Here Comes The Sun...

Spring has come to remind us that Life goes on. The seemingly dead trees and plants are being resurrected by the warmth of the sun, the rain, and truly amazing cycle of the seasons. Elie and I have begun to explore the changes in earnest, finally breathing air outside of the cave-like home! 

She enjoys finding bugs, smelling flowers, and playing in the dirt. I'm thankful we have a little nature child in our family! (How could she NOT be, right?)

Holding a dead hornet

Showing the camera her hornet

Dancing with her hornet

She is alternately wonderful and frightening... having snuck out of the yard once, hidden from me once, and nearly given me several near-fatal heart attacks in the process. I exaggerate, but just barely. She tries to "help" mama sometimes, which results in early bath times. If I don't pay attention to her, then this can happen:

"Uh oh! Baby eye, owee!"

"Uh oh, mama. Baby uh oh." That's a lot of dirt.

We've had our good days and our bad days. Lately, they've been trending towards being more difficult, with her pushing a lot of boundaries that we've previously set up. Her growing vocabulary has become a weapon she wields when she's angry. She's not even a teenager yet!

Yesterday, after we had a little stand-off over her behavior, she came upstairs (where I was cooling off by folding laundry) and told me, "NO 'I wuv you,' mama! NO 'I wuv you!'" Ouch. Year of the Dragon, indeed. I'm going to need therapy and a lot more wine to get through these years, aren't I? I suppose it's a good thing we don't have much wine in the house. To save me from myself!

I'm very lucky to have Keith, who comes home after a long day of teaching (dealing) with other people's kids, and takes over for me when I really need it. Still, we also have some good days here and there...

The sunny side of life!

Learning to pour with actual water in the teapot.

More tea, mama!

Here are a couple photos from Easter, since I didn't post anything then... Elie had a wonderful time at her Nana's house, and thought Uncle Easter Hop was Da Bomb!

Looking precious for a rare still moment!

She never stopped moving, so this is as good as it gets!

Elie's Kitchen

For Christmas and her birthday, Elie got some kitchen playthings. She has been enjoying them very much! Then for Valentine's, her Nana got her some pretend veggies and foods in a basket, which she also loves to play with.

Before the paint job

Obviously, this girl needed a little kitchen! When we had to get a new carseat for her, it came in a box that was perfectly shaped for a little toddler's kitchen. So, we made a cabinet above the range, and fit it with a storage shelf inside, and put little pulls on the cabinet doors.

We also made an oven below the range, where the cats frequently spend time napping. Good thing it doesn't really work.

I just need to draw the stove range on again, since I painted over it with the blue spray paint. Keith still needs to install the handle for the oven door, too. Details, details! She's using it already, and has been for a while... It wasn't painted and she still loved it!

It's even better now that it's painted, though. She was very excited to see it all in blue. She's at that kitchen all the time, cooking up some delectable meals for herself and her critters!