Elise's Amazing Two Days

If you've chatted at all with Elise in the past couple of days, you know that she's 8! You also probably heard something about butterflies, Legos, Adventure Peninsula, Smores, and a betta fish, plus probably a lot more. She's had some great days lately.

Elise turned 8 last Tuesday. In keeping with tradition, we took the day off of school (but not piano lessons, which until she realized she could wear her birthday button and probably get an extra prize from the prize bin, she was super bummed about). She requested just a simple day at home.

The lead-up:
Elise, Saturday: "The day after tomorrow, will I get to say that tomorrow is my birthday?"
Me: "All day!"
Me all day Monday: "Elise, when's your birthday?"
Elise, grinning every time: "Tomorrow!"

Unfortunately, things went quickly downhill as she fell ill with a cold and fever over the weekend. So possibly my best gift to her was to force her to rest and recuperate with the result that she was, actually, pretty much recovered on Tuesday.

Of course it was hard to get to sleep the night before, for everyone, and of course it was easy to wake up the next morning. At 6:00, I heard the bathroom door open and close, but fortunately it wasn't until 6:30 that I heard, "It's my birthday!"

There was a bunny to take care of, and birthday-ish clothes to put on, and plenty of general excitement. Finally, presents! Birthday cereal! Celebration!

And the morning was every bit what she hoped it would be: nice gifts from nice people, a fresh box of Lucky Charms, and plenty of time to do the Lego sets, start the sewing kit, page through the books, etc.

We made her cake, and as it baked, we went on a walk with the two critter cages Kalina had given Elise. Amazingly, by the end of the walk, we had a new pet for each cage! A caterpillar that's still alive, and some sort of small, green stick inset, which was mercifully released. Plus some algae to look at under the microscope!

We enjoyed grilled cheese sandwiches and soup for lunch, and then Naomi gave Elise her gift: the opportunity to go make some Lego people at the Lego store--a favorite activity. Of course, I was planning to do the driving. Elise chose to redeem her gift on her birthday rather than wait, so after I royally messed up her cake icing (adding cocoa when it was supposed to be white!), we piled in the car for the trip to the mall, followed by the piano lesson.

At the mall, Elise painstakingly pieced together three Lego people before I realized I could offer to let her choose a $10 Lego set instead. As the pieces available in the minifigure bins were disappointingly repetitive, Elise delightedly found a cute little animal set she'd had her eye on all along. Perfect! Off to the lesson, after doing the library drive-thru (yes, a drive thru! Happy birthday to me!) and the gas station.

Meanwhile, Naomi, who was not having the best day but whose mood improved the second we were released from her sister, and I formed the Birthday Squad, rushing to Target for more frosting to rescue Elise's birthday cake, plus more necessities. She gratefully accepted a sticker at checkout.

Naomi, at checkout: "Mommy, do you think I'll get a sticker?"
Me: "I don't know, but remember we don't ask."
Naomi: "But Mommy, do you think I will? I really want one."
Me: "We'll just have to wait and see!"
The cashier, of course, couldn't help but overhear. "Here's her sticker." I was possibly more grateful than Naomi.

And the birthday was a whirlwind after this: I rescued the cake, Grandpa came and we went out to eat, and then Elise opened the rest of her presents and shared her rescued owl cake with everyone. Yum! It was a great day.

Since we actually had friends to invite to a party this year, Elise decided she'd like a small, nature-focused party with just a couple guests. But that wasn't all that happened on Saturday: it ended up being a day jam-packed with fun.

But it didn't begin that way. Having run through the schedule in my mind, and seen the Legos scattered throughout the house, I knew this was only going to work out if we reigned it in a bit. So until it was time to leave for her first activity, monarch butterfly tagging, Elise was busy helping me get things in order for her party. Thank goodness we'd already put together the goody boxes the day before! Whew! :) (Elise still adores goody boxes.)

Butterfly tagging was restricted to ages 8+ (a detail Elise enjoyed, especially since she'd been left at home the year before), and Matt took both the older girls while Naomi indulged in Blues Clues with her otter and I continued to get ready for the party (we also played a few board games, so she wasn't entirely ignored!). Matt had the brilliant idea of collecting their tags and skipping the ranger talk, seeing as the girls could probably give the talk themselves, and so our group was the first on the prairie. Whether for that reason or due to a sheer plethora of monarchs (which there is this year), it didn't take too long for them to place 4 of their 6 tags. Plus, everyone got to catch at least one butterfly--even re-catching some they'd already tagged! Amazing!

As if that wasn't enough, Matt agreed to stop at Petco on the way home so Elise could use the birthday pet certificate that was burning a hole in her pocket. After weighing the various merits of hermit crabs, betta fish and hissing cockroaches, she decided on a fish. Its name is Opal, and it's beautiful, with blue and red fins and a whitish purplish body.

And the birthday party hadn't even started yet! The two guests arrived, plus one guest's older sister to play with Kalina (they made a really fun space-themed Lego stop-motion movie), and Elise was able to show everyone everything cool in and around the house, included some of the unique pets, the stream and her new betta fish.

After watching her pet tarantula eat, the girls dove into a forest-animal sewing project, in the screen tent (the weather, by the way, was stunningly perfect). I hung out with them, and was eventually only needed every couple minutes or so, as Elise and another girl already knew how to sew. Their attention span for this lasted nearly an hour, and would've lasted longer if I hadn't let them know their parents would be coming in half an hour or so, and thus raised the alarm of, "But we haven't played much in the stream!"

Off the girls raced to explore. Possibly a little too much: within 5 minutes Elise was back, mentioning, "Um, we might need a little supervision..." So I went to supervise, trying to strike the balance between, "Yay, it's a birthday," and "Yikes!!!" Eventually, once the giant branch was done being lowered onto the narrow ledge with two girls on it (the ledge, not the branch) and everyone had dashed off to a safer locale, I wandered back to the house to help Matt get the campfire and s'mores ready.

