but the second time around we were playing hide and seek and throwing hay and Dada. I think we got the best pictures in there.

On the way home, we stopped at McDonalds and you ate almost a whole cheeseburger and got your first Polly Pocket. Now I think we're going to have to find a fair to take you to, you had so much fun on the rides.

July 18, 2006

We're back in gymnastics!! You have been asking me lately when we can go to bounce class again. So I looked online to sign you up only to find that the Mommy and Me class is only for 1 and 2 year olds. So now you are in the Tumblebugs class, which means Mommy just gets to watch from the other side of the window. I was pretty nervous about signing you up, because we all know you are my little cling-on. I didn't know how you would act when it was time to go into the gym and I didn't come with you. But we talked about it ahead of time, and you said you really wanted to go, and I explained that I wouldn't be in the class with you, and you seemed okay with that. I was still unsure though. But I was wrong! We got there that first day, and when the teacher said it was time to go into class you went running in there and never looked back!

It was agony for me to watch you though, because I wanted to be in there helping you. I know this is a good thing though. It's just hard because this is your first time and you won't do anything on your own. So I sit and watch you stand next to the balance beam waiting for the teacher to come over and hold your hand as you go across. Most of the other kids, just do their own thing.
On the upside, it is obvious how hard you concentrate on following the teachers instuctions. The other kids will be goofing around and in their own world and you are right on task. At one point, everyone was over getting a drink of water and the teacher had told you to stand up against the blue wall after you were done getting your drink. You had yourself pressed so hard against that wall, you looked like you were being arrested. My favorite part was when the class was running laps around the gym, and all the girls were waving at their Mommies when they ran past the window, and you came around waving your little hand madly and smiling this huge smile! It made me so happy to see you having such a good time!

At the first class, you just wore shorts and a T-shirt, because that was what we wore to the Mommy and Me class. But I noticed all the other girls were wearing leotards. So for your birthday I got you a lavendar leotard with a little skirt on it. You love it and looks so cute wearing it! Here's a picture of my little gymnast/ballerina!