A Post About Elizabeth

Here's the deal: I have given Elizabeth a baaaaaaad wrap over the last year.  She was a mild mild baby.  She slept a LOT, she went with the flow.  She loved her mama, but didn't ruffle feathers as long as she was with me.  You can get a recap of her infancy here and here and here and here.  As time went on, Elizabeth became fun... she had spunk and could hold her own with her brothers, but she still stayed mild mannered.  Others around me had kids throwing tantrums and Elizabeth skated by as an early toddler and a 2 year old as a pretty content and obedient little thing.   Her sass and spunk was always there, but she was a mild.

Well...

THEN...

I dared to take her "baby of the family" title away from her.  ::insert all Hell breaking loose::

Kidding, it wasn't that bad.  The timing was "right" and at 2.5 years old and a baby sister entering the picture, Eliz became the Elizabeth that I have spoke/complained/joked about.  She got fiery and sassy and smart mouthed.  I have to give her that time though... it wouldn't be normal for her to be mellow through all of her toddlerhood, but for the last year we have dealt with att-i-tude!!!

Lately, I have been getting glimpses of the core Elizabeth coming back.  YAY!

Tonight I told the kids that whoever helped clean would get books read to them at bedtime.  The boys chose to chase each other and be loud and wrestle and whip blankets at each other.  Elizabeth, however, took her job very seriously.  She put away 90% of the debris that was strewn throughout the first floor.  I even took Josh up to bath and kept calling for her and her response was "I not finished yet.  I be up in a minute."  This was even after I told her that she didn't have to do it all. What a good girl.

The kicker?  She even put things away in the proper bins.  I have a lot of bins.  Lots of bins for many different toys and objects.  So needless to say, Elizabeth got books tonight!! She's slowly showing maturity and that mellow aspect that I saw in her as a baby.  

And if I can be completely honest, as "easy" as she is, I am thrilled to see this side of her coming out because the two of us have not seen eye to eye over this past year.  She gets this sassy tone that just makes me want to flick her in middle of her sassy little face.  Other times when she melts into a pitiful puddle of dramatic crocodile tears and I can't help but roll my eyes.  There is her attitude too, which ehem I may have too, and I think at times we are too similar and she rubs me the wrong way... BUT but but but, these little glimpses of my past Elizabeth returning are wonderful.  :)   Selfishly too, it might make me a tad happy that she's already good at chores.  She seems to have a natural ability around the house, which kinda rocks.  I won't push her, but I will praise her and let her help when she wants.  It kinda reminds me of this graphic, which I happen to really like, especially in this day and age:

If you want children to keep their feet on the ground, put some responsibility on their shoulders. (Abigail Van Buren)

Next, it wouldn't be complete without Elizabeth's newest fine motor achievement in her life as my resident "picker."  See this picture below?  It's a unicorn pillow pet.  She got it for Christmas.  It's so cozy and pretty cute, and I'm not a stuffed animal girl.  See the hole in it's hiney region?

She pulled off his tail and is slowly picking out all his stuffing.  She stores the picked-struffing under her pillow.  This child.  She's an odd duck.  I don't know why she feels the need to pick things apart, but it's hers so, whatever.  I'll eventually get annoyed at the fuzzies around her room and will fix/toss the unicorn, but for now... I will let her pick.  I need to find a career where fine motor skill is an asset... this chick's got it! 

Lastly, in relation to Elizabeth, all my kids have blankies from infancy that they use to sleep.  I purposely set them up with a blankie because they attach to that as an outward source of security.  They don't always need ME! Win win win.  It's a staple here.  Well, Elizabeth has LOVED hers.  She had loved hers to pieces, quite literally.

Exhibit A: Blankie after 3.5 years.  Poor poor blankie!

So I took my new crochetting skills and made her a new one, attaching the old one to it.  I'm hoping that the old being attached to the new should supply some stability and get a bit more life out of the old one.  Here's how it turned out: 

Attached side:

And the back:

I don't know that I've ever done such an Elizabeth-heavy post.  Hm.  She's a good peanut... unique and packed full of personality like the rest of them.  She wouldn't be one of my kids if she wasn't! :)