An Eliana first: She straddled a comfy chair.

An Eliana first: She pulled her weight.

After several hours of playing at the beach, Eliana was still more than willing to help haul the beach supplies back to the minivan.

King of goof

An Eliana first: She rode a tricycle.

An Eliana first: She made a tree talk.

Ethan has known the Talking Tree in the meadow behind our house for a long time. He has knotholes perfectly placed for eyes on either side of a gap in the bark for his nose. A curved stick serves as his mouth. He and Ethan have talked for years – about the river, its creature and ice floats, the Scary Forest, what walking around feels like, and much more.

The Talking Tree is newer to Eliana, but she has discovered his secret: he talks because Daddy holds the curved stick and moves it as he talks for the tree. She also realized that it doesn’t have to be Daddy. She can make the tree talk, too, and she can make him happy or sad depending on how she holds the stick.

I don’t know why the tree was sad today; I was as happy has can be being part of Eliana’s creativity.