A few minutes later, I heard calls from the girls, and saw that they were now proudly standing across the stream, in a place no one previously knew how to get to--and announcing that they weren't going to be telling how they did it.

Elise, now so completely over the moon we might never get her back, named the place Adventure Peninsula, and still hasn't stopped talking about it to absolutely anyone who will listen. Being Elise, she eventually brought her sisters there, and then Matt and I, and Grandpa, and she'd probably bring you if you so much as mention the word peninsula. Or stream. Or hello.

The girls triumphantly returned and enjoyed s'mores, gifts and goody boxes before it was time to go. I was glad we'd chosen to purchase whistles for the goody boxes, as now when Elise goes off exploring, she at least has a means of getting help if she needs it.

Shortly after the party, we attended an AHG campfire, where we all enjoyed another round of s'mores.

It'll be hard to top this birthday, but knowing Elise, someday she will!

Our sweet Elise at 8 is now a fun mix of sugar and spice. Agreeable, fun, pleasant and even "adorable," as she was recently called but someone who'd just met her, she can also out-eye-roll a teenager. We're hoping she gets it out of her system now--because some of the looks she gives us when she disagrees with our decisions could wilt a flower. She has a very strong sense of justice, as long as the justice is clearly within her wishes. Which means that everything outside her wishes is, clearly, unjust.

And yet, fortunately our girl is mostly sugar. She adores her sisters (although occasionally at arm's length, especially when feeling pestered), makes good decisions, saves her money for a reasonable amount of time before spending it, loves animals, is improving at drawing, does the bunny chores every morning, plays piano very nicely, has read Harry Potter (but is okay not going on yet--they're a pretty high reading level), still really likes to cuddle, has a great laugh, still talks really loud when she's excited, can memorize a times table in 5 minutes and forget it just as quickly, can manage a recipe mostly on her own, still obsesses about treats, likes manageable adventure, climbs anything like a pro, roller skates quite well indoors, doesn't do well with suspense or awkwardness in books, and still does a masterful job of bridging the gap between childhood and adulthood.

Elise is still super into mermaids, and is working on fleshing out her idea of Eliseland, which includes everything she loves and an area for mermaids. She lives there alone, but has a house next door for visitors. She's writing a series of chapter books about mermaids who rescue ocean animals. There are 7 ocean zones she's working with, and 7 mermaids for each zone. Soooo.... She's about two chapters in and has drawings of most of them by now.

She's also into squirrels (she occasionally feeds one from the back deck), the ocean (except, apparently, when she's on it), unicorns, rescuing animals (she also has a series about this that she's working on), nature, the stream and bugs. She likes weird pets, just like Matt, and will tell everyone that she has a tarantula and an axolotl, and now a betta fish. Elise is great at sewing, and loves making little things out of felt and embroidery floss.

Elise loves to reminisce about "little Elise," and remembers remarkably well what she was doing or thinking even as a two-year-old, telling stories and reminiscing about what was going through her head. She thinks she was pretty cute, but doesn't realize that she still is.  Yet she's clearly considering the future: she plans to live off the land in the wilderness of Alaska when she grows up. Alone, probably, because she figures no one else has the same dream. But she'll have plenty of animal friends. She spent part of the year training--running laps, doing pushups, etc., to get in shape for this venture, and she's been discussing survival kits with Kalina a lot.

Elise's enthusiasm is unmatched when she's really into something--and overpowering. Nothing else matters until her muse is fully explored, and nothing compares, especially all the boring ol' work I make her do. What's more, everyone else needs to understand and appreciate whatever she's into, preferably on the same level. She does this so sweetly it's never a chore, and many of her interests endure even after the initial high, but even a sweet tidal wave is still a tidal wave.

Elise began to get self-conscious this year, although her perceptions and hesitations are usually reasonable. She took off her Birthday Girl button at Build-A-Bear when we stopped in on her birthday because she didn't want the salesperson making a big fuss over her--apparently she noted what happened with Naomi and wanted to go incognito. But who can blame her? It's the kid version of the birthday sombrero and serenade--blech.

Elise is often the one to rescue us from bugs when Matt's not around, or even when he is, since she insists they be treated humanely. She's generally very resourceful and intuitive and willing to tackle projects on her own, which is just a breath of fresh air sometimes. She can reliably be counted on to remember things and handle a task, as long as she's on board.

Her ideal outfit: Cozy sweatshirt, skirt and flip-flops. Her arms get cold, but not the rest of her and flip-flops are just...so...something. She sneaks tastes from the kitchen every chance she gets.

Kind and generous, Elise at her best is a complete sunshine without which we'd be a somewhat dull household at times. There's no one better to help celebrate any kind of holiday. She's quick to forgive, quick to join in, and can be surprisingly patient. She's often so sweet with Naomi, reading to her, playing nicely with her and increasingly considering her an equal (although we're not there yet). Elise still, on the other hand, considers herself not a day younger than Kalina, and holds her ground so well that not even Kalina herself would argue that. She's helpful, honest, loyal and tries her best, taking life seriously most of the time.

We're excited to see what new adventures abound for our sweet Elise this year! We know they're out there, and are confident in her ability to find them. Love you, Elise!

Elise's Birthday Blast

After a year of waiting, months of planning, weeks of buildup and several lists, Elise's birthday finally arrived! And it turned out as monumental as she hoped.

It was 5:28 when we first heard the stirrings of a birthday girl. "It's my birthday!" she declared for everyone to hear. "I'm six!" Kalina groaned, Matt pretended to be asleep and I shot out of bed, heart pounding, to remind Elise that it wasn't yet morning. Thankfully, it was still dark and at least several of us got back to sleep.

