Eloise at three

Eloise Hope is three! She is hilarious, spunky, dramatic, chatty, helpful, silly, sweet, a little lot on the wild side & absolutely precious to our family. Elo has been the baby girl at the Valentine Nest but is seeming more like a big girl every day with her vocabulary, assertiveness in taking on new responsibilities to "help" around the house & desire to express her likes & dislikes very clearly whether asked to do so or not. 

We are thankful to be sharing our life with this sweetheart....

STATS:

will fill in Friday after our appt. 

Busybody:

• Always seems to be saying "Watch this!" while she hangs off something with her head back & leg up or some other strange & adorable pose. 
• She likes scissors but cannot be trusted with them unless your hand is pretty much on top of hers. When used appropriately she cuts the paper or whatever else she is "working" on ; ) 
• LOVES to watercolor & chooses the most beautiful color combinations.  She doesn't miss a beat when asked to share about what she made. Her descriptions are somewhere along the lines of "it's a pizza party for all the animals in the forest" or "it's our family standing on a hill in the rain while we eat our yunch." Basically it is never what I see when I look at the picture which is why I love her descriptions & glimpse into her imagination.
• Serves imaginary food to us like we are in a restaurant. It is usually pancakes (her fave) or ice-keem & she reminds me not to make a mess. She would be a great waitress with her speedy return to the "table" but I have a feeling she would spill a lot of food with her wild arms delivering our food ; ) 
• Likes to throw a ball back & forth. She has great aim & is getting the hang of catching a ball. Her latest interest has been learning to bounce a basketball like her big sis. 
• Does somersaults with ease & excitement. 
• Her imagination runs wild & she's says interesting things like "Jesus is in there drawing a picture."
• Likes to sweep with her broom & even more with the big mommy broom. She also likes to help Grammy do the dishes. 
• Loves to sing but has a heck of a time remembering the words to ANY song
• Counts to ten without fault most of the time but then gets stuck and says "eleventeen" a yot of times.  
• Enjoys anything art related  & even drew a picture of herself for the first time last week. 
• Even being a busy girl, she is always requesting that someone hold her & boy can she cuddle!
• Watching her we know that she is always planning her next move....

Bear Necessities of Life- Eating & Sleeping: 

• This girl might be the best eater & sleeper in the whole family besides mommy & daddy who are capable of being good eaters & sleepers but are hindered by the rest of the roomies if you know what I'm sayin' : ) 
• Just about everything she eats she exclaims "I yike it mommy!" even if it something we have fed her a million times. Zest for life. 
• Some favorite food items- pancakes, any berries, Chick-a-Lay, milk, any type of juice, dipping her finger into coffee, when we are enjoying an adult only beverage & we say Elo, this is a beer she says "I yike beer" so...add that to the list ; ) she loves anything to dip her food in such as BBQ sauce or salsa, red meat, macaroni & cheese, salmon, spaghetti cous cous which we all call "goose goose" & pretty much anything we offer her she tries & ends up loving 99% of it. Above & beyond all the typical foods, this girl LOVES chocolate which I will address in another section. 
• She eats her three meals a day plus two snacks but always seems to be asking for more "sacks!"
• Night time sleep for this chickadee is usually 8-7 with one trip to our room followed by being returned back to her bed or curling up on a mat on the floor of our room. She is allowed to crawl in bed with us once the sun is coming up which right now is around 6:20. If you snuggle her real good she falls back asleep & may stay that way past 7. She also has a hard time falling asleep without her best buddy Charlotte. 
• She still rubs her belly button & covers her mouth with the back of her hand. She also still wants someone to pat her when it's time to go to bed. 
• Afternoon nap is usually from 1-3:30 or 4 depending on how much activity we have in the morning. She is also capable of skipping the nap now if we are out & about or spending time with someone we would rather hang out with than take a nap. On those days by bedtime she has a hard time holding it together & falls asleep closer to 6:45 or 7. Every now & then we have to try to wake her a few times from her nap if she is totally zonked. 

I love her precious little face in this picture.....somewhat serious but equally sweet. 

Heart:
Eloise is really changing lately. We are beginning to see more care & concern for others, especially for her sister.  If Charlotte is going to climb onto something on the playground that Eloise has deemed unsafe, she completely panics saying "no, no, no Char! Be careful! Don't go!" If she is standing near a street, Eloise grabs the back of Charlotte's shirt & lays on the ground screaming, "Don't go in the street!" She also panics if Bella seems "stuck" in the ivy up against the fence. It is so sweet & has been a good example to help the girls understand their role in caring for & protecting one another. Robby was in the room with the girls one evening in the midst of an Elo-freakout due to Charlotte wanting to perform some trick that including jumping off the bed which was probably . He said to Char that even if it seemed safe for her that she should consider not doing it because Eloise was SO concerned about her well being. He reminded them about how much they love each other & that concern is something that should not be taken lightly when coming from someone who loves you.  She also cares deeply for Owen & Anson but usually shows this in a dangerous manner. Lots of things to work through....just like the rest of us!

