All About Eliza

In one short month, Eliza's life has completely changed. She went from being an only child and the constant center of attention to the oldest of three. Due to circumstances, Nathan and I often find ourselves each rocking and feeding a baby while Eliza is left to play on her own. Nathan has done a wonderful job of trying to give Eliza individual attention, but the changes to her daily routine have been difficult for her to accept.

All of the commotion has led to a number of sleepless nights for Nathan, Eliza, and me. The past three weeks, Eliza has refused to go bed on her own and has wanted one of us to sleep with her. Additionally, she learned how to jump out of her crib, and we were left with no other option but to transition her to a big girl bed.  After countless prayers and continual efforts to establish her routine once again, Eliza has started to go to sleep without a two hour power struggle.**

Without a doubt, watching Eliza have emotional breakdowns every night and several times throughout the day has been one of the most difficult adjustments that has come with twin parenthood. When we have family or friends around, who can hold a baby and allow one of us to play with Eliza, she is a completely different little girl; she laughs and runs around the house smiling just like old times. For this reason, I am immensely grateful we have had so much help. Not only has it helped Nathan and me, but Eliza as well.

Eliza is such a sweet big sister. She loves patting the babies' backs and giving them their bottles.

We are glad she doesn't openly resent them; she just resents not having all the attention, which is understandable. The past few days, though, she has showed definite signs that she is adjusting to her new life. She has gone to bed successfully three nights in a row and has even taken naps! She is happier, which relieves (and overjoys) Nathan and me.

So. Here is a quick recap of what Eliza is up to these days.

She may not like many foods, but she certainly loves cheese. Nathan allowed her to bite chunks of cheese straight off the block (he was afraid she would stop eating if he scolded her, and he thought it was cute).

As you can also see in the above picture, Eliza loves her princess night gown. We have to beg her to wear something else other than this precious gown because it has to be washed sometimes!

She continues to practice Portugese with Nathan. She loves to sing "I'm A Child of God" every night in Portuguese.

Don't let the video fool you; Eliza is cute, but certainly feisty. She has become fiercely independent and constantly says, "I can do it!" We have quickly learned our daughter is a force to be reckoned with.

Isn't her sassiness adorable?

**(And, as a sidenote, while I was writing this post, Eliza woke up in a screaming fury. Perhaps I spoke too soon?)