"Real" morning began, then, at a much more reasonable time of 7:00-ish, three of us trying hard not to hold a grudge and the birthday girl walking on air. We all rocketed downstairs for a bowl of "birthday cereal," chocolate Lucky Charms that the girls deemed too sacred to pour milk on until I told them it would turn regular milk into chocolate milk. Magically delicious (Matt might have another word for them).

And we started in on presents. Naomi was all too happy to offer hers up for unwrapping. She'd hinted throughout the week that Elise would be opening either a lamb or an owl, but managed not to spill the beans that they were, in fact, puppies, just as Elise had specifically requested. Puppies that had been lovingly introduced to the house, pretend-bathed and cuddled by the 3-year-old before being wrapped snuggly while they slept (she insisted on putting them on their backs in the wrapping paper).

But as Elise's birthday fell on a Sunday, soon it was time to head off to church. Although initially annoyed that the day wouldn't be one long party, she warmed up to the idea of church when she realized that, wearing her birthday button, lots of people were likely to say happy birthday to her. And they did! "I got a lot of happy birthdays and a donut!" she cheered.

When we returned home, Daddy had a present for Elise: a clue. It would be the first on a treasure hunt that led us through the house, outside and to real treasure once we assembled the map! Elise admitted later she was just expecting to dig up a little toy. As it turned out, the treasure was actually pirate-worthy: a silver coin minted in the year Elise was born, buried in a ziploc baggie beside the swingset.

Next we all headed to McDonald's, where we ordered Happy Meals, ate them on a special light-up table and played in the play area, just as Elise requested.

Birthday frozen
yogurt! Colorful and
sweet, you are what
you eat.

Somehow, Elise managed to keep adding small components to her special day, with us barely noticing--and she does it so sweetly we hardly mind. Which is why, shortly we returned from McDonalds, she and I sailed out the door again for a Mommy-Elise frozen yogurt date.

And then we opened more presents at home with Grandpa, and played with them as much as we could in our packed schedule. Stop having fun, Elise, it's time to have more fun! I didn't want to rush the girl, but I had to remind her we still had exciting plans, so we kept pressing forward even as we oohed and aaaahed over such things as roller skates, craft activities and the rock tumbler Elise has been begging for (but, as she later told me, didn't think she'd actually receive).

Kalina and Elise, by the way, patiently let Elise get all of the attention, most of the time, at least.

After a quick "supper," we were off to Monkey Joe's, a bouncy-house/game place that we thought would be the least busy between 5 and 7. We added our three kids to the general not-terribly-busy bustle, constantly reassuring Naomi we wouldn't leave her and remaining super visible so she'd believe us and relax. Which she did! Of the three, she was actually the one who was least willing to leave in the end.

Having a blast at the bouncy
house place.

The popular fishing
game!

Elise had a fabulous time bouncing and sliding, and so did Kalina. We also checked out the games and had fun winning tickets in various goofy ways. We enjoyed popcorn and a pretzel, managed to pick multiple prizes for each child without driving the prize counter person completely crazy, generally agreed we were all glad Elise had suggested the outing and decided we could actually picture doing it again sometime. Happy birthday to all of us.

We'd saved two presents for afterward, and cake, which Elise has been planning for weeks. Vanilla cake was topped with chocolate frosting and chopped strawberries, for a delicious combination. She added three kinds of sprinkles and candles, and we all enjoyed the final birthday cake of birthday season. Well done, Elise!
After opening her roller skates, Elise jetted upstairs to change into pajamas (our full day extended past bedtime), so she'd have time to roll around the house a little before the day officially came to a close. She's taken them off a couple times since...

Elise decorated her own cake (and her
own face)!

Happy birthday, sweet Elise!

In so many ways, Elise is more big kid than little kid, except she retains so well the joy of childhood that it's hard to place her age. I suppose six will have to do! The only extrovert (probably) in the family, Elise happily talks to anyone, telling plans and ideas, making little jokes, explaining her little jokes and informing. And at the same time, she certainly shows a reserved side, too--she's perfectly capable of blending into the background in group settings, without being completely ignored.

And in fact, it's a little bit impossible to ignore Elise. Forgotten middle child she is not, although she's much more of a rules-follower than most people would take her for. Disobedience and disorder, while they can be entertaining to her, make her uncomfortable and she's my main whistle blower when things are not going the way they should be. And yet, she certainly loves a little fun...

"What is it?" A rock tumbler,
of course! It'll be running for
the next month.

Elise is fairly close to: swimming, biking start to stop with no training wheels, writing her lowercase alphabet, reading cohesively, and completing first-grade math. She's coming along on piano, can recite multiple poems and Bible verses, enjoys singing for us and isn't afraid of a challenge. Elise can do monkey bars, climb a rope quite high (if it's knotted--but even if the knots are spaced more for a 10-year-old), befriend older kids, break eggs (even though she prefers not to), explain various scientific concepts, and create recipes that are starting to almost sound tasty (or at least not awful), even though most of them involve lots of sugary foods layered together. She also, however, seems to think that if she says it, it will work. Case in point: "Mommy, I know how to make chalk! Just put chalk dust in a bucket and let it sit for a year. After a year, the little pieces will have hardened into chalk!" Considering the only way Kalina and Elise play with chalk is to grind it into dust, this kind of "chalk cycle" would be pretty handy.

Elise's sense of fairness is strong, as are her sweet negotiation skills (you never really feel as though you lose, no matter which side you come out on). She has a penchant for science, and especially chemical reactions that turn colors or explode (or even mixtures that just look cool), and cool rocks. Elise has lots of big ideas, and would like to invent something or sell things from a card table in the driveway (lemonade, painted rocks, moss gardens--you name it). She easily picked up knitting and crocheting, as well as the ever-popular finger knitting and rainbow looming. In fact, she watched me crochet one day, and was able to successfully do it the next, with very little instruction. She has not, however, actually learned to fly--but don't tell her. The girl fully believes (it seems) that if she runs fast enough and flaps her wings, she takes to the air a little bit. "Mom, I flew a little! Watch!"

