Quoteables

"Baby you're a FIIIIIRE-Work, come on show them WHAAAAT you're worth...."  - Eva in the morning, from her bed, every morning when she wakes up


"What do you want to do when you grow up?" - Mom
"I want to be a ballet teacher, a mermaid, and a pastor!" - Eva

Bible Readings and Re-readings

Classic Eva expression, 3 1/2 yrs old

Eva's really into hearing stories from her picture Bible lately (thank you Mary Miller for the baptismal gift!) It's fascinating  to try to think about what theology a three-year old gets, needs or absorbs - but of course I do it anyway. She understands many things recently about God - God is strong, powerful, made everything, gets mad at bad kings and bad people, used good kings and Queen Esther to help other people, saved baby Moses, beat Goliath, and crashed down the walls at Jericho. These are her fave OT stories lately - and she seems to ingest the meat of the story and repeats kernels of their truth to me at random times, integrating story parts and cause and effect with surprising comprehension.

When it comes to the NT, she is not as into it yet - which makes sense to me, since there are less intriguing stories and more parables there that she just hears as slightly disjointed stories. :) She does talk about how Jesus can calm wind and waves, can heal people, helps the blind and lame, loves children, was baptized, was a baby that many people were excited to see be born, and told people to build their houses on rocks. She now asks if our home is on a rock, "Even though we can't see any rocks under my bed;" she will jump up and down in her bed and say "Yep, I feel a rock momma, we are on solid rock." So no metaphor comprehension yet. :)

She also has asked me to baptize her in the tub several times, likes to pretend she is baby Moses and baby Jesus, and is asking about praying for various worries, illnesses, and fears.

My favorite story of her appropriating scripture happened a couple nights ago, when we had just read - again - the story of Jesus healing the lame man whose friends lowered him down through the roof. She loves this one, and we sing a little song with it, and she knows the story almost word for word.  After we read this one she said, "Mom, my legs are lame, I ran too fast today; can you pray for them?"  So I prayed, smiling the whole time, holding her little knees - and as I prayed for God to protect my little girl's legs and health and strength, it struck me that she really probably thinks that this is what Jesus did - what he does now. If your legs are tired, broken, or hurt, you pray and then they are fixed. Faith like a child, right? :) I was reminded of the grace of simple faith and truth, and also realized that I could probably pray for my daughter's legs more often. Even as I grinned at her interpretation of "lame," I think she is getting the love and strength and life-changing power of this story. What good news we get to retell!      

Do You Know Your Continents?

One of my favorite things about Eva being in preschool is getting to notice that she knows things that I and Peter haven't taught her. As in, it is obvious now that there is another stream of knowledge feeding her little life in addition to whatever we, Sunday School and life throw her way. :)

Yesterday we were talking about her address, how we live on North Sawyer, and she got big eyes and said,"North, South, East, West, all around the world." It was obvious that hearing "North" had started her memory onto something else related, so I asked if that phrase was from a song or something that she had learned at school. And then she sang this song, crossed her eyes, and made me smile and laugh, really hard. :)

Eva-isms - two more

I forgot a couple additional standard Eva sayings:

- "puter" - computer, pronounced just like computer minus the first syllable
- "Pee-caw-joh" - currently how she is pronouncing Chicago. :) This word has gone through a couple derivations, this one is my favorite.

Eva-isms

I've noticed certain vocabulary "isms" that are particular to how Eva talks at 3 1/2 yrs. A couple friends at church were even commenting on a couple oft-repeated words of hers, which made me smile and realize that even in the name of accuracy, I don't want her to outgrow the certain way she pronounces some words - not yet at least.

The most common Eva-isms these days include:

- "actually," said correctly and all, but just used - A LOT (I've noticed how much I say this word - correlated?)
- "excuse me," said again, correctly, but very, very often - when she disagrees, wants to talk, wants you to do something differently, etc. etc.
- "cans" - her version of because, or 'cause
- "I begot" - her version of forgot or forget
- "bemember" - remember
- "just joking'" - when she is being funny, or says something incorrectly, she laughs and says, "oh, sorry, I was just joking"
- "I'm uh ladee" accent; she LOVES accents of all kinds, and hearing me imitate various accents lately, and has even developed her own accent called "being a lady" - it's pretty funny. :)  

