The Eliza Moment:

Ah, the out-of-body experience it must be to be three. Eliza is so small, and has so much personality, I have no idea how she fits it all in there. Right now, she's wandering around the house, singing snatches of songs from "Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dream Coat". For some reason, it really resonates with her. When she's not singing that, she's dancing and singing to "My Turn On Earth" (no, we're not complete musical junkies, but those seem to be the movies that resonate with her).



This morning, we went out to the Family Co-Op garden to dig sweet potatoes. As we turned onto the gravel road that takes us to the farm, we went down a short-but-steep hill. Eliza, who's car seat is positioned so that she can look out the windshield, put up her arms and shouted "WHEEEEEEeeeeeee!!!!" all the way down, as if our van was really her own personal roller coaster. Oh, the joie de vie.



A few days back, Eliza was sitting on the steps to the basement, watching me switch out the laundry. She must have been in a particularly introspective mood, because she asked me, "Mommy, why do Grandma and Grandpa Mason live all alone?"
"Well, because all their children grew up and moved out."
"But why are they all alone?"
"Because their children are grown-ups now, and have their own homes."
"Mommy, when all of your children are all grown up and moved out, I will stay with you. I don't want you to be all alone."
! ! ! Where does that girl get these things? What kind of three-year-old is thinking about lonely people? Then she went on to ask about my mom:
"Mommy, does Nana live all alone?"
"No, she still has Uncle Wilson living with her."
"Can I talk to her?"
So, I dialed my mom's work number, and explained the circumstances to her, then handed the phone to Eliza. Well, Eliza and her Nana proceeded to chat for next ten minutes (an unprecedented feat for my girl, who is so ornery, she refuses to talk to people in person, let along on the phone...proof once again that she can do anything, as long as it's her idea.) about Halloween costumes and the squirrels in our yard and all sorts of Nana-granddaughter things. Then, Eliza saw her neighbor friend out in the yard, and was half way over there to play before she remembered she had the phone to her ear. She came breathlessly back to me, said "bye!" to Nana, and passed off the phone, yelling a request for permission to play over her shoulder as she ran off. What a girl.

Here she is dancing in Aunt Sarah Sue's dance recital costume...it was the highlight for her of the family camp-out, second only to the s'mores. :o)