Eliza is two and a half years old today! As the middle child, she probably doesn't get as much blog attention as she should, since Hayden is always doing the cool oldest stuff, and Molly is doing the cute baby stuff. So Eliza deserves her own entry for once.
At 2 and 1/2, she is quite a conundrum of a child, and can seem both so old and so young at the same time. She is a child who can use the words "lovely" and "actually" correctly without any prompting at all. She climbs just about anything and then jumps down, proclaiming it "a very big jump!" quite proudly. But then Hayden tells her not to do anything and she comes to me sobbing because "Hayden yelled at me." If she is denied something that she wants, she often dissolves into tears.
jumping in our backyard
climbing at a favorite park
Eliza is a child that loves to eat. She will try just about anything as I cook or bake. She'll take a taste, tilt her head to the side and announce quite seriously, "I like it" or "I don't like it" whether it's flour, or pizza dough, or hummus. You have seen in previous blogs how she's a mooch and will ask for food from just about anyone. She still needs her milk - nicknamed "milky" by her- but also likes to eat quesadillas, avocados, sausage, pizza and just about any sweet treat she can get her hands on. At this point, she's much more likely than Hayden to try something new. She asks for the lemons from people's drinks when we go out, and actually eats them.
look at that grin!
She has a growing love of books, though she tends to read one and then stick with the same one for a few days. The Big Red Barn, Olivia, Going on a Bear Hunt, and Edwina, the Dinosaur who Didn't Know she was Extinct have been some of her favorites recently. She also loves music and sings along with all kinds of songs in the car. Hayden, Eliza and I recently put together a CD to listen to, and I think Eliza likes the songs I picked out (that are not official kid music, just upbeat happy songs) best. Also, I've started going to a music class with her but we don't have a CD of the music. Even so, I still hear her singing the songs to her animals several days after we've been to class (and we don't even go every week!).
Eliza is quick to go from super happy to super sad and then right back around to super happy. She loves to be close and touching. At dinner, if you sit next to her, she is likely to pet your arm, or pull at your shirt sleeve. At a recent playdate, the other mom spent more time holding Eliza than her own daughter, because Eliza just somehow managed to convince the mom to pick her up. She has a wonderful smile and infectious laugh. She dotes on Molly and is completely enamored with Hayden, even if Hayden spends much of her time bossing her around.
Molly says: which one are you again?
watching Hayden's dance class intently
no Hayden, I want to do it myself!
She is also quite goofy. She makes funny faces, does funny walks and just acts so silly sometimes. She's started laying down in the bathtub amidst the bubbles, pretty much floating on her back. She'll be swimming this summer. Sometimes she just spins (or runs around) in circles till she's dizzy.
goofy example #45: took off her pants in the kitchen for no reason, put them on the floor and started sliding them around, butt up in the air. did this for several minutes!
And no discussion of Eliza is complete without talking about clothes. The girl changes clothes faster than you can blink. She can dress herself no problem, though by some strange ability her shirts almost always end up backwards. And she changes clothes ALL DAY LONG. When sorting thru the clothing that has collected on her bedroom floor, it's hard to determine what needs to go in the laundry because I can't remember how long she wore something. My current default rule is whether she wore it to school or if she wore it to a meal that was messy. She changes clothes because she's hot, because she needs to match someone else (Hayden's wearing a skirt! Mommy is wearing jeans! Daddy is wearing a Tar Heel shirt!), because she got something wet, because this shirt is more comfortable, and simply just because.
vaguely 50s-ish style. in her "lovely" skirt and "fancy" shoes
gauchos and a tunic dress. when you're Eliza, that combo works!
wearing a cropped sweater? who needs a shirt underneath!
And if you aren't admiring her fashion choices, then you are probably admiring her hair. Because it is awesome. Curls galore. She gets comments ALL the time when we are out. We haven't cut it yet, because we just don't know what we want to achieve with a haircut. It is just awesome, and it is Eliza.
Eliza 2.5 is pretty awesome. I can't wait to see what future models can do!
love that smile! It comes so easily these days!
What you want me to show off my skills?
Her powers of cuteness at 7 months are very strong. She can make me not mad at her even when she continues to wake up at night with a single well-timed grin. However, her powers weren't not quite strong enough to help out the Heels; though both she and the team gave a valiant effort this past weekend!
