I can't believe my little girl is five! FIVE! It has been a few months now, but I still can't get over it. However, in some ways it doesn't surprise me at all. She seems so grown up sometimes. The girls pretend a lot that Eliza is the mommy and Miriam is the baby. And it carries through to other parts of our lives. I have to remind Ellie pretty regularly that she is not the mommy and can't give Miriam permission to do things.
She really tries to take care of us though. She is constantly going to John or I with an idea of how to do a nice surprise for the other parent. "Mommy, after Daddy goes to sleep tonight come and wake me up so we can clean the whole house, and he'll be so surprised to wake up to a clean, clean house. He'd just love that."
She is really such a little angel. It is so rare for Eliza to really lose it and throw a temper tantrum. She constantly tries to serve and show love to those around her. She often reads books to Miriam, cleans her room to surprise me, and makes innumerable cards and pictures for me and John with a note of how much she loves us.
I really do live and breathe for my children and husband. Sometimes it kind shocks me how attached I am to these people. My sweet Ellie is really set apart by her kind and loving nature. But is is more than that too. I am so proud of her for the choices she makes. I love it when I see her choose to calm down rather than get upset by something. I love it when I see her encourage her sister and others around her to make good choices. I love how cuddly she is. I love to see her reason out things for herself. I love to see her courage in a new or challenging situations. I love to see her friendliness and openness with others.
One thing she has recently chosen to do was to start reading the scriptures by herself. She decided she was too old for the scripture stories so she got a Book of Mormon off the shelf and wanted me to help her read it. I really expected her to be more intimidated by the difficulty of the words, but she has kept it up. Not every day, but regularly she wants to read the scriptures. Ellie really is a blessing to us.
For her birthday we hung balloons from the ceiling in the hall. She called it a "balloon car wash." Reminiscent of an exhibit at the children's museum.
She knew exactly what she wanted for her cake this year before I even asked her. Two layers of white cake, the top one smaller than the bottom one. White chocolate frosting topped with strawberries. I hope this fit the bill. She was pretty happy with it.
The loot. We are so cheap and didn't get her much at least compared to some birthday parties we have been to. Main present was the movie
Tangled. We were desperately trying to get her to stop singing the
Frozen songs as often. She also got some books, coloring supplies, and a necklace from her Grandpa.
Another recent story about Eliza.
One day when I wasn't feeling well Eliza told me to go take a nap, and she would be okay while Miriam was
napping. While I was sleeping (about an hour) she picked up the entire front
room (kitchen, dining, and living)!!! She cleared the table and counters of dishes. She picked up all of the
toys. She put things in front of the doors to the rooms where they go. (She
didn't want to go in and wake up me or Miriam.) She even got out the broom and
tried to sweep because, "It looked like it really needed to be
swept." What a little sweetheart!!!
One thing that she said that was
funny recently was, "I wonder how they made this watermelon." Me:
"It just grew on the plant that way." Ellie: "Mom, fruit doesn't
grow on plants." Me: "Yes it does. It grows on trees and
plants." Ellie: "Really?!" I love being a mom.
Just today she told me about a book that she read at the gym about aliens. (I am really curious to read this book.) Apparently it looked quite a bit like the non-fiction books she checks out from the library and so it was quite confusing to her when I told her I didn't think it was a real story. I wish I could remember more of this conversation!
Eliza: "It was about New Mexico and the aliens that went there." "There were two kinds of aliens and when the doctors tried to cut one open to look inside it, the doctor died." "The aliens poked needles in people and wanted to learn more about us." "This happened in New Mexico, so we can't ever go there. If we want to go to Mexico we need to go to old Mexico because that is where it is safe."
Me: "Ellie I don't think this is a real story so I think it is safe to go to New Mexico."
Eliza: "Just in case it is a real story, we shouldn't go there, just in case. Maybe we should warn other people New Mexico isn't safe."
Me: "Honey, I think it is safe. New Mexico is a state just like Arizona. Lots and lots of people live in New Mexico."
Eliza: "Still let's go to old Mexico, just in case." "Mommy, it has to be a real non-fiction book because there were real names in it of real people. You just can't make up names of people of that aren't real!"
She was so earnest about this. It was adorable. I think I have her convinced that everything is okay in New Mexico now. What a funny girl! I love being her mom!
We loved having an outside birthday party for her this year. The perks of living in AZ in February! We were happy to invite kids her age who we have met in our ward, and one good friend who we met at the gym that happens to be in a neighboring ward. Actually, we just found out this friend is moving to Illinois in a couple weeks, and we are really sad about it. :( It is just so rare to find a family where you can be really good friends with the parents, the kids get along extraordinarily well, your schedules match up, you have similar interests and values, AND their kids are exactly the kind of friends you want your children to have. :( :( Sorry about the self-pity party. We are just really sad that these friends are moving.
