Now that summer is coming to a close, I just want to note that we have had a blast. The kids have gotten to swim at Vovo's or Grammy's every weekend, have enjoyed parties, playdates, and just plain summer fun. This is one of those posts that is better shared in pictures!
Mae-cabide
Ice cream at Vovo's house
Vovo "falling" in the pool to see the kids' reaction - I have never known her to swim this much in my life!!!
World Cup 2014 - vai Brasil!!!
Hot days in the pool watching Ava and Alex at swim practice
Sofia is such a ham! She loves to giggle, for any reason, even one made up on her own
Evening strolls around the block
You never know who might be lurking in the water ;)
Sofia riding on the "motorcycle"
I guess when you are the 3rd child, the youngest, you just try to keep up with the older siblings. Sofia just wants to do what Ava and Alex are doing, even if it is something that seems a little out of reach. She has absolutely no fear in trying what her older siblings already do, including riding on a motorized "motorcycle". Sofia saw it, climbed on it, and looked at me to help her figure out how to make it go. I placed her hand over the button to power it up, and off she went, with the biggest grin on her face - she also got quite a kick out of Ava and Alex's awe over her accomplishment!
Swim lessons
This summer we have been taking lessons once again at our neighborhood pool. I originally was just planning on enrolling Alex, since Ava already knew how to swim, but she really wanted to learn more. By the end of July, after about 8 weeks of lessons, Alex went from holding on tight to an adult with him in the water to swimming on his own! He even takes little breaths on his own, jumps in the water fearlessly, and will swim to someone out waiting for him about 15 feet away. He also floats amazingly well!!
Ava has learned a beautiful freestyle (when she chooses to use her arms), backstroke, and even butterfly stroke (still at the beginning stages). She can do summersaults under water, swim to the bottom of the deep end to retrieve dive rings, and is just a total fish!
Sofia didn't take lessons, but she has no fear. She loves biting the water, putting her head under water, floating on Daddy, and just playing in the pool. This little will try anything Alex and Ava try!
Sofia and nursing
Sofia is not giving up nursing...not that I am in a big hurry, but I wouldn't mind weaning during the day. She has started practicing drinking milk from a cup, but only chooses to do so when in the mood. At night she still wakes to eat at least once around 2:30am...this means we don't quite sleep through the night yet. She's mastered every other milestone by this age, but like Ava and Alex, she enjoys Mommy's company and comfort at night a little too much.
The only problem is: Mommy is tired, and Mommy doesn't always put her back in her bed. The other night, with all Sofia's restlessness wiggling around in the big bed, and with Alex also having joined us, she rolled off and bumped her head. She cried just a little,quickly nursed, settled down, and didn't really even open her eyes. As I was brushing the hair away from her face, though, I noticed her forehead was wet...and then saw a dark little drip on the sheets... yep, blood. I took her downstairs, since Alex had climbed in bed with us, to get her cleaned up. She had a nice little gash right next to her brow that was bleeding. As I cleaned her up, she just kept right on sleeping. I did what I could to bandage her up, and at her doctor's appointment the next day, they said no need for stitches - she was already healing fine. Silly girl!
Trips to the park with Vovo
Thank God for Vovo! Not only does she come give me a little bit of a break to work and get other things done, but the kids LOVE having her as a playmate. They drag her all over the place and love going to the park together. While it's summer and extremely hot, they don't mind still going to play first thing in the morning when the sun is not unbearable yet. They all come back home with rosy cheeks, thirsty, and ready to have lunch then take a nap. Hooray for grandparents!!! :)
Birthday parties - horseback riding, indoor playscapes, tea parties
Now I must admit, this year we did way more low key birthday parties for the kids. They were all family based, at home, with just yummy dinner and cake. However, we have been to quite a few more elaborate parties this year. From a horseback riding party, complete with horse painting, learning how to care for them, and going for a ride, to an indoor playscape with climbing structures, trampolines, and slides, to a beautiful teaparty (Bridgette) with all the fancy decorations. The kids have loved it, but I am so grateful that they have also enjoyed their own less elaborate parties. It seems that it is more about those they are with than how fancy something is ;) Thank God for the little things in life! :)
pictures of Lily's party, Mitra's party, and Brigette's party
Ear piercing
Ava has been asking to get her ears pierced for a while now. I wanted it to be her decision, it's her body after all and she would need to be a very willing participant in keeping it clean and maintaining it. So after the request had become quite frequent, we made a plan to go do it. On a Saturday afternoon, while we were out running errands all together, we stopped by the mall at Claire's to get her ears pierced. I had called ahead to make sure there were two people who could pierce her ears simultaneously, since all my mom friends had made sure to share that point - some of their girls were ready to just leave with only one ear pierced and/or not sit still for the second ear. I shared with Ava what exactly was going to happen and how they would do it, and her response was that she was not going to cry but instead just brace herself - and sure enough, that is what she did. We went in, she picked out these cute colorful daisy earrings, sat really still in her little seat while these two teenagers stood on either side of her, and reached out to hold my hand. On the count of three, they pierced her ears, she squeezed my hand, let out a little gasp, composed herself and just smiled. She was so excited to have her ears pierced, and even more excited to surprise all our friends and family with this new big girl accessory!