All Grown Up, Pretend -style

Our imaginative little girl is often telling stories, making up songs, or helping her dolls talk to each other. And lately Eva's enjoyed playing very specific role-playing games with me. While she still likes to be a baby bird/monkey/llama/any animal, she also likes to pretend that she's the mommy. The game usually entails her calling me "sweetie" a lot, reminding me to eat vegetables, and teaching me to not be afraid of shadows (which you could say is a funny commentary on my parenting, but I digress...)  This morning she wanted to play being the mommy, and she directed that we have a "camp out" (blanket picnic) in her room near the "cave" (dark bedroom), and she helped teach me my "letters" (pointed out objects in the room and told me how to say those words.) The upside is that the baby (me) usually gets lots of hugs, clear instructions on what to do, and lots of encouragement when I do a simple task right. Where does she learn this stuff?Hee hee...

One of my favorite playing grown-up stories happened this past weekend when we spent a couple days at a cabin with my parents on their anniversary. We had two fold-able chairs out on the deck set up next to each other, and Eva came over to me and pointing at the chairs, said, "Let's sit down and say our news." I asked, "Do you mean share our news? Like talk to each other?" "YEAH!" she exclaimed, and jumped into a chair. I was curious to see what this game was, so I turned to her and said, "So, what is your news?"  And she said, "Well, we are both ladies, and we have a lot of news. I have many children, and they are doing fine. Did you see them?" She then went on to make up names for her - get this - 18 children, and tell me how she loved them and how busy they were doing fun things together.  Then my three year old turns to me, with a totally serious face, and asks, "So what is your news? How are your children?"  Apparently she's seen me sitting with my friends outside, swapping our news about our children and catching up (I am mainly thinking of you, Kate D!)  Not a bad idea for what to do when you see two chairs outside and you need to catch up with someone about your 18 children!           

Quoteables

Eva: "What is that thing in my ear again? You know, the big round thing, the hard thing? You know, the loud thing?"
Peter: "I don't know hon, are you thinking of your ear drum?"
Eva: "Yeah, it is big and loud! It is a huge drum in there! But how do I have a drum in my ear?"

...and...

While looking at a light bulb that needed replacing, Eva said: "Is that lightbulb dead mom?"
Me: "Yep, and we can put in a new one soon."
Eva: "But in three days it will be alive again!"

Three-Year-Old Theology... Easter

Eva has been more and more aware of faith and theological concepts lately. It fascinates me to hear what things stick out to her from stories or conversations we have, and what logical connections her little brain makes. It is also interesting to me how challenging it can be to describe to her the sometimes elusive concepts that describe having a relationship in an all-knowing, all-powerful, creator of all; a non-corporeal God, who then was a person for awhile and taught a lot of things and loved a lot of people and made a lot of people mad, but then died, then was alive again, and now is back in heaven and you can't see Him, but we can talk to him, listen to him, and thank him for things. It IS just a little confusing, right? 

I also laugh at myself at the temptation to both under and over-explain faith concepts to her. Sometimes I give a one sentence "Jesus loves you," rainbows and butterflies, kind of answer, and I swear she kind of looks at me with an expression that says, give me a little more to work with here mom. Other times, I try to connect all the big concepts we've talked about and get all excited about how profound and amazing something is, and she pulls me back to earth with the one detail that she cared about in my long rant and the way she heard it. A friend gave us this super cute kid devo book this week and I was loving the reflection for the day and all she would talk about was the baby bird in the picture. :) Oh well. It is a good reminder that she is experiential right now, connecting the dots to her feelings and her world. I am always surprised actually when she asks a specifically theological question, since I mostly leave it up to her to probe or go deeper. I figure our job right now is to immerse her in relationships and ways of life that will be explained logically when she is older...

But I think I am getting closer and closer to perceiving what level she understands and responding to what she is actually putting together, which is really kind of fun. We have conversations about a lot of topics lately, where she explains things and connects the dots for me, and its both hilarious and touching to hear how her brain reasons. Whether its her idea of what clothes should match, or where dad might be when he's at work, to why things are scary or not - her little brain is definitely thinking. 

Last night we were reading an Easter storybook that she always asks me to read her for bedtime. The book does an okay job of explaining to its characters - a family with three kids - how the Easter bunny/eggs, springtime, new life and Jesus are all related to Eastertime. I always read it a little differently then the author intended, however, and add a bunch of details around why Jesus was buried in a tomb with a big rock and then how he could be alive, and try to get across both how big of a deal dying was, and how big of a deal being alive again was. Lately she is wrestling with figuring out who God and Jesus are (as in both the same and different, we mostly stick to same), and wondering about where God is physically. And she's also been interested in connecting the creation story and Noah's animals to the idea that God made everything. During the story, she asked me about a dozen questions about the tomb, the stone, how God who was so strong and made everything could die, how God who was so strong was alive again, etc. 

