Vermont

Dear Pea, 

We went on a BIG vacation with 8 of our buddies and their families. It was INSANITY! There were 9 toddlers, 2 babies, one teenager and 16 adults in one house for three days. We had a great time. YOU had a great time. You loved waking up each morning knowing that your friends were right there. Though you occasionally asked to go to a playground, you overall had a blast. 

HIKING

HANGING AT THE AMAZING HOUSE

 giant bubbles were a highlight!

soaking up the jacuzzi tub

about to be bedtime...

one of you little stinkers pulled the fire alarm shortly after this shot was taken. Unclear who exactly, maybe a team effort...

THE BEACH

 Oh, and that beach park did indeed have a playground, so our last day there proved perfect for you

 farmer's market our first day, Mama heaven

Unintentional mind games

Dear Pea,
Your language skills are so honed that sometimes I forget that you don't know what certain things mean or that idioms and turns of phrase may be over your head. This afternoon after singing a silly pop song to myself and to you all day, I finally said "I have a song stuck in my head!" You were perplexed. "Why?" "Well, it's catchy. I like it and I want to listen to it and sing it. It's just stuck in my head." More confusion. "Can I see it?"
Me:"Umm, no, not really, it's inside my head."
You: "Can I get it for you, Mama?"
Me:"No, thank you, I know it's confusing. It just means I'm thinking about it."
You: "Where is the song?"
Me: "I'll play it for you" So I play it for you
You, pulling on a strand of your hair: "Here's the song, Mama, it's in my head now"

Yikes. We finally had to go to the playground to end the conversation.  And I still have that song in my head.

Unrelated, just freaking adorable:

Locomotion

Dear Pea, 

Your third spring has sprung and you are on the move!  You will consent to ride in your stroller occasionally, but you really prefer to walk. And by walk, I mean run (complete with pumping arms), jump, stop, whine, walk, walk on my shadow, run again, whine again, stop, run and jump. And if there's a cellar door, it is almost always used as a trampoline. Walking down our street is an adventure. About 10 blocks up, there is a yard with a fish pond. You love to stop and talk to the fish, telling them about your day, telling me about the fish and overall just convening with "nature"

showing the fish your Kermit band-aid

a particularly awesome section of our street: ramp, step and cellar

You love to jump up and down the curb, you saunter with your hands on your hips ("Look what I'm doing, Mommy! THIS!"), you know to wait for the walking green man before crossing the street. You are sort of working on scooting, but really prefer to ride a bike. Daddy and I are debating the best kind to get for you and I'm super excited about the prospect of all riding our own bikes on adventures. You're really so far away from babyhood now that we're able to see kidland ahead. It's so exciting!

WHY?

Dear Pea,
We have arrived. This past week saw the beginning of the ever famous toddler WHY? phase. It's actually been kind of fun for me and Daddy to go all esoteric and I'm sure we'll be coming up with some more awesome answers, but here are our top 2 for now:
Daddy: Time to go to bed, it's night time
Pea: Why?
Daddy: Because the day is ending
Pea: Why?
repeat about 7 times and get to:
Daddy: because the earth rotates around the sun and spins on an access and...

Mama: Bye bye, I'm going to work now
Pea: Why?
Mama: Because I need to work
Pea: Why?
repeat about 7 times and get to:
Mama: Well, work is important for a number of reasons, it's important to have money so we can pay rent and buy clothes and food, but it's also fulfilling for me emotionally and...

Oh, yeah, this is going to be fun (and tiresome).

Adventurer!

Dear Pea, 

All of a sudden, you are quite the adventurer! Today at the playground you attempted to climb up a stacked chain link climbing challenge and YOU DID IT! I spotted you, but you did it all by yourself. It was a little bit crazy, it was a structure that was definitely designed for a much older kid. As I have just finished a big book about praise and functional communication, all I said to you was "You're at the top now!" with a huge grin, but inside I was jumping up and down screaming "you did it! I'm so proud of you!"

Here's a glimpse into some of your other athletic achievements of late:

UP the slide for the first time! I love that when you get to the top, you say "I did it!"

climbing up the cellar doors at our friend's house, then rolling the balls down the ramp

 

Your first climbing wall!  I can't wait to take you to a climbing gym. And then up a mountain!

You have also become quite the eater, devouring yogurt with berries or eggs and spinach (with ketchup, of course) for breakfast with me and usually 3/4 of a bagel with butter on the weekends with Daddy. Our favorite lunch is a bowl of salmon or chicken salad made with avocado instead of mayo and flavored up with relish that we share by dipping celery, bell peppers, cucumber and carrots into. This is the only way you will eat avocado for some reason, even guacamole appears to be on the outs lately! And sometimes you don't want to share the bell pepper with me, it appears to be your favorite.

