This week at I Heart Faces they are focusing on "Play".  There are many ways to interpret this theme...one can play an instrument, or a sport.  The pictures could be of a group, of an individual, or of a couple of kids sharing a fun moment with a toy.

Since I have kids and they love to play (I mean, is there anything else?) I am going that route. 

We had a church picnic the other night at the park just down the block.  As soon as we got there, the kids headed for the balls, the bubbles, the hoops, and any other play paraphernalia they could get their hands on.  I told them on the way there that this was their dinner, and they needed to eat.  I'm pretty sure they squeezed in a few bites between tossing, running, catching, waving, jumping, and falling.

I took several pictures of all the kids playing; they were throwing a football back and forth, they were playing with mini-lacrosse sticks, they were going for wagon rides.  I also captured Eliana on the swings.  She loves to swing these days, and insists that I push her higher!  Higher! 

I told someone recently that if she could stay outside all day she would probably be the perfect child.  She wouldn't throw a single fit.  She would be 100% content.  (Those would be Mike's genes shining through.)  Her smile keeps me out there.  (Believe me, the heat, plus the bugs, plus the heat, plus the bugs are MORE THAN ENOUGH to send me inside.)  But she just wants to play.

Go take a peek at all the fun people are having...whatever it is that they are playing.  Check out the judges, too...they are very funny people, and their pictures are so happy and colorful!

The other day when we were having our "blast to the past" fun, Eliana would not be left out.  She made it clear that her hair must go in curlers, and her picture must be taken.  She was indignant if I left the room with the camera..."You haffa take my pit-chure!!" she would cry out.

Am I one to pass up photo opportunities?

I think not.

For a long time I thought Eliana looked exactly like me, like the spitting-image kind of likeness, especially me when I was a toddler.  I think all of our children are a good mix of both Mike and me, but my memory of my baby pictures led me to believe that she favored mommy more than Michaela and Christian did.

While I still think she looks very much like me

when I look at our pictures side by side, I can see

there are differences that I couldn't see in my mind.

The big-time belly laugh is where I think the resemblance is high.

She has my very round cheeks, and pointed chin.  She has my goofy, charmingly close together, sticking out a little bit, will surely require braces and teeth extraction front teeth.  She has my happy eyes.

But look closely and you'll see my face is longer, and hers is rounder.  She has a small indentation on her cheek, that is barely noticeable except when she smiles really big.

There are certainly some clear similarities in spite of the differences, but I think this next picture is the best capture of how much she resembles her mommy...

Could there be any doubt as to where this girl came from?  My genes, they are strong. 

While Christian and Michaela were at Bible study tonight, Eliana and I went for a walk around our block.  We had our respective missions.

Mine involved being still.  Hers involved a lot of movement.

There was some conflict.

I was hoping to get some pictures of her eyes.  Have you tried to photograph a two-year-old's eyes in the nice light just before the sun goes down?  It requires a very wiggly person to STOP WIGGLING.

I got a lot of this...

or this...

(although her eyes do look nice there)

and pictures along the lines of this one...

(no eyes, but you can see that she had M&M's as well as milk earlier in the day...note to self:  wipe off your child's mouth before photo session)

Oh, here's a good one for "Mission:  Shoot Eyes"...

(but look at her fingers...aren't they sweet?)

Now.  This one I love because it looks like pictures of me when I was little.  (Not the afro one, but further back, when I was actually cute.)

Oooh, there are her eyes!

And then some girls on bikes came along and they were much more fun to look at than my camera.  I got her cheeks, though.  I could kiss them all day.

Eyes, elbow dimple, and paint-bonus!

She is a people watcher...the choir members were showing up at church for rehearsal and she wanted to know what each person's name was.  "Who is that?"

I will say that while our missions were not fully synchronized, we each were able to accomplish what we set out to do.  And we had fun, too.

(You better believe I touched up that picture...man, I've got some wicked wrinkles.)

Oh dear.

I was already looking forward to our time at the beach this summer.

This just makes me think it will be even more fun than I thought.

I might take a few pictures.

What do you think?

 This is going to come as a huge shock to you.

My two-year-old

is

a stinkpot.

You are reeling from this news, I'm sure.  Who would have thought that she would ever be so...strong-willed?  Opinionated?  Determined?   

And yet I still can't help but squish her in giant hugs and cover her with kisses all day.

Seriously.  The kid can throw a wicked temper. 

But, seriously.  I love her to death.

And while there are some things that change as she gets older

I'm grateful that there are some things that (at least for now)

remain the same.