Then she paused and said, "I just miss Jesus... I am tired of him being in that faraway country, you know heaven?" I kind of melted, and asked her where she thought that was. She said it was too far away, and also "upstairs, maybe with our neighbors?"  :) 

I was thinking, yeah, its hard for most adults to not see him too... I get it. I've tried the whole "Jesus is with each of us" a couple different ways as an explanation, but she doesn't go for that one yet. I asked if she talked to Jesus when she missed him, and she said yeah, but she was still sad he was gone. I said Jesus is with us whenever we ask Him to be, and told her that we pray so that we can talk to Jesus and listen to Him too. She asked where Jesus'  mom and dad were, if they missed him back in Bethlehem, or where they were. And she wondered if they were sad when he was behind the rock. Then she looked at me really seriously and said something roughly like, "Well, our house is really strong, 'cause God made it, and my books won't fall over, cause God made them strong too, but I think that God was really, really, really strong to get out and come from behind that rock!"

So - big creator God, overcomes big scary death, made all she has cause He is big and strong, and keeps her and her treasures safe, but is sometimes too far away to see or sense, and she wants to see Him more, so she misses Him. That is not a bad paraphrase of the message of Easter, actually. It is really fascinating what makes sense in a three-year-old's head, and what it helps me think about along the way!   

Celebrating Eva at Three Years Old!

It is amazing to me that it was three year ago that Eva came into this world! The root word behind her name means "life," and many times over this past year I've thought about how much life she carries everywhere she goes, and how much life she brought to me in so many ways. As she turns three, I think about the things that make her who she is, the things I want to celebrate and cultivate and remember - and smile over....
Eva is fundamentally an emotional, creative, and exuberant personality. She's quick to learn and pretend, is creative and musical, loves the trampolene and playing tag, is pretty extroverted and talkative with others, and has kept her on-going love affair with puppies and dogs of all forms as she gets older. She loves the Sound of Music, reading, kiwi, her sandbox, swimming/baths, chocolate, being goofy and silly, playing with her dollhouse, being with friends, dancing, her trains, dress-up, cuddling with her mom, coloring, and cooking with her dad.   

Eva has grown up a lot this past year; she often makes these colossal jumps forward and I feel like we catch up afterward. Oh, now you wear size 4T and 5T and you have three new inches of hair somehow!  Oh, now you want to do that all on your own, are strong enough for that, and won't eat that. Thanks for letting me know. :) She's made amazing leaps in her capacity for learning, talking, listening, remembering, being creative, and in relationships with others. She explained "echo-location" and how bats squeak to find things while on a car ride the other day, easily remembers the words to songs she hears more then a couple times, and can whack her t-ball across the yard without hesitation. She surprised me by starting to write the first two letters of her name lately, and has long been able to spell her name and also M-O-M. Her logic seems to grow daily, as she strings together how food goes in your tummy and then turns into poop, how seeds need water and sun and then they grow into plants, how if she listens well she gets a sticker and then she gets a new toy (we think she gets this one - we'll see!). She tenderly cares for and dresses her baby dolls, makes up animal sounds and names routinely, and loves pretending of all kinds - with her doll house people, baby dolls, animals, puppets, book characters, little people, etc. She's also still crafty, loving paint/draw/color/cut and glue/sticker time, and pretend reads to herself often.  

Opening birthday presents last week

Eva is also still very expressive, and I watch with interest as her emotions continue to develop. She still flaps her arms when excited (which is often), and exuberantly welcomes people when she sees them with big hugs and exclamations of, "I am so glad that you're here!"  She loves time with our friends who come over, family out of town who visit, friends her age at church, and folks she sees all the time - like the grocery store guy who gives her chocolate, or the teacher at gymnastics. She also feels and names new feelings lately, like being proud, guilty, or feeling shy. It is cool to watch Peter help her understand her feelings when they overwhelm her (and sometimes me!), as the two of them talk through what she feels or what he intuitively understands she feels when she isn't able to express it herself. He is such a great dad in many, many ways, but it's a God-given gift that he can help her process and feel her wide range of emotions in certain settings, since he is wired more that way himself. I, on the other hand, tend to help her talk about her feelings and her thoughts, and provide the verbal affirmation that she is safe and connected and loved, based on my wiring. Eva sometimes seems to ask each of us for this emotional affirmation, that she is solid, she is secure, safe and connected. It could be reaching out to hold my hand in the car, or snuggling up at night, or taking my cheeks in her hands; maybe its jumping on her dad to tickle with him or chasing him while brushing her teeth - she's just a fabulously affectionate little person. 

