Here’s a glimpse inside the way Eliza’s mind works: We were walking back to the car today from a quick visit to the pool and some swimming. She was carrying her bucket, which is covered in pictures of Disney princesses. Suddenly, she stops in the parking lot, and stares at the shadows of the two of us on the asphalt.

“What’s up, Eliza?”

“Daddy…there are no princesses in the shadow. But there are princesses on the bucket!”

“Yep, that’s pretty weird, Eliza. That’s just how shadows work.”

“Hmmm. Okay.”

Seemed safer than trying to explain the properties of light to her.

21st Century Toddler, originally uploaded by griffey.

That’s my girl…sitting in a 120 year old house, on a 50+ year old Brass Bed, watching a movie on her iPod Touch.

Hanging with cousin Kelsi, originally uploaded by griffey.

Eliza is enjoying having her cousin Kelsi around for a few weeks. Not sure if the same could be said of Kelsi, but she’s being pretty patient with Eliza…as patient as an almost-13-year-old could be.

she’s freaking adorable

Originally uploaded by griffey

So Eliza is officially at the half-way point of her 3rd year of life. I haven’t done a “profile” in a while, so I thought it would be interesting.

Favorite foods: cheese (some things never change), pizza, strawberries, cherries, peanut butter

Favorite books: huge collection of Dora stories (thanks, Bridgette!), Knuffle Bunny and Knuffle Bunny Too, Angelina Ballerina, Lady Bug Girl, Lady Bug Girl at the Beach. Do you see a pattern? Anything with a human or human-like female character.

Favorite media: any and all Disney movies that have a female protagonist, especially the old animated Alice in Wonderland; Mickey Mouse Clubhouse; Winnie the Pooh movie

Favorite toys: she’s not a toy kind of kid. Prefers her “lovies” (stuffed animals), books, and movies. Very occasionally plays with her tea set, play food and kitchen, and Melissa and Doug magnetic dress-up dolls

Hobbies: playing games on her dad’s iPad (no joke), playing dress-up (loves to be Prince Phillip from Sleeping Beauty), looking at her High Five magazines (thanks, Titi!), splashing in her kiddie pool, telling stories, role playing (“you be robin and i’ll be batman!”), singing and dancing, dancing and singing.

Developments: is now in the “big kids’” class at preschool and seems to be happy there; has been completely potty trained since 22 months (yay!); now drinks from a regular cup.

What’s next? Who knows!

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Originally uploaded by griffey

Eliza got moved to the “big kids’” class at school, which means she is now the youngest of the group. She seems to love it. She said this morning, “I don’t wanna go back to the babies’ class. Yuck!”

Next step is transitioning from her beloved crib to a toddler bed. Any kind of change is scary, but this one has me particularly worried. Will she get up and roam around, opening her bedroom door, whenever she doesn’t want to sleep?

I can’t believe our little girl is turning into a big girl.

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Originally uploaded by griffey

We made a return trip to Rosemary Beach, FL this week. Eliza was just as fearless as she was a year ago, daring King Triton to send bigger and bigger waves crashing against her as she sat in the sand. She also wanted Jason to take her out into the “big part,” which he did, and she was simply mesmerized.

She also fell in love with the pool, which is where she would have stayed if we let her. She put on her floaty suit and pretty soon figured out how to paddle herself around, jumping off the steps into the deeper part. She gets her love of adrenaline from Dad, not from me!

It was also fun spending time with our friends Kevin, Leigh Anne, and their 2-year-old son, Griff. Eliza and Griff loved to chase each other barefoot in the nice grassy parks scattered all around Rosemary. They also liked sticking their feet in the fountain in the square and getting ice cream and candy from the Sugar Shack.

All in all, an awesome vacation! We hope to make it back next year and for many more years after that.

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Originally uploaded by griffey

I think it’s adorable that Eliza is one of those kids. You know, the ones that always have a stuffed animal in tow. The thing is, with her, you never know which one she’s going to choose. But if you look closely at a lot of our photos, there’s some kind of “lovey” there with her. She won this puppy dog at Lake Winnie and then took it with her to the International Dogwood Festival in Winchester, TN the next day.

She has probably 50 stuffed animals, and I can’t get rid of any of them, because they are all special to her. Most of them have names, and they have all been on some of her adventures.

Ladybug Girl, originally uploaded by griffey.

Eliza had an incredible time this weekend at Lake Winnie, an amusement park outside of Chattanooga. It was her first park experience, and she was completely fearless. She wanted to ride everything, to the point where we actually had to talk her away from things (“No, Eliza, I think that the Haunted Castle might be too scary for you.” “But Daddy, I’m really brave!” “Yes, honey, I know.”)

Her favorites were the kiddie rollercoaster and the swings, but she rode just about everything she was legally allowed to ride, and then went back for seconds. Combine that with pizza, ice cream, funnel cake, and then some bonus cotton candy for the ride home, and she was about as happy as a 2 year old can be.

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Originally uploaded by griffey

Lately, when I turn out the light before putting Eliza to bed, she wants me to tell her a story about a little girl named Eliza. The trick is, it can’t be fictional. She wants to hear about her day. Or a day in the recent past. And if you start recalling what you think are the important details, she will correct you or make you add things that you forgot.

“Once upon a time there was a beautiful, smart, and brave girl named Eliza. Mommy picked her up from school and we went to the park.”

“No, mommy. First we went to CVS.”

“Ok, so we went to CVS and then we went to the park.”

“We got juice at CVS.”

“Ok, so we got some juice at CVS and took it with us to the park.”

This goes on for a while until you get it just right.

Concentration

Originally uploaded by griffey

At the Chattanooga Market on Sunday, Eliza stayed at this table with giant magnets for the longest time, competing with the much older boy next to her to build the tallest tower. She was not at all intimidated by all the older boys around her. I hope this never changes. Eliza, my strong-willed girl. She always tells me she is “brave like Batman.” And it’s really true.