Not one tear shed - this kiddo has a really high pain tolerance!
Vovo's return from Brazil
The kids were super excited to have Vovo back from her trip to Brazil. She had only gone for 2 weeks, but the kids had asked almost every day when Vovo would be back. Even though Sofia doesn't talk yet, she made her feelings very well known. After Vovo picked her up, she held on to Vovo's shirt, with her head on Vovo's chest, and would not move for at least 20 minutes! Sofia would not let go - she missed Vovo!!!
Sofia holding onto Vovo's shirt with all her might!
Alex-isms
What did you said? (his way of asking what did you say)
Though...(correctly used at the end of many sentences ..."if we don't go to the store, we won't have anymore milk though")
Potty jokes - always hilarious - everything is coco, xixi, bumbum, pum, mucus, etc. accompanied by millions of giggles
Books to cuddle with - now I don't usually find a hardcover book quite cozy to literally snuggle up to, but Alex always seems comforted and wants to tuck his bedtime books under the covers next to him alongside his zebra or doggy stuffed animal
Pure sweetness - the other day I had made brownies and Alex asked for a piece. When he noticed there was only a small piece left he said, "but only a little piece Mommy, so there will be some left for Ava" - my heart melted...I don't know any other 3 year old that would do that!
Sofia-isms
Sofia loves to laugh, throws head back, is a total night owl! She and Alex have a great time together, always giggling the whole time!
Sofia is also making animal noises - mmmmm(cow), cak cak(duck), roar, waddle (penguin) - she is too cute!
And she is starting to express herself way more verbally, much to the enjoyment of us all. She is so expressive!
I cannot believe this day has finally come. Ava has been so super excited about going to kindergarten, she has literally been counting down the days!
Friday we got to go meet the teacher and check out her class. Ava has Ms. Garza and is in a class with 20 kids. She sits at table #7 and next to her sits Shepard, who actually went to the same school for Pre-K as she did (I am so grateful for a familiar face, but think she would do great either way). None of the other kids we know from the neighborhood are in her class, but I am certain she will get to see them at recess. Ava gets to have music class 3 times per week with Ms. Farmer (a quintessential example of a Texan music teacher - she looks like she came straight out of Steel Magnolias - accent and all!), then she will have P.E. 3 times too (though we really think it's crazy that it is not every day...when did that happen?!?), and art and computer once per week. We are walking to and from school, as we live close enough and there is no way we want to sit in a 45 minute carpool line if we can avoid it!
Sofia also had a blast checking out Ava's class - she thought she should go there too!
So we brought home our announcements and a very special envelope that Ava was not supposed to open until Sunday night. The weekend seemed to fly by, and Ava was super excited to see what was in the envelope. When she opened it, she found a poem and confetti. The poem said:
The night before school is exciting and fun. There are always so many things to be done.
Your clothes are ready, your backpack is too. Your classroom is full of fun things you will do.
Lots of questions go through your mind. All types of thoughts of every kind.
But sometimes we all get the jitters down deep. And that makes it hard to fall fast asleep.
So I’ve made this magic confetti for you, Full of promises for the whole year through.
On the night before your first day of school, When you lay down your head, just sprinkle some
Magic confetti under your pillow in bed. The confetti will help you sleep through the night
And wake up in the morning fresh and bright! Sweet Dreams!
Ava LOVED the idea and sprinkled the confetti all under her pillow, then it was time for lights out. She kept wanting extra hugs and squeezes, which I was more than happy to give, but I asked her if everything was okay. She said "yes, but I am just going to miss you when I am at school" - that, of course, was more than enough to unleash the tears from my eyes! Fortunately with the lights out, Ava couldn't see me crying. I told her I would miss her too, like I always do when she is at school (Montessori or Pre-K), but that I would be so excited to hear all about her day when I picked her up. She didn't cry, she just wanted extra cuddles.
Morning came, Ava was ready to get her backpack on, wanted a French braid, had breakfast, brushed teeth, and we were ready to go. It was a beautiful morning, so we had quite a nice walk to school. We went around the path behind the school to avoid all the cars, and I'm so glad we did. Someone had decorated the path with all these sweet messages, it made it all so special. I can't believe kindergarten is here already!! Fortunately, with my tears the night before, we had no tears this morning!! :)
Camping out in the tv room