Ta-da! New ballerina leotard!

Eva is also a bit of a performer already and loves to make up songs, dance in her ballerina leotard, dress up, try on clothes/hats/shoes in front of her mirror, and see pictures/videos of herself. She laughs at herself and us easily, and has a giggle that lights up the room!  Her common phrases include, "Oh dear," "That's cool," "Maybe I will....," and "Here's the deal...." She has started throwing in surprising vocab words too, like "actually," "definitely," and "recently" - although she says, "last year" for any unit of time previous to the present. She still easily picks some basic spanish from tv shows and a few books, and loves hearing her french books read to her too.   

We've also continued to see what Eva doesn't do so well. She's not great at goodbyes, or with not knowing that something is happening ahead of time - especially a big transition. She is also perfecting the art of making discipline of all varieties into a power-struggle. She doesn't do veggies right now, doesn't listen super well if she's distracted or playing on her own, and gets pretty cranky if she watches too much tv (obviously more of a parent lesson here :) !) She can be bossy and is also what is sometimes called a strong-willed kid, or a strong personality in many ways - she quickly shares her opinions, feelings, wants, and needs (sometimes this is a good ting, sometimes it's a challenge.) I wonder if she'll struggle with her wide ranging emotions as she gets older, and I think about how much her emotional sensitivity to tone and discipline shape how we as parents can love and guide her. I also marvel at how in touch she is with what she is feeling, how full of excitement she is, how she can mischievously growl at and then compassionately hug her toys a second later. 

Even though I think the power-struggle days have just begun, I can't wait to see all that this next year brings with it for our little Eva Margaret. She's so full of potential and life, and I keep being amazed by her each day! Happy birthday to Eva M - aka, baby puppy, little bird - you're truly a gift.                         

Singing "How Do You Solve a Problem Like Maria?"

A Spoonful of Sugar

We've been buried under snow, colds, ear infections, work trips, church trips, and a healthy dose of good fun lately! But I am not sure where the whole last month went - it kind of flew by. Anyway....

Eva LOVES watching the classic movie "Mary Poppins" lately. It's been our go-to movie this winter when she or we are sick - which has sadly been too often.  She knows almost all the words to the songs and dances along with various scenes. Her favorite parts are the chimney sweeps (although the fireworks are scary), the chalk drawing scene and the penguin waiters, and tidying up the nursery. (She also for some funny reason loves the scene in the bank with the old guys on the day the kids visit with their dad.)  I used to sing her "Feed the Birds" as a lullabye sometimes at night, and now its right up there with "Baby Mine" and "Jesus Loves Me" as one of her top three nighttime songs!

A few weeks ago, while eating her morning grapefruit, Eva took a long time to savor a delicious bite. She uttered a big long, "Mmmmmm," and then said, "Rum punch" with a grin. I didn't stop laughing for a full five minutes. If you know our girl's favorite movie well enough, you may recognize this line from when Mary Poppins doles out medicine to the kids and herself, and each spoonful (although all from the same bottle), comes out a different color and flavor. Mary Poppins drinks her spoonful and says, "Mmmmm, rum punch," which of course Eva doesn't know is a flavor, but apparently now thinks is an expression one says when something is delicious.  :) I kind of love that. Thank you Julie Andrews.    

 

Christmas 2010!

We just had the last of our houseguests for the holiday season leave today... and we are ready to rest, catch up on normal life, and jump into 2011. But - we have had such a great time seeing family and friends this season, and have a lot of fun photos and memories from it all that I want to remember to capture.

