Lessons from Eliana

Oh Eliana. The things she teaches me. Last night she taught me that leaving my purse on the floor while I make dinner is a very very bad idea. Of course she would find the dark red lipstick. Of course.

She had been playing in my room for a little while, and I noticed she was behind the door, so I assumed she was playing with my jewelry like she normally does. I stayed in the kitchen happy as can be, boiling noodles and cooking up some ground turkey. And then she closed the door to my room all the way. I went to save her because she can’t reach the knob to open the door back up, and when I opened the door, I found a floor covered in dark red lipstick. And Eliana covered head to toe. I didn’t get a picture of the floor because Diego, my sweet sweet helper, cleaned it up before I got the camera. I just looked at him and said, “Diego, I need your help.” And he jumped at the chance to be my little hero. He grabbed those clorox wipes and went to town. But first I took these pictures of my door and wall:

When I opened the door and found her, I said, “ELI-ANA!” (That’s how it sounds when I’m scolding her.) I scooped her up and said, “No! You don’t play with mommy’s lipstick! No no no!” Then I put her back down and told her to stay put while I went to grab the cleaning wipes. I didn’t expect her to stay put, but she did! That’s why I know she totally knew she was in trouble. When I saw her just sitting there, I couldn’t resist taking some pictures. It was so sad and so cute.

Look at that “I’m sorry” face! It breaks my heart and makes me want to smother her with kisses every time I look at it.

After the pictures, I put her in the bath and quickly realized Johnson’s baby soap wasn’t going to cut it. I asked Diego to bring me some baby wipes, and he came in and immediately started helping without being asked to. I grabbed one arm and he grabbed another and we scrubbed and scrubbed. Eliana thought it was funny. Diego kept talking to her and saying, “Eliana!! You silly girl!! You don’t put makeup all over yourself, crazy girl!” It was adorable. I kept stopping to just kiss his forehead and thank him for being so sweet and helpful. Where was Celo, you ask? Playing with tractors and ignoring the entire situation. But he was the first to tell Marcelo all about it when he got home from work. My funny children. They make me nuts and melt my heart all at the same time.