Thursday, June 9, 2016

Eliana at 5!

We certainly have an active, fun 5-year-old on our hands! It's amazing to see how Eliana's continuing to grow and change and mature. She was so excited to take her puppy pictures and a little bit sad when I told her it's her last ones. She is up to 37 pounds (31%) and 43.5 inches (72%). She eats so much more now than even a year ago. It only took 5 years but the child has an appetite now! And considering how much running around and playing she does it's no wonder! She never stops and it seems like she's learning some new skill all the time. She can do a somersault, has starting climbing in between the door frames (some of her little boy friends taught her!), loves to see how far she can jump, runs all the time (sometimes even in heels), can swing really high and of course, dances! She's still not super brave or athletic but she's growing physically all the time and it's fun to see.



We are still doing preschool stuff 3-4 times a week. She almost knows her months now and does a great job recognizing dates and days of the week. She can write out all our names and loves to copy or write words that you tell her. She has learned around 25 sight words and does great reading them in a list but we're still working on reading them in stories. She still doesn't like it when it's hard for her to remember of accomplish things, like these words, and she gets really frustrated really quickly. I just try to help her calm down and reassure her she can do it. Once she gets it she's super excited. We think she's improving with her Tajik and Russian and hope this summer is really good for her at school and playing outside with other kids. We are going to keep her in local preschool next year and do Kindergarten at home. She is a little bummed to miss going to English school with some of her friends but we think it's the best situation for her and our family.



This girl loves her dresses and skirts and shoes and still loves to play family. Everything is a family in her world. Even the crayons! She also incorporates adopted children into her pretend play now, which is great. Her imagination is out of this world and still amazes me. She loves her stuffed animals and her bunny is still her favorite. She pretty much doesn't take a nap anymore but she still has to stay in her room and have rest time. I need that quiet time and it's good for her to play by herself because that's the only way she'll do it. She is an extrovert to the extreme. Eliana loves to talk and is using more and more big words now and describes things in more detail. It's so fun to hear her trying out new vocabulary. She loves to sing and dance and makes up her own songs all the time.

For example...




Eliana loves her brother and does a great job with him. She likes to play with him in her room and she wasn't bothered at all by him when he was waking up in the night. She often pretends that he has had a baby too. She is a mama at heart for sure!

Eliana is super excited about summer and swimming and the water park. She loves to share her treats and wrestle with daddy and read chapter books with me and go places and just be with people. She is such a gift to us. We are so blessed! I am trying to cherish these years as I know they will soon be gone. Every day is a gift!

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