The birthday girl at
McDonald's

Elise is best friends with each of her sisters--nearly Kalina's twin, and also spending lots of happy time playing with Naomi. With Naomi, Elise expertly plays a dual role of playmate and caregiver--at least until the fact that she's 6 kicks in, and she gets annoyed with Naomi's 3-year-old sharing skills. She's also started to branch out, and easily develops friendships at her various activities, and also with the neighbor boy next door (who she apparently is now not going to marry, despite having planned on it for months).

In the future, Elise hopes to have a lot of pets, be a preschool teacher, and be on speed dial to help anyone who needs any kind of help. She also may be in a circus, and/or a movie producer and animal advocate. She has warned us that she might not have much time when she's a grownup, because she'll be so busy helping people.

Elise's treat memory survives, as does her cheerful disposition that keeps her from holding a grudge very long, or feeling down very long at all (although some things do get to her). She's also still infinitely quotable. She no longer brings Pink Bear and Soft Blankie everywhere, but instead brings a pair of kittens, about whom she's developed quite a history. For her birthday, she added several kittens and puppies to the group, so it'll be another interesting year in stuffie world.

Kalina made an Elephant and
Piggie bookmark!

While Elise still entertains an active imagination, she stays rooted in reality. As such, it can be hard to place her actual age. She'll discuss her plans for selling self-watering moss gardens, holding a circus (she'll be the tightrope walker, among other roles) or various inventions as though she's someone's mother--and yet we're still in a conversation about selling moss from the driveway, not-so-impressive playground tricks and unrealistic or highly impractical gadgets. She has a wonderful memory and can tell me her impressions of events years ago ("When I was little"), whether or not they're associated with treats. She giggles as she confidentially reveals what she used to be scared of or confused about or babyish about, as though we're 28-year-olds, sharing coffee and reminiscing about our childhoods together. ("Mommy, I used to take Pink Bear and Soft Blankie everywhere!" she laughs at herself as she runs off to round up armfuls of stuffed kittens.)

Elise finds real buried
treasure: a silver coin!

Elise desperately wants to be in the newspaper, and in fact believes she should be: after all, she's discovered six really cool rocks (white quartz and such) and a coin from New Zealand in the pumpkin patch. She plans to be famous someday. In fact, she has a lot of plans. "Mommy, mind setting me up with the computer? I need to print out 'Naomi's Art Book.'" Because she's making an art book with/for Naomi. Of course, if I go down the rabbit hole of typing it out for her, there's no telling where we'll come up...but at least we'll have had a marvelous time!

Happy 3 to Elise!!

Birthday morning!

Cute little 2 1/2-year-old Elise. We all just loved her--although she would be quick to correct you if you called her that. "No, I'm big!"

Yes, Sweetie, you are big.

Bigger than her years. Elise will confidently strike up meaningful conversations with anyone--not letting her small stature deter her from speaking as an equal, and asking real questions. She understands patience and sharing better than most kindergarteners. Her sense of humor keeps us laughing with her, not at her. Elise keeps up with the big neighbor girls and Kalina's friends, completely clueless that she's kind of too young to really be able to do that very well.

"Happy birthday to me!"

No, in fact, Elise seems to have no idea that for many people, 2 1/2 means tantrums, whining, making giant messes and breaking stuff. Not that she's not capable--she simply has many better things to do. Most of the time, anyway.

And now she's three! For us, that's meant three years of pure sunshine in our house. Elise is about as pleasant a little person as one can be--sweet, sincere, easygoing and pretty much hilarious.

The ever-helpful big sister. 

And what else? Elise's jumping skills are unmatched, as is her arm strength, as is her smile. She can count to 18, as long as she skips anything after 12. She takes singing and dancing very seriously, often solemnly making up words to songs about upstairs and downstairs, puppies, and more, as well as performing "ballet." She "reads," "writes" and draws pictures using much more imagination than realism, but the realism is certainly on its way. Elise loves to participate in any project or activity--but she also knows when to ask for help, including from God Himself. She knows how to follow rules, but also thinks it's pretty entertaining to break them--even if Mommy doesn't. She loves people, and is comfortable with kids and grownups of any age, except, possibly, pre-verbal toddlers, who she likes to chase relentlessly (we're working on that). But she's equally happy playing on her own--or, more likely, with her animals or her favorite little doll, Ellie. And she'll listen to stories for more time than I usually have to sit down and read them.

Were you wondering what was in the
dog-shaped package in the first picture?
It's Hoppy Bunny!

Elise loves a little bit of adventure, but not too much. Some of her best adventures happen in her mind with Pink Bear--they duo is often known to catch a family of snakes, deer, bears, etc. on their way home from work and put them in cages. Or drive to a hotel for a vacation. Or fly to the moon.

In fact, as you'll find if you ever have a conversation with her, Elise and Pink Bear have lifetimes worth of experiences and adventures spanning every possible topic. She'll confidently tell you stories to match and surpass anything you've ever done. So if you rode in a hot air balloon, she probably did too. And ate ice cream while on board, and talked to a bird, and then it turned into a boat and they went under water and saw a shark. And Pink Bear was scared, so they hid, and then threw purple rocks at the shark. And so on.

Kalina took this picture of me
and my birthday girl!

She's happiest when pretending to be a baby animal--usually a kitten, bear or penguin, and can spend entire days "in character," happily indulged by her big sister.

And, in fact, Elise is very often happy! She always has been, and I hope she always will be.

Elise at three often lives in two worlds--the "big kid" world and the "little kid" one, which often involves stretching back into babyhood on soft pink blankie, holding soft pink bear and recharging. Aw!

