Can you believe we are already at the half way mark of another year? Just the other day I was looking through some pictures from their birthday party in May. Somehow it feels like we just had this party, but looking at the pictures I was amazed at just how much they have changed in the past six months. I have heard many times about how time goes faster as you get older, but I never quite understood it...now, I am getting it. I want to cherish each stage the children go through, they are such rich blessings in our lives that we are so very thankful for!
Olivia: She is such a delight! I so enjoy her witty humor and honest insights to life. She is making friends and learning such important social skills, such as sharing, taking turns, being helpful and kind, apologizing and forgiving, ect. She listens very intently and is detail-oriented. Our conversation about the day's events at preschool can go on for 20 minutes as she gives me the run down of the exact directions the teacher said for each activity (First, we needed to color the squirrel, then cut...), the snack (sugar-free red Kool-Aid with graham crackers in the shape of animals), and even may include a pretty outfit she noticed (My friend had a sparkly pink shirt on today...). She doesn't miss much. This intense observing has served her well also in the alphabet area as she knows the majority of letters and their sounds. We are working on rhyming, phew, what a tough thing! She can identify numbers to 20 and do simple adding. She has made friends with the scissors and loves to cut out just about anything! Olivia has enjoyed imaginative play for a long time now, but in the recent weeks, it has shifted up a couple gears and she gets very emotionally invested in her make-believe world. We were pretending to play Cinderella, I got the role of Cinderella, while Erik and Olivia were the wicked stepsisters. They were ordering me around to clean this and that and then we got to the part where they ripped off Cinderella's pretty dress and necklace. I made a sad face and pretended to cry, until I looked at Olivia and she had a couple sympathetic tears running down her cheek. Oh, game over and time to talk. I just love her compassion! While the imaginative play has increased, so has the drama, she can cross her arms, stomp her feet, and push out that bottom lip further than we knew possible. She is definitely testing her boundaries and learning how to control a large range of emotions.
Here's her name:
And she started writing mom and dad.
Soren: There has been a common phrase we have heard since he was born, "He is all boy." And that continues to be the case. He is rough and loves to play hard! He doesn't only play with his toys, he jumps on them, stands on them, throws them against the wall, bites them...this whole gentleness is very difficult to teach. When he is eating, we need to be ready for the moment he is full and get him down otherwise, we will have food all over our kitchen and living room. He talks more everyday and always attempts at repeating any word you say, some more successfully than others, but we are happy that he at least tries. His most commonly words are: Mommy, Daddy, ma (milk), ju (juice), agua (water-we didn't teach him agua, he thinks he is saying water), yeah, eat, ca-ker, cook-ie, cheeeeese, tuc (truck), tac-tor, puppy, kitty, pony, hot, up, down, ba (book), and numerous others. We are also beginning to wonder is something is wrong with his legs because he has forgotten how to walk, he only runs full speed in every direction. He loves to dig in the mud, play with rocks, and give me bugs. (I think he found about 10 ladybugs in our house yesterday.) His favorite toys are anything Olivia is playing with, stroller, babies (he will be a great Daddy someday...once the gentleness develops!), Little People, balls, and the number one favorite is books. He is always bringing me a book that he wants to read. His favorite is a photo book that Naana made about his birth. He always says, "ouch!" on the page of me pushing...very funny. He is so full of life and his infectious-dimpled smile brings a lot of older ladies to our grocery cart while we are shopping. He definitely keeps us on our toes!
Although some days we get frustrated with tantrums, hair pulling, biting, fighting, messes, we wouldn't trade these days for anything. We are so thankful for being entrusted with the responsibility to raise Olivia and Soren. They bless our days with much happiness and thankfulness! Happy "Half Birthdays" you two!
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