Sophia had her last dance class a week ago and we both really miss it. The parents were not permitted to see what the girls have been doing/learning at all, but we were invited to sit in on the last class. I took tons of videos, but will only share the best ones. I can't wait to sign Sophia up for her next class. She had a total blast.
My little baby girl turned 1 year old today. Boy, the last year fly right by me. I still remember the day we brought her home and Sophia's reaction. That hasn't changed much in the last year. Sophia is still resistant to the fact that she has a sister although she told me the other day that she wanted a brother. I told her to tell Daddy. 
Lilly's birthday party is this coming Sunday. Our theme is Barney, I guess. I got a Barney pinata a few months ago thinking it would be used at Sophia's birthday party, but Sophia has moved on from Barney to Dora the Explorer. Instead I decided to use the pinata at Lilly's party and decorate in all 4 Barney colors: purple, green, orange, and yellow. It should be cute. 
Will and I took the girls to the play ground this evening and we launched Sophia's Dora kite. I must brag a bit and say that I was awesome at flying that kite. And for a brief moment I dreamt about becoming a professional kite flyer. Ha! If you look carefully in the photo you can see a brown dot in the sky. That's my kite. Pretty high up in the sky. 
Here's an update on Lilly's recent accomplishments:
Nana sent a box to Sophia for her birthday. She thoroughly enjoyed opening it and immediately giving everything a test run. Lilly really wanted to be part of the process, but Sophia didn't really want her meddling with the princess costumes, bike helmet or the laptop music toy. Nana also sent a toy for Lilly and for a few moments I was nervous that Sophia wasn't going to give up the baby toy to her sister. Take a look at the photos.
On the night of her birthday we went to Chuck E. Cheese for our annual celebration. Sophia really enjoyed riding in the car with Chuck E. She put her arm around him to pose for photos. And when I say photos I'm talking 11 of them. She rode it over and over and over again. 
Her actual neighborhood little girl party was yesterday at a strawberry farm. All the little girls picked (and ate) strawberries and then devoured the candy from their goody cups. A couple of dads came along too and one of them took photos on my camera so I could help Sophia pick berries. Take a look.
Diaper Free (finally) At 3!
Last week we went to the mall with Ms. Ali and Daisy. Sophia really had a hard time adjusting when we arrived so we had lunch first and then hit the play area. Lately Sophia has been really clingy and wants me and only me to play with her whenever we're around other people. It's driving me crazy, but we're dealing with it.
When we got home that afternoon Sophia wanted to make some art with stickers and this is what she ended up designing. She called herself Sticker Face. The next day she put a Tupperware bowl on her head and called herself Bucket Head.
I've got two helpers these days. Sophia loves to pour the soap and fabric softener into the washing machine and when the dryer is done she is now able to pull the clothes out and put them into the basket. She still forgets a few items now and then, but what a huge help for me! As you can see her little sis is following in her footsteps. 
We went to the beach yesterday morning after our Mommy and Me play date. There are a few playgrounds in the sand at the beach. We've never been to any of them so this was a big day for Sophia and she had a blast. She found a broken seashell that she named Slidey because she kept making him go down the slide with her. Her favorite thing was running up and down a big sand mound that someone took alot of time to create. 
Lilly loves going to the library on Thursday mornings. This 10 week session is almost half over and Lilly is one of three girls among 8 boys. Kind of a bummer. This photo was taken this past Thursday.
Sophia can't get enough Haley! These two certainly are the best of buddies. We see Haley every Friday night at kickball and today we had two different play dates with her. This morning Sophia, Lilly and I went to Haley's house to check out all of Haley's new outdoor birthday toys. Cameron and her mom were there too. The Slip-n-Slide was a huge hit, but Sophia really loved all the toys that allow her to move/drive/pedal. On the way home she told me that she wants to get a pink scooter and a red tricycle. She also now wants a motorized car. Haley has the jeep and Sophia loved driving it -- and she especially loved the fact that it has real keys. She was pretending she was driving to work - just like Dad. Good thing she has a birthday coming up in two weeks!