As you can see, we've so much to celebrate in little Elise!

A tea party with the new tea set!

And it was quite the celebration. Marked by Grandma and Grandpa's arrival in town the night before, the morning launched us into a flurry of activity as we opened a present (a "Hoppy Bunny" Elise can bounce on), welcomed Grandma and Grandpa, and got Kalina out the door for preschool. And for a few hours, Elise had Grandma and Grandpa all to herself. The weather not being particularly friendly, Elise decided she wanted to take them to the mall play area, where she showed off all manner of tricks, particularly her amazing jumping skills.

A low-key afternoon of playtime and purple-frosted graham crackers led into evening, when Daddy's return home from work kicked off the big celebration. And what are the top two things on any 3-year-old's mind when it's her birthday? Presents! Cake! She dug into both with little restraint and few manners, which I probably hadn't done a good enough job preparing her for. There's always next year--or Christmas--right?

We all enjoyed sitting back and watching her, except good-natured, ever-helpful big sister Kalina, who easily forgets that Elise really is big enough to help herself to her gifts. Not that I can blame Kalina--after all, the gifts were every big as exciting to a 5-year-old as to a 3-year-old. Elise weathered the "help" in stride, as did Kalina weather the gentle admonitions of, "It's Elise's birthday, Sweetie!"

And fortunately, when you share a house with your favorite playmate, you know that you'll get to share in the spoils when it's all over. My favorite comment of the evening: "Kalina, we got some Little People!" Because isn't everything more fun with a sister?

The fun could've lasted all night, but we weren't about to let it, knowing we had several big grandparent-filled days ahead--and a rainbow kitten pony party with a couple little friends!

Elise and friends at her party

Nothing says 3 like rainbows, kittens and ponies--not, at least, according to Elise. We'd planned her party for Saturday morning and invited two sets of sister, all roughly near Elise's age (actually, one is almost Kalina's age but gets along great with Elise). The night before, the younger of each set had to bow out due to illness. With enough distraction, however, Elise was still excited.

Now, why would I be crazy enough to let my 3-year-old have a themed birthday party with friends despite the fact that there's a newborn in the house? I'm not sure of any reason other than that I probably am a little crazy. Besides, it's not really any harder to plan a tri-themed party than a single theme, and lots of the supplies and activities (and even the playlist) could be reused from Kalina's.

Not sure I've ever seen him prouder.

In fact, Elise has been planning her party ever since Kalina started planning hers, a fact that not only pretty much forced me to give her a party (because how could you tell a 3-year-old who thinks she's 5 that she can't have a birthday party even though her sister did three months ago?), but ensured the rainbow paper chains and extra party hats didn't get tossed. I began stocking up on pony napkins, kitten plates, and more, making sure each theme was well represented. Easy-peasy.

We'd filled treat bags and made lemon cupcakes, and pretty soon we were welcoming guests. Our first activity was to fill pony necklaces with layers of rainbow-colored sand. Rainbows and ponies. Check and check.

Pinning the tail on Rainbow Dash,
and winning!

Then we moved on to Pin the Tail On Rainbow Dash (a favorite My Little Pony pony). Daddy provided the stunning artwork for this activity, a feat he was as proud of as his thesis. And rightly so! The only mistake, according to Elise, is that Rainbow Dash wasn't purple like she'd wanted. Because Rainbow Dash isn't, in fact, purple. And then we did the Rainbow Walk--back by popular request.

After some pizza, we pulled out the cupcakes. The kids' cupcakes were topped with My Little Ponies, courtesy of ebay. And the uproar began. Each child singled out a pony they wanted, and while there were no arguments, the sugar-filled treats' desirability rose exponentially.

We could barely convince the girl that we needed to put candles on her cupcake, light them, sing to her, and have her blow them out before she could begin the process of choosing her cupcake, plucking off the pony and licking the frosting off. (Appropriately, this is how each girl claimed her pony. She licked it.) How do you convince the birthday girl to wait through all the once-fun-now-tedious traditions before claiming her prize? Certainly not with a timeout. We barely managed. And the house didn't burn down, either. Elise sang Happy Birthday the loudest of everyone there before digging in.

Order of operations: 1. blow
out candles. 2. take
cupcake.

After a few presents and some final playtime, it was time to say goodbye. Another great year, and another great party!

Special thanks to Grandma for holding the baby in a dark, quiet room the ENTIRE time so that Mommy could join in Elise's ENTIRE special party--and Naomi would survive it germ-free! We saved her a pony.

Special thanks, also, to Kalina, who patiently watched as Elise received all the attention, most of the gifts and the first turn for everything, and who mostly politely allowed other people to choose various goodies she'd earmarked, and who through it all, once I believe choking back disappointed tears, managed to smile graciously and help her little sister enjoy a lovely third birthday.

Does Elise feel 3 yet? She does not. "I still feel like I'm 2 1/2." Elise mentions every so often that she's still growing into 3.

I suppose when 2 1/2 is so much fun, there's no hurry to be 3! I'm not in a hurry, either.

Happy birthday Elise, love you!

World's Cutest Baby version 3.0
1 month old!

Pediatrician visit!

Naomi had her 1-month appointment! (1 month of sweet newbornhood--gone. 1 month of new baby smell--gone. 1 month of sleep deprivation--gone. You win some, you lose some.)

I've learned that Naomi does not like the car after all. Not even a little bit, as Elise would say. Naomi is happiest (read: the only time when she is not crying) when she is swaddled and held while the holder is actively walking around and possibly bouncing; or eating, or asleep. She also doesn't mind the five minutes after a diaper change. Unfortunately, these conditions describe a car ride not at all, unless she happens to be asleep, which she finds mighty tricky unless she's swaddled.

As we'd been to preschool twice and Target once already before the appointment, Naomi had had a stressful morning (as had I).

