This is the first time in a good while that I've put Eloise's hair in pigtails. I was impressed with how long they have become. Eloise likes to have her hair done. She sits on the counter with her basket of barrets and chooses things for me to put in. She will pick out ponytail holders too. She is getting better at leaving them in. But since she likes to hide under pillows and blankets, it gets messed up pretty fast.

This is Eloise's current favorite activity. I brought a chair to the sink a little while ago to let her see what I was doing. She was hooked from the first try. Now everytime I run water in the kitchen she askes "dishes?" and "bubbles?" and tries to pull a chair in. I try to indulge her most days, but some days I just have to sneak in my dishwashing while she is asleep

Not only does Eloise like to play in the sink, she is learning some of the essential skills. She helps me scrub plates and she works on her own plastic dishes.

A 2 year old cannot resist a freshly made bed

We are enjoying our warm California spring. Eloise likes checking out the flowers. She likes picking them too.

"Climb the tree" is a phrase Eloise likes to use. This poor young tree in our back yard is one of her favorite victims. She can do pretty good with lumpy-bumpy trunked trees at the park.

With the return of warm weather, running through the sprinklers and playing chase with friends, Eloise has aquired a few scrapes lately. This was after her third fall in as many days. The closer elbow has been skinned twice. It doesn't slow her down much, but she does check out her scabs regularly.

Eloise was pleased to follow her daddy's example and look at the animals through binoculars. However, she favored looking through themn from the wrong end. I suppose it was more likely she could identify things that way, since she mostly looked at things up close, like mommy and daddy.

Eloise loved this gorilla statue. We spent quite a bit of time here. She gave the mommy and baby gorilla plenty of hugs, and spent a while sitting on the gorilla's lap.

Remember where this baby is when you watch the video

Eloise went to the zoo again when Grandma and Grandpa came to visit. Her favorite thing was watching the meerkats, especially while sitting on this rock by their habitat. She has been talking about the meerkats ever since. While visually she has the difference down between meerkat and cat, and in spite of listening to them bark, she still says meerkats say "meow"

This is one of Eloise's favorite indoor activities. Crayons pale in comparison, and even playdough takes a back seat. Notice the nice grip she is developing on the brush

Eloise enjoys a chance to help out in the yard. She likes helping in the neighbors yard too. After helping her friend Claire water the flowers, Eloise settled down for some raking