Elimena

Boatloads of imagination

2010-02-16T09:21:00.002+11:00

Over the last few months I've really started to enjoy imaginary games. My particular favourites are:

Boats - You imagine that there are crocodiles on the floor of the house and have to get the whole family on a boat. This is normally one of the couches, but can be a more elaborate vessel as per the photo below. The main rallying technique is to call out "Crocodile biting you! C'mon Mummy! C'mon Daddy! Foot on couch! Crocodile!".
Snap Snap - You run around the house doing big vertical claps like a crocodile calling out "Snap! Snap!". Lachlan also particularly enjoys playing this game at the dinner table with all four of us snapping simultaneously.
Ice Cream Shop - You setup an ice cream shop on the couch with customers walking up at one end. Money changes hands and then elaborate ice creams of different colours are requested with optional sprinkles and stars.

33 months and full of fun

2010-02-09T01:00:00.002+11:00

* My Dora watching attention-span has extended into kids movies (and probably has for almost six months now). I can watch a whole kids movie. I love TV so much I will watch pretty much anything...including test cricket.
* Mum is always amazed at my patience and gentleness with Lachie. I am a good sister. Even though he is often crash tackling me and pulling my hair.
* Mum has bought me some special hair shampoo that makes my hair look beautiful.
* I love painting my toe and finger nails. For the last few weeks they have been blue - my favourite colour.
* I love meat, yoghurt & fresh savoury rolls (like cheese&bacon, tomato&cheese or olive&cheese). * I love my afternoon sleep.
* At play-care when I am inside, I like to play babies and build towers with Sophie. Then when we go outside I like to run and jump and skip and throw balls and ride bicycles and play in sand pit and do lots of fun stuff with Tom and Daniel.
* I have beautiful manners most of the time.
* If you remind me when I forget, I will use my happy voice to ask for things......

8:30am on Sundays is for....

2010-02-04T14:17:00.002+11:00

...swimming lessons!!!! Isn't it? Well that's what we do...

I am doing really well in my swimming class. We go to Lane Cove Aquatic Centre where they have a purpose built arm-pit height pool.

We do lots of big kid skills - like kicking, paddling and back floating.
We also play lots of fun games like ring-a-ring-a-rosie, finding the toys that sink to the bottom of the pool and chasing after the toys that float on top of the water.

I also get to wear really cool goggles. Its so much fun!

Wiggles Concert

2010-01-23T01:00:00.001+11:00

As one of our adventure Fridays, in December mum and I went to a Wiggles concert.

Unfortunately it turned out their was a bus strike the day of the concert, which threw a little spanner in the works.....but once we got there, it was COOL!

It has all the elements of a GREAT concert:

We had perfect seats - first level up - two rows back (with no-one sitting n front of us!). We were at eye level with the stage.
There were bright lights, loud music and screaming fans everywhere.
The Wiggles sang and danced and performed their rockin' songs with the energy of a toddler.
There was a mosh pit of big kids (5+ year olds) at the front. Actually I think there were a few mums in there too?
They turned the lights off at one point and everyone started swaying their glow sticks / mobiles in the air to the tune of Twinkle Twinkle Little Star.

Mum & I shared a massive tub of popcorn. Our eyes were definitely bigger than our stomachs as the spill to eat ratio was 10 to one.

All in all it was an hour and a half of non-stop fun! Although it took me a little while to warm up to the scene (I was a little overwhelmed at first), I had an absolute ball.

To top it off mum bought me a Dorothy-the-Dinosaur tail (and Lachie a plush guitar) on the way out.

What an amazing adventure!

Adventure Fridays

2010-01-15T21:09:00.004+11:00

As part of the preparation for mum's to return to work, Lachie went to PlayCare one day a week in the lead up to Chrissy. This was fantastic because it meant mum and I could have a fun-filled one-on-one day every week.
We made the most of the opportunity and did some really cool stuff. We went to the zoo twice, to Homebush Acquatic Centre (and played in the water park), to the movies, to see Santa in the city, to a Wiggles concert, we got a pedicure...loads of things! It was busy-busy-busy fun-fun-fun!
Photos to come, but we had a great time :)

Eli-bear @ 32 months

2010-01-09T01:00:00.003+11:00

* I often refer to myself in the third person and usually as Elimena and not Eli.
* I am into pretend play. At the moment I particularly like making meals for you in the oven Grandpa made me.
* I am cuddly and snuggly and love having books read to me.
* At PlayCare I love the bikes and the sandpit. I have almost smuggled an entire sandpit home in my shoes!
* I am into beads, high-heels and hand-bags.
* I love BBQ chicken, meat of any kind really and fruit.
* I still have one good sleep a day and a big big one at night (12 hours).
...and when I'm not sleeping - I am busy, busy, busy.....

