Something I haven’t mentioned in the blog previously is that at the end of November, I had started running again. I had considered running for a while before, because I knew I needed to do some kind of cardio, but nothing really stuck with me. While on the elliptical in the gym, I’d be jealous of the people running on the treadmill, so I thought I might consider running again, something I haven’t done in 20 years since high school.
Name Changes
Haven’t had a lot to share recently, in case anyone was wondering about the lack of updates. I wanted to share something very cute from last night, though.
Yesterday, I was reading a new library book to the girls, which included a bunch of kids names in a preschool. Everything was going well until I hit the name Francesca. For the life of me, I couldn’t remember how to pronounce it. I tried Franseska, Fransheska, Fransheshka, nothing seemed to sound right. I told the girls that we’d have to wait for Mommy to come back from elsewhere in the house, and then we could ask her.
Eliana, in her almost-5-year-old wisdom, said “We can just call her Stella.” So we did, after I could breathe again from laughing so hard.
Shoe Shine Boy
This afternoon, for the first time Eliana watched me shining my shoes. She was quite excited about it, and asked me questions throughout. Then she remembered she had some old black leather shoes from the summer. The result:
Never a Free Moment
Either last night, or this morning, I forget which, I had the thought, “wow, we have a whole Sunday with nothing planned! We can just relax and take it easy!” Then last night we had a bad storm blow through, but since we didn’t lose power, I didn’t think much about it. Then this morning, I looked out the screen door, and saw a small tree limb, maybe 6 feet long, had come down near the swing set. “Oh well, that shouldn’t take too long to cut up.”
Then I walked outside and looked at the rest of the backyard.
Oh well. I didn’t really want to take it easy, anyway….
On the other hand, apparently we now have a taste of Scotland in our back yard, as we have some full blown thistles growing. So after the tree is gone, I should probably break out the weeding supplies. Fun fun.
Artwork by Eliana
Eliana’s been in camp since mid-June, which is when she transitions to the next year’s class and stays there in the Fall. I don’t know if her new teachers are more encouraging about her art skills, or if she’s naturally getting better as she gets older, but the drawings she’s been bringing home have been much improved over the usual random scribbles we’ve seen over the last few years.
I started a gallery of them, and will add to it as time goes on. Framed original versions are available for $49.95 plus shipping and handling. These drawings, much like the commemorative plates put out by the Franklin mint, will only go up in value as time goes on, so be sure to take advantage of this exclusive offer now!
https://picasaweb.google.com/108289782346255680560/ArtworkByEliana
School Photos, Spring 2012
Eliana’s Birthday Weekend
Eliana turned four on Sunday, and we had quite the weekend for her.
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Duck Photos
Based on the covers of these books, you might not think they’d have anything in common.
At least, I certainly didn’t think so. The book on the left, with the ducks, is one she’s had for a couple of years now, and used to be one of her favorites. But she hasn’t spent a lot of time with it for a while now. The book on the right, with the polar bears, is much newer, and was a gift from friends of ours.
On Friday night, Eliana asked me to read her the book on the right. So we start reading. And we get to this page:
Eliana tells me to stop reading, and she runs off to her bedroom. A minute later, she returns with the duck book, turns to a page, and says “matchy patchy!” So I look closely at the two images. And I look closer still. Here’s the one from the duck book:
Needless to say, I was shocked that she’d made an association I never would have in a million years. When we showed Rina a short time later, she was also amazed. Yes, there’s a few differences (two too many ducks in the drawn version, for example), but it’s obvious the drawing was based off of this photograph. Such a scarily smart girl, that one is.
Here are the two pages side by side for comparison, click on the image to make it bigger if needed.
Eliana Writes her Name
Eliana has been learning her letters for a while now, but this is the first time we know of that she put them together in the right order to spell her name. Just this past Saturday at a play date, she startled her friend’s parents by showing she could read a little. And not even four years old yet.
Maya Really Walking
Last time, I mentioned Maya figured out that she could walk while holding onto something. Over the past week, she was starting to get the idea that she could walk unassisted, but would only take one or two steps before falling. Yesterday, right after she woke up, she started walking and never looked back.
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