She didn't mind the scale, and she didn't mind the exam table too much. The rest of the trip, except for the brief amount of time I was able to get her to sleep in the waiting room, she minded very much.

Especially the shot, as everyone in the entire office and waiting room soon found out. A sympathetic stranger helped carry the carseat while I tried to console my littlest and wrangle my middle away from rolling around on the germy floor or hurting my oldest. Success eluded me. This was not a shining moment, but it was a very long one.

All the misery aside, Naomi now weighs an even eight pounds and is 21 inches long. Growing like a champ, but still in newborn clothes (cute!). Her mean diaper rash has finally found a solution. The doctor wondered if she'd smiled, yet, and I think she has--a couple days ago I noticed a grin that I couldn't quite attribute to just gas. Or maybe it was just because I really, really needed it to not just be gas.

After her shot, Naomi took a giant nap or two, and was finally back to her usual self by evening, when I held her for five hours straight (minus diaper changes) to keep her happy. And when Naomi's happy, we're all happy!

Two Cute Elise

Elise's cheeks are so poofy
because she's saying "cheese."

Today, for the first or maybe second time (I know, gross!) I sent Elise's beloved Pink Bear through the washer. She was unaware, having previously determined that the only place she wanted to give Pink Bear a bath was in Kalina's pretend bathtub.

But it had to be done: thanks to Pink Bear's grayish-brownish "I've been loved SO much" tint, she was barely living up to her name anymore.

The bear emerged sweet-smelling and genuinely rosy, except for her nose, which was still gray with love and probably always will be. Elise never suspected a thing, but was simply happy to see her friend again.

The transformation of Pink Bear back to her cheery self reminded me of another transformation--that of my little girl herself who is, in fact, two years old!

Good thing Kalina was
around to help with the
presents!

This actually comes as a bit of a surprise--after all, Elise just turned one, it seems to me, and I've been thinking of her as one for a whole year now. But the facts are all there: Elise can form short sentences, pedal a trike when the wind is with her, recognize some letters sometimes, sing, put on a sock, balance on high places without falling off, draw, feed a fish and so much more. Yup, I guess she's two.

Elise, herself, seemed to be every bit as averse to turning two as I was to see it happen. Although she's highly in favor of birthdays, it took her a long time to get used to the fact that she'd soon be encountering an identity shift.

"How old will you be on your birthday, Elise?"
"One." (Holding up one pudgy little finger)
"Actually, you'll be two! Big girl!" (Holding up two fingers)
"No!" (Shaking her head, offended) "One." (One finger)

Chocolate cupcake with
sprinkles, eaten entirely
with fingers. Perfect.

It took a few weeks to get the concept across, and now Elise seems resigned to her two-year-old status, even if she forgets sometimes. And she seems positively thrilled with all of her two-year-old accomplishments, which she almost seems to have been cramming in as her birthday has approached.

Yes, the girl talks up a storm--or at least, a nice breeze, anyway. She's just beginning to freely use full sentences, but can easily put several words together, especially if one of them is "purple."

She also runs around the yard, balances, climbs, swings and generally explores every bit as adeptly as a two-year-old should. Which means that several times a day she takes Mommy's breath away as she either treks to the top of a giant twisty slide (and not using the stairs, mind you), or plummets onto pavement (for a while, she had a permanent skinned knee that she was rather proud of and hardly bothered by).

Elise listens patiently to long stories, sings her own little alphabet song, composed mostly of vowels, and counts to two, or higher with a little help. She recognizes some letters, especially an E, and possibly her own name. She's known all her colors for a long time, and can distinguish between lights and darks, plus she seems to know her shapes.

Of course, there are the less tangible things, too. Elise loves to be happy, and tries to whenever she doesn't have to be upset about the fact that she's not allowed to stand on the countertop, for instance. And yet, even if she is standing on the countertop, and flashing me her giant, "Look what I can do!" grin, and giggling, there's little chance I can possibly get upset with her. I bet you couldn't, either.

Elise would happily dye herself purple, and dresses up whenever possible. She's recently been seen wearing a necklace as a belt, a box as a hat, shorts as a necklace, a bracelet as an anklet, a blanket as a dress, a breadstick as a ring, a headband as a belt, sunglasses as a shoe, a sock as a mitten, Kalina's pajama pants, my flip-flops, Daddy's belt, stickers all over her tummy, and so forth. Not all at once, thank goodness. And she likes to look in the mirror. It could be that the toddler is more image-conscious than the rest of us combined, but at least she's cute enough to justify it.

What else? The toddler loves to stand on her head (feet firmly planted on the ground), and watch the world go by. She'll happily join in any interesting activity, from dusting to watering plants to scattering puzzle pieces across the floor. She loves to wake up anyone or anything that's sleeping (even if they're just pretending), and call animals by emitting a loud shriek (which rarely attracts anything). Among her absolute favorite activities are playing with water and coloring, both of which she'll do pretty much indefinitely when uninterrupted. She also likes to catch pretend fish, reeling them in, showing them off (they're always purple) and tossing them back. Elise is amazingly good at sharing, which even at two, she occasionally does voluntarily and without panicking.

Perhaps no one has noticed the overall transformation in Elise more than Kalina, who now routinely seeks her out as a playmate instead of stashing all of her toys in high places, as was the custom for much of Elise's second year. Although Kalina doesn't always cheer when Elise gets up from her nap, she always has a giant hug for the little one after preschool, gives her lovely glider rides on the swingset and hands over anything purple without question. What more could Elise ask?

It's interesting to see, too, that some things don't change--since Day 1, Elise has been an avid observer of the world around her. Little gets by this girl, which can be a plus or a minus depending on whether you're trying to potty train her or hide your chocolate chip cookie from her. This means that she's a great learner, and can mimic everything from Olympic diving to a cat.

