A week before Halloween, I pulled together about half of our costumes when I decided, "Hold up. Eliza needs to wear a tutu for Halloween!" Thus was born, Swan Lake! Eliza is Odette, the White Swan. I am Odile, the Black Swan. And Sam (who was a super champ to go along with my theme) was Von Rothbart, the evil sorcerer. Seriously, it was the most fun!
All of my mommy dreams came true this year while creating these costumes. I made her tutu, which she immediately latched on to. She wore her "too, too!" all week long, and still asks to wear it every day. We went to the dance store three times to pick out a leotard and teeny-tiny ballet shoes. I could hardly believe they made shoes that small. She was so excited to try them on, "thoos, thoos!" I spent my evenings that week hand beading and sewing sequins to create the embellishments to our costumes, while watching my fill of Netflix and pounding down early Halloween candy. There were sequins stuck to our feet, beads rolling around the floor, and feathers floating through the air. It was a dream.
Sam's costume was a little more tricky. We looked up different versions of Rothbart's costume online, and Sam decided that if he was going to do this he only wanted this one. He wanted the wings and the spikes. Yikes! So, we finally settled on faux suede bat-like wings, and faux-leather "spiky" scales. I'm pretty proud of that costume, if I do say so myself. Eliza loved watching it all come together. She would play with the little squares, and hand me bits and pieces of things as I worked. And, she loved trying to touch the wheel as it spun on the machine.
My costume was pretty simple, since I already owned most of it. I just added some flare, and perfected my Natalie Portman face. Eliza was beyond excited when she saw me do my make-up. She kept trying to touch my face and squealed with delight. So, I sat her down on her little chair and painted her nails, and put a little white shadow on her face. She was so darling, I thought my heart was going to explode. She would hold really still and squint her eyes in a little toothy grin. She loved putting her "bows" in her hair, and danced all around the house.
She had such a ball that week. We won a costume award at our church Halloween carnival. We went out to trick-or-treat twice on Halloween day/night, and then hit up an after party at a friends' place. For the official treating, we went out to Russell Street in Berkeley, which is famous for their celebrations and decorations. It was nuts! I have never seen anything like it. One house built an entire pirate ship in their front yard, as tall as their two story house. Another house had an elaborate light-up show of an alien attack. Eliza collected a few bits of candy in her sparkle purse, and then managed to bust into every single piece. She would be innocently clutching a sucker one second, and the next thing I know it's half-way gone- sucked through a tiny hole that she punctured with her little vampire teeth. She ate so. much. candy. I felt so bad! But, not- because she had a blast. At the end of the night, when I peeled her leotard off, it was filled with half-eaten M&Ms and Nerds.
Happy Halloween to you all! I hope it was magical!
PS. How much do I love that last photo where Sam and I are being super serious, and Eliza's photobombing? A lot.
A couple of weeks ago we went out to Fremont to visit a pumpkin patch at J. E. Perry Farms. As much as I love the Bay Area weather, sometimes I miss seasons. I mean, a pumpkin patch in sunny 80 degree weather is just not the same. Especially when they are just rolled out on a dry field. Makes me miss Utah, and the East Coast. But, we still had fun!
We picked out a good pumpkin for carving, and let Eliza wander all over. She has been completely obsessed with pumpkins ever since the season began. She points them out at the store and in decorations. She knows where all of the pumpkins are in the house. So, I thought she would just go crazy at the patch. But, I think she was pretty warm because she walked around in a total daze. I told her she could pick out a little pumpkin, but she didn't want any of them. She really started to perk up when we went under the tent, and then Christyn helped her pick out a small ear of "Indian" corn and she wouldn't let go of it. So, now it's sitting on our mantle, and she carries it around the house with her baby doll. "Cor, cor!"
This season has been so much fun! Eliza loves pumpkins and calls all of the scarecrows on display, "baby!" She has been really into all of the Halloween things at the dollar section in Target, and loved making Halloween cards for all of the family. We went to a Halloween store, which turned out to be a poor parenting decision on my part. It was scary! She stayed pretty close to me, but loved growling at all of the creature masks, "rawr!" It wasn't until I kept hearing say, "baby, baby, baby!" and I realized she was pointing at a very disturbing dead baby decoration, that I decided we needed to get out of there!
Sam carved a smaller pumpkin with a kitty face for Eliza, and she loves it. we decided to put our jack-o-lanterns in our fireplace this year so Eliza can play with them, and also to avoid the Bay Area three-day moldy mess of a pumpkin trend. It's been great, because she runs up to it multiple times a day, to say "mow, mow?" (meow)
Pumpkin patches will forever remind me of this day, though. That was at our first place in Provo, and our pumpkin sat out on the porch all through Christmas. Whoops.
