I cannot believe Elliana is 2. I love, love, love my kids as 1 year olds, and Elliana did not disappoint. Most of her precious life has been during the pandemic. In a world of so much sadness and chaos and uncertainty, oh my gracious, I'm so thankful we had Elliana Joy to be a perpetual bright spot.
Obviously, a lot changes in the year between turning 1 and turning 2. Like, she couldn't even walk a year ago. She figured it out mid September, and she quickly progressed from walking to running because she is a third child. Adam started when she was way too little (in my opinion) walking on the road for neighborhood walks, and she would be just utterly thrilled with herself. Adam has so many cute videos of the two of them on walks together.
I heard so many times that Nolan and Isaac are "all boy." Well. Elliana is definitely a girl. She cares about what she wears, and anytime she puts a dress on, she wants her daddy to see her and dote on her. She is currently on a tie-dye kick. She wants to wear it every.single.day. She will throw an actual fit about not liking what I want to put on her. It seems like she has far more emotions than the boys! But it's perhaps just the way she expresses her feelings that's different. While she's a bit of a girly girl, she can also march around outside in the mud with the boys and hold her own. I love the balance!
Elliana is the sibling that is pretty much always well received. The boys do get frustrated with her at times, but for the large majority, she is met with adoration and affection from the boys. Sometimes too much.
Elliana is a mama's girl through and through right now. Like with my boys, I expect her allegiance to change eventually. But for the time being, her first choice is Mommy. Because of Covid, I'm convinced our bond is stronger. She does still test my patience with her opinions and feelings, but she has been a healing balm to my heart in so many ways. She loves pulling up a chair to bake with me at the island. Sometimes she even likes when I put on my workout. And I've become increasingly aware- this girl is watching me. And it's scary!
There is possibly no one more smitten with Elliana than her Daddy. The amount of times Adam just smiles at her and says, "She's the cutest girl in the whole world," or something like that- too many to count! Sometimes we'll watch videos or look at pictures after the kids go to bed, and he'll ask, "Should we go get her up?" And I think he actually would. He loves her so much! I'm confident Elliana has been a force of healing in Adam's heart, too.
This one- she gets so excited about the littlest things. Her smile is literally the best. She loves being tickled and chased. She loves chocolate, and she'll often grab candy in the checkout lines at stores, exclaiming, "CHOCOLATE!" She has watched and danced to Every Move I Make at least 1,000 times- not exaggerating!! She LOVES my parents' dog, Jax. She loves the beach! She's probably my best dinner eater of the 3 (comparing them as 2 year olds). She still sleeps with her pacifiers, and it will be tough for her to stop. This girl- she's irresistible! I'm so, so thankful for her! I always said that I would be happy with all boys, but I was wrong. I desperately needed Elliana Joy.
The brightest sunshine there ever was!! Elliana Joy, I'm your biggest fan!
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