Problem-solving

There is a nail sticking out of a wall in Elise's bathroom and she will often talk about how it needs to be banged in while she's going potty.  

We read a book that involves a bunny piling on a stack of animals in order to retrieve a toy plane that got stuck in a tree. Elise had a lightbulb moment where she realized that she could do the same with her stuffed animals in order to bang the nail. 

So she piled on a bunch of stuffed animals on top of a step stool in her bathroom, got a toy hammer, and tried to reach the nail (it was still too high for her).   When she told me how disappointed she was that she couldn't reach it (I had no idea what was going on), I went to her bathroom and freaked out a little because it was actually a really dangerous setup. I wish I had taken a photo before I put things away because it was pretty creative. 

I told Bry what happened and then he reminded me that she was just copying what was in one her books. We got a good laugh out of it. 

Anger

We had some friends over today and Elise got mad at one of the girls (who is like twice her age).  Elise tried to summon all the bad words she knew and said to her, "You're bad!  You're mean!  You're a stranger!!" 

Elise to Siri (on Bryant's phone)

Elise: I want Panda Bears!
Elise: What's your name?
Elise: I really want Panda Bears!

By the way, Panda Bears are her favorite animal.  We really need to go to San Diego Zoo. 

Vanilla

I gave Elise some ice cream tonight.

"Do you know what those little black spots are?  Those are little pieces of vanilla beans!"

"Dada, vanilla is not a bean!!  It's a frosting!"

A three-year-old on geometry and the Bible

Elise is home sick with me this afternoon.  I showed her a my geometrical drawing on my computer.  She showed me which shapes were circles and which were "straights" (straight lines).  I said, "Yeah, lines are straight, but circles are curvy."  She responded, "No, Dada, circles are not curvy, they are round."

She proceeded to tell me that the circle looks like a merry-go-round, and then she made up another name for it.  I told her I like it when she makes new names for things.  She said, "Yeah, but I don't like it when Adam and Eve make names for things."  "But they were here first, so they were the first ones who got to make up names."  "No, only I'm first.  Adam and Eve are not first."

A three-year-old's mind is fascinating!

Ugly

So ever since reading the Frog Prince, Elise has been thinking about the concept of "ugly".  Today at church, she was playing with her friend "Clara", who is definitely the leader in their friendship.  Clara was bossing Elise around and taking her toys and Elise just took it, although I could tell she was annoyed.  She never fought back.  As soon as we got into the car to go home, Elise says, "I don't like Clara.  Clara is ugly." 

The frog prince

I read a book "The Frog Prince" to Elise and she can't stop talking or thinking about it.  In the book, the princess is very mean to the frog (prince), and this made Elise really upset.  She would yell "Nooo!!!  I love you froggy!" and kiss the book.  She kept asking why the princess didn't like the frog, and when I told her it was because she thought the frog was too ugly, Elise yelled, "No, SHE is the ugly one!  The princess is ugly!  Look at her face, she's ugly!  The frog is so sweet and nice and cute!  I love you froggy!"  At some point, the frog changes into a prince, and this greatly upsets Elise, too.  She wants it to stay a frog forever.