Figure 1.
baby Fred
As I mentioned before, Eliza is obsessed with babies. She loves her baby doll. But, she also loves any baby at all. Remember, Baby Fred? (This is a baby announcement from a friend that we have up on our fridge.) Well, here he is. As you can tell, he has been very loved. She insists on taking him down from our fridge and giving him big hugs and kisses.
bottles
Eliza has a thing for bottles. She loves taking the lids on and off, and sometimes attempts to get at what's inside. I felt bad when I was always taking them away from her and hiding them in the bathroom cabinets. I'm always trying to come up with alternate ways of saying, "No," because I feel like that can be rough on a kid to always here, "No, no, no" all day. So, I bought Eliza a pack of empty travel bottles, filled them with water, and put them in a cosmetic bag. It's been a great distraction!
backpack
Tiny backpack! When we go out, she gets to fill it with books and toys. Sometimes she won't take it off when I put her in the stroller. So, I have to empty it and strap her in with it still on her back.
animals
She is completely enamored by animals. She can always point them out when she sees them anywhere. She mostly calls them by their noises: A cow is "Moo," an owl is "Hoo," a snake is "Ssss," etc. These pieces are from a memory game that we love, illustrated by Charlie Harper.
Figure 2.
This is a collection of Eliza's "fancy" things:
bracelets, necklaces, sunglasses, bows, and the sparkle purse.
Any jewelry really. Any accessory that she can put on herself, and feel fancy. Sometimes I catch her admiring her accessories in the mirror, slowly swaying back and forth. She picked out those sunglasses, and asks to wear them often. She is (finally!) very into wearing bows- she will ask for her "bow" when her hair gets in her eyes. She actually leaves it in all day, except when she's sitting in her carseat, where she gets angry bored and rips it out to toss it. But then, right when I go to unbuckle her after, the first thing she says is, "Bow??" and I have to go find it and put it back in her hair.
The sparkle purse is my favorite thing ever. She picked it out at a thrift store, placed it daintily in the crook of her elbow, and marched around the store. I couldn't say no. It was the best. She goes in and out of phases where she insists on grabbing it every time we leave the house, and carrying it all day. At first, she would never let me put anything inside of it. But, she is now realizing how fun it is to store treasures. So, now it's not uncommon to find it bulging with Chapstick and jewelry. Also, when the sun hits those sequins and the sparkles dance across the ceiling of the car, her face lights up like a disco ball and it makes her smile. She will then spend the rest of the car ride trying to figure out how it works.
Oh, and speaking of Chapstick. All of mine keep disappearing because she feels so fancy taking the lid on and off and smearing it on (or around) her lips. I love this.
Figure 3.
balloons
Eliza loves balloons. Her words for balloon sounds vaguely similar to "ball" but with a slightly different inflection. She can spot a balloon anywhere- at the store, on the street, in a book. She will be "baaallllllll"ing for five minutes before I finally realize she is pointing at a tiny balloon four aisles away. I keep a bag of balloons at home, and I inflate one every once in awhile to make her smile.
chair
A friend gave us a set of these little chairs, and she was so excited. She is always delighted to find any sort of seat that is her size- a curb, a chair, a bench. She will back it up until her little bum finds a surface at just the right height. She especially loves finding little seats when she's eating. Like, if she has a snack at the park, she will try to insert her rear onto the lowest rung of the ladder to chew on her grapes or crackers. But, these days- tiny chairs suddenly open up a whole new world for this girl. She pushes them around the house and climbs up on top. Now, she can reach everything! My favorite is when she pushes it up against the window, pulls back the curtain, and yells "Herro!" at people passing by. (I also love that "hello" sounds like the men at the Chinese restaurant in A Christmas Story- "Fa, ra, ra, ra, ra!")
pocket
In the past few months, Eliza has learned all about pockets. She loves reaching in your pockets. Sam will hide treasures in the pockets, so that when he gets home she can dig around and find them. She loves putting things in her own pockets. When we go for walks, we have to stop quite a bit to pick up rocks and things to put in her jacket pocket. And then, we have to stop twice as often, just to reach in and make sure they are still there. She is the best.
shoes
She loves shoes. She loves her own shoes. She loves your shoes. She loves putting Sam's shoes on and walking around the house. (She's pretty darn good at it now!) And, she loves trying to put her own shoes on. When I tell her, "Let's put your shoes on!" she gets really excited because that means we are going out!
Also, have you seen this video? Eliza is obsessed with it. I am only ever allowed to play it a minimum of five times in a row. She loves to point out the tiger, bubbles, and horse. I'm pretty sure we have already contributed to about 50 of those hits, and it's only been out a few days. But, I don't feel bad about it. It's never too early for good music, right?
And, it's such a magical video!
