First Solo Play Date

It wasn't planned really. I just spoke to Marit, the mother of a classmate of Eliza's today (who's also a friend of mine), and she said Eliza could come over in the afternoon. I'd planned to take the kids to the British Club to meet other friends (Alex & Oliver). When I got home from work, I asked Eliza what she'd rather do: go to the swimming pool and playground with me and Miles and the Wareings? Or go to Rosa's house by herself. Mind you she was already fully dressed in her bathing suit and expecting to go to the pool. "Rosa's house! Rosa's house!" So I took her over there, and she jumped out of the car and was standing outside the gate yelling "Rosa! Rosa! I'm here!" She's only been there once before and that was maybe 6 months ago when we did a play group there, so I was surprised that she even recognized the place, but she did. "This is Rosa's house!" There were excited hugs and kisses between her and Rosa when she arrived (typical of what they'd do at school when they saw each other in the morning), and then they ran off to play. No good-bye mommy! No worries at all. She was there for nearly 3 hours and ate dinner with them. No fights or tears or accidents. When I arrived to pick her up, she cried. "I want to sleep here with Rosa!" Marit was kind enough to agree that Eliza could come back tomorrow morning. They leave at the end of the week for their summer holiday, unfortunately. I confess I'm a little concerned that she might be like her mother, always dying to spend-the-night-over with friends instead of staying home (boring). But I'm impressed that, like her brother, she's so brave and excited to be completely on her own.

Updates

Eliza these days: 

• Potty Training: She wears panties most of the time. At school, she's 4 out of 5 days dry (that's all morning until 1). Then when she gets home she usually has an accident or two. Like Miles she started off making it to the toilet for the caca, not the peepee. It has reversed in a way. She hardly ever makes it for the caca, and almost always does for peepee now. She's very stubborn sometimes and will not do anything on the toilet no matter how many times I take her, then she'll just wet her clothes, undress wherever she is, and continue playing half-dressed. Other than being semi-successful at using the toilet years before her brother was trained, she is less conscientious than Miles was about NOT doing caca in the pool or bath. I cannot wait until she stops with that nastiness. It's certainly not winning us any friends at the pools we visit.
• School: Eliza is the youngest at the school, but she's confident and happy there. They only have another week left. There are some summer camp options for Miles, but not Eliza because she's only 2. I just can't see sending Miles off to leave Eliza home all morning by herself. So they will probably both be at home for the next couple of months. 
• Play: Being a younger sister, E usually gets pulled into whatever Miles is doing. He's influenced her independent play: when she's on her own she'll pick up a couple of knights and have them play fighting. But she also likes to carry her baby around, push animals in the stroller, organize tea parties, dress up in heels. More so than Miles, she can't get enough of climbing and jumping. I actually heard her giving Miles pointers on how to ride his bike the other day. A stranger commented today that she was impressed Eliza could pump her legs and make herself swing by herself at such a young age-she loves the swing. Eliza has a new stuffed puppy she takes with her everywhere that she's named Fimiry.
• Attitude: She wants to do everything herself. She has to hold my hand. I can't hold hers-(unnerving when on the street). She likes to wag her finger and boss people around with an expression of scorn. She turns on the water works to get what she want, i.e. the thing Miles just grabbed from her. Enjoys a good chase. Is most charming with her raise-eyebrows-sincerity when explaining something to us.

Miles these days:

• Play: What's nice about a 5-year-old is that he can get the paper out of the cabinet and the crayon box out of the drawer. He can open the crayon box, pull out the chair, and start working on a a number of drawings - things he dreamt or saw in a movie - often super hero type monsters, scenes in space or fights between super hero type monsters in space. He'll pull out the costumes and dress himself, and encourage his sister to take up another sword and fight him...or if she's not into that to fight the ghosts (the sheer curtains blowing in the wind).
• School: Some days Miles is not in the mood to go to school, but that's improved a lot in the last month or so. He usually doesn't like leaving school either, but that has recently been resolved in that he is riding the bus...with Eliza! So today was the first time, and they were both thrilled. I started back to work today, and this seemed the best solution. They only have school for another week.
• Swimming: It's time to learn how to swim. A lot of Miles's friends were able to take swimming lessons over the winter, so they're all swimming without arm-bands. We have started lessons, just one so far, and he has been able to swim a little: putting his head under water and swimming 5 arm strokes, half way across the small pool. He raises his head and starts paddling and gets tired and starts to sink and takes in a little water...so it's that second breath that's the challenge. He's excited about it and enjoying himself and likes Ali, the lifeguard at the American club, his swimming teacher. He practices with us, too.

Capturing Eliza

The days of Eliza's tiny voice and hilarious baby-ish expressions are numbered. We try to capture it on film when we can, but I feel I'm missing so much of it. In blogs and such, all her spunk and cuteness gets over-shadowed by Miles who has big 5-year-old ideas that take up more space and make adults think a bit. So when Eliza is presented with her brother, she's the picture of a little chirping nonsensical sidekick instead of the large personality who can hold her own that she truly is.