When we are consistent she is capable of answering some of her catechism questions. Consistency is something I am struggling with right now in this in between time while we wait for our rent house to be available....I have grand plans for July 1st ; ) She does love to listen to the Jesus Storybook Bible & can help re-tell a story after we have read it.  She asks lots of questions following Charlotte like "Why did Jesus die?" so there is lots of explaining going on & re-asking of the question even though we thought we just answered it & then someone saying "I don't understand." Another reminder that God is the one who will open their hearts & minds to understand & grasp the truth of the Gospel when He sees fit.

This precious girl is so very sensitive & takes off to her room in tears when corrected.  She needs some explanation, hugs & kisses to return to the "scene of the crime" if you will. She can tell you the answer to "How do you obey?" which is "right away, all the way & with a good attitude" but we are sensing there is some disconnect ; ) The "right away" part is the hardest for this little dreamer who seems to be living in Lolo land.  She is quick to say she is sorry but once we have talked in private seems to be beginning to really feel sorrowful when she hurts someone.  She is also quick to forgive Charlotte but only if Charlotte asks for forgiveness in the way Eloise wants her to which includes the offense. We have them do this anyway but if Charlotte forgets, Eloise will correct her & say "no Char, you say please forgive me for kicking you in the head, not my arm." This makes me laugh because when she says she is sorry & asks for forgiveness she usually gets confused & says "Please forgive you?" Again, we are in the background trying not to smile.

Finkles, Farkles, Fankins & other Eloisms':

• The sp sound comes out as an f which makes sprinkles, sparkles & spankings come out as finkles, farkles & fankins.....oh my, it is hilarious & cute as can be. 
• We were at the park a few weeks ago & Eloise saw a hula hoop up in the tree. She asked what it was & once I told her about it she told Charlotte to look up at the "Huly poop" she saw in the tree!
• I was talking with the girls about something I could do with each of them that was special. Charlotte's answer was something about an art project we could do together but when I asked Eloise the same question, What do you want to do special with mommy? She smiled sweetly at me & said "I wanna eat chocolate with you mommy."  That's my girl!
• While on the chocolate train of thought, she was at the grocery store with her Daddy & he asked her what kind of chips we should get to go with our burgers. She quickly replied "Chocolate!"
• One last one....it was time to get out the door on a Sunday morning & I asked "what sandals, pink or brown?" Eloise said "Brown because they look like chocolate." LOVE her!
• When you ask her a question that she doesn't know the answer to she does her eyes to the side, gets a crooked little grin & says "I can't know dat"
• If you tell her "Eloise, you are so beautiful (or funny, or sweet!)" She says "No I not! I Fecial!" which is "Special" if you happened to miss the first bullet point of this section ; ) 
• Much like her older sis we are still trying to understand the concept of yesterday, today & tomorrow. Apparently it is pretty confusing. It makes for some good conversation with people though when she is clearly talking about today but says something like "We have so much fun at the zoo tomorrow!" when we have just returned from said place. 
• she says "a yot"& "a yittle"
• When asking for a number of something she usually holds up four fingers whether it be pats or cookies & says "I want dis many"
• She often crawls into our laps & says "I really yike you" or "I yuve you" and.....we melt. 
• Many times when I ask her if she likes/dislikes something she says "sometimes I do, sometimes I don't" & if I think she is going to finish at just the "sometimes I do" followed by a long pause, she always says the rest really fast with a smirk on her face since she knows it always makes me laugh.

Born to be wild:

• Dances all the time whether there is audible music or not. Her favorite tune is when Daddy does his own rendition of Smooth Criminal & she gets down in her room.  She has some pretty cool moves that I am guess were inherited from me. 
• Can often be found hiding behind something coloring her hands with marker. When she is found out she immediately exclaims  "I saw-ee, I saw-ee, I saw-ee, I go wash it!"
• Always on the go when in a setting she is comfortable in. 
• Can scream extremely loud & loves to do so in order to get her brothers to join in. 
• Often acts like a lion or tiger growling as she crawls around & swiping her paws across your face...not our favorite thing  ; ) 
• Attempts to ride Bella on a regular basis....also sits on her brothers until they cry. 
• ALWAYS has a silly face for you but it usually comes when you say "Eloise, smile!" examples to follow....

Oh my this girl keeps us laughing & quite worn out ; ) Three is a fun age but I do remember it being a challenging year with another precious little girl. That being said, I look forward to what lies ahead with a realistic view & a thankful heart to experience the changes from three to four with little Lolo.

Looking at her still slightly chubby hand showing off the flowers she picked for me I imagine all that her hands will do as she grows.  We pray that they will be hands used to serve God & bless others much like the way God uses her hands holding a thoughtful surprise for mommy to bless my heart.  

Happy third birthday to our sweet Eloise, we love you more dearly each day, beautiful girl.