This Christmas, Eva was 2 (and 3/4) and was interested in being part of much of it with us. She loved singing (Jingle Bells, We Wish You a Merry Christmas, Frosty, Silent Night, and Feliz Navidad, were favorites), and asked me about the other songs that she didn't know yet; "Mommy, what this is about?"  She made Christmas cookies and her own mini cupcakes from a new baking set, got hand made aprons and books and Christmas decorations/ornaments all her own this year, and helped us decorate the tree - until she got bored :). She liked the movie "Small One" - about the donkey Mary rode, and "Lady and the Tramp" (the story starts with Lady being a puppy present under the tree, and ends with the whole dog family at Christmas under the tree), and sometimes liked "Frosty II" (but not the Jack Frost character). She was even interested in the Christmas story bedtime books and hearing about how Christmas is when we celebrate Jesus' birthday (and yes, she's already heard her mom tell her that Dec.25 is not really Jesus' birthday, but that we remember it then.) She also loved the various nativity sets we have around the house and that she could hold baby Jesus and arrange the animals that are part of the least fragile set.    

A few other favorite and funny Christmas-season memories:
- Eva being part of Santa Lucia at church with Leah, and stealing the show with their singing, asking for candy, and dueling candle routine.
- Eva helping light the advent candles on Christmas Eve in MI - and wanting to dance up front to the hymns and so ultimately having to leave the service :). "I Want To DANCCEEE!!!"
- Faithfully opening her advent calendar of fair trade chocolate with me every morning, and loving the sweet treat AND learning more of her numbers.
- Looking for inflated Santas and other yard decorations as we drove around our neighborhood; having her tell me which ones are fragile
- Eva rubbing  a present to her face before she opened it and cooing, "I just LOVE this," but then not really enjoying opening presents all that much.
- We made Swedish Meatballs from scratch this yr successfully, using mom's recipe, and they were fabulous!

- Playing with Bex and Lucy
- Hearing her snore while putting Josh to bed in the loft
- Eva sledding for the first time with Alicia, Dave, Josh and me
- Watching Eva ice skate with Tim, Meghan and Peter
- Decorating our new apartment for Christmas
- Building our first family snowman in the first fluffy snow of the winter, and how much she talked about it after that - even when it had melted
- Zoo Lights with Izey and Ando and the excitement of playing with their family on New Yrs Eve
- New Yrs party for the adults with the perfect mix of par-tay and chill!
- Having her look out over our dinner table when extended family were here and saying, "All my friends are here!" And how she whispered to Bo when they arrived, "I am so happy you are here!" 
- Sleepovers with Kaden and Anna on their way out and back from Seattle.
- Talking about the story of Christmas with her - I think her version is about this: "Baby Jesus used to be in Mary's tummy, and Mary rode a donkey, and wise men rode camels, but then he was born, and he didn't have any hair, but he was just a little baby, and he cried, and then he grew up to be big, and now he loves everyone."  Amen!

There is so much to be grateful for during this season, and beyond - and having a little mind and heart help us experience the joy, wonder, and story of Christmas makes it such a precious and fun time. Yeah for family and friends and holidays from work!

FYI, pictures for family in MI with VerHages and in Chicago with Mosbos are now on smugmug. And below is a little video of her preparing Christmas cards for people this year right before it all began. :)   Happy 2011!  

Everyday Personality Moments

There are definite personality trends that have taken root in Eva that seem to be constant themes, even as she grows older and her personality tweaks a little through each stage. 

Eva is very tender-hearted and sweet - with her dolls, with me and Peter, and with friends. Quick to hug, cuddle, or curl up in a lap, this little girl is also usually very kindhearted and encouraging. She's been lovingly putting her baby dolls to bed , over and over again, and singing them songs, telling them she loves them, etc. as a new game. She made it up and all the details involved; sometimes it strikes me how much she is already internalizing and/or expressing care for others and an awareness of what love is. 

This photo and video are of a typical play afternoon - this day she wanted to have a picnic with her dolls, where she carefully fed and cared for each baby doll and then put baby Maya to sleep.

Another tender-hearted memory that made me smile today was when we were in the car, and before we even left the garage, Eva was telling me that she liked my hair, she liked driving with me, and she loved me SO MUCH. So I told her that she was very encouraging, and then explained what the word meant. And after she thought about it for awhile, she said that everyone is encouraging, and everyone needs encouraging, and she loved me SO MUCH. :) Well, she kind of got the meaning of the word; halvsies counts, right?

Another trait I see lately is that Eva is very strong, active and a quick learner. She masters every trick at gymnastics near the front of the class, if not first, and is willing to jump/twirl/run/skip/hop the whole class through. She waits in line for the teacher to give her a stamp (reward each kid gets), plays with other kids when they want to and then runs off and starts anther course when it gets slow. She seems to be both pretty independent and careful to listen (usually). Today in class I was noticing that out of the 15 or so kids in her gymnastics class that are of similar age, she was - by far - listening and responding the most consistently to me and to the teacher. I had a little mommy moment of pride when I realized this was really often true week after week in her class - although I think a lot of it is just her wiring, along with some of it is coming from our parenting. (She now also has her front and back rolls, hand stands, and trampolene skills well-honed from this class, btw!)

