Yesterday I cut calla lilies from the garden and put them on the kitchen table. At breakfast this morning, the girls were using them to peek at each other.
Ah, the laughter of my daughters. It's the best sound of my life.
A few ironies that the video highlights:
Eliana's nose started running this morning, but only on one side. It might explain some of her funny antics.
Maia hates when I take videos or pictures of her, but loves looking at them later.
Eliana won't sign 'please' for me, but will for her big sis. The power of positive peer pressure!
Hear that mothering tone from Maia? Yipes! Is that how I sound?
I never thought my girls would enjoy each other so much at this young age. I pray it lasts a lifetime.
This spring has brought a myriad of new experiences for Maia. Since her mama has been unable to keep up with blogging about each one, here's a slew of updates about Maia's adventures over the past few months.
Spring was a welcome arrival for Maia. She had been waiting for months for, well, a chance to wear spring and summer clothing. Yep. That was one of her favourite spring memories, I think. In order to make clothing less of a big deal around here, we have resorted to choosing clothes the night before. We don't reopen discussions in the morning. This has been a good move. :)
She still loves being a big sister. In fact, much of my day is spent coaching Maia on how to play with Eliana without smothering her. There is much laughter -- squealing, even -- in our home. Especially when Eliana crawl-chases her big sis around the kitchen table. I love it.
In early spring, Maia loved her first pull in the wagon behind Opa's tractor.
Maia has also had a good share of mishaps this spring. I can't remember needing more than a couple of bandaids last year. (A careful preschooler, don't you think?) In the last few months, I think we've gone through several packages. When she started re-opening wounds just to get another fancy-schmancy bandaid, we had to make a "bandaids for accidents only" rule. It never occurred to me I might one day have to have such a rule.
In April, Maia also got her first black eye. Head to head with her friend Seth. (He got away without a mark, in case you're wondering.)
Maia also may have a "photosensitivity" to the sun. About a month ago, she broke out in a rash all over her body where she had been exposed to the sun that day -- some parts for a couple of hours (with sunscreen on, of course) and some parts just 15 minutes or so with no sunscreen. She broke out everywhere she had been exposed to the sun that day. So we've ruled out the sunscreen. I thought it might be Fifth's disease (the 'slap cheek' virus), but the rash wasn't really typically Fifth's either. So... lots of hats, sunscreen and limited sun exposure for us this summer!
Our little dancer was enrolled in dance class last fall and this spring -- an introduction to jazz, tap, ballet and acro. She was on the young end of the 3-6 year old class, but still a good introduction nonetheless for a girl who just wants to dance to the music. All kinds of music. I've noticed she has lost most of her 'celtic flare' that she once had, abandoning her Irish moves for ones more familiar in her class. Sometimes I think we might enjoy mother-daughter ballet together one day (if I don't get kicked out for being too uncoordinated).
At her dance recital in May, the older girls were paired with the younger girls for a move where the little ones are picked up and swung around. Hilarous!
Here's a video of Maia rehearsing for her recital. She's easy to pick out, since she's the only one in light tights! (If you listen closely, you'll hear the teacher call her name too when she falls a few beats behind. Like I said... definitely on the young end!)
The week her dance class ended, the Zurich soccer league started up. I love this little league! So well run, with great parents coaching. And only $10 for the season, so everyone can participate. It seems like the whole community gathers for one night a week on the soccer fields. Maia has even progressed from running after her friend Jillian to running after the ball. It's good! (Can you tell we're in transition from dance to soccer here?)
We love having a lot of special people in our lives, and Maia is no exception. She couldn't remember my friend Tracy (from Stratford, now living in New Zealand) from her last visit two years ago (though she does have the memory of an elephant and surprises us constantly with what and who she remembers). Still, these two were like best friends after only a couple of days.
Tracy even offered Maia one of her world-renown massages. I didn't think any three-year-old would last long on the table, but I think that massage was over half an hour. She loved it.
And Eliana thought it was quite entertaining to find Maia's head peeking through the headrest. One of my favourite family videos of all time.
This spring also saw the addition of a new-to-us play centre in our backyard. (Thanks again, Brands!) Maia has enjoyed our backyard so much more as a result. And I love having something for other kids to enjoy doing when they come over too.
And how could I not mention Nursery School? Two mornings a week Maia has bounced out of bed to be with two of her favourite people of all time -- Miss Kim and Miss Sharon. She's very excited about her new teacher at JK for the fall -- she's wonderful too. We're blessed to have so many lovely people investing in Maia's little life.
These photos are from the Nursery School graduation this week. (Yes, her second graduation in two years!)
And lastly, I leave you with a great photo of Maia coming down the tube slide at Kidscape, where the kids went for their end-of-year class trip. Electric, don't you think?
I'm so looking forward to seeing what God has in mind for this unique little life.
June 21 update: When I put Maia to bed, I often pray something like the Aaronic prayer over her: "May the Lord bless you and keep you, and make his face shine upon you, and be gracious to you, and give you peace." Tonight when I offered to pray for her, she said she wanted to pray instead. And then she proceeded to bless me, completely unprompted: "May the Lord bless you and keep you.... keep you and bless you.... bless you and keep you. Amen." Isn't that sweet? It's like she knows there are a few parts to it, but can't quite remember them all. But the heart behind it is just so precious. What a great ending to a great day.
That first birthday seems to have been such a turning point for both our girls. Eliana is suddenly making attempts to talk, walk, sing, entertain, wave, give high fives, and eat everything in sight. It's all happening at once right at the one year mark. (As one friend said to me, "They start getting so interesting just at the time when you're heading back to work!" I'm so thankful I'm not having to leave these little ladies each morning for a day job.) Ellie seems to be changing at the same pace that we are going through homemade popsicles around here these days. (That's quick, by the way.)
To me, the most remarkable change is the rapid addition of new words. Wasn't it only a couple of weeks ago she started saying "HI!"? Now I think she's adding to her vocabulary at the rate of about a word a day! Let's see if I can recall them in the order she started using them...
HI! (Usually to strangers at a distance, and almost never when prompted. Ha.) MO! (More! Aren't kids supposed to sign this before they say it, when we've been signing it for months? Funny kid.) DIGH DIGH (Nigh Night.) BA! (Ball) BABA! (Bubbles) BOO (Book) PAPA! (No, not her dad, but "puppy", our grown up dog) BEH (Bear) OPA MAMA (That was for ME yesterday -- yay! But she's only used it once, and that was because she was having trouble getting to me. But I'll take it!) OMA (Just now as I finished typing this up, Tim was talking to her about my mom.)
* June 18 additions: *
NANA! (Banana) If we are not responding, she sometimes goes all out: BA...NA NA! Funny enough, 'banana' is now being used to describe all things yellow and all things fruity. Hey, why not make the most of the few words you know?) HAT (No explanation needed for this one. She also used this to describe the sunshade on her car seat today. Clever girl.) EYES HOT If you ask her what a monkey says, she'll answer OOH OOH OOH AH AH. She is a little monkey.
June 21 additions: UP! PUP Not altogether surprising, since we generally call our dog "puppy". DADA A perfect addition for Father's day.
She's also started singing in the last couple of weeks. Her favourite song is a Dutch kid's song where she claps and puts her hands on either side of her head. So cute!
