Brand New World

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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.

IMG_9827, originally uploaded by griffey.

Blogging from TxLA, missing my girl.

Freckles, originally uploaded by griffey.

Guess who’s finally starting to get some freckles?

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Originally uploaded by griffey

Every time Eliza wakes up and sees the sunshine, she says “Yay, mommy! It’s Spring time! It’s a sunny day!” She has such a positive outlook. I think I could learn a lot from her.

IMG_9584, originally uploaded by griffey.

A couple of days ago, E and I were hanging out. I gave her something, and she said “Thank you.” I said, in an exaggerated tone, “You are welcome!”

Her response: “I’m not welcome, I’m Eliza!”

After I stopped laughing, I had to reverse the roles to get her to see that it was funny, but once she did, she’s been telling it to everyone.

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Originally uploaded by griffey

Jason celebrated his birthday, and Eliza was happy to provide cupcakes, party hats, balloons, and singing. There’s nothing she loves more than a birthday party.

Next is Easter, and she’s excited about the Easter Bunny, although she seems convinced that the Easter Bunny and Santa Claus are the same. After all, they both bring presents, right? She said, “You can’t see the Easter Bunny, mommy, because he dresses up like Santa Claus.” Hmmm…she has a complex little mind, that’s for sure.

Eliza has become quite the story teller, after having so many books read to her. She already has a great sense of how to put a story together, although she loses her train of thought sometimes. It’s interesting what comes out in these “tales.” In this one, she admits she got frustrated (“very good frustrated”) when her cousin wanted to watch something besides Elmo during her recent visit to Nana’s.

Thanks to daddy for the awesome subtitles.

Oh, and the strange references to the North Wind come from a book she has about Rolie Polie Olie.