40 months?!

I haven't thought about Eliza's age in months in a while, and it just occurred to me she's 40 months old now. Crazy! Her preferences change frequently, but here's what she's into now...

• Pork. The girl is obsessed with salami, hot dogs, sausage and bacon. We try to at least do healthy versions of these foods...
• Waffles. She can and has eaten waffles for breakfast almost every day for the past month.
• Shoes. I finally hid her "wedding shoes" from Marna's wedding a year ago. They are definitely too small now, but she keeps trying to stuff her feet into them. She's already told me she wants these (in my opinion) hideous shiny magenta sandles that somehow also look like boots for her 4th birthday. I told her they weren't my style but that it's her choice. :) (Oh, she also wants a Barbie (ugh) and a pinata (awesome) for her birthday... you know, the one 8 months from now.)
• Pretend play. She continues to spend most of her free time playing babies, school or dressing up like a princess.
• Family. She thinks about everything in terms of relationships. If she has 3 ducks, one is the mom, one is the dad and one is the baby. Even is she has 2 blocks, one is the mom and one is the baby.
• Her brother. She hugs him everyday when I take her to school and when I pick her up. Then she gives a separate hug for me. She wants to see her brother as soon as wakes up, and often, "Good morning, Beanie" is the first thing out of her mouth.
• Routines. Our bedtime routine is getting a bit ridiculous, but before I can leave her room (after counting down from 2 minutes), we need to "talk about our days" and she always has questions. Her questions are usually hilarious. Then we both have to give each other kisses on the cheek and she has to say, "Leobi (a word she made up) means birthday cake, cookies, icecream..." and a long list of other deserts, then "good night, sweet dreams and I love you." And that's just for ME to leave the room. She and S have a similar routine when he leaves her room a few minutes later.

Spring

We've been having all sorts of adventures- trying to take advantage of the gorgeous weather and the last couple of months as our family of 3. We've been on picnics, to the farmer's market, the zoo, plenty of playgrounds, Sesame Street Live, the botanical garden, kite festival, on a canoe, the nature center and more! And here is E with her friend C on Fat Tuesday. They were singing karaoke. Wildest mardi gras ever! :)