Some Things I Forgot

I always do this. I have things rolling around in my head all month that I want to write in my All About Eleanor post, but when it comes time to write it, I draw a blank. Then, as soon as it's published, I start to remember everything I forgot to include. I'd go back and edit it to add those things, but since I posted video, I don't want to mess with it. Any time I edit a post in which I posted video, I have to re-do the html code or else the videos won't work. Does anyone else have this problem with Photobucket? Anyways, instead of writing down the things I forgot for next month like I sometimes do, I'm going to post it now.

Eleanor decided this month that she likes showers. When I take a shower, she plays on her own for a bit, and it isn't long before she's right outside my shower door, stripping her clothes off. I'm usually about ready to get out by then, so I wash her hair and then leave her to enjoy it on her own. We have one of those shower heads you can also use as a hand-held sprayer, and she likes to hold it herself on the "waterfall" setting.

She loves to wrestle, especially with her daddy. Her elbows and knees are still a little too sharp for me to stand wrestling with her for very long. Sometimes, as a treat, Grant will wrestle with her for a while before reading bedtime stories. She loves every minute of it. She's actually quite a tough little girl. She can take a hit that would normally make her wail any other time of day, but since she's having so much fun with Daddy and doesn't want it to stop, she shakes it off, saying, "I'm okay."

In the car, Eleanor is our official eye-checker for Phaedra. When I think Phae might be asleep, I ask Eleanor to look and tell me if her eyes are open or shut. As long as Eleanor isn't too cranky, she's happy to help me out by letting me know Phaedra's status.

When we got rid of the binky in the car (it has only been allowed in her bed for quite a while, and we're hoping to have it go away completely this month), Eleanor formed a new habit: gum chewing. I always have gum in the car because I don't really chew it unless I'm out and about. It's sugarless gum, so it's not bad for Eleanor, but she was starting to go through it way too fast, asking for some gum and wanting to spit it out a few minutes later, then asking for gum again the very next time we got into the car. So, I've been making an effort to get her to cut back. The other day, we were in the car, and she had already had gum once on our outing. Grant and I were refusing to give it to her again. She tried asking nicely over and over, and when she realized that wasn't working, she raised her voice to say, "I want some gum right NOW!" Grant and I just looked at each other shocked that she had that much attitude in her. In all honesty, though, it's my fault. After repeating myself time and time again, asking Eleanor to accomplish some task for me (such as getting dressed or picking up her toys) and becoming impatient with having to repeat myself so many times, I have told her to do something "right NOW," before. So she got it from me. I guess I need to speak with more respect, even when I'm impatient, or she'll think she can talk to us the same way.

She never really went through a "why" phase. She skipped right over that and asks "What's ____ for?" or "What does ____ mean?" I don't mind it. I like helping her learn . . . except that she often fills in those blanks with very obvious things, such as sandwich or funny. There are only so many times I can answer questions I know she already knows the answer to without getting tired of it. I usually ask her what she thinks it means. When she asks, "What are people for?" I tell her they're for trying to be like Jesus. Score one for Mommy!