What is your favorite color? "Pink!"
What is your favorite food? "Strawberries and pizza and banana and hmmm and eggs"
(eggs are not her favorite food but clearly, the girl likes to eat!)
What is your favorite game? "Uno and the animal Spot It"
(the girl can hold her own in a game of Spot It or a matching game - it impresses me every time!)
What is your favorite animal? "Spirit! and horses! and and lions and and and and and and uh deers and uh back riding! horses!"
("deers" was a surprising one, but really, she loves all animals!)
What is your favorite song? "The Little Mermaid song, Part of Their World. But it hurts right here so I can't sing it."
(she pointed to her finger when she said that. as soon as we ask her to do something she doesn't want to do she is either tired or in pain, ha! but that is her favorite song - she requests that I sing it to her before every nap and bedtime)
Who is your best friend? "Austin and Cecily'"
(sweet, sweet friends from church. Austin is 7 and treats her like a little sister and I'm holding out hope that 20 years from now he'll still be available ;) and while she does love these friends, Uriah should really be at the top of that list. they're inseparable most days!)
What is your favorite thing to do outside? "Play with Austin and jump on the trampoline at Paxton's house"
(the girl is smitten...! but it was an honest answer - two of her favorite things to do outside! I wouldn't have been surprised if she added any number of things - running in the courtyard, play at a park, hike, dig for bugs, go to the soccer field/sand pit... she loves being outside!)
What is your favorite holiday? "My birthday party and my birthday!" (do you have any other favorite holidays?) "Um I can't remember."
(I see we've taught her the important things... Ha! oops!)
Who is your favorite stuffed animal? "My dolphin and my new pink horse and Wind and my blankey"
(the dolphin was a gift from the Appel family, as she always gravitated to their stuffed dolphin, the pink pony Cotton was a birthday gift from Uriah (who knew all she'd been asking for was a pink horse!) and Wind a gift from my parents while they were here when Judah was born)
What do you want to be when you grow up? "Like Austin." (You wanna be like Austin?) "Yeah!" (What do you want to be for a job or a profession?) An Ewok!
(Well alrighty then!)
What is your favorite thing to do with daddy? "Run around and go to the store and go on a run and walk to Tootsies"
(not sure what store they have been to...? but their morning dates to Tootsies for a chocolate croissant and just as much a favorite of Stephen's as they are Ezra's!)
What is your favorite thing to do with mommy? "Run around" (But we don't run around!) "Go to the store, the cookie store!" (Starbucks?) "Yeah! That's fun"
What is your favorite thing to do with Uriah? "Run around in the courtyard"
What is your favorite movie? "The Little Mermaid!"
Who is your favorite superhero? "Uh let me think about that. Um, Batman"
Who is your favorite princess?: "The Little Mermaid!"
(can you tell she likes Ariel?!)
What is your favorite book? "Horsey books!"
(she requests that we get a new "horsey book" every time we go to the library. Aka, any book with pictures of horses in it.)
What is your favorite thing to play with? "Horses and Riah's unicorn"
What do you do really well? "No hitting people and kicking"
(I thought this answer was so sweet and not at all what I was expecting! I figured she'd say "paint" or "run" or anything that she does vs something she doesn't. While it was really sweet, it wasn't entirely truthful ;))
What do you like to learn about? 'Horses and zebras and and..." (all animals?) "Yeah animals"
What makes you happy? "Uh when I ride on a horse!" (Yeah? You've only done that once, though. What else makes you happy?) (Hey Ez, is it playing with me? (Uriah)) "Yeah playing with Riah!"
(slightly prompted, but still sweet and truthful)
What makes you sad? "The cloud sun" (the clouds?) "Yeah the cloud sun like not watching The Little Mermaid"(are you sad when you bonk your head? (Uriah)) "No. I'm tough. I'm sad when somebody choose Star Wars and I would want to watch The Little Mermaid"
(Haha! not entirely sure where she was going with that "cloud sun" thing but I loved her answer to this one!)
