We actually left the house today, ran several errands (ok only two) and got to see and play with some friends!
It was a good day.
I have mentioned recently that I have noticed the tiny beginnings of obsessiveness in Ellie Faith. Well, she is also quite the little observer.
Earlier this summer, we went to a new play ground. She wasn't familiar with the location of slides, stairs, etc... She kept going up only the first few steps of the sets of stairs, then back down again. She couldn't quite figure out how to get up to where she wanted to go. I tried to show her, but she wasn't comprehending. Finally, two elementary school aged brothers came to the playground and ran all over the place like they owned it. Ellie hung back and watched their every move for a bit. All of a sudden, she was off! Trying to keep up with them, following their paths, and mimicking their every move. Thankfully, the boys were super sweet, and didn't seen to mind.
A few weeks ago, she came walking into the living room with an empty milk jug she had retrieved from the trash, acting like she was drinking out of it. When I asked her what on earth she was doing, she very matter of factly stated,"Pop do."
Pop would be my dad. And yes, he and my brothers have a horrible habit of drinking straight out of jugs of beverages. Apparently Ellie witnessed Pop doing this more the a few times while she stayed with my parents after Quinn's birth.
She knows how to use every piece of her little doctors kit correctly for a physical exam of any nearby willing subject. This comes from her slight obsession with watching Doc McStuffins.
When she was barely a year old and hardly saying anything, Jared said crap in front of her. As clear as day she repeated ,"ap," and giggled. We quickly realized a slight vocabulary change on our part was probably needed.;)
I am constantly being more then a little freaked out by what Ellie Faith picks up of my habits and mannerism. Scary would be an understatement. She doesn't miss a thing, down to the tiniest of details.
The other day as we were running out the door to go grocery shopping, she ran into the bathroom and came out with one of my rubber bands on her wrist. I always have a rubber band on my wrist!
One day I turned around to find that Ellie had found an eye shadow brush and was doing this:
She blows air out of her mouth now whenever she sees me doing my make up, as I also blow off the excess powder, bronzer, blush, etc...
And those are just a few examples ...
Today, we met some friends at a local Chick Fil A that has an outdoor play facility. While most kids can barely eat for their excitement to get up and play, my daughter is way more entertained my dippies - any kind of dipping sauce. She just sat there, swinging her legs in her highchair, dipping away.
Once there was nothing left to dip, she got down but just hung out near me, not clinging or wanting my attention, just near by.
The play area was pretty crowded and she was one of the youngest kids there. She didn't act scared, more disinterested then anything.
Finally, she started making her way closer to the others ... Just watching. Observing.
I eventually took her hand and walked her over to the play stairs where one of her older friends was playing to see if that would help encourage Ellie to go on up.
Nope, after several emphatic head shaking no's, it was clear she was not going up.
I had a moment where, as she walked away from her friends to rock her "bebe" sister in the car seat, I wanted to force Ellie to just try.
My heart hurt for her a little bit. She wasn't scared of the environment. I wondered if she was worried she couldn't do it right. Something she definitely could have learned from me, unfortunately.
But I didn't. I let her call the shots this time. I am sure there will be times in the future where we will need to encourage her with a little bit of force to do and try new things. I am not sure this needed to be that type of time.
Wouldn't you know as the last of her friends left, and I was packing our stuff up, I turn around and see this.
I was so proud!
And as luck would have it, she then refused to leave and displayed a mini fit on our way out. I swear that is not something she learned from me!
So next time, I guess we will just get to CFA 2 hours before the scheduled time to give her time to warm up.:)
I am going to need a lot of wisdom in the coming years to know when to just let her sit back and observe life, and when to help her get out and live life!
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