Rapunzel, Rapunzel

Today we attended the Chicago Kid's Company production of "Rapunzel" along with a couple hundred screaming youngish and school-age kids. It was surprisingly good :) - by that I mean, for low-cost tickets and while playing to a kid audience, the cast did a great job of entertaining older and younger kids, and making me laugh a few times too! They were great actors, sang songs that engaged the kids, did several costume changes, used music and lighting to signal changes in scene and emotions, and the experience kept Eva's arms flapping most of the performance.

The five-member cast was also very sweet afterward and greeted the streams of kids who stopped by to meet them. Eva loved Rapunzel's hair, petted it a little, and then talked to the actress who played Rapunzel in order to explain to her (very seriously) that her hair did not grow as long as Rapunzel's did. :)

We went to the play with our family/friends who had seen this company perform before, and we got front row center seats in the auditorium. All three kids did great and seemed to enjoy themselves a lot. Our godson Isaac even developed a mini-crush on Rapunzel; here is his little-too-long hug with her after the show.

Eva wasn't too sure about going to a "concert," as she kept calling it before we went, and wondered if she would like having to be quiet or the lights going to dark between scenes. But - she loved this show. On the walk out she was already asking when we got to go see them perform again. During the show she waved her hand to volunteer information and sang along with the songs when asked, laughed repeatedly, and also jumped into my arms a few times when Nexus (witch/mean gardener figure) was on stage. What a fabulous memory of Eva's first time attending a play!  

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.