Easter this year was quite the contrast to our Easter a year ago. Last year we had been home only a few weeks before Easter arrived. Little One was so overwhelmed by literally everything, that we did very little her first Easter. We were doing good just to make it to church with her at that point in time.
[That. little. face.]
Not a care in the world a bubble couldn't fix...except for when an animal came near.
This was the moment she saw Gram and Papa's little tiny dog coming towards her. (the second time she'd ever seen a dog) To say that we've come a very long way with animals over the last 8-10 months is truly an understatement. This same little dog, she now talks about and loves to cuddle with when she goes for a visit.
This time last year, she wasn't speaking English, she comprehended very little of what was being said, she would have ran from the Easter bunny or anything moving for that matter, quicker than lightening strikes and to put eggs in grass and ask her to go touch the grass to find them? Yeah, right. She hated grass, as in "I don't even want daddy holding me while standing in or near grass" and if she'd venture into it, it would only be for a quick second.
Fast forward a year...
Huge smiles.
As in, the kind that will make your heart skip a beat.
Curiosity, joy and sheer engagement in every.single.little.thing leading up to this special week and special day...
In painting "carrots" with her feet.
(she wasn't so sure about paint on her foot at first)
In painting a cross with sponges and washi tape.
In painting eggs with potato stamps.
In making Easter treats.
(of course eggs, bunnies, bird's nests, and crosses were part of the Easter treat lineup; yet, the irony--she didn't like any of our Easter treats & wouldn't even come close to tasting or touching the jello! (haha)
In painting eggs- lots of eggs.
This girl has an obsession (as in a real a real obsession) with all things "egg"--plastic, play sets for cooking, real ones you eat-- it doesn't matter. Our girl LOVES eggs! It was only natural that we painted eggs. (and yes, we chose to paint them rather than dye eggs... in our opinion, way more fun and interesting-- and not to mention...
A two year old + dye + indoors = ruined things
Eggs + acrylic paint + plastic baggies & little hands = lots of sensory squeezing fun and creativity, paint on eggs and really cool egg designs
[Please be quiet while I focus on my special design.]
We even added some letter stickers and used a realistic set of plastic eggs that were cheaper than buying real eggs - so BONUS--reusable, too!
Yes, we had to have a UVA blue/orange egg.
In learning with eggs.
Since Little One mastered her ABC's several months ago, we though we'd move on to learning/recognition of the lower case letters, but teach these in a fun way and through playing a matching game by matching up egg pieces. We love it that she calls them the "Mommy" (capital) and "baby" (lowercase) letters.
In the outdoors & hunting for eggs.
What? You mean I have to wait until you say I can go look for the eggs? Hmm, let me guess- ya'll need to get your cameras and videos ready, am I right?
Hmmm... can I reach that one?
Hey- this one is empty! Since I shake every egg I pick up, I am onto you if you try to be sneaky and didn't put something in my egg.
Hey, flower and all-- you do what you gotta' do to try to get this little one to look at you and smile for a picture-- as you can see from the above, it wasn't quite working on this particular day. Nor in this picture below either…
(since this was Brielle trying to make a mean face, we captioned this- "This is our mean face because Satan thought he killed Jesus, but guess what- He's alive because Jesus wins every time!")
And of course- most importantly, the Easter story.
Since she loves eggs, we created a "toddler version" of the resurrection eggs. Short and easy so that she could learn and also tell the story through objects.
Egg 1- A paper heart & a toothpick cross- Jesus loves everyone and died on the cross for us.
Egg 2- A piece of cloth- They wrapped Jesus in strips of cloth and laid him in the grave.
Egg 3- A stone- The put him in a grave and rolled a stone in front of the door.
Egg 4- It's Empty- Jesus is alive! He is risen!
Egg 5- Happy Face- Everyone is happy because Jesus is alive.
For some reason, Egg 4 she wasn't too keen on- I'm thinking because it was always empty, but she'd make the saddest face when we'd get to that one. (guess we'll have to keep working on building excitement for that one)
Once it was actually Easter morning, this was about as it good as we could get on Easter Sunday... she was not much into smiles, but did want to stick close to Mr. Bunny and her blankie that day...
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| Photo Courtesy of www.ctylercorvin.com |
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| Photo Courtesy of www.ctylercorvin.com |
Thank you, Tyler Corvin, for capturing the one and only Easter shot of our family again this year at church. Apparently, we are starting an Easter tradition with a little one that's not too "into" taking an Easter picture the day of Easter. Ha!
As you can see, Easter month was a lot of fun with a toddler that quickly learned the phrase "I try I try!" "Brielle try, too!" regarding everything that was put before her. From painting, to teaching with eggs, to hearing the words "Jesus Cross" every time she saw a cross somewhere- it was a beautiful Easter season.
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