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! :)

Plans for the future

Eliza told us recently that when she grows up, she plans to have a yellow art car (she's already saving in her piggy bank). She also wants to live in a pink house. She plans to have 2 kids named Fern and Maggie. And she plans to have a dark purple cat. She had hoped to have a dog as well, but it turns out one of her future kids is allergic to dogs. :)

Maney

Eliza has an imaginary friend. An imaginary husband, actually. His name is Maney. Maney has long, "yellow" hair (which I find amusing since she doesn't know mane means hair) and likes to wear dresses. Eliza and Maney got engaged around the same time that Ms. Jessica at school got engaged. She wore a ring for a couple of weeks and everything. At some point in the past couple of weeks there must have been an imaginary wedding because now she is calling him her husband instead of her fiance. And they already have a baby (JackieBaby). The other night she was sitting at her little white table feeding Jackie in her high chair and telling Maney about her day.

The Beginning of Beanie

It's been a while since this happened, but I'll forget it if I don't write it down...

Keep in mind that we found out I was pregnant with Eliza while staying in a very romantic hotel in Istanbul.... Our second kid is already getting the short end of the stick. It's not the most romantic story, but it's ours!

September 23, 2010

S was working late and I was tired and didn't feel like cooking, so E and I stopped at Mandola's for dinner on the way home. Halfway through our meal, someone opened the door to the bathroom, across the restaurant. All of a sudden I could smell cleaner from across the room... and I knew. I had the same bionic nose when I was pregnant with Eliza.

We went home and soon S came home too. I kept debating within myself whether or not I should take a pregnancy test. I knew I could only be 3 weeks pregnant, and surely a pregnancy test couldn't be reliable this early. I decided not to get S excited over probably nothing and slipped off to the bathroom to take a test. About 5 seconds after I peed on the stick, Eliza busted into the bathroom. "I need to poop, Mom!" "Sweetie, use the other bathroom. I'm, um, busy in here." "No Mom, I need to go NOW and I need help with my pants!" So, I hopped up, got distracted by getting her situated on the toilet and then remembered the test a minute later and glanced at it. Two lines! "Uh, honey?! Come in here, please!" S came into the bathroom, having no idea what was waiting for him (probably expecting a potty training emergency of some sort). I pointed to the test and grinned. Eliza couldn't figure out why we were so happy all of a sudden. And that was the beginning of Beanie. Later that night we went to watch Kat Edmonson at Shady Grove and the four of us sat on a blanket and looked at the stars.

Drumroll please...

Eliza is getting a baby brother! Or, as she describes it (she came with us for the ultrasound), "a nurse came in and turned off the lights and said 'the baby has a penis!'". Of course we are thrilled and Eliza is coming around. She has asked me several times why it's a boy and not a girl. I tried telling her God decided we needed a boy. Then of course she wants to know why God felt that way. S got to feel the baby kick about a week before our ultrasound. Eliza hasn't felt a kick yet, but she thinks she has. I'm already hearing lots of "Mom, Beanie is kicking me!" I can't wait to see her face when she really feels a kick. And odds are she'll feel it soon, as she probably kisses my belly 50 times a day. We've had to talk about not pulling up my shirt in public. She always says, "Hey Beanie!" and then makes me do a little "Hey Eliza!" voice back. I hope she understands he doesn't really talk and won't for a while. We've tried explaining this.

The questions keep coming. She has a lot of gender questions lately. On the way to school this morning she asked why she has "yellow" hairs on her legs and I don't. Then she wanted to know why most women shave their legs. I just sort of fumbled and said, "yeah, it's pretty dumb. Gender norms are pretty dumb sometimes." She also wants to know why I'm giving away her pink dresses from infancy and not saving them for Beanie. I told her *most* boys don't like to wear pink and of course she wanted to know why and really, there's no good reason. She makes a lot of valid points. :)

On an unrelated note, she was talking in her sleep the other night, yelling, "I don't want to eat salad!" over and over. As if I've ever gotten her to eat anything other than croutons. Perhaps I will choose a different battle...

14

Me: Eliza, do you want to know a secret? Today is a very special day. 14 years ago today I met your dad! (I smile at her nostalgically...)

Eliza: Mom?!

Me: Yes, sweetie?

Eliza: I have a booger.

Ah, romance just emanates from our household....