Afternoon Fun

We went to Once Upon a Child a few days ago to unload some of Leah's old clothes, and Juliet was immediately drawn to the Cozy Coupe. She was completely smitten. We had just been saying that this type of car would be perfect for her, so of course I had to buy it for her. Another kid saw that we were buying it and had a meltdown. Anyway, Juliet LOVES her car! She is very possessive of it, and gets very upset if Leah dares to play with it. 

 In other news, Leah can finally ride her tricycle. The only negative thing her preschool teachers ever told me was that "she really wants to ride the tricycles at recess, but it's really hard for her...." Ha! It took her a while to figure out the whole steering/peddling thing. She doesn't like to try and fail, so she didn't really like to practice at home (apparently she was trying at school). Now she is an expert. She also is using our neighbors old scooter and is getting pretty good at that, too. 

I love this picture. Juliet is always watching her Sissy. Anything Leah has, Juliet needs too: boots, ketchup, hugs, books....Juliet strives to be just like her sissy. 

Orchard Visit

 We went to the Orchard this weekend. The girls really liked the animals and playing in the yard. Leah DID NOT like the band, and covered her ears and scowled at them.

 Of course it was a beautiful day and the girls were in matching dresses, so I wanted to take some pictures. Neither girl was into it AT ALL. I had to bribe/threaten Leah with donuts and cider, and just try to distract Juliet into not running away from me towards the other kids. I think I got some pretty good shots considering the mood they were in. 

 Leah loved all the animal heads that she could stick her face into. 

 This might be my new favorite picture of Juliet. Perfection. 

 We got apples, cider, donuts, and some small pumpkins. I'd consider the trip a success. Leah already is talking about going back. She is really into the cider. 

This Girl

It's been a while since I've done a Leah Loo update, and I'm feeling the need to! 

Leah Loo,

You are 4 years old! I can't believe how old you are! Sometimes I forget that you are still so little, since you've always seemed much more emotionally mature than your actual age. Sometimes I can't believe how big you are! 

You love to talk about how old you are. When you think of new things you want to try, you always put an age on it. You told me you when you are 16 years old you will like to eat burritos for breakfast. When you are 8 you want to take ice skating lessons. Of course, there's being 10 years old which means you can call me "Mom". You are really looking forward to going to the castle at 5. 

You started a new classroom and really seem to like it. Though you still sometimes get a little sad thinking about Ms. Tammy/Ms. Lynn's classroom and all of your old friends from there. The good news is that you have made some new friends and that you sometimes get to see your old friends on the BIG (new!) playground. This year the "girl drama" has begun for you. The past few days you have come home complaining about a girl that is sometimes mean to you. She tries to take your friends away from you, and that makes you sad. We are trying to help you through the issues of this girl, and trying to get you to play with some of the other girls that are always nice, but you just seem to keep coming back to this sometimes nice, sometimes mean girl. You seem to be handling her pretty well, but my heart aches thinking that this type of nonsense has already begun. 

You are such a negotiator! You can make a deal out of anything. You love to make deals. You sometimes make deals sweetly, and sometimes you get firm and have to master negotiate. It's so funny to watch you try to talk me, Daddy, or Juliet into something. 

Your relationship with Juliet has gotten so sweet! You two love to play chase, play in the pink kitchen, and play on the trampoline together. Whatever toy Juliet has, you want. You then go off and find one of her babies and try to trade her. Usually this goes well, but when Juliet doesn't want to relinquish the toy of choice, watch out! You two get in screaming matches. You make up quickly, though, and neither one of you holds grudges. You love to pick up Juliet. She tries to wrap her legs around you when you do this, and it is just about the sweetest thing ever. 

You still love to dress in pink and purple. You love dresses (still the twirlier the better!) and bows. Everyday we talk about how to do your hair. Lately you've been really into piggie tails and  2 braids. You are going to be Aurora for Halloween and we are going to curl your hair. You decided that you don't want bangs anymore, so we are at the awkward going out phase. You don't mind because you get to pick out fun barrettes each morning. 

You are now a FANTASTIC sleeper! Daddy puts you to bed each night. However, lately Juliet has been staying up later, so we've been able to read a few books in your pink bed as a family each night. You seem to really enjoy this! The last book that we read every night is "The Babies on the Bus" for Juliet. You help Daddy and I sing and do the motions, and you seem to enjoy it just as much as Juliet. Before bed, Juliet usually gives on kisses and hugs, and sometimes when you are hugging each other, you shout out, "MOMENT!" because that's what Daddy and I say when you two do something adorable. You sleep all night long!

You love art. Everyday you ask for me to print you out a My Little Pony coloring page from the internet. You have gotten REALLY good with staying in the lines, using different colors, and creating exceptionally lovely works of art. You also love to paint. 

Your favorite "toy" remains books. You can read now, too! You are reading level 8 books with relative independence! I am so proud! You still like to be read to, too, though. We go to the library often and you pick out 6 books. You love Barbie books (gag!), Dora books (gag!), Curious George books, Bernstein Bear Books (you call them the "Dancing Bears Books"), and Mo William books (these are Mommy and Daddy's favorites). You love to read, and books are always littered all around our house. Your love of books and reading and certainly passed to your sister, too. You two argue over what books Mommy or Daddy will read next all the time. You are very possessive of your books, and if Sissy dares to touch one, you are quick to remind her that it is your book, and she can't take it with her. 

