Thursday, April 2, 2015
Happy Spring! I am so delighted that the weather is warming up (some days more than others), the birds are chirping, flowers are blooming and my vegetable plants are sprouting! Spring is my absolute favorite time of year. It reminds me of rebirth, a fresh start and Jesus making all things new through his death and resurrection. I am so looking forward to celebrating Easter this upcoming weekend and worshiping our risen Savior!
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| One of our first walks of the season. The snow hadn't all melted yet, but that didn't stop us from getting out in the sunshine. |
I am also excited to update this blog because it has been just way to long since I have written anything. With the girls on differing nap schedules now, it has become more difficult finding time to write. So, hopefully I’ll be able to quickly get out what I want to share about my two beautiful little girls.
I will start with the troublemaker: Sarah. This noun has quickly become little Sarah’s nickname in an endearing way, of course. Silly Sar-Bear finds all kinds of ways to cause trouble but does it all with a mischievous smile and hands folded neatly in her lap. We can’t help but laugh every time she yells (“sings”) after her early morning feeding, threatening to wake up her sleeping sister. And it makes us chuckle when she looks at us with bright eyes and folds her hands right before peeing, diaper-less, all over the changing table. And we just shake our heads after she spits up all over her fresh new outfit immediately after having a bath. All of her troublemaking comes with a sweet baby smile so we can’t help but forgive the little squirt (even if the squirt is actually poop shooting out of her diaper and up her back, which tends to happen quite frequently and… mostly away from home).
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| You can just see in those eyes; she's up to something. |
Oh, Sarah. You even cause trouble when we think you are sleeping! And, yes, you are an AH-MAZE-ING sleeper. We do not take lightly the fact that you have slept through the night since you were 1 month old. Believe me! We love it! But, we were not thrilled the time when Daddy was trying to put Maddie to bed and we couldn’t figure out what that loud pounding was. Your dad came into our bedroom, furious, wondering what I was doing that was making so much noise. When he realized it wasn’t me being so inconsiderate, we started looking around the house. Something must be going on in the basement. Were the cats messing with the cabinets? No. Then it must be someone repeatedly slamming their car door across the street. But, we didn’t find anyone doing that either. It was just before your dad was about to scream outside the window for the neighbors to turn down the bass on the music they were playing entirely too loud for that time of night when I realized the noise was coming from your nursery. Yes, little Sarah, you were reminding us that the sound of your feet lifting in the air and pounding against your crib mattress resembles beating drums and that you really do have rhythm. Silly little troublemaker.
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| Sarah: "How can I cause more trouble today? Hmmmmmm" |
Other than her “little stinker” personality shining through, I have just been fascinated with her development. Sarah is so good with her hand-eye coordination and an expert with her fine motor skills. She grabs toys, turns them over in her hands, passes them from one hand to the other and can take out and put her pacifier back in her mouth.
And she does it all with a smile. This girl is so happy all the time and constantly smiling. And when she’s not, it’s normally because she’s tired. A little rocking in the chair calms her right down and she will reach up with one hand, put it on our nose or chin and grab on while her eyes roll into the back of her head. She starts moaning in exhaustion for a few seconds and then she is out cold.
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| I'm trapped! But I loved every second of this moment. |
The biggest development with Sarah, I think, is that we started giving her solid foods! She’s been able to support her head very well, although she can’t quite sit without something propped behind her, so we decided to try out some banana. As you can see from the pictures, its hard to tell if she likes it or not. Haha! We are working on some new foods: peas, avocado, and sweet potato. And I have discovered today that she prefers the sweet potato with cinnamon. She has very refined tastes.
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| "Hmmm. What is this?" |
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| "What IS this?" |
In terms of entertainment, Sarah prefers her sister, Madelynn! Maddie is such a good big sister and frequently dances for Sarah. Sarah thinks that Mads is hilarious and watches in amazement, laughing the whole time.
Maddie is getting so good at singing! She loves twinkle twinkle little star, ABCs and Jesus loves me. We’ve also discovered that she loves the movie, “Frozen,” and she is starting the catch onto the words in those songs, as well. One day, I was bathing Sarah and I heard a knock on a door. I looked out into the hallways and Maddie was mumbling something while sitting outside of a closed bedroom door. she looked sad and then I heard the word, “snowman.” I realized she was acting out the “Do you wanna build a snowman” scene from the movie. I said out loud, “is this real?” She is growing up so fast!
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| She is a pure joy. |
She is talking in full on sentences now! Her communication is so so so good! And I can tell her brain is filling with all kinds of knowledge. She randomly tells me about things that she learned at church such as, “God is love!” and “God made everything!” and, “Jesus loves you!” I’m also teaching her about growing plants indoors and we have fun going down stairs to look under the grow lights every day to see if anything new has sprouted. She remembers that the pots are filled with dirt and she calls the plants, “vegetables.” I was impressed that she remembered all of that the next day after I told her.
And her motor skills are developing, too! I am daily amazed by her improvements in climbing. With terror in my eyes, I stand back and watch her climb all over all kinds of equipment at the park and the kids play area in the mall. She is a daredevil and I think I might have a heart attack watching her explore.
She is obsessed with Minnie Mouse and princesses. She is definitely a girl! Haha! When she puts on a dress she tells me that she is “tu-tu cute” and proceeds to spin in circles as if dancing.
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| Maddie wearing her princess dress |
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| Playing dress-up |
I just love having little girls and I am so excited to see all the trouble they get into together.
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| Onward! |
