Eliana's blog

I have been spending so much time watching William play baseball or swim in the big pool. Now it's my turn to do some activities and he gets a chance to sit and watch me. He liked taking pictures at dance class and even a few movies. Daddy came with to our last class to get a couple of nice videos of me. Mommy put them to a song sung by Laurie Berkner, my favorite singer! You can also see me at my swimming lessons doing a poem that I really like about a turtle called Tiny Tim.

We have been having so much fun lately! I want to tell you about everything that's been going on. I'll start with today and then go back as far as I can remember. So...

Today we went strawberry picking! I had been waiting to pick strawberries for a long time. Last year we got to go in the barn and see the baby goats and I wanted to go really bad. But there was no one in there. Everyone was in the fields for the last day of picking berries. I picked a lot of berries. And ate a lot, too! But there were still plenty to bring home to eat and make into jam.

Yesterday was a quiet day. I slept until 10:00. Then I got to help make brunch. William and I made the waffles. While Mommy was turning the sausages, I snuck a little extra vanilla in the batter. Everyone agreed that it was a delicious addition! The sausages also got a little blackened with all those hands in the kitchen. But we decided that was a good change, too! After lunch, I took a nice long nap so I would be ready for my first dance class! Mommy and I got to dance together! And the teacher asked me to help demonstrate the side step. I was very brave and agreed to hold her hands while we stepped down the line.

On the 4th of July, William and I got to go to Grandma and Grandpa's house while Mommy and Daddy went to a baseball game. They were pretty excited and so were we. Because Grandma and Grandpa brought us to Big Fish Lake to play in the water with friends. I even jumped off the raft twice! Grandpa caught me. After the lake, it was time for big fireworks! It got pretty late for me because the fireworks were delayed by a helicopter coming to the hospital. And then we stayed for a little ice cream (I ate mostly cherries) while we waited for the crowds to walk past. But I didn't mind staying up late. I was having so much fun!

The two days before that we had a family reunion at Grandma Barb's house. There were a lot of people there to see. I was a little shy with the grownups, but I had lots of fun playing outside with the other kids. We played and swam and ate lots of junk food. We even got to go out on the boat with Grandpa Ron and see fireworks on the river on Saturday!

Well, that's as far back as I can remember. I have a few pictures and will probably have some dance pictures soon. I hope you're having as much fun as I am this summer!

Mommy decided today that I'm going to be potty trained. After yesterday when I decided to hold it when sitting on the potty only to pee in my diaper two minutes later, she took away my diapers. I tried putting one on myself, but she took me to the potty instead. I really like peeing and pooping in my diapers. Unfortunately, Mommy's putting her foot down, so I'm going in the potty. I don't like accidents and don't have very many. It doesn't sound like we'll be going far from home for a week or so, though, if Mom won't give me anymore Pull-ups or diapers.

I'm a little hesitant about all this growing up stuff. I don't sit in a high chair much anymore. I'm learning to stay in my booster during meals and keep my feet off the table. I don't use bibs much. I only get a little messy. I usually start out sleeping in the big girl bed but I have a hard time staying in bed these days. So I end up sleeping in the crib, even though I can climb out of it. The old familiar is comfortable, kind of like my old familiar diapers. And my old familiar blankie and nuk that are hard to give up. Mom and Dad are making me keep them on my bed. That's been tough!

I'm off to play outside, my favorite place to be. It's a beautiful day!

[Mom notes that her response when told it was time to go inside was a five-word sentence which garnered her more playtime strictly based on length of utterance overlooking the excess of attitude. "No, play outside little more."]

Today I made a couple movies for you. In the first one, I only wanted you to hear me sing the ABCs. I didn't want the camera to see me, so I was hiding. In the second one, I was driving my car and not worried at all about the camera, so you can see how cute I am. Enjoy!

This slime makes my skin so slippery!

I decided to April Fool my Mommy while she was making dinner this evening. Well, honestly, it was just really fun to smear banana all over the table, my face, arms, legs and hands. The fact that it was April Fools' Day happened to be convenient. Mommy thought I was just sitting in my booster seat eating that little leftover bit of banana while she cooked. Hahahaha!

Today my friend Katie came to play. We went to the grocery store together to pick up food for a picnic at the park. It was our first picnic of the year! We were very patient while our moms got a coffee. The lady at Caribou was very busy, but we know how much our moms love coffee, so we waited. We loved driving the car cart, bumping into each other, and hanging out the windows. It was very funny!

Then we went to Wilson park where there was a great playground luring us away from our lunch. I ate my cheese [no surprise there] and most of a peanut butter and jelly. But I was too busy to touch my cookie. My favorite things about the park were running and swinging. I also wanted to help clean up the park. There was still a lot of trash around, even a broken sled, and I wanted to pick it all up. Mommy kept telling me, "No. Ick."

I didn't want to go home, but we had to go home and take naps. When we got up, William was home from school. We all had snack and played in our yard until it was time for Katie to go home. Our goodbye hug turned into a tackle hug. I was sad about that until Mommy got out my Elmo ice pack. Elmo always makes me happy. I waved goodbye to Katie until I couldn't see her car anymore. I can't wait to play with her again.

Mommy and Daddy try to get me to say my name all the time, but when they go around the table asking who everyone is, I usually point to myself and say, "me!" Or else I call myself "baby." But listen to what I said when I saw myself in the camera's screen...

Let me tell you a story about playing with my kitty, as I just told it to Mommy.

"Mew-mew, mew mew mew mew. (Clap, laugh) MEOW! Mew, mew mew mew mew. Yep. Mew mew. Mew, mew, mew mew, mew, mew, mew. Oh, no! Mew, mew, meow. Mew-mew? Mew-mew, Mew-mew!"

Would you like to hear more? I can tell the longer version.

[Editor's note: I believe this translates roughly, "The kitty was on my bed. I was petting her. Then I hit her. Then she ran away. I chased her, but she got away. Now she's hiding somewhere. Do you know where the kitty is? Kitty, where are you?]

You don't want me to spin my bowl
You take it away
Then I'll spin my cup
You don't want me to spin my cup
You take it away
Then I'll spin this green bean!
I'm so funny!