This last weekend our ward congregation at church held our annual campout at Tilden Regional Park. The Park is just up in the hills, and only a five or ten minute drive from our home. It's the most perfect escape, and you feel completely secluded beneath those eucalyptus and redwood trees. It's always fun getting friends together- and when you add in a campfire, a full moon, and happy kids- it's pretty magical.
I loved watching Eliza, especially since this was her very first campout exactly one year ago. I remember being nervous about taking such a young baby, but she loved it. And, this time she loved it even more. She was really into watching the fire, and trying to follow the big kids around. When it got late, she fell asleep in the Ergo and my heart pretty much melted while I got to hold her for a couple of hours before we went to bed. She never falls asleep in my arms anymore!
I mean, don't get me wrong. It's not like we got a perfect sleep. But, nobody gets a good night sleep on a campout, right? Eliza is a big mover when she sleeps, and so she was rolling all over us. Like, on top of us. I don't really know how she does that in her sleep, it's pretty crazy.
So, when she woke up at 5:30 in the morning super freaked out and crying because it was dark and we were in a weird place, I was super stressed about waking up the whole camp. But, I calmed her down by scratching her back, and she curled up next to me. That's when she heard them. The owls. There were so many of them! Her eyes got as big as saucers, and a little smile creeped across her lips. The three of us laid there, all bundled up in our sleeping bags, and listened to the owl in the trees. And every once in awhile she would softly whisper back, "Hoo, hoo.."
Ever since that night she has been obsessed with owls. She calls them "Hoo"s, and points them out everywhere. I'm so grateful for this beautiful place that we live in, and for the opportunities we have to share such beauty with our little one!
Eliza is obsessed with babies. If she sees one in person, she crouches down and makes an "O" shape with her mouth, scooting closer and closer until she can give the baby a soft hug. If she sees a baby on the side of the diaper box, she points over and over and says "bebe, bebe" in a whisper. And, when she sees the baby announcement on our fridge, she insists that I pull the photo down for her to give kisses to. (Baby Fred, if only you knew how many kisses you're getting over here!)
And then, there's Baby.
Eliza and Baby are the sweetest thing. She carries Baby everywhere. She sleeps with her. She feeds Baby with a little bottle. When Eliza is upset about something, it's usually Baby who finally calms her down. She hugs and kisses her all day long, and often insists that we give her kisses, too. Baby is not allowed to leave the house, though. So when it's time to go, she gives her kisses and says goodbye. When we come home, she runs in the door so she can find baby and smother her with hugs.
My favorite thing lately is when she pulls out a quilt and attempts to swaddle Baby. She lays the quilt on the floor, places baby in the middle, gives her a kiss, and then folds the entire massive thing on top of baby. Then she picks up the pile of baby/blanket and tries to carry it around the house.
I mean, where does she get this from? I'd like to say that I have something to do with it. But, I really do think that so much of this nurturing is already inside of her. She is such a wild thing- she's loud and fast, stubborn and strong. And yet, you hand her a doll and she will melt, take her in a corner, and whisper in her ear.
It's pretty amazing seeing this girl grow. She helps around the house, cleans up her toys, and climbs up on chairs to help me cook. She follows directions, and listens to her mama. She's smart and understands most everything I say to her. She dishes out the best facial expressions. She's very independent, so when she reaches out to hold your hand or wraps her arms around your neck, it's all the more special.
I couldn't be more proud of who she is becoming.
I think some of my favorite pictures are, "Angry Eliza Pictures While Sitting In High Chair." This, right here, was a phase that Eliza was going through about a month ago. The crayon obsession.
Eliza loves eating crayons. Not just a nibble hear or there. But, large chunks that she ingests, which show up in her diapers the next day. Colorful poop.
Crunch, crunch, chomp, chomp.
For awhile she was really into coloring with crayons. It was the only way I could attempt to get anything done around the house. I would put her in her high chair, tape a piece of paper down on the tray, and give her a bag of crayons. The refrigerator was covered with her art. Until, I realized how much crayon she was actually eating! We would have stern discussions about eating crayons, with warnings that I would take them away. But, those suckers must have tasted pretty dang good because she sure kept it up.
I would be washing my dishes and quietly hear...
crunch, crunch.
"Eliza. Please don't. Take it out of your mouth."
crunch, crunch.
"Eliza! I said, no."
crunch, crunch.
"Eliza!"
Ever time I turned around, a bigger crayon would be hanging out of the corner of her mouth, like a paper-wrapped cigar. She would crack up when I tried to take them away. And then, once I got them in the bag and put away she would start crying hysterically. I just can't take her seriously with those blue specks of crayon all over her face....
