Culinary Traditions

Elaina was given a kitchen set for her birthday from Grandparents and Great-Grandparents, and she totally loves it! We have a tea party almost every day and when Mom and Dad aren't around to play, we come in to find her stuffed animals sitting around the table with her. She's such a gracious hostess and always makes sure everyone's cups are filled with water or milk and she's always checking to make sure they like their food - she'll say "like it puppy?" or "mmm, it's yummy, puppy?" She also makes sound effects when she's pouring milk or water into the cups and it's hilarious! And she's so good at spoon feeding her stuffed animals! Even Erin (who can't sit up to the table yet) is included since Elaina will walk over to her and help her eat the food. But best of all are the meals she cooks! Last night we had fried grapes and sometimes we eat banana soup or we find vegetables in our juice cups.

Elaina's also a great help in the real kitchen - she'll always pull up a chair and stand on it to help me cook. She usually hopes we're making cookies, but if not, she's still excited to help. I've never had anyone cheer for me when I crack the eggs, but Elaina always makes sure to say "yay Mommy!" for each egg - yesterday I got lots of cheering when I make a quiche that called for 10 eggs. Sometimes she's a little overanxious and thanks to her willingness to help, she adds extra ingredients that aren't even called for in the recipe.

I thought I'd also write about some of the other funny things she's done in the kitchen - like a few weeks ago when I was in the kitchen finishing up dinner, I turned around to see that Elaina had set the table with every condiment that she could reach out of the fridge. And she was sitting one of her stuffed animals on each of the kitchen chairs. A few days earlier, Mike had walked into the kitchen to find the dishwasher empty and all of the dirty dishes arranged on the kitchen floor and Elaina sitting there saying "look Daddy, a picnic!" She's just such a good little helper and tries so hard, it's just adorable!

Elaina has also been learning to say the prayer at mealtimes all by herself. She never forgets to bless the Halloween candy (which is long gone, but maybe she hopes it will come back?), and we usually bless everything on the table - forks, knives, Mommy's cup, Daddy's spoon....I think it's just her time to ramble on when she knows she has our undivided attention.