this one is for the grandparents

Eleanor, putting down the scissors:  Is this a hexagon?
Mayma:  Yes.  It is a hexagon.  Look, six sides. [editor's note: additional sides were added later]
Eleanor:  But I want six points.
Mayma:  Here are the six points.
Mimi:  Know what those are called?  Vertices.  That point is a vertex.
Eleanor: WHOA.

"These are electricities coming out of those pipes.  Don't touch them or they will burn you, really burn you indeed.  I'm certain they will.  Don't touch them, or you will cry.  These are electricities too and they are like a metal stove.  Like a sword.  Don't touch them."





And this, during quiet time alone:

This is the first time she's written her name without any help at all.  She called Emily up to her room asking "how do you spell 'from'?"  It's for Essie.

This is Essie. 
You can tell it's her birthday because of the crayons presents and the crown.

I did it myself.

With washable red markers.

balancing board

First snowfall.  Time to put away the swings.
Should the balancing board stay out for the winter?

I am super proud of this contraption, which I modeled after something I saw in a physical therapist's office.  And Eleanor has been consistently interested in it for at least 6 months now.  Yay for Mayma (says Mayma)!

October hike

"Come!"

Halloween (costume by Mimi)

About a month before Halloween Eleanor announced that she'd be dressing as a snowman.  We did our best to disentangle the cold-weather holidays for her, but by that point she was already really excited about the idea.

She got three opportunities to wear the snowman costume: a big crazy birthday party with a million kids and a magician, a preschool trick-or-treating excursion to Hospicare, and then Halloween itself.  She declined a fourth opportunity at Spanish class the next day.  (Enough already.)  And yes, she got a new carrot each time.

There isn't any trick-or-treating on our street.  This was disappointing to us at first, but I have to concede that it probably isn't smart to encourage kids who can't quite see through their masks to shuffle along the gravel shoulder of the road along the tree line where they aren't quite visible to  motorists going 45 mph.  Maybe we could get a 1/2-mile length of rope and string a path from door to door along the middle of each family's yard, avoiding traffic altogether?  Well, this year we followed along with all the other families in our neighborhood and brought Eleanor downtown.  There was a quick prearranged stop at a friend's house where we did a cool apple-carving craft.  Then we chose a familiar block in Fall Creek and joined the crowd. 

It was a hit, of course.  Eleanor started out shy but by the third or fourth house she hit her stride.  She developed a sort of "ta-daaaaah!" choreography, throwing both arms up in the air to show off herself-in-costume at the moment she ascended the porch steps.  But instead of "ta-daaaaah" it was a melodious "trick or treat!"  Very Shirley Temple.

It worked.  They gave her candy.  She said thank you.

silly faces

"Take my picture, okay?  Can I see it?"