For Father's Day this year the girls worked together to make Jeremy a piece of art. We are hoping to make this an every year, or every couple of years tradition. That way by the time they are grown he will have an evolving collection. Below, is their first masterpiece. Hopefully they will become less abstract as they grow, and I'm looking forward to how they will add their own talent and ideas over the years.
Grace:Grace is turning into such a "big girl." Here are some fun facts about what she is up to:
-Lately she has been quite the mama's girl. Even refusing to go to her Sunday School class at times. I'm not really sure what has brought this on.
-She has the most insane memory!! I am constantly amazed at what she observes and remembers. Today we were driving through Quincy and she looked over and said, "Mom there is where we bought my jacket." She spotted the small resale shop we had bought her Spring jacket from several months ago. She often surprises me when driving through Hannibal spotting places and remembering them, even if we only went there once. And she always remember what we did there.
- She has started to enjoy new words. She tries to use them even if she doesn't know what they mean. I enjoy asking her what she thinks they mean. The other day she told me she was a genius. When I asked her what that meant she said it meant she was a very brave girl (nope, not exactly)
-She has become quite set on the fact that when you pray you must say, "watch over us and keep us safe." Jeremy and I aren't sure where it came from since neither of us commonly pray this phrase. But if you pray and don't include this phrase she pipes up and fervently adds it. Listening to her prayers are quite sweet and you never know who or what she will throw in, but I often admire how thoughtful she is to include others.
-She has loved swimming although she hasn't gotten to do it much this summer. Before vacation she started sneaking down to her room and putting on her swimsuit. She would then "swim" around our house until I made her change back into her clothes. I was glad she got to swim on vacation.
-Speaking of vacation, I have to record this funny Grace moment. I looked up at the pool to see she had stripped naked in 2 seconds flat. I rushed over to wrap her in a towel and explain we don't take our clothes off in public. She was very adamant that she was cold and done swimming and wanted her wet swimsuit off. So we ended up carrying her to the condo in her towel.
-Grace continues to be a STRONG persistent negotiator. I have already started hoping she will have teachers with strong clear boundaries!
-Grace has given up napping on most days. However, I continue to require her to have quite time in her room. Some days this goes smoothly and other days she works quite diligently to convince me to let her come out of her room. But overall, it is still working and she falls asleep maybe 2 days a week.
-Grace loves puzzles and it is something she really excels at. She can sit and help do a 100 piece puzzle when she is motivated or it is a picture of something she likes. She is also becoming more interested in board games.
-We are still struggling with counting. While we practice Grace shows no interest in learning to count correctly. We still haven't conquered consistantly counting to 10. But we are making progress...I have a feeling math may be a struggle when school eventually begins.
Faith:
Faith herself has done a lot of growing up lately, and I think we are starting to see glimpses of the "terrible two's" struggle for independence.
-Faith is still sleeping in her crib, but fell out once during nap time reaching for a toy. I am hoping to transition her to her big girl bed as soon as the basement is fixed and the girls' toys return to their playroom. Their room is way to full for another bed right now.
-Faith LOVES all things girly. She is constantly adorning herself with bracelets & necklaces. She also sits very still to have her nails painted.
-Faith's hair is still very short for her age, but we continue to "work the short do." Her newest thing is wearing headbands from the dollar store. She usually keeps these on for quite awhile. ( I never thought I would have a child whose hair actually grew slower than Grace's did!!)
-At her last checkup Faith was more average in size. She is in the 65% for height and 50% for weight.
-After VBS we brought home a cold/flu bug. Grace and I both had coughs, fevers, etc. Faith had a fever and once again went into mild respiratory distress. We ended up taking her to the doctor for a steroid treatment since her breathing machine wasn't helping. Since this is her third incident of having trouble breathing they will continue to watch her for signs of childhood asthma.
-If you have seen Faith walk most people comment on how she waltzes about on her tip toes. Our pediatrician has decided to watch this. If she doesn't flatten her feet by 2 we will consider having it checked out by a physical therapist. So we are working on what Jeremy calls "stomping" when she walks. I personally think it matches her princess personality!
-Faith also continue to learn new words. I love hearing her talk. She doesn't really sign much at all anymore except when we sing Jesus Loves Me before bed. She also loves to yell, "Daddy, Daddy!" whenever she hears Jeremy's ring tone on my phone.
Both the girls are our biggest joy and at times our biggest challenge!
Vacation pictures coming soon...
