{lion: jellycat via nordstrom // dress: Hanna Andersson (old; hand-me-down from a friend) // leggings: Cat and Jack for Target}
{three & three-quarter years} It seems like Eloise has grown up SO much in the past few months! She’s such a little lady!
Every afternoon (when Daphne goes down for a nap) Eloise has quiet time. For me this is my only free-time during the day and I think it’s so important to help foster independent play and down-time for Eloise. Obviously she used to nap during this time, but these days she maybe takes one or two naps in a week. As with her last quarterly update, if she does snooze at all during this time, it means we have more melt-downs and she stays up super late at night (even though we keep her bedtime at the same time). So, generally we like her to stay awake during this time!
Since Daphne has been around, Eloise really hasn’t had much consistent screen time. We FaceTime with family and friends, but shows or games are pretty much non-existent. I used to let Eloise watch a show on most afternoons while I was cooking dinner, but since we don’t want Daphne to watch TV and it is impossible for me to keep Daphne in the kitchen while I am trying to get dinner ready, it means that time in the late afternoon is play time for Daphne and Eloise in the living room. But we don’t want to completely stop doing screen time, so we started doing a family movie night once per month on a Saturday night. We will put Daphne down at her normal bedtime and get in our jammies, pop some popcorn and maybe get a special (small) dessert and watch a movie, just the three of us! The first movie was Moana which she liked, but there is one particular scene towards the end that scares her. However, she constantly asks to listen to the soundtrack on Spotify. And the other movie we have done is Coco which was SO cute! We didn’t know what to expect and there were a few scenes that Eloise didn’t like, but she really enjoyed all of the singing. What are other good kid-friendly movies? (Other than Frozen.)
Most mornings (or at least a few each week) Aaron goes into work late enough for the girls to see him in the morning and can help out with breakfast before catching his bus to work. Every single morning Eloise wants to see Papa. Lately I have been the one to go and get her up at 8 am (because she stays in her room until we come in!) and she will run down the hall to see Papa!
After taking a brief hiatus from extracurricular activities, we started Eloise in swim lessons to gear up for the summer. We will have a few opportunities to be in a pool or swimming this summer, so I wanted Eloise to be comfortable in the water. She won’t learn to swim completely on her own yet, but she’s the type of kid that doesn’t like water splashed on her face in the bathtub, so it’s baby steps. We enrolled her in a school that only does individual 15 minute lessons and it has been so great for her! We are planning on one weekly lesson until the end of June (which is when our “summer vacation” actually starts since she is in school until June 21st).
Eloise still LOVES school and we love the community that we share with her. The teachers, parents, and kids are all amazing and we will very much miss everyone next year when Eloise moves onto pre-K at a new school. But even though Eloise loves school, ever since returning from spring break, Eloise has had a lot of trouble with drop-offs in the morning. She is fine when we get there, but when it comes time for me and Daphne to leave, she becomes a stage five clinger and gets upset when I try to leave. I know that it is best if I just go, so usually her teacher will try to distract her (or hold her) while I walk out the door. And every day it takes only a few minutes for Eloise to compose herself and then have the best time at school!
Taking after her Grammie (Mimi), Eloise is obsessed with art. She prefers painting, but this time of year she is all about sidewalk chalk. Her happy place is sitting on the sidewalk in front of our house drawing pictures and waving and saying “hi” to neighbors. I am thinking about putting a chalkboard outside in our backyard for her? Or I saw this adorable art studio playhouse in the new Magnolia Journal?
Eloise likes to wear her shoes on the opposite feet. She says it is more comfortable. It is usually a battle I am not willing to pick as it already feels impossible to get out of the house some days!
This will be something I will be glad for in the future but Eloise is OBSESSED with sunscreen. As soon as it is the slightest bit warm and sunny outside, she tells me that we need sunscreen when we go outside. And she doesn’t mind being slathered in it either which is awesome for the summer, and especially since I use physical sunscreen which is very white and pasty for the most part. I got her a little stick of sunscreen for her school bag to put on before she goes outside and every single time we go outside she asks if she can put it on. Start ’em young!
For a while now, maybe a year, Eloise has had this imaginary life and family in Arizona that she constantly talks about. She is married to Papa (Aaron which is SO sweet!) and has about 46 or 69 kids, depending on the day; some of these kids are her dolls, but some of them are unnamed. And she has this house in Arizona and she commutes back and forth either by plane or car to Seattle to visit. Her kids, not surprisingly, do almost the exact same things that she and Daphne do! It is really great to see her imagination.
And the newest rendition of Things Eloise Says:
“Step shoes” or high heels.
“Mama, Papa, I terribly need you!”
“Papa, can you switch the picture?” (She meant change the channel.)
“Mama, they are cleaning the ice!” (Watching Olympic curling on TV.)
E noticed the packaging changed on the Newman’s Organic prunes. The old package had a picture of Pa and Nell Newman, but the new package only has Pa. “Why did they take her off of the package? Did she not make the prunes right?”
“Mama, did you know shoes have tongues? But they don’t lick.”
Me: “We need to get gas (in the car).” Eloise: “Yeah, the car needs breakfast.”
“Papa, can you find all the hideaway vegetables?” (Asking Aaron to have the onions and peppers taken off of her pizza.)
“Hey Mama, just a friendly reminder: Daphne likes Charlotte the Cow (a stuffed animal).”
While she is lying in bed and singing: “Happy Birthday to someone I don’t know! Happy Birthday to You!” (Probably her favorite song ever.)
“Mama, those eggs are really darn good!”
“I was struggling.” To Aaron when he was talking to her about an EPIC melt-down she had after school one day this week.
I definitely wasn’t as good about writing down what she said these past few months, but Eloise is hilarious!
{weight} 38ish pounds (my guess); height: 38 inches
{hair} (reddish) brown.
{teeth} 20 teeth plus four molars.
{eyes} dark brown.
{clothes} mostly 4T, some 5 or 4 to 6 (which is a kid’s XS).
{diapers} NONE!
{feeding} during the day, three meals, (sometimes a) morning snack, & (sometimes an) afternoon snack. cup of milk with every meal.
{likes} singing, dancing, taking walks around the blocks, talking to the neighbors, Teddy the mailman, school and her friends, Daphne, coloring, yelling, Duplos, digging in the dirt, splashing, counting, any person outside on the sidewalk, bubbles, sidewalk chalk, coloring, buckles, jumping, watching out the front window (dogs, kids, trucks), books, mama & papa’s cell phone, FaceTime (but she always wants to hold the phone), bath time, shoes, mama’s (diaper) bag, putting things inside a bag or box, helping with anything & everything, when Papa comes home from work.
{dislikes} not being included, having something taken away from her, not eating when someone else is, being hungry, TimeOut.
{nicknames} Bug, Love Bug, Baby Bug, E, Wheezy, Kiddo, Love, Bugaboo, E-Lo or Elle.
Happy three & three-quarter years E! You will be FOUR before we know it!
M
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