Haircut with Mum

2009-12-30T19:44:00.002+11:00

Haircuts are a lot more fun when you get them done with Mum!

I Wish That I Had Duck Feet!

2009-12-25T20:41:00.006+11:00

The Christmas surprises this year had a distinct Dr Suess theme! (Purely by chance since they are always developed in strict family secrecy...)

Since getting it from Santa, I've been addicted to I Wish That I Had Duck Feet. So, Dad decided to see what it would be like if we did have duck feet, horns, a whale spout, a long tail and an elephant nose!

One things for sure ... it's a lot of fun to try!

A long, long tail is also great, but as predicted in the book, you can get tied up with it...

For the next few days the duck feet got a lot of action around the house - including baths and flying with Uncle Jus.

Gingerbread house

2009-12-18T19:49:00.002+11:00

The other night we went to Harvey & Griet's house for a Christmas party with all the kids from mother's group.

It was amazing! They had a jumping castle setup in the living room and we were allowed to actually dive in, pull apart and eat a gingerbread house!

This photo has Harvey, Elimena, Anna, Griet, Luca (back to us). At the back is Xana and Jamie. Meanwhile Mum and Lachie seemed more interested in his dummy...

Elimena-isms @ how many months?

2009-12-09T23:08:00.007+11:00

I have a few sayings that are uniquely mine that make me totally endearing, or so they tell me...

When I like something I say "Elimena big cuddle Christmas tree!". I mean that I like big Chrissy trees :)

Not everyone is at PlayCare all five days. Like me I'm only there three. The people are different on different days of the week. So if someone is not there I describe them as being "sick" even though it may be a day they are not enrolled. If they are there they are "very happy".

My favourite sayings at the moment are:
Oh man! (thank you Swiper off Dora)
Ooopsy-daisy!
Ooooh big one!
Uh Oh!
That's silly! or That's funny! (followed by a big mischievous chuckle :)
and mum's favourite: Awwwwww! That's nice :)

I have invented my own alphabet. It's kind of like the original but much better: ABCDEFGHIJKElimenaPQRSTUVWXYZ. Works well huh?

The Gang

2009-12-06T20:31:00.000+11:00

From left to right: Dolly, Socks, Baby, Doh-Doh and Pilla.

Summer days

2009-12-02T08:47:00.001+11:00

Hot summer days in Sydney are best spent lazing around in the pool with the girls!

Note from Dad: Although the Dad's don't look like they are working hard, it was a little oppressive in 42C heat and everyone else was inside enjoying the air conditioning.

A typical morning

2009-12-01T21:32:00.003+11:00

This is a typical morning in our new apartment at the start of summer in 2009/10 ... Lots of sun. Lachie sitting up with his dummy and toys. Dora in the background. Elimena carrying baby around and making lots of noise with things like her flute. Lachlan grabbing hair and laughing as Elimena gently teaches him how to play. Intricate line of cards on the floor as Eli does some organising.

(Behind the camera is Dad - Enjoying an unplanned moment that just had to be videoed and basking in the joy of two beautiful children!)

My favourite things!

2009-11-17T19:49:00.001+11:00

My three favourite things around the house at the moment are: Baby, Mum's high heels and Wiggles Band-aids.

@ 30 months

2009-11-09T01:00:00.002+11:00

* I don't need my daytime sleep all the time mum...
* I can be quite mischieveous and am back to checking boudaries.
* I am loving my big girl swimming classes (i.e. no parents in the water - just cool kids).
* I love milkshakes, chicken nuggets, raisin toast and rock melon.
* I love playing with baby dolls. I like to feed them from my belly button! That's right isn't it?
* I love walking around the house in my high heels pushing baby in the stroller.
* At PlayCare I love the sandpit, riding bikes and throwing my hat in the tree.
* I can spell Elimena - "E-L-I-muble-mumble-A"!