It's true, Elise has shaken things up in our little household. And while we, like Pink Bear, might be a bit grayer around the nose (or hair) for it, we can't help feeling a whole lot of love.

Happy second birthday, Sweetie! We love you!

Adventures with Two: What's cooking?

Valentine's sweeties and their
balloons! Which are named
Valentine, and Valentine's
Day, respectively.

I remember before Elise was born (so many of my blogs start this way), I  wondered how, in the world, I would cook dinner. Sometimes I still wonder this. I did discover that it's possible:

Month 1: The world cooks for you. Friends and family deliver delicious meals to your door, and when they don't, restaurants do. 

Month 2: From the freezer to the oven, and sometimes back again.

Month 3-6: Reality hits. There will be no more "free meals." Fortunately, the baby naps a lot and the older child sees cooking as quality time, so food lands on the table somehow.

Months 6-9: You never stop cooking. The baby needs special food, the older child sometimes needs special food to feel special, too, and dinner still needs to be made ready. However, in this golden age of child-rearing, the baby is often happy on the floor for full minutes at a time, but can't yet crawl fast enough to be a problem.

Months 9-15 1/2: Dinner gets cooked in 30-second increments for a whole variety of reasons.

Month 16: The baby decides she wants to be involved in the dinner-cooking process, and simply can't be held off or distracted any longer.

Whew, thank goodness the girls are both old enough to help! After all, both can stand on a chair, sometimes without pushing each other off, and "measure," and "pour," and "mix"--what more do I need? With double the help around the kitchen, meals will be whipped up twice as easy, and twice as fast! Twice as delicious, too! Right?

So why do Matt and I both cringe inwardly at times when we're about to embark on making pizza crust or beef stew and we hear, "I want to help!" followed quickly by, "Ooh! Oooh! Ooohh!" as both girls race to drag over the stained chair I've designated as the cooking stool and clamber up before I can say "sharp knives, hot pans and raw meat?"

All of a sudden, our task changes from just throwing the ingredients together to making sure Elise doesn't fall off the chair (which she would, every single time, if we weren't so vigilant), helping Kalina help us measure and dump (which she's actually quite good at), or pushing dangerous or messy items far out of reach from Elise's grabbers. Our actual dinner becomes an afterthought.

Because what parent says, "No, you may not help make dinner?" Despite our inward groans, we try our best to pipe up, "It'd be wonderful to have some help!" Because it really would, and the girls are cute.

Elise's first pan of brownies is in the oven!

With the addition of a toddler to our meal preparation task force, Kalina feels shoved aside (literally and figuratively) and I feel flustered, but Elise couldn't possibly be prouder of her new status as "kitchen help." The ecstatic toddler debuted on a pan of brownies.

Elise is every bit as eager of a baker/cook as her older sister, albeit a little less precise at the moment. Whereas Kalina can break an egg for me (I still open it up to spill the contents, though), accurately measure ingredients, and be trusted not to dump the mixing bowl's contents onto the counter, Elise is far too willing to try her own hand at these tasks than my comfort level would generally allow, and has caught on to our general methods with remarkable speed. We've reached a tenuous agreement where she can play with the measuring cups and spoons not in use, and occasionally dig in flour or sugar with them. She's negotiating hard for the eggs, but I won't give in.

Although Kalina, by virtue of her more advanced age, is currently more adept in the kitchen than Elise, she, too, is still learning the ropes. This week alone, in fact, she's discovered that when she turns the mixer onto a high speed when Mommy's not looking, the top inch of contents gets flung onto the counter top--and any animals who happen to be sitting there to watch. She's also learned the "glob" method of frosting cupcakes (a big glob here, another big glob there, a few Christmas tree sprinkles, and voila! A Valentine's cupcake!). We clean up a few extra messes, guesstimate baking powder on occasion and sometimes send an armful of stuffed animals through the washing machine--and not just because they enjoy the ride. We've decided that when she's four, she can crack open an egg all by herself, and by the time she's five we're both sure she'll be making cookies with virtually no help. Oh, the parties she'll have. 

Of course, there are times when Mommy really does have to fry up some pork chops and chop up some veggies by herself. And at these times, I wonder why we can't all have dinner at around 9:00 a.m., when the kids are relatively cheerful rather than just on the other side of the 5 a.m. meltdown/minor injury hour. Some days we simply muddle through dinner preparation, calming hysterics even while salting steamed green beans.

And fortunately, that which has provided an endless parade of ups and downs in its preparation also smooths all ailments. Dinner, for all of its hassle, finally comes to everyone's rescue in the end. 

Little one turns 1!

Happy first birthday! Here's some cake!

Can anyone believe it's been a year? I certainly miss my sweet little newborn, but am thoroughly enjoying my sweet little one-year-old. Some things have changed, some things haven't.

The celebration started on Friday night with the arrival of Grandpa Hanks. Elise, having just been put to bed minutes before, was oblivious.

On Saturday morning, however, we were all thrilled to find that she managed to remember Grandpa, possibly due to our weekly video chats. The baby  insisted on being held almost immediately.



Elise kept her balloon close at
all times.



If Grandpa was the first birthday gift, the next was almost as fun: our cat arrived with him. Elise, who loves anything furry that moves, was over the moon as she followed the cat around, squealing with joy and occasionally giving it a surprisingly nice little pat. Also deserving a mention is the piano that rode along in Grandpa's SUV. It's now in our living room, and Elise, being a big fan of music, buttons and anything new, likes it too. It was a good day for the girl.