Lilly and Carlie took turns playing with all of the toys in the house. They enjoyed some time on their backs passing toys to each other. It was pretty fun. I took care of the little girls while Will entertained the older girls. If you ask me, I got the better end of the deal. (smile)
We spent the better part of last week in PA and Northern VA. My grandfather passed away on Sunday night and we headed out of town on Tuesday morning for our 9+ hour drive to Mars, PA. The trip was pretty uneventful. Sophia watched satellite cartoon tv and Barney movies the whole way. Lilly alternated drifting off to sleep and whining for toys/entertainment to be handed to her. 
Ironically enough, Sophia has a "drawer" at home, at Nana's house and at Grancy's house. At home her drawer contains bouncy balls, Playdoh, stamps, and other fun things. At Nana's house there are card games, mom's old plastic Smurf figurines, scissors -- yes you read that correctly -- scissors! Well, this can't be beat. Give the girl a piece of paper and a pair of scissors and you've got yourself about 20 minutes of free time! Dangerous, but true!!! In Grancy's drawers you'll find long plastic fingernails to wear on your fingers and tickle someone and there are a slew of other fun little trinket things too. 
The weather was yucky, rainy and cold while we were in PA, but it was hot hot hot by the time we got to Grancy's house. This photo shows how Sophia spent most of her time at Grancy's on Saturday - playing in water. She also loved to get into the turtle sandbox and play in "The Quiet Room" which she was calling the basement. She loves going down there to play on the pool table. 
Lilly enjoyed her first day crawling through the grass and playing peek-a-boo with Grancy. Sophia and I got to ride the train together at Burke Lake Park and afterward she road the carousel with Grancy. The train ride was fun. I noticed tons and tons of plastic bags all over the ground. There was even one that the conductor stopped to pick up off the track. Come on people, clean up after yourselves. . . .
Anyway, we spent this week getting back into our routine and Sophia has successfully completed both mornings of school this week without incident. She's also taken two naps since we've been home. This is unheard of with her, but I think all of her grandparents wore her out and I think the vice versa is also true. I know she wears me out every day.
The week before that was spring break for Sophia so she didn't have school and boy did we test each other that week! We have a standing Mommy and Me thing on Monday mornings and Sophia has dance class in the afternoons so our time on Mondays is pretty much accounted for each week. On Tuesday morning we headed over to the Aquarium for their Toddler Tuesday program. The letter of the day was R, but the animal they brought out to meet and touch was a skunk. When the handler asked all the kids to line up in order to pet the skunk Sophia jumped right to the front of the line and stood beside the kids that were already in line (that's her in the blue striped shirt). 
We spent a few hours at the Aquarium and then headed home. We strolled the 1/3 mile walk from one building to the other. Well, I stroller, Sophia sprinted. I swear she pushed every single button on every single display and played with everything. Lilly (this is how we are going to shorten Lillian...sorry for any confusion) loved looking at everything too. It was a fantastic day.
She likes to ride in the cart while I do my shopping, but when she senses the toys are close by she demands to get out and rushes over to investigate everything on the shelves. She plays with all the baby toys and pushes every button. Recently she's been gravitating toward the laptop type toys and toys with globes. She hugs all the stuffed animals, plays with the baby doll station they have (I think this is because it has a fake sink and water hose). Anyway.....you get the point. Each isle has something unique to offer. She usually wants to bring home an animal, but she has enough stuffed things that she doesn't play with anymore.
This particular trip was especially worthwhile because I found a Curious George board game for age 3. She's really getting into age-appropriate board games as she approaches age 3 in just two weeks and two days. It's so cute. She loves Curious George and even remembers that I used him last year for her 2nd birthday at My Gym (which has a monkey theme too).
On Saturday morning we had a play date with Haley and Carlie at the play ground and Lilly got her first dose of sun. Turns out that even though I had sunscreen on her face and her body, her face still got lots of color. Her body, however, did not. Wonder if that means she's going to be part of the fair family? 