Ellie's special '5' balloon didn't last very well so we took it back, and they were out of pink '5' ones. So instead of getting one in a different color, she choose a pink '6' balloon. What a funny girl!
Words really can't express how much we love this girl. Happy Birthday Sweetheart!
From my journal:
Our little Ellie turned 5 on February 17th. I can't believe
it! Actually I can. It seems like the minute she turned five she has seemed so
much older to me. She is not a small child any more. She is more of a kid. She
argues and reasons more. She is less hesitant about going into new situations
and seems more confident around other kids. She is still my little sweetheart,
but she has definitely has been pushing her boundaries during the last few
weeks.
She has said a few funny things recently, "Mom, I am
surprised at how many things I can remember from so long ago." Me:
"What kinds of things do you remember?" Eliza: "Things from when
I was a baby." Me: "Can you tell me something specific that you
remember." Eliza: "Like when I was three and Grandma asked me if I
wanted a spoon with my peas."
Also, yesterday Eliza had her first ballet lesson. As we
were leaving the gym first thing in the morning she kind of sighed regretfully
(dramatically) "I am sad that I am not going to see Miriam as much as I used
to." Me: "What are you talking about, Ellie? Of course you are still
going to see Miriam a lot." Ellie: "Well, I am starting my dance
class today and so I won't see her while I am there."
On her birthday we surprised her with dangling balloons from
the entrance to the hallway and a banner. She loved it and called it her
"balloon car wash." That night we had a special dinner with my dad
(who is down in Scottsdale for his art show). She requested two pizzas: one
with pepperoni; one with ham and pineapple. And for dessert she want a two
tiered cake with white chocolate frosting with strawberries. I didn't even give
her options, She just knew what she wanted. It was pretty funny. My dad gave
her a big girl necklace. We gave her a couple of books, coloring supplies, and
the movie, "Tangled."
The next Saturday we had a party at the park next door to
our apartment. We had her little friends come and I think everyone had a good
time. We played a few games and had root beer floats. We had a couple of bigger
kids who were at the park come over and join the fun, which was fine until we
were giving out party favors. Nevertheless, I am so glad that she has friends
here.
Eliza is such a sweetheart. She loves to help and serve
people, especially our little family. She always wants to make good choices and
do the right thing. We are lucky to have her in our lives.
She also amazes me at how fast she is picking up on things
these days. Just tonight she said, "It doesn't snow in Arizona. Wait, it
snows in Flagstaff." Neither John or I immediately remembered ever
mentioning snow in Flagstaff to her before. But she remembered John telling her
that once almost a month ago.
Ellie is also such a girly girl. She loves all things pink
and princessy. She recently saw the movies, "Frozen," and
"Tangled" for the first time and fell in love with the music from
them. Particularly we went a few weeks hearing "For the FIRST time in
FOREVER!!!" sung at the tops of her lungs. Followed immediately with "Let
it go, let it go." She only knew those couple of lines for a while, and
believe me, it was too long. :) However, since then she has learned an
impressive amount of the songs from those movies. It has also spurred onto
other Disney songs. So instead of sticking to just one or two songs now,
thankfully she branches out. Actually, it is pretty funny to hear her medley. A
couple of Disney songs will turn into church songs, which turns back to Disney
songs, interspersed with a line or two of a country song that I like. This girl
is constantly singing! There are still a few mix-ups with lyrics though. One
church song has the line, "I know when I am baptized, my sins are washed
away." But Ellie has recently sung it, "I know when I am baptized, my
souls are washed away." Love it. :)
She still loves being read to, and she is getting pretty
good at reading herself. I am still stressing about putting her in
Kindergarten. I can't believe she is getting so big!
Oh, I love my little Miriam too. She is so funny these days.
Just today she told me that I needed to sit in my chair and finish my smoothie.
:) She definitely likes to boss people around, but she is such a sweetheart
too. If one of us is sad she will go get her blanket and baby doll to give to
us to make us feel better. She tells me pretty regularly, "I am potty
trained, Mommy." She is still really proud of that even though this has
been the case for a couple months now.
She also takes after her sister in the singing department.
She is constantly singing in her toddler voice and commanding Eliza what songs
to sing. What we learned from Miriam is that it is funnest to sing at the top
of your lungs if you are also running around our apartment as fast as you can.
Sorry downstairs neighbors! :)
She really loves to be read to as well. She gets stuck on books
and wants to read them again and again. She also really loves to be Mommy's
helper. We watched a baby at our apartment today, and Miriam just loved on him
the whole time. She is definitely in a baby phase. It was interesting/sad to me
to notice that Eliza doesn't do that anymore.