The Twin Towers

2009-11-02T20:26:00.000+11:00

Trains, Ferrys and Buses ... Oh my!

2009-10-20T19:58:00.000+11:00

To celebrate Grandma's birthday, we decided to do a big day out. We'd catch the train to the city, the ferry to Manly for lunch and then a bus back home.

First we needed a map so we would know where to go. We got the train to Wynyard.

Then we waited for the ferry and played at Circular Quay for a while... Lots of running and balancing with my cousins!

The ferry to Manly was really cool, we spent lots of time out the back enjoying the sunshine and looking at the other boats.

After lunch and presents at Manly, everyone was really tired so we sat quietly on the bus home...

My baby!

2009-10-15T19:39:00.000+11:00

Mum and Dad have Lachlan to look after and play with, so I've been spending a lot of time with my own baby. His name is "Baby". He goes with me just about everywhere and is a really good driver (just ask Dad!).

@ 29 months

2009-10-09T01:00:00.000+11:00

* I love wandering around the house in my heels...and and and I just love shoes & handbags.
* I like showing Lachie how to roll and giving him lots of kisses.
* I can do a "double thumbs up".
* I still respect the naughty corner.
* I still love my afternoon sleep and love having books read to me.
* I have my own more-interesting version of the alphabet.
* I love helping out.
* I love swimming. Mum was wandering if perhaps I was a fish in a past life?
* I love running, running, running :)

The Elimena Spring 2009 collection

2009-10-01T11:11:00.005+10:00

Let's start the show with a beautiful, multi-colour skirt from Nanny. Flowing and long, it's perfect for spring days and spinning around!

Next up, we have the Dora shirt. Great for everyday wear (and I mean every single day if it was clean & available), it's pink, fun and great for summer days.

When Dora is unavailable, the Moose shirt is a must wear. Fun, quirky and relaxed, this shirt comes direct from Canada via Grandma & Grandpa.

Finally, my triumphant return to dress wearing. On this morning I pointed at the dress in the cupboard and then carefully selected this matching sweater. Dad was blown away, but not surprised, by both my clever choosing and my beauty!

Big Sister Cuddles with Lachlan

2009-09-26T11:20:00.003+10:00

Being a great big sister involves many tasks. It's fun doing fashion co-ordination, it's great going on trips and I make sure to teach life lessons (Mum & Dad are too protective of you Lachlan!). Dora taught me a lot of these things, watching "Big Sister Dora" many times in the lead up to Lachie's arrival.

One thing you don't need to learn though is just how fantastic it is to share beautiful cuddles with your little brother!

Fit for a king

2009-09-15T21:22:00.004+10:00

It's lucky that I have a king single sized bed. Or otherwise my 5 sleep friends - Doh-Doh, Sox, Pilla, Baby and Dolly - wouldn't all fit! It's a good thing I moved out of the cot - as there was only room for Doh-Doh and Sox in there.

Also, having a king sized bed means that I can sleep cross-wise rather than along the bed. It also means there is plenty of room for mum and dad to read me stories :)

Little Fairies

2009-09-01T01:00:00.002+10:00

Grandma made my cousins Emma, Juliette and I fairy dresses. How pretty are they?

Are you sure?

2009-08-20T01:00:00.002+10:00

Mum,
Are you sure this is just for babies? See it fits me really well?
LOVE Eli xx

Birthday burgers

2009-08-09T13:13:00.002+10:00

Dad and Grandpa love burgers. In fact, they love the same foods so much they've decided to start combining their birthday events to ensure they get first choice over location (no matter what the rest of us think!).

This year, we all went to The Counter Burger in Crows Nest.

As you can see, we weren't too disappointed with this location. Although Lachlan was disappointed he had to share in Mum's burger salad ... he wanted some of Dad's instead!

To prepare myself for the big meal, Grandpa and I did some cool walking near the fountain...

It was before my time, but apparently none of this compares to the 15lb burger!