I feel as though my posting about Elisabeth has been a little lax, so grab a cup of tea and a cookie...this one might be a doozy.
From the first day of Elisabeth's life, I knew she was different. She's intense, smart, high energy, curious, mischievous, outgoing, extroverted, determined, fearless and always on the go. She came out wanting to run and I swear is continually frustrated by the things she can't yet do.
When she walked at 10 months, you could physically see some of that frustration melting away. The more abilities she gains, the happier she is. She has never sat still (even when she couldn't crawl yet), never wanted to be held in a position that is relaxing or left alone for some quiet time. She doesn't cuddle and would rather only be held if there is something interesting for her to see at the grown-up level. When she gets hurt, she cries for a second, brushes herself off and goes right back to doing what got her hurt in the first place. She is the most determined little thing I have ever seen.
There mere mention of the word "no" sends her into a completely single minded state, where she can think of nothing else but doing the forbidden activity, or wanting that banished object. She spends most of our indoor time trying to get into the toilet or reaching for the disgusting brush behind it. Or what about the diaper pail? Yes, she thinks that's the most interesting thing of all. Electrical cords on the floor or outlets? Yes please! And shall we even mention the objects that go into her mouth while looking straight at me with those sly eyes? Pebbles, rocks, sand, dirt, grass, leaves, paper, buttons, dust balls, dog hair...you name it, she's tried it.
I used to wonder why she was so different. A lot of her "spiritedness" as a younger baby was caused by her lack of sleep. A newborn awake for 10 hours straight? No, it couldn't be, could it?! But once we got her sleeping better that spiritedness started working for her, instead of against her. (In this picture she is three weeks old and was alert like this pretty much all the time.)
Raising a spirited little one is exhausting work. Raising any child is a lot of work and every parenting adventure isn't without its challenges. I've had so many older mothers come up to me while we are out and about and say, "She's different, I can tell. I had one too. Good luck to you." I can't even tell you how many times I've heard this. And I've spotted other little ones out there too with that same spirited quality that Elisabeth holds, all you have to do is look into their eyes.
She wants to swing high, run fast, climb stairs bigger than she, ride her bike at lightning speed, jump off any object she can climb, stand in her chair instead of sit, shout instead of talk with an "indoor voice", play with the big kids and, well, generally do everything more intensely. She throws herself down slides without first checking to see if mama is at the end to catch her. She will hurdle down stairs half as high as she without holding onto anything.
She trips, she falls, she stumbles and she gets right back up with more determination than before. She prefers cinnamon on her toast, garlic hummus instead of plain, pesto on her pasta, olive oil on her rice and garlic on her broccoli. She wants to hold her own spoon, turn her own pages, pick out her own clothes, put on her own socks and shoes, and I think if she could figure it out, she'd change her own diaper.
All of these qualities make for one extremely intense and spirited individual. There's no stopping her. I can't wait to see what the coming years will bring. What activities will she want to excel at or what will capture her interest? (Sky diving is my guess.) What she will be when she grows up? For now, we watch this determined little thing and know for a fact that she will be capable of so many things. Who knows... maybe she'll even change the world.