She also loves most sports or active games we do together. She played t-ball for the first time this weekend with Peter very well, hitting the ball right off the tee over and over and then running to go get it. Today she and I practiced bowling (in the kitchen), and she routinely wants to run/chase, flip and dance, and "hit the ball and run the bases" inside (throw the squishy softball in the playroom and then run from the back to the front of the house for her bases.) She's got the basics of soccer in the backyard down, and lately has been climbing up the wooden climber at the park (5 ft tall) on her own, and up the slippery side of the slide over and over with no problem.  I'm amazed at how strong she is sometimes and how quick to pick things up and respond to learning a new activity.

The third trait I keep seeing her display is her deep empathy and emotive streak. The girl knows when anyone is feeling sad, mad, happy, scared, etc. and will ask me/you/anyone about those feelings!  She started announcing that she was getting sad at around age 1, which I later learned not all kids do. She still tells us and expresses just about every feeling she goes through, having a wide range of looks go across her face and also a fairly wide range of vocab to describe it all (common looks include her frustrated glower with chin down, her frantic flapping arms full of excitement, her wide open eyes and mouth in surprise or surprise, her deep chortle and giggles at all kinds of provocations, her impish nose wrinkle and grin when she's being mischevious, her hand up and waving with wide eyes rationalizing to us what she wants and how it is a good deal, and her all out full body frustration tantrum!)

She also asks us how we are feeling, or if we are having a "discussion" says "What's wrong?" right away as soon as there is any tone shift in the room. If a friend of hers is sad, she will hold his/her hand and say, "It's ok." If we walk by total strangers she can tell are sad or angry or excited, she will ask me what's wrong until I explain what their feeling may be or what caused them. I realized the other day that I was explaining life and meaning to her at a very basic level when we do this exercise. Why is that lady mad mommy? Well, she might be tired because she is working so hard. Why is that man scared mommy? Well, maybe he is worried about that old lady he is with and if she is feeling ok. Why is that little girl crying? Well, she misses her mommy and wants her attention. Why are you sad mommy? Well, it was a hard day and I am just tired honey. You okay mommy - you want a hug? Yeah honey, I am great, give me that hug. How to let her have her feelings but still express them and understand them appropriately, I often wonder? How do we model expressing our emotions and letting others in to help, but also not spilling stuff all the time and and still dealing with what is ours as adults to just deal with? Sometimes we pray together over sad or mad feelings, but its not as often as it should be; I don't think I would notice that unless I was explaining life to another little human being. But now I do notice that.                    
   
When she is excited or happy, she also positively vibrates!  As empathetic as she is to so many negative feelings around her, she is also very developed on the happy side of the spectrum, much to my relief! She jumps up and down over many simple pleasures, like 'new' boots from the thrift store or getting two star barrettes in her hair today instead of just one. When we suggest a fun destination, or tell her great job for cleaning up, or tease her in the middle of a game - her whole face lights up, you can see the wheels turning inside her head, and she jumps full force into whatever the next thing is.   

I am very aware lately of all that I love about this little person and how she shines through these everyday personality moments. She's also still very creative, smart, loves music and movement, people and art projects, has a wild imagination and tries to convince us of things all the time! Taken together, these qualities are forming our little 2.5 year old into a delightful girl who teaches me something every day and challenges me in ways I never knew possible - and that is a beautiful thing to witness. 

Quoteable

Tonight, while watching Sesame Street before bedtime, Eva called out, "Daddy! Daddy!" with some urgency.

Peter: "Yes honey, what is wrong?"


Eva: "Daddy, but I don't have any fuh!"
Peter: "You don't have any what?"
Eva: "But I don't HAVE any FUH!" (said with increasing concern)
Peter: "Any what honey?"
Eva: "I DON'T HAVE ANY FUH-R!"
Peter: "Ooohh, FUR. I think they want you to just pretend you have fur, Eva."



Apparently the monsters on tv were asking the kids to mess up their fur along with them; and Eva didn't have any fur and so couldn't play along.  

I just stopped laughing... right about... now. :) 

Sneak Peak at Halloween

This weekend our gracious neighbors invited us upstairs for drinks and pumpkin carving (after Eva's bedtime.) These fun people had compete pumpkin-carving sets, patterns, tools, and one pumpkin even ended up with jewels, shoes, eyeliner and a hat!