"get your own bell pepper, Mama!" (and yes, that's a direct quote)

You love to share Chinese food dinners with Daddy, eating more than half of his shrimp, spare ribs and rice. You'll also happily put up with my cooking: baked chicken tenders, roasted drumsticks, turkey sausage. And steak, oh boy, do you love steak. 

You have also started showing an interest in artistic endeavors. We have 4 little bottles of non-toxic nail polish and one rainy day you gave us both pedicures. 

And you were very happy to join in on a watercolor mess making project with some of your buddies. We have an easel that's also a chalk board and you have zero interest in that, but apparently when the prospects are extremely messy, you're totally all in.

Inquiring minds want to know...

Dear Pea,
You are so inquisitive these days! Your catch phrase is some variation of "what that guy doing?": "What is that?" "What they doing?" "What that guy name?" "What I doing?" "What's mama's daughter doing?"

Oh, yeah, that's the other funny thing. You're big into familial relationships and will often refer to people in a relationship way instead of who they are. So I'm often "Eliza's mama" or "you baby's mama" and you are usually "mama's daughter" or "your baby." This extends to everyone we know and can get quite complicated as you go through siblings, cousins and friends. Your cousin will sometimes be Daddy's sister's baby, which blows my mind.

Another thing that blows my mind? You know your right and your left. Sweet Pea, I don't know my right from my left! Oh and your colors, too. That's pretty cute

You ask lots of questions and make lots of demands. You ask the same questions over and over and over again and make the same demands over and over and over again. I will often answer your question twice or three times, then turn it back on you ("what's that guy doing?" "He's sweeping the ground" "What's that guy doing, Mama?" "He's sweeping!" "Mama, what that guy doing?" "What's he doing, Eliza?" Pause, smile "He's sweeping up!" And so on.

You are also super into nicknames. You've decided that your nickname is "Elizie" and my nickname is equal parts "Mommy" and "Ayns."  Harper's is "Harpie" and Jeanmarie is "Jeams"

You also sing and dance a lot. You like to sing songs while you're playing by yourself, while you're walking down the street, while you're eating lunch, while you're face-timing with people. You know so many songs!
And then sometimes you make up songs and dance to them...

 The chocolate song. Are you my kid or what?

You have also finally taken an interest in some babies. You spent an hour playing with a 14 month old at the Y yesterday, passing the ball to him and crawling around. You have a brand new special friend, Ari, and he was the very first baby you held. You like to pet him and talk about how soft is head is. But your favorite babies are your "guys" (Baby Sienna pictrued here with real Baby Ari) and they still often travel with you. 

You've been sleeping in your own bed all night long, but will still sometimes come into our bed to snuggle around 6:30am and there are at least two babies who come with you, too. Yesterday there were four, that was a tough fit for your arms. But you refused to leave anyone behind.

Moods and termperment

Dear Pea,
Last week you were sick for over a week, with a phlegmy cough, runny nose and occasional vomiting. You slept a LOT during the day, often on my lap, and not so well at night. When you were awake, you were grouchy and contrary. It was a tough week for me, I had had it with your constant tantrums and soup mood, your insatiable appetite for milk and nothing else and the lack of sleep was not making anything easier. This week, you feel much better and the difference is astounding. I can't believe how much fun you are to be around. You are hilarious, signing mash-ups of your favorite songs ("We are the dinosaurs, what do you think of that? What do you think of that Black Sheep? Ba ba black sheep..") You are sleeping exclusively in your bed, sometimes with only one wake up a night/nap that lasts a minute or two. It's such a shift in your sleep and Daddy and I are so ready and happy that it's going this way.

You have fully embraced and embarked on imaginative play, having tea parties, cooking in your kitchen and wearing your baby doll. This morning you asked for cow's milk while we were having a tea party, so I got a carton of pretend milk and started to add it to the tea. You said "no, real milk!" Even though I know that you know we're playing pretend food and tea, it still sort of blew my mind to hear you articulate it like that.

You have hilarious phrasing. You use "actually" a lot now. "No, actually Daddy, I want to wear the blue shirt right now" "It's time for a bath. Actually, it's time for a story" etc. You just decided today that "Elizey" is your nickname. Someone asked you what your name is and you said "Elizey. Actually, that's my nickname" I did a double take, you smiled broadly and said "my name is Eliza but Elizey is my nickname"  Okay, then!  Maybe this stems from a friend Evelyn who we often call Evie...?

moxa-ing your legs in the midst of a bad cold

 Mickey and Minnie babywearing

 making binoculars out of a bracelet

 walking with your dolly in the yucky winter ice

 decorating a Valentine's cookie for Daddy

wearing my fancy shiny shoes. Walking in them better than me