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.

Another Ethan first: He took his sister on a wagon ride.

Eliana, always the cautious one, requested the car seat.

An Eliana first: She traversed a chasm.

Eliana is an undaunted (and fortunately, equally careful) climber. The six-foot height of the stepping towers at our local park means nothing to her – after all, her brother goes across them. Now, she does, too.

An E&E first: They took on the bouncy slides together.

This Irish Fest found me spending more time with the children at the bouncy play area than listening to music. Ethan loved the bouncy slides the best and went through with a passion. The slides were too big for Eliana to take on by herself, so I went with her. She liked them as well, but at her typical cautious pace.

The system worked well until I started feeling not so well – to the point were I didn’t want to climb through the slides any longer. Since Beth was enjoying the real Irish Fest with a friend, I asked Ethan to take Eliana through. This was a big step for both of them – for Ethan, patiently and carefully leading his sister, and for Eliana, not having an adult in the supporting role. Both children performed admirably, making it easy to spot the not-so-hidden blessing in my illness.

Another Ethan first: He broke the spelling code.

Beth to Grandma: “Do you want to take Ethan to the S-A-N-D…”

Ethan interrupted: “That spells sand dunes.”

What are you doing?

Eliana is quickly learning many new words. She asks lots of questions, but she never asks what something is. Instead, her favorite question is, “What are you doing?” She asks even when she already knows the answer, for example, if I’m pouring a glass of milk. This leads me to believe that she’s asking primarily to hear the answer. She instinctively wants to hear the words that describe the action.

Another Ethan first: He played by ear.

Ethan is learning violin using the Suzuki method, which employs simple songs like “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star”. One song that isn’t used is “Hot Cross Buns”, but Beth plays that for fun with the kids when giving them a taste of playing piano. Today, Ethan decided to play “Hot Cross Buns” on the violin.