Update on Sidney

Sidney has suddenly shown such an interest in dolls and princesses. If you know Sid, you know the past six years have been full of delight in bugs, animals and NON-people things. Her newfound love for acting princess-like, or playing with dolls is so fun, especially for Alyssa, who was made to play with dolls and try on make up. Sidney's still all about the books, movies and stories, and has an incredible imagination. One morning recently she woke up and came to my room to tell me about a dream she had, where she was looking and looking for a husband to marry and no one would marry her. It about broke my heart! We talked lots about love and marriage and boys, and she is soooooo interested in weddings and marriage now. She makes up stories about weddings, and draws pictures about weddings and even drew a great picture of my first wedding dance with Bobby - as if she was there! Her imagination is adorable - AND her memory! Just today in the car, on our way home from school, she recited an ENTIRE commercial for me about why I need some crafty cutter thing. She even knows the 1-800 number! I just might call it! Adorable. My constant comment to Sid is: " Sid, you say such clever things! People just LOVE the clever things you say!!!" so now everytime she comes up with something, she makes sure to ask me if it's "clever." It usually is. Her other word of choice is "lovely." Listening to her talk to strangers is adorable, because you can tell they're a bit taken back by the words she uses, how she calls people Ma'am and Sir (not even by my teaching, but because it's probably from a story she read or heard or saw). In fact today she had everyone in Starbucks crackin' up because she wanted to take the customer survey on the receipt and started talking about the internet. Wish I had it on video! I'm just delighted with her desire to be social and talk to EVERYONE she can. Often, like in the store, she'll ask me "mom, why isn't that lady listening to the story I want to tell her?" It about breaks my heart to explain to her that most people in the store are in a hurry! Last week at the plant nursery in town she found half a pomegranate on the ground. She handed it to a worker there, and the lady was going to put it in the trash until Sidney told her about what a treasure it was. So the lady told SIdney thank you and asked if Sid wanted a treat. She returend with a box of tootsie pops. Sidney looked in the box at about 100 suckers and said very sweetly, "no thanks Ma'am, I'm a healthy eater." The lady was totally shocked, but agreed Sid had a good idea and wished she had something healthier to offer. It was so sweet to watch Sid be able to walk away happily, without needing any sort of treat. If I watch/listen close enough, that girl amazes me every day. Here are some recent pics:

Big-Al update

Alyssa's doing great in preschool - my girl goes to school shy every morning and comes back chatty and social every time I pick her up! She loves to talk and make up stories, so there's lots of talk about stories vs. lies over here! She is very kind and helpful with Jack, and with Sidney! She'll watch a movie for about five minutes, then come to find me and be my sidekick on whatever project I'm doing in the house. Because she's such a talker, but only 4, she messes up a lot of words, or turns them around backward. It reminds me of my mom, sometimes. Being from another country, my mom often said things backward or out of order, and we'd all laugh at her for it. Thank God she took it so well and usually laughed with us! Alyssa sounds like she's an immigrant sometimes, too! She speaks with a funny little accent that we joke sounds like she's from Boston. She sounds like a Backstreet Boy.
She has lots of friends, actually changing best friends almost daily. She already likes boys, which is so weird. If you joke about a boy being her boyfriend, thinking you'll get a rise out of her, you don't. She doesn't care. She likes the teasing and will even tell you who she thinks is cute! Aggghhh!!!! Not so fast!
She's seriously THINKING of joining Teeball this season, but I can tell her shyness is taking over. She knows people watch from the stands so she worries about the sport being too hard, and people watching her! She's such a girly girl!
But she's also pretty loud. She's usually the one in the house who I'm asking to PLEASE QUIET DOWN for the hundredth time! But she's very sweet, needs hugs and kisses to make her feel better, and is pretty sensitive. She's still got a lot of baby in her. And a lot of sunshine.
Here are a few recent photos:

A Jack Update

Our boy is just days away from turning ONE! He took his first steps at 10 1/2 months but we say he started WALKING about two weeks ago. He's doing NOTICEABLY better each day, walking almost everywhere he goes. He still says just Dada, Mama, Baba but I'm not sure if he knows what they all mean. I think, but I'm not sure. He does know his name, though. He turns when we say Jack, although because we often call for the dog the same as our son, he also turns sometimes when we call LUCKY!
I can't say he's the easiest child ever, he does get pretty frustrated, espcially now that he's walking, which means he's falling more. He wants to go EVERYWHERE and HATES limits. He LOVES to push the buttons on the TV, which really doesn't sit well with Daddy, since the TV is sorta like another one of Daddy's kids! But even though he has some difficult moments, he does this thing where he smiles when I smile at him, and it can just melt you in the inside. If I laugh, he tries to copy me and laughs too. Then he goes back to his boyish ways and tears apart my pantry or the stuff under the kitchen island! I never knew I would have to pick up the same EXACT mess so many time in a day. For some reason I think my girls were easier to divert!
But really the growing up fast part is really crazy. I can't believe it. Grandmas are always right when they say "enjoy it now, time flies!" I grew up being a girl who would cry on my own birthday because I knew that meant my parents were only getting older, and now I feel like crying on Jack's birthday because that means my girls are getting old, which means I am getting older, and my parents are getting older and my grandparents are getting older. It all happens so fast!!!
Here are a few pictures of Jack lately: