Big(ger) Girls

Elise is getting to be such a big girl these days. The daycare director told me this week that she thought Elise was really blossoming lately. As cheesy as that sounds I do agree. From the way she talks to the way she interacts with others, she is certainly coming into her own. More and more, she is having thoughts and opinions on things, and is developing a strong sense of self and tons of self confidence.

She has always been a little reluctant to truly be herself around people - adults or kids - who she doesn't really know. She is more reserved - more of an observer than a participant - in crowds and when she is not in her comfort zone. However, I think that the combination of her age and the out-going nature of her brother is having a big affect on her. Lucas is not too shy to say hi (or anything else) to anyone. In fact, he talks to any and every one and because of it, gets lots of attention. I think Elise was beginning to see how at ease Lucas is around others and started sort of wanting that for herself too. And she may have been starting to get a little jealous about all that attention. Whatever the reason, Elise has been much more friendly, less reserved and more herself around strangers and people she doesn't know very well. This is making her more confident, which makes her seem older to me.

Something else that is making her seem like a big girl is her love for, well, big girls. Since the weather turned nice we have been spending a lot of time in our yard. A few weeks ago one of our neighbors, Lili, who is 7, came over to say hello and Elise and Lili somehow in the following thirty minutes became instant BFF's. We've obviously known Lili for a while but before this year the age difference between the girls just seemed too great. Now suddenly they play extremely well together and can't seem to get enough of each other. Every evening, they are both clamoring to play together.

Over Easter weekend, Elise also got her fill of older girl fun. On Saturday at the Meredith/Wolfe/Todd family event, Elise had several second cousins close to her age (Cory is 5, Kam is 3) to play with but it was cousin Emma, who is 9, that she latched onto for the day. She and Emma had so much fun together, in fact, that she was talking about how much she loves Emma for the next two days straight. Then on Sunday, Elise got to play with her 7 year old cousin Abby. She and Abby always have tons of fun together and their time together always ends in begging us not to separate them.

She can't seem to get enough of hanging out with older girls, and I guess we're ok with it as long as those girls are as smart and sweet as the ones she has been hanging out with.