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
I found the following in a draft blog post that I never got around to finishing, adding a picture to or posting. Aka, life happened. But six months late is better than never, right!?
Ezra Lee. Two years, six months and thirteen days.
I have avoided writing this post for months now, not simply because I became far too lazy at the end of my pregnancy, though that certainly played a major roll in the delay, but because I just didn't know what to say. How can I accurately describe Ezra at two and a half? How do I share all that she is with you? How do I capture her personality into words that will allow me to re-visit Ezra at this age over and over again? She is so truly special and unique, so stinking fun and sweet and so damn cute...! I just don't want to forget anything! And I don't want to fully acknowledge the passing of time and her getting older because I'm just not ready for her to be anything but two and a half and in this stage. It's a good one!
Ezra, you are such a firecracker in our lives. It took awhile for that sass and blatant disobedience to show through but not to worry baby girl, it's there ;) While you are potty trained (and took it like a champ!) you hate going to the bathroom, wait until the very last minute, and pitch a fit if we ask you to go before you're ready to. You refuse to eat your carrots, always!, and create a dinner time battle over something every night. You make noise like a baby goat (thanks to a video daddy sent from Africa this summer) when you don't want to talk to someone or do something you're being told to do (Honestly, it's incredibly annoying. You should stop that ;)) You run in the opposite direction when we ask you to come here, whine about everything (using that bottom lip of yours to your advantage!) and give us long blinks equivalent to an eye roll when we're talking to you about your behavior. You are going to be a force to reckon with kid, and I have no doubt you will give me a run for my money as you continue to grow older, but I can't wait to watch you grow into your personality and I pray that those spit fire traits of yours get you where you want in life.
Everyone agrees, you're so stinking cute! Friends, family and strangers are always telling me how cute you are - your little blonde pigtails, squinty blue eyes, chubby cheeks and thighs... You are definitely everyone's favorite! So far, it hasn't gone to your head ;)
You think Uriah hung the moon. And while you are slowing starting to resist all his ideas and shenanigans, you are more often than not completely willing and happy to go along with whatever he wants to do. You are constantly repeating him, though much to his disapproval, and I love to listen to your commentary three seconds behind his. You are always calling him your "sweet big brother" and looking at him with that close mouthed, squinty eyed smile of yours. He has no idea how lucky he is.
You are such a book worm, baby girl! I find piles of books around the house after you've dragged them to your newest spot to sit and read through them. You love reading out loud (and we all love to listen!) to an empty room or a stuffed animal or two. You "read" through each and every page, quite often some of the real words or general idea - you're constantly asking us to "pwease read dis to me" so you know most of your books by heart now! I hope your love of reading never fades!
You are very rarely just "Ezra". It used to be "Ezra Lee Wall the Princess" but now you always seem to be some different type of baby animal. Usually a snow leopard, crocodile or bear (And now that Halloween has come and gone, an Ewok!). And if you're not just pretending to be an animal (and requesting that we call you such!) you are dressed up in Uriah's old dragon Halloween costume (affectionately known as "Draggy") or crocodile sweatshirt (that you have named BB!) You and your brother both love to play pretend, pretending to be baby animals that lost their parents, now in my care. I love getting to watch the two of you play as I did when I was little. I was always a cougar kitty, though ;)
You are unbelievably content, a trait I am afraid, you did not get from me. You have been since you were a baby and as we were dealing with a potty training 2 year old Uriah during a move and a major schedule change for dad, your sweet and content demeanor was a saving grace. It still is today. You are so happy to sit and play on your own while I clean or do school with your brother. Your attention span for activities is longer than most of your age. You are quiet and easy going at friends' houses and so compliant to our plans. You are very rarely demanding.
^ The post ended there and re-reading it six months later I'm not sure where I was going next so we'll just leave it at that and call it good. She was (is!) a true treasure and I don't ever want to forget it.
