Seth is 4!, Sophie has adjusted, and lots and lots of playtime with cousins

Below i will post a few pics of Seth's 4th birthday. As you will see, it was spider-man themed and he had a blast!
It took Sophie about 6 weeks, but she has completely adjusted to daycare now. She actually even looks forward to going and in the morning, right after breakfast, she will say "bye bye" over and over. Sophie's vocabulary is quite extensive now so i won't attempt to record all of her words at this point, but one of my favorites is when she says i love you, although it doesn't quite sound exactly like "i love you" more like, "i la la". She knows several body parts and is still feisty as ever, but also super sweet! :) Seth continues to be an amazing big brother...we are so proud of him. Sophie, like most toddlers, is hitting some, and she will smack Seth on the head for no reason, but not once has Seth ever gotten mad at her and hit back. In fact, most times he just laughs it off. :) Seth is preparing to enter pre-k next week. We are very excited for him, and he even received a school supply list. He had to get 3 vaccines yesterday in order to be ready for school, and he was soooo brave. He can write all the letters of the alphabet, and just last night he was reading a few basic words (to, we, see, the, etc.). Below are some pics from the past few months:

Seth and Sophie update (4 and 15 months)

Just to back-track a little because i don't think i recorded this, but Sophie started taking steps at 11 months and really started walking at 12 months. She doesn't do anything slow, and once she figured out how to walk, she hasn't slowed down. She loves to climb, and if she finds steps, she will go up and down them over and over and over.... She loves to play outside and HATES to come back in. Her 1st birthday was a blast and she ate every single bite of her cupcake. This is unlike Seth who wanted no part of his cake at 1 years old. At her 15 month checkup, she was 31.5 inches and 25.6 pounds (83% for both)
She is a GREAT eater!
She started daycare on June 6th and developed severe separation anxiety. Right now we are doing half days to ease her in, but we have had some hard nights and days because of the anxiety.
Here are a few words she can say at 15 months (sorry if there are repeats): cracker, starts singing bye baby bunting (bye, bay), elmo, dora, lalala, cheese, car, tweet tweet (bird), who who (owl), meowww (cat), rrrrr (lion), bell baba (belly button), She also calls out Seth's name a lot but it sounds like, "Se".

At Seth's 4 year checkup, he did a blood draw and was so brave. He weighed in at 41 pounds, and 3 1/2 feet. (80%). He is now drawing with much more detail: drawing planets, stick figures with eyes, mouth, eyelashes, hair and fingers, he can write his name in upper and lower case letters, and his teacher said that he was the only one in class that knew all the letters (both big and small).

So once again since i have decided to play "catch up", i am sure i have left out so much, but here are some pictures to enjoy:

bye bye bottle

Last night Sophie was drinking milk from her sippy cup extremely well so i thought i would forgo the bottle and see if she would be okay with that. Well, she never fussed and went right to sleep. I tried it again tonight and she was perfectly fine without it again. I am excited that she is now off all bottles, but at the same time i am extremely sad. It was such a special bonding time to me. As i held her and gave her the bottle she would gently reach back and stroke my shoulder and arm. I guess realizing that i will never feed a bottle to one of my own babies makes me a little sad (yes, we are done having babies). Oh well, on to the next stage! :)

Sophie's update

Sophie is growing up soooo fast lately. Here is what she can do:
--she will mimic you and pick up the phone and put it to her ear
--she will grab a brush and try to brush her hair
--she says "dight", "mama", "dada", sometimes "byebye", "dah" for tada as she raises her arms above her head. When you ask her what a dog says, she will make whining noises and then start panting like a dog. She will point at the mirror when you ask her where the baby is. She will wave sometimes. She loves to clap.
--she is taking her first steps and actually took 4 steps yesterday.
--she loves to play peek a boo
--when she is hungry, she says, "yumyumyum".
--she can do the sign for "more", although it looks as if she is clapping
--she is a very sensitive baby and will cry at the drop of a hat, but at the same time she can be very fiesty and tries very hard to keep up with her big brother.
--During my visit in Florida, Sophie began using her signs very well...she now perfectly signs milk, more, eat and all done and uses them all the time now.
--She says "baa baa" when asked what a sheep says, and her favorite words are "no" and "uh oh".
--While at a playground she almost climbed up a slide backwards, and can even operate a little scooter.
--she can drink out of a cup and use a spoon.

Christmas 2010 (Sophie's 1st Christmas)

Christmas was so much fun this year. This is the first year that Seth really understood what was going on. He was sooooo excited. We made our cookies for Santa on Christmas Eve, watched Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer and sang songs. He woke up early, but we woke up earlier and were able to capture his excitement on video as he walked down stairs to his presents. Sophie wasn't awake yet, so we decided to let her sleep while Seth unwrapped his presents. It was just easier this way since she is now into everything.

Seth's "sayings"

--Seth came home from school one day and i asked him if he had a good day. Here was his response..."i had a super awesome day! Well, i had an accident though." Me: "really, what happened?"
Seth: "i took some toys from the other kids...sooooo, maybe i didn't have a good day. Well, i was a little good!"
---Seth: "i love you mommy. I love mommy and daddy, but not Sophie."
Me: "awwww, why don't you love sophie?"
Seth: "i don't love her because she licks me!"
---Seth was doing something that was starting to get me upset. He realized i was getting angry and he says..."it's going to be okay...all you need to do is take a deep breath."
---I was working out one day, when Seth asks, "mommy, what are you doing?"
Me: "working out".
Seth: "why?"
Me: "because it makes you healthy and strong"
(after i finished...)
Seth: "are you done?"
Me: "yes".
Seth: "let me see if you are strong"
Me (flexing my bicep)
Seth: "well...you're not much stronger. I think you need to work out more."