The city we live in had apparently found out about Elise's big day, and threw a parade, probably in her honor. We soon headed towards the downtown to find our spot to watch. This was both girls' first parade, and a huge success. Although Kalina buried her head in Grandpa's shoulder for the occasional loud noises, she loved waving her flag at the floats, watching people do flips as they made their way down the road and gathering candy that she soon forgot about. Elise bobbed up and down to the various bands, having recently developed the propensity to dance,  played with the leaves on the tree above us, and wondered why we wouldn't let her walk out onto the road. Both girls enjoyed their free balloons, the overall spectacle, and the dogs and horses that were allowed to march around. In fact, Elise loved her balloon so much she hugged the air right out of it. Aw.



Horse wanted to see the parade,
too.



By the time we made it home, it had already been a big day. But it was about to get bigger, as we had planned a small, yet festive, birthday party for Elise with a few friends. We all crashed for varying amounts of time, but probably not long enough for any of us, and then it was off to the races blowing up balloons, making a cake, decorating, cleaning and preparing some finger foods to celebrate our 1-year-old.

The theme of Elise's party was fruit, it being one of the things she loves best in the world and an easy motif for a low-key party, since the decorations doubled as the fare. Her cake was flavored like cherry and shaped like a watermelon (confusing, I know), and I also made a few fruity appetizers.

Which I was feeding to both girls as our guests arrived--our first in-town friends, with two girls who are each about a year older than ours. The youngest gave little Elise a big birthday hug (does it get any sweeter than an almost 2-year-old hugging a newly 1-year-old?), and everyone played and talked about the balloons until dinner.

Our guests!

Which we ate at our "new" dining room table, which actually held everyone comfortably! Congratulations, Elise, on being our first big event in our new house!

The older girls then helped me get the cake ready (one chose the color of candle while the other stuck it in), and the birthday girl insisted on gnawing on a toy as we attempted to get a good picture of her with it. Swapping out the toy with a party blowout thingy improved the pictures considerably.



Us! Not pictured: Grandpa!



Elise fidgeted impatiently in her high chair, either to sample her cake or simply get down and play. She perked up when we all started singing. When it came to blowing out the candle, she looked a bit clueless, so the bigger girls gave her some help. As did Daddy, who delivered the final blow and put the brave little flame out of its confused, flickering misery. 

[Side note: since then, I've a few times  asked Elise to "blow her nose" into a tissue I've held up for her. What does she do? She blows with her mouth! Cute!]

Elise got to choose which one
to open first!

Elise first dug into her cake more out of curiousity than anything else. A few gentle pats and pokes, though, led to some frosting in her mouth, which led to more squishy playtime and frosting on her nose and forehead. She surprised me only by how clean, relatively, she stayed. 

We timed things well enough that I was able to transfer the baby directly from the high chair into her bedtime bath, and put the exhausted little birthday baby down for bed shortly thereafter.

The next morning at 4:30, it was clear our baby had come down with a yucky cold, and that between Elise and I, only one of us would be sleeping the rest of the night. Being the birthday girl, she won.

But it was a birthday, at least, and once a normal hour rolled around we had fun playing, visiting the cat and, once everyone else was awake, digging into a couple presents.

We celebrated with an easy outing to the bison/elk preserve, as well as the bird sanctuary. From her carseat, Elise had trouble seeing more than treetops and a very cloudy sky. From the skylight in Grandpa's Vue, however, the view was grand (see picture). We wouldn't want her to miss the buffalo, would we? In addition, we also spotted elk, deer (and a fawn!) and wild turkeys, all of which were brave enough to be quite close to the car.

And then there were more presents, which Kalina was more than happy to help Elise figure out how to unwrap (and did a very nice job, too--letting Elise get a few fistfulls of paper alongside her own). Fortunately for Kalina, Elise soon became far more interested in the gifts than the unwrapping, so the bigger girl got to finish the job.

We also ate out at a real restaurant for dinner, where Elise enjoyed flipping through a few animal books, woofing at the dogs and mooing at everything else, before filling her mouth with apple chunks for the rest of the meal. Kalina ecstatically ordered a hot dog from the kids' menu, all by herself, and also wolfed down half of Grandpa's catfish. Yes, you read that right--we got to experience a relatively peaceful restaurant meal even with two kids. What a treat!



Kalina picked out some maracas for
Elise, who loved them!



And then the big day was over. I realize that when your nose is stuffy and you have to nap twice, against your will, it's probably not as exciting of a day as it should be to celebrate such a huge occasion. But I'm pretty sure even with all that, Elise got the picture that she's loved very much and the world has been a much better place ever since she was given to us. We love you, little one!

At one year old, here's what Elise can do:



-Walk halfway across the room. Holding a giant balloon.



A much-loved train from Grandpa
Les and Grandma!



-Crawl like the wind.

-Bop up and down to music.

-Shake her head no whenever I try to get her to eat meat, beans, and lots of other foods.

-Say: Mama, Dada, ball, dog, cat, duck, bowl, grapes, Grandpa, moo, bunny, bear, again, more, balloon, bird, back, bubbles, napkin, drink, milk, woof, doll, that, and more every day.

-Chase the cat.

-Brush her hair.

-Help me pack (and unpack!) my diaper bag.

-Understand and obey "no."

-Shape sort circles and the occasional star.

-Pick up a pine needle between her thumb and forefinger and transfer it into her mouth.



Elise got two new friends!

-Avoid putting sweetgum seeds into her mouth with only a few reminders.

-Put things into a bucket and carry it around.

-Push a toy grocery cart and ride a toy car.

-Bend in half and view the world upside down from between her ankles.

-Climb a slide.

-Hide. (Or, "hide.")

-Take small bites of a cracker or slice of cheese.

-Wipe up her own high-chair tray with a napkin. Sometimes before the meal has even begun.

-Cause mischief.

-Take the lid off a pot and put it back on. Over and over and over.

-Wake up with pretty incredible bedhead.

-Light up the room with her smile.

Burying her face in the nice,
soft "friends."

Most of all, we're excited to watch our littlest's personality develop and see her grow happy and healthy in our family. We are truly blessed. Happy first year, Elise!