Going her own way

Eliana is growing up. She is phasing out of naps, she is doing everything her self (or trying to), she helps with William, and she is mostly potty-trained. In true Eliana fashion she didn't fit the mold with potty training. I started trying to potty train her in earnest several months ago. She wasn't letting me change her diapers and started taking her diapers off all the time. So, I tried taking her to the potty every 20 minutes. I bought her a potty watch and some treats for rewards. She was EXTREMELY oppositional. She would scream when I tried to put her on the toilet. She said was going to be flushed down the drain. She couldn't be bribed. SO, I made an elaborate chart with stickers, prizes, etc. That failed miserably as well. SO, I started reading books on potty-training. I tried staying home all the time, watching her like a hawk, letting her pee her pants, etc. The books did help me end the power struggle. Finally, I backed off. I put her back in diapers and let her take it off herself whenever she wanted to go. We moved to St. George and I just let the potty issue go. A couple of days after we moved in to our new house Eliana woke up one morning and said, "Mom, I want to wear panties." I put panties on her and that was it. She started going to the bathroom. Go figure. She still wears diapers for naps and bedtime, but she's doing great.

Another fun thing about Eliana lately is that she loves playing the violin. She has always loved music and has been quick to pick up melodies and rhythms. My mom has a child-size violin that Eliana LOVES to play. She tries to tune it, she plucks the strings and tries using the bow. Good thing my mom knows how to play the violin, because I'm mostly clueless (I can scratch out "twinkle twinkle" and that's about it). One of Eliana's favorite movies is Fiddler on the Roof. She plays air violin along with the fiddler. She's certainly one of a kind! :)