Girl After My Own Heart

Thank you Nana and Char Char for the stickers!

Well, I feel like I am way overdue for a post. So, I'm pretty excited to have some material here, and I'm doubly excited to write about Elena, seeing as how her brother is about to steal the show this week with his birthday.

Ben and I are pretty tidy around our house.  I think we both secretly think we're superior to the other in our cleanliness, and we look down our noses at the other's little pile of .... whatever it may be that occasionally accumulates. Anyways, it has become evident that Elena has inherited the gene. 

We've started giving Elena "room time" since she is no longer taking naps. The idea behind room time is that she gets some down time, she's forced to entertain herself for a little while, and, oh yes, it gives mom a break. Let me just say, room time is the best invention EVER!

The funny thing we've discovered though, is that Elena doesn't really "play", she cleans! The first time in her room, she set to work (with no encouragement at all from me) picking up every little toy and book and putting them in their place.

I guess she has shown signs of being "orderly"/"OCD" (your pick) from the time she could walk. She would entertain herself by playing with small objects of large quantities; things like q-tips, fridge magnets, and rocks. Her routine involved moving them from one basket to another, and then doing it all over again. Thoroughness was the guiding principle as she played; if one rock got moved into a purse, all of the rocks had to go in as well. 

I think this picture is a pretty good example of the above. She couldn't put one sticker on her arm, they all had to go; but of course keeping the hearts on one side and the smiley faces on the other. :-).