Eva lately

We've been getting a little bit of the cabin fever blues around the house, but that hasn't slowed Eva down from playing hard, growing big, and learning so much every day. She loves to take pictures, even with her disposable camera she got in her Christmas stocking, which has been out of pictures for a month. She also loves to color, especially cards for people. Around Valentine's Day, she was making her Daddy a card after school every day to hand to him when he came in the door. She very carefully selected the words I needed to write on them and would then systematically pulverize the thing with color until you couldn't read much of anything any longer.

She loves to sing, especially with her princess castle Santa Claus brought her and her ABCs. Dora taught her to count to 10 in Spanish, so she likes her toys to do things in groups of 10s so she can count along. Mostly lately she has become an iPad junky. I would be more opposed to it  if I wasn't seeing how much she is learning from it every day. She knows all her letters, she can count to 20, she can identify letter sounds, piece together puzzles, match cards in a memory game, find numbers in order to complete dot to dots, and follow drawing directions all because of her iPad apps. She loves the Leap Pad Grandma and Papa Kershaw bought her as well -- her favorite game involves feeding, walking, and bathing a puppy, which she thinks is just beyond awesome.

I pretty.

This is what Eva said to herself over and over after she sat still enough for me to paint her finger and toenails one snowy afternoon. She chose bright pink.

Sibling Play Time

Eva invited Izzy to play Toy Story with her. Izzy committed the faux pas of chewing on Bullseye's face rather than playing along. Still, Eva was glad to have a partner in crime. :)

Smiles this week

Some smiles from this week:

Gizmo was on the top of the fridge. Eva found this unacceptable. She marched into the kitchen, wagged her finger at the cat, and said with her most stern voice, "Gizmo Ann Kershaw, get down right now!"

The cat wasn't impressed.

Tonight she tried a new tactic. She got a can of raisins, pulled one out and said in a syrupy voice, "Come on kitty. Try it. You'll like it!"

She did not come for the raisin.

Also, Izzy found her feet. And her love for crinkly toys. And her drool box.

a bathtime heart to heart

Me: Hey, what's your name?
E: Evalee Kershaw!
Me: How old are you?
E: TWO!
Me: Right! Can you show me two fingers?
<she does>
Me: How old are you going to be on your next birthday?
E: THREE!
Me: And when is your birthday?
<Silence>
Me: April....
E: EIGHT!
Me: Can you show me three -
E: My butt is in the water. And I have toes.

Eva lately

Evalee has been growing up so much lately. She is talking more and more, and she now loves to tell you stories and narrate her developing stories as she plays with her figurines, dolls, animals, and Barbies. I love to sit and listen to the conversations she has her toys have. She is having a little separation anxiety at the moment, and now won't go to sleep without someone laying next to her. I know this is normal for a lot of kids, but it's just frustrating when she was falling asleep all on her own for months with no problem. She has also been waking up at least once in the night to come into our room and bring Daddy back with her to lay with her. We figure it's better than her sleeping in our bed, but it's still mighty exhausting. She has also managed to slip in bed next to me twice now without waking us. It's quite the shock to wake up to feed Izzy and find a little face sleeping next to yours!

She is also becoming more of a drama queen when she doesn't get what she wants. I think around 50 times a day she crosses her arms in front of her chest and says with a sigh, " I SAD!" Learning that you don't always get your way is a tough pill to swallow.

Her memorization skills and motor skills are also getting impressive, at least to me. During the Christmas season, she listened to the grinch book every day, and after a couple of weeks she could finish just about any line of the book you started for her. She knows lots of songs and likes to sing them to herself in the back of the car when we are heading places. Just recently, she started working in a dry erase book I found. We practice finding objects on the page and counting how many there are as we draw circles around them.

I feel so lucky that I've been able to spend all these weeks at  home watching her baby sister develop, and I didn't anticipate how much I'd see my little Eva grow up too. I'm going to be so sad to give up this time at the end of the month. But then again, summer is just a short 14 weeks of school away...

Growing Girl Loves to Chew

Izzy is growing big, and she's starting to enjoy discovering her toys. So far, she loves to chew on a little chewy bear she got for Christmas and to shake away with her rattle. It's so fun to see her reaction when she figures things out! Eva has taken this opportunity to step up her game as big sister, and enjoys bringing Izzy toy after toy to play with, even if she's not interested in playing at the moment. :) She is also doing a great job holding her head up, and doesn't even seem to mind tummy time. So far. :)