Eliza and all her Eliza-ness

It's been too long since I've talked in-depth about my dear Eliza on this old blog.  She has grown and changed so much and just keeps on becoming her own unique person, and it blows me away every day.  Trying to capture her personality and charm on "paper" might very well require a novel, and honestly, part of the reason I've not written an update recently is because every time I try to start writing about her, I just don't know how to adequately describe all the spunk and love and attitude, kindness, intelligence and pure happiness that is wrapped up in that tiny body of hers.

Eliza is a learner.  She is always asking questions and those questions are getting more and more crazy intelligent every day.  She listens closely to an answer (usually, depending on her mood!), and is genuinely interested in figuring things out and getting to the bottom of something until it makes sense to her.  It can be tiring sometimes - the whys, hows, how comes, what do you mean, what does that mean, why is it that way... all the questions are so dang cute and at the same time I feel mentally exhausted at the end of some days!  Thank goodness for her daddy, he is so smart and also naturally curious (I found him watching a youtube lecture the other day explaining why you can't divide by zero -- wtf?!); they make a great pair, always figuring things out together and exploring the answer - no matter how complex - to her most recent question.

Eliza has a flair for the dramatic, as I'm sure many 3 year olds do.  Reactions can be intense, so we're often talking to her about "calmer reactions" (and yes I laugh at myself as soon as the words leave my mouth because really? She's 3, dude. She's gonna bring teh dramazzz).  Similarly, this girl's 'tude can rival that of a 15 year old any day of the week.  She told me she 'didn't want to be near me anymore' the other day after I had to take away a pair of (kid) scissors she was using on something other than paper (namely, her shirt).  As I took them from her hand, she also told me "It is not nice to take something out of someone's hand. Where did you learn that?".  Ohhh boyyyy.

The dear sweet thing is still, at her core, sweet as pie.  She will tell you she loves you out of the blue, and every time it happens it melts your heart in ways you never thought possible.  After I indulged her in an afternoon bath today (an extended version, no less), and as I was drying her off she said to me "look up at me, Mama", and when I did she said "I love you" in the sweetest little voice.  Every frustration and worry I had in my head disappeared at that moment and I swear the rest of the afternoon was nothing short of perfect.  Am I easily manipulated, or what?! ;)

My days are numbered in regards this next one, I know, but for the next few months I will really enjoy the independent playing that goes on in my house!  Eliza loves creating little stories and roles for each of her dolls, putting them to sleep, "doctoring" them, and can play happily in her room alone for extended periods of time.  She plays with her puzzles, her marble maze, her magnetic board, and even her adored playsilk (seriously she loves this thing, it's been such an unexpectedly awesome toy!).  It hit me this morning when I popped my head in to say hello and tell her I was going to hop in the shower ("okay mama", she replied, and went right back to playing) that I am pretty darn lucky in this regard and that showering will soon become a luxury (or at least a task that requires more planning than it currently does!).

What else?  She loves to sing.  She can get lost in playing with the contents of her art supply box for an hour (cutting, coloring, using tape and stickers, gluing...).  She loves to make "recipes" - this morning it was water, salt and blueberries (which she later tried to juice with my citrus juicer).  She loves going to the comic book store with daddy - they buy My Little Pony comic books and Ski Soda.  She eats anything and everything (with a few exceptions of course); she's still our little adventurous eater.  Her daddy and I look at each other every day and marvel at her and the little things she does (and sometimes, on the days that are more full of teh dramaz - like today - we shake our heads and look at each other and say in unison: "your turn!").

There is so much more...!

To my dear sweet girl: I wish I could capture your essence, your spirit, your sweet face, your little voice and the way you say "feather" and bottle it all up to save for later.  I love you so much it can make me cry if I think about it too much.  I hope I'm doing this whole mama thing okay.  There isn't a day that I don't question if I'm good enough, fun enough... enough... just enough for you.

I love you!