We like to call Eliza our little tinker. She is so funny. She's obsessed with the most random things, but when you watch closely you realize that she's very busy at work. She loves building and rebuilding, taking apart and putting back together. I will give her a pen to play with, and she will spend a good 15 minutes taking the lid on and off. It's fascinating to see how meticulous she can be- delicately turning paper pages, attempting to take her shoes on, trying to buckle a belt, or figuring out a zipper.
I've been trying to cultivate her tinkering, by getting her little Duplo sets or creating obstacles and puzzles for her to take apart and put back together, mostly just of every day objects. She also loves a good challenge, especially if it's neatly packaged. There's nothing more exciting then a shrink-wrapped something, just begging to be opened. It's so fun to see her figure things out, and to watch that big grin spread across her face when she knows she's done it.
I love when she climbs up on her stool and "helps" me cook dinner. She will copy me by moving things around the counter in a specific pattern, putting chopped vegetables into bowls, or pretending to spoon things onto the plate. Then she will go to town shredding up a piece of lettuce, and putting every tiny bit into a cup.
In the kitchen, we also have some hooks where we hang our keys. Pretty much every day (multiple times of day) she walks up to the hooks and demands that I take every key ring down for her. This usually totals around 5 or 6 sets of keys. After walking around the house getting frustrated that she can't hold all of them at once, she sets herself to "unlocking" anything that looks like it could be a lock- screws, bolts, screens. Or especially our credenza which actually has two old "skeleton key" type locks.
My favorite is when she plops herself in front of her bike and attempts to "unlock" the screw on the seat. She will very carefully try each and every key on all six sets, one by one. It's the best...
A few weeks ago, Kate and I took the babies to take ride on the steam train at the Redwood Valley Railway in Tilden Park. It was just about the cutest thing I've seen. It's a real steam train, just kid size, that winds in and out of the beautiful redwoods. The morning was perfectly overcast, making everything all the more green and lush.
We were kind of laughing at the kids' reactions to the train. Nolan, who is obsessed with Thomas the Tank Engine, was absolutely terrified of the real-life train. Right when it pulled up, his little body started shaking and his brow stayed furrowed until the train pulled back into the station. It was the saddest thing! Eliza, on the other hand, would not sit on her seat because she insisted on attempting to stand up and face forward to see everything. I had to keep a tight grip on her so she wouldn't leap out of the moving train in excitement.
I totally recommend this place. It's only $3 for a ride, and the kid's t-shirts are adorable. It's about a 10-minute ride, to the point where I was thinking, "Wow, this is pretty long!" The train conductor wears a real hat, and he waves at the kids with grease-stained hands. You can even look inside the shop, where they clean and repair the other engines. It's perfect for kids!
I'm obsessed with this child. I really can't handle it some days. She is beautiful and smart, and she is growing up to be such a strong, little girl. This one is determined to be a big kid this very instant. While I am desperately clinging to every little ounce of baby left in her, she is running in the opposite direction without even so much as a look over her shoulder.
On Sunday, Eliza demanded to go to nursery. In our church, children have to be at least 18 months before they can attend nursery. This makes ages 12-18 months incredibly exhausting, because they can walk and want to have fun, but they aren't quite emotionally ready to be left in the nursery room. I used to serve in the nursery, and I remember when those new ones would enter. The parents, looking relieved, would pry their children off of their legs and push them into the room, where the child then erupted into tears. Well, on Sunday (at 15 months old) Eliza marched down to the nursery room and banged on the door to be let in. She never even looked back.
She wants to sit on big chairs at the table, walk down the stairs with no hands, and she only wants to color with a ballpoint pen which she surprisingly holds just like an adult. She has gotten really good at walking around in my shoes, and she spends a lot of her time trying to put her clothes on by herself. Lately, she's even showing signs of being ready to potty train- pulling her diaper down by herself, with her little crack showing like the Morton Salt girl.
Eliza has always been physically inclined, and so I was starting to get a little worried when she refused to copy sounds or words, except "Uh, Oh." But, in the past couple of weeks she has learned three new words! I feel like they show her personality very well, right now.
Eliza's new grown-up words:
(Must be spoken in a string, such as "no, no, no, no, no, no!")
1) "No"- My favorite. Yay. But, it's actually quite cute, because she doesn't yell it at me yet. It's a string of sweet little "no"s that she uses when she's very worried or doesn't like something.
2) "Go"- This is what she uses when she wants to get out of the house. She grabs my shoes or my bag and drags them to the front door, where I hear "go, go, go, go, go, go, gooooo!" while she bangs on the door. I mean, it's not like we lay around the house all day. This is like, 9 am and we are still in our pjs.
3) "Baby"- This word is only said in a soft whisper. We got Eliza a baby doll a couple of weeks ago. The second I took her out of the package, she gently reached over and gave her a hug and then the most perfect little kisses. She carries her around the house, and feeds her with a little bottle, all while whispering, "baby, baby, baby, baby..."
I love this girl.