Peter and I tackled a funny faced pumpkin shape, which yes, took me/us a while to do. But it was amazing what the finished product looked like!

Then we brought home a kid-friendly pattern of a kitty-cat to carve on another pumpkin with Eva. She LOVED it - well, the idea of it at least; and the finished product. The in-between actually carving part, she didn't care for much.

After carving her cat pumpkin, I wanted to try on her outfit for Halloween since I am heading out of town and will miss her dressing up for our church party on Saturday. Again, she LOVED the idea of it - but did not cooperate too long for a good picture. I did, however, get one side picture of her get-up, and then a funny video her practicing her hee-haws with her dad. :) We have a pretty cute cow-girl at our house!   

Being Born and Growing Up

While in the car on our drive to MI this past weekend (more photos and stories from that adventure coming soon), Eva told us quite a long story about being born and growing up. It was fairly random - she started the story while we were on 90/94 downtown and she was looking at the skyscrapers, and it was fairly long - what follows is the general recap of what I remember, wit direct quotes where I remember them. It was a very sweet little story that had Peter and I both grinning though, and I wanted to remember it. Snippets of her story relate to us having a friend over last week that was 9 months pregnant and talking about that, and she and I visiting the pharmacy together in the hospital where she was born and me pointing out the floor where my doctor was. Eva's little story went something like this:

"Momma, did you know I was born? And I was just a little baby, a teeny tiny baby, but not right now. Long time ago, I was born. And I was born at the hospital, and I was in Mommy's tummy, and I was sleeping. And then, I WAS BORN! Now I am not baby. Now I older, I am big girl. I am getting bigger and bigger!"

(me) "That's right babe, you were born just a tiny little baby. And how old are you right now?"

"I am two and half, I am big, not like when I was born. But then I keep getting older and older, and older and older, and then I can go to school and play outside and see my friends! When I get older though, I not older now."

(me) "That's right hon; did you know that everyone starts as a tiny baby and then gets older? Daddy was a baby - and then he got older - and now he's grown up. Mommy was a baby - and then I got older - and -"

(Eva cutting me off) "..And now you're MOMMY! Awww, mommy is all grown up. Are you two and half?"

"No, I am older then that. I am thirty-three!  Really old!"

"Wow, thirty-three?? That is WONDERFUL!" (said emphatically!) 

Literalist

We recently started trying potty training around here - very recently. Eva picked out a treat at Target yesterday for her to get whenever she successfully used the kiddo potty, and she chose gummy worms! So last night we got home and headed for the bathroom, after talking up using the potty all day and now there was the promise of a gummy worm. So, Eva quickly took off her pants, had me help her pull off her diaper, and then sat down on the top of her potty with the lid down while saying, "Ok, I get a gummy worm now!" I said, "Babe, you have to go pee or poop in the potty, remember? That is why you sit on the potty." She answered, "No, you said worm if I was on the potty. I am on potty but I don't PEE on HERE??? Worm! Worm please!"

So yeah, we have a little ways to go.... 

Reasons that 2.5 Year Old Eva Cracks Up Her Mom

1. She often pronounces "I love you," as, "I lub you." Still 'bery' heartfelt though.

2. She makes deals with me - in similar fashion to how I sometimes talk to her. Although my deals go like this: "If you eat two bites of veggies, you can have some ice cream - deal?" Her deals go like this: "Oh-KAY, here is a deal, I will watch TEE-vee, not a lot, just a little, and then go to sleep, and then wake up, and then watch TEE-vee, and then we can play together, and then watch TEE-vee - is that a deal?" 

3. When I picked up her cup that had fallen on the floor of the car's back seat, she exclaimed, "Momma, I am SO proud of you!"

4. She dramatically uses the phrases "I promise" (sometimes accurately, often when telling stories about herself), "That is just terrible!" (when trying to type her name and struggling), and "Don't say that!" (when I say no to something.)

5. She tells intricate stories to and with her toys, dolls, and me and her dad - most of the day. Some of them I can track, those that have characters and plot lines - some I can't so much... Regardless of the story arc, her little voice recounting the adventures  of a bunny going to school or a little girl driving with Diego to the grocery store are pretty darn cute - and funny - to overhear. 

