colors

elenora is learning her colors. she's really good at accurately naming most of them: pink, blue, yellow, red, green, orange, and purple.

we've been really trying to get out more lately. last week we went to m.'s house to visit baby nathan ("nay-nay") and then on another afternoon we went to e.'s house to play with penelope. this week we went to j. and h.'s place on monday, k. came over on wednesday specifically to play with ella, and yesterday we went to frannie's for a play date. it's been so fun watching elenora interact with other children in their various homes. she always finds new things to be interested in. baby nathan had lots of toys (some that were hand-me-downs from ella that she recognized), and penelope had a large stuffed animal lamb that elenora kept snuggling ("mammie! mammie!"). j. and h. had seashells to play with and a basketball and net, and frannie has a cat ("hoo-hoo" for huey) and she danced elenora around her apartment.

i can't keep up with all of elenora's new words. she pretty much just says everything!

her new favorite books include corduroy ("co-co"), "ten little fingers and ten little toes" ("babies!"), curious george, how groundhog's garden grew, king bidgood's in the bathtub, a child's calendar by john updike (gorgeous poems!), jan brett books, and more. she continues to point out letters and say their names (lately Q has been added to the list).

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naptimes are strange. most of the time she doesn't really sleep during her morning nap time, but some of the times she does. i think we just need to switch to one nap a day, but i don't know if we (j. and i) are ready for that, since we get stuff done while she takes those two naps. this adjustment will have to happen soon, though.

ella is a bit more picky about her meals lately. she still loves steamed veggies and yogurt and muffins and fruit and other healthy foods. but actual meals are sometimes rejected with a turn of the head and a fussy face. she's not a fan of "new-nuls" (noodles), and even my grammy's mac and cheese recipe got rejected! it's tough to know what to do about that at this age. i don't want her to not eat, and i don't want her to be a picky eater, but neither do i want to have fights over food or make food an issue or force her to eat things that she genuinely doesn't want. she is a good eater in general and does eat enough, so i don't worry about her nutrition. i try tricks like saying "do you want to try this on your tongue?" and then she sometimes likes to see what that is like. and sometimes i will stick a piece of something she's rejecting behind a piece of something she likes on a fork and sneak it into her mouth. when she all-out rejects something i'm just sort of balancing the pole of trying to push her gently into eating more, and also just knowing when to say "okay, you're all done." (i refuse to go grab other things...treats, crackers, etc...to take the place of the thing i'm trying to push.)

any advice from other moms?

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j. and i are doing well. j.'s work is fantastic. he's still home a good deal of the time but also teaches violin at two private schools, is in a basketball league, plays with the salem philharmonic orchestra, has a private practice client, and is adjusted to his schedule with his main counseling job. he just started a boys' group with another therapist that keeps him out late on fridays doing things like batting cages and laser quest. i think he's really happy lately, and that feels good.

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i also feel like i'm in a good place. i'm reading a ton and doing pilates and getting to the gym. taking elenora to her friends' houses has also allowed me to spend more time socializing with my friends. today is slightly warm(ish) outside and i spent the morning watching icicles melt and listening to birds chirping. there's that promise of spring coming...

i'm reading doctor zhivago. i'm only a little ways into it, but the writing is lovely and deep and i can tell it is setting me up for a good story.

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things at work are going better, too. i talked with my former supervisor and he took action to open up the communication between the other supervisors and team leaders. i'm hoping things get better.

tonight i'm going to k.'s to meet her new cat, fred, and eat yummy mexican food and socialize with a bunch of random people i've never met.

phew. i knew i needed to catch this blog up!