You are not a very adventurous eater. You like the same kinds of food over and over again (cereal, chocolate breakfast bars, grilled cheese, quesidillas, chicken, peanut butter and jelly, cheese, and fruit). You have a major sweet tooth like your mommy! 

You are really into movies. The pictures in this post are from our movie date. You and I went to the Penn Theatre to see Despicable Me 2. You really liked it! It's fun that you want to watch "real" movies now. We often watch family movies upstairs on the weekend. You love the Harry Potter movies, the princess movies (of course), and most Pixar movies. 

You are such a GOOD girl, Leah. Sometimes I just can't get over how GOOD you are. You are so, so loved. 

Zoo Day

 We deemed Saturday the perfect weather for the zoo. So we made it happen. Leah has been asking to go back to the zoo all summer. The first stop was the fountain, where I made the girls take a picture. When I was a kid, we took pictures by this fountain every time we went, too. I love how you can see Juliet saying "Cheese" in the picture. 

 Leah LOVED the Merry Go Round. No surprises there. Juliet got to ride this year, too. She was a little unsure, but I think she mostly enjoyed her 3 rides. 

 Leah takes the selection of picking an animal to ride very seriously. She really wanted the bunny the first 2 turns, but it was already taken. She finally got to ride it on the last turn!

 See Juliet looks pretty happy, but it might be because some random kid turned around and was waving to her. Juliet LOVES to socialize. 

 We had lunch and a pack of peacocks kept hounding us for food. It may have been because I was throwing them food when nobody was looking. Chris caught on and was not amused. 

 The Arctic Circle is a favorite. Leah liked watching the seals and pretending she was a mermaid under the ocean.  

 It was even cooler when a polar bear jumped in right next to us!

 Juliet liked the flamingos the best. She kept calling them birds and pointing and waving wildly. 

It's Officially Fall....

I always think that Fall truly begins when the skeleton pajamas come out. This year I am lucky enough to have 2 girls rocking the look! Juliet is wearing Leah's old ones, and they still glow in the dark! I was so excited to see the glowing skeleton laying next to me at night!

Last Days of Summer

 Last week had a few 90 degree days, so we tried to take advantage. We played outside, gave the Barbies a bath, got filthy dirty, and ate ice cream cones. 

 Leah Loo tries to humor my camera and I. Usually she just ends up with the "dinosaur smile".  

 We also had an outdoor bubble bath. A favorite activity of the summer.

 Juliet was just happy to be  covered in sand and bubbles again!

 I cannot get enough of the picture of Juliet below. She is such a ham! 

1st Day of Kindergarten Readiness!

 Sassy was so, so excited about her first day! She woke up in a great mood, ready to get dressed and go! She picked out her bow, got dressed, and said she was ready for pictures! 

 Of course someone else wanted to get in the pictures, too. Whenever Juliet sees a camera or a phone, she immediately says, "CHEESE!" and starts smiling and waiting for you to take her picture. Leah has got more camera friendly recently, too. If I catch her doing something cute, or if she thinks she's doing something cute, she will say, "OOOOO!!!! Quick! Get a picture of this, Mama!"

 Leah had  GREAT first day. She was excited to go to the "new door" and meet her teacher. She said she might feel a little shy, but really she didn't seem shy at all. She didn't want me to stay. We got her all packed and settled in, and she just walked away and started coloring. I got a little weepy. The beginning of the school year always reminds me of when Leah was just born. I would be awake nursing her in the morning, and hear the school buses in our neighborhood and just think, "SUCKERS!" Now Leah is ONE year away from being about to get on one of those buses (but she won't, because she will hopefully just carpool with me to the Y 5 program). 

Leah said her favorite part of the day was playing with the "girl with pink bow in her hair". She said the girl liked pink as much as she did, and she was also wearing a beautiful pink and purple outfit.

Happy 1st Day! 

Twas the Night Before School Started....

 After our fun swimming, we went to get ice cream. Both these girls LOVE ice cream. Who doesn't? They made quite a mess, but enjoyed themselves. And that's the most important thing, right?

 Leah was excited to start school the next day, and told us over and over about Kindergarten Readiness.

Last Day of Summer

 We spent the last day of summer at the pool. Leah was reluctant to go, but when I told her she could just have fun with NO swimming lesson, she was all about it! Sassy had fun playing in her tube. 

 Juliet started the summer so much littler. This summer was so fun for her! We fell into a great family groove this summer. 

 This little lady remains such a smiley, happy baby! This summer she still lets me call her a baby. I bet next summer she will insist that she isn't a baby. And I will be sad. And I will try to convince Chris that we need another sooner rather than later. 

 Both girls loved the inner tube. 

 Juliet had fun jumping to Daddy!

 Such a happy girl! 

We will miss our neighborhood pool this winter.