6. Am pretty sure she has two imaginary friends, Galla and Holly; sometimes they are her friends, sometimes they are called her sisters, and sometimes she says, "My sister and my brother" - names and person-hood changes are fluid it seems.   

7. She plays a game lately that usually signifies that she wants to held, cuddled, or reassured in some way - I call it the "The baby animal game." It goes something like this: "Momma, are you a momma bumble bee?"  I say, "Yes," so she can say, "I am a baby bumble bee, and I need you to hold me, I hurt my wings, I can't fly." (Then she lays down face on the floor, flapping her "wings" until I pick her up and hold her.) Or another common version of the game is:" Momma, are you a momma polar bear?" "Yes, I am."  "Oh, I am a baby polar bear, I hurt my foot."  This morning it was, "My foot fell off - help me, help me - oh, there it is, silly! It was in the water. Got it! Silly polar bear!"

8. She apologizes at silly times - like when others make a mistake (I drop something and she says, sorry!), or an inanimate object runs into/get run into by/  her (like say, a pole in an aisle at Home Depot, which she runs into and then chuckles, saying, "Oh, sorry pole.")

9. She can tell the story of Lady and the Tramp in a reader book of hers almost word for word; its actually impressive/ little scary how much she knows what detail comes next and in what order. My favorite lines are the repeated ones that Eva retells with exaggerated intonation and smiles. "What's that noise, Lady assssssk-ed." And, "Lady, we are safe and sound, I'm the bravest dog around!" with a rhythmic punctuated thing going on.

10. She dances, a lot, all over our house, in the yard, at stores, while waiting for food at restaurants, etc. Her latest new place to dance is in front of the mirrors on the doors at our new apt. - and she GOES for it, talking and singing to herself, admiring her bad skills pretty happily. :)

11. She pronounces some words really cute - like "a-pot-mint" (apartment) and "wool-pill" (whirpool) - random ones I just heard tonight and remembered as so funny... should remember more later on. 

12. She plays giggle, tickle, hiding and sleeping games with her dad ALL THE TIME. One of her recent ones includes hiding under a towel or blanket, saying "Shh, I am asleep," and then throwing off the cover to exclaim "Surprise! I am not asleep!"

13. She pretends to put us to sleep. Complete with tucking us in bed, kissing us, saying "Good night sweet-art," then closing the door - and a split second later, opening it grandly saying, "What's wrong? What's wrong? Do you need a song?" Then she sings an abbreviated version of one of her favorite nighttime songs, and does the whole routine again, closes the door, and then opens it abruptly again, asking, "What's wrong?" She can do this up to about twenty times if we go along! (Keep in mind that as far as games go, laying in bed while she sings to us and hands out kisses is an okay one to play along with.)

14. She remembers words to songs like its her job; I catch her singing large snippets of Chim-Chiminey, Feed the Birds, Baby Mine, Sesame Street, Jesus Loves Me, Clang went the Trolley, and standards like Twinkle and ABC's at random times. I don't even know that she know these songs until she sings them back to me. (Then I secretly start to think about what songs I better sing more of so that she will know them and repeat them back!)

There are so many more, but I wanted to remember some of these hilarious little quirks that make Eva M our little joy. I am loving this girl's personality and all she teaches and reminds Peter and I about - I can't wait to see how she continues to develop and entertain us with her sweet, funny, emotive and larger the life expressions!       

Quoteable: There could be trouble

"Hey, I am just going to go get in some trouble, o-KAY? Don't worry about it, just keep typing."

Then, "giggle, giggle," followed by the pitter patter of her little feet, and a door slamming. 

This was an actual quote from Eva as she craned her neck around the corner and looked at me while typing on the computer... and don't worry, I did go check on her and took away the toothpaste she was trying to eat. :) After I laughed, hard, at her pre-emptive warning to me about getting into trouble.

I love this girl.

Laugh-out-loud Quoteable

While Eva and I were at a well-known department store the other day, a voice began speaking over the intercom and said something close to this:

"Thank you for shopping at Kohls. Please go online after your purchase is complete and fill out a survey to let us know about your shopping experience. Your satisfaction is important to us. We want to hear from you. Please remember to fill out a customer satisfaction survey. Thank you for shopping at Kohls."

To which Eva replied, with her head turned up toward the ceiling, and in a LOUD voice: "Okay, OKAY guy, I heard you the first time!!"

How many times have I wanted to say THAT in response to an overly long intercom message myself?

I couldn't stop laughing, for awhile; Eva kept walking next to me, totally unfazed.