Giddy Up!

My sister called me a few days ago and asked if I would like to bring Samantha over for a visit so that she could ride "Fire," one of my sister's horses.  It worked out perfectly because I was heading to the orchard on Tuesday morning, so I made arrangements to drop Sam off for a little while.  Afterall, Michele only littles a couple of miles from the orchard.  Frankly, Sam couldn't get her seatbelt off fast enough as soon as I parked Michele's driveway.

Helping to deliver hay to the hungry horses:

Uncle John was there to assist:

Getting the wheelbarrel so that the stalls could be cleaned out:

Scooping stalls!!!

After all of her hard work, it was finally time to ride Fire. 

Mounting in the barn:

Taking Fire outside:

Having the best time riding around:

Sophia, on the other hand, wanted nothing to do with the horses:

Instead, she was obsessed with all of the barn cats.  (Most likely, it is because she is used to the two black cats that we have here at home). 

Yes, the little smile of happiness was there the whole time.

Michele also had a special surprise for the girls -- she let them pick some strawberries from her plants in the back yard.

Sophia required a little bit of assistance:

And finally ... Right before we left to head home, Michele let Sam take one of her blue ribbons for the wonderful job that she had done riding Fire. 

Sam was in heaven -- and that blue ribbon? Well, she proudly wears it around our house every day now.

The Park

Last weekend, we took the girls to a semi-local park to play for a while.  It's about a 20 minute drive from here, but it is completely worth it -- there is so much for the girls to play on there.  This was our second time taking them, and it is amazing to see how much more mobile Sophia has become since our last visit (about a month ago).

The girls took off as soon as we arrived at the playground:

Samantha seems to love anything that requires even the slightest bit of skill ...

Nothing slows her down.

Even Sophia enjoys some adventure, like walking/jumping across the bouncy bridge (with a little assistance, of course).

And the slide?  Well, Sophia decided that she is a big fan of that now.

Looking out at us:

Making sure that she got our attention:

 

Running through the tunnel -- away from me, straight to Steve.

And a final picture of the girls.  It was the best that I could do; there was just too much for them to be distracted with!

Sophia is 18 Months Old

A year and a half ... Wow. 

Another month has passed already, and it's been a big month -- mainly because Sophia walks everywhere now.  I don't think that she has crawled once in the last couple of weeks.  With that walking, comes a fulfilling sense of independence and a little more contentment in her everyday activities.  She seems to be a little less cranky and a little happier now that she can transport herself more freely (and can keep up better with her constantly-on-the-go older sister).

Speaking of her older sister, Sophia is VERY competitive.  She wants everything that Sam has, and wants to be included in everything that anyone is doing.  If she even suspects that someone is going to be going outside without her, she gets so angry.  The tears start to form immediately and she lets loose with the loudest protests.  The other night, I let Samantha play with my phone for a few minutes.  Guess who was lurking close by?!

Sophia continues to take an afternoon nap every day -- at the same time as Sam.  She will nap anywhere from 1.5 to 3 hours, depending on how tired she is.  She goes to bed by 7:30 pm every night (without any fussing) and sleeps until about 8 am or so the next morning. 

Right now, there isn't a single word that she won't try to say if you ask her.  Her favorite words include: bye, baby, uh-oh, mom, dad, Min (my sister), milk, more, boo, hat, dog, ball ...  She is very animated, and I often chuckle to myself because it pretty easy to determine what she is trying to convey with her gestures.  One of my favorite things that she does is to reply, "um" every single time we say "thank you" to her.  It is her abbreviated way of saying "you're welcome."  Too cute.

One of her favorite things to do is to empty out my utensil drawer in the kitchen.  She will carry as many of them as she can across the room and then play with them -- using them as drumsticks, lining them all up, etc.  It's almost as if it is a personal mission of hers.

She also loves books.  Sometimes, she will bring one to me and motion that she would like me to read it to her.  Other times, she will sit and "read" it to herself.  I often catch her pointing at the pictures and babbling to herself.

Sophia follows directives so easily.  It's as if she comprehends everything that I say.  Yesterday, I asked her if she wanted to help water the plants.  She went and got the watering can all on her own.  Amazing.

Such a great helper:

She is so full of personality and brings such joy to our lives.  Here's to another month of learning and growing ...

End of the Week Randoms

Sophia loves spending time outside.  She moves from one activity to another in the blink of an eye (which can be exhausting for me), but we are trying to enjoy as much our our remaining summers days as possible.

She is constantly carrying things around -- it is almost as if she is trying to test her steadiness and challenge herself.  One such item of interest is our beach pails.

Exhibit A:

Exhibit B:

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We have had corn on the cob a few times this season.  All of us love it, but we have limited ourselves this summer because it hasn't really been great quality corn.  Regardless, the girls each enjoy helping to husk the ears.  They grab their respective stools and set to work like a real team.

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Sophia is fast.  In fact, I almost forgot exactly how fast a newly-independent toddler can be.  She reminded me just last week. 

I let Sam have a juicebox with her lunch; definitely a privilege around here.  While she was surely excited about it, for some reason, she didn't finish all of the juicebox and asked if she could leave it on the table to finish later.  I obliged.

While I was taking care of the dishes in the kitchen, Sophia managed to climb up in one of the chairs and reach the juicebox.  She helped herself to it (like she was an expert).

I decided that it wasn't that big of a deal and allowed Sophia to finish it herself.  What I didn't prepare for was the fact that her excessive squeezing would result in a sticky mess ... all over Samantha's puzzle that she had at the far end of the table.  Lesson learned.


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Sophia loves to ride on the lawn mower with her daddy.  Samantha didn't enjoy it too much at first (too noisy and intimidating), but Sophia has absolutely no fears.

(And the bandana?  Well, like Daddy, like Daughter, I guess). 

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Samantha is obsessed with doing her puzzles on the dining room table these days.  At any given time, she will walk by and work on her puzzle for a few minutes.  While I enjoy the idea of working on something constructive, Sophia has been getting more and more frustrated with her sister.  Sophia is too little to do those puzzles and she feels left out.

In order to combat this problem, I set the girls up with their own puzzles at the table after lunch one day.  It was a success -- everyone was happy.

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Just like her sister, Sophia enjoys a chance to smell some pretty flowers.

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Last night, I was outside doing sidewalk chalk with the girls.  I have been working really hard with Samantha on her letters, and the hard work is paying off.  She can write most of her capital letters ... and does so quite often in our driveway.  In fact, I had to go retrieve Sophia from the back yard and while I gone, she made a "Z" all on her own.  She was so proud (and so was I).

In addition to her letters (and a few shapes), she took the time to make her own self portrait.  I was so impressed that I had to take a picture.

I mean, she included all of the details (2 eyes, a nose, mouth, body, arms and legs).  Pretty impressive ...

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Pre-School Orientation

Samantha will be going to pre-school this Fall, and she is so excited about it!  She has been telling everyone for the last six months that she will be going to school "when the leaves change color."  While that hasn't officially happened yet, she did have her orientation today in order to prepare her for her new classroom, her new teacher, and her new classmates.

Both Steve and I are very happy with our decision on where she will be starting her education.  We feel confident that she will be challenged (in a good way) and will leave the school year with many friends and a solid foundation for her learning.

Her orientation was today from 10:00 am to 11:30 am.  It was just enough time to acquaint herself with the new environment, and to give her a general idea of what her school days will entail.  She will officially begin school on September 10th, and will attend class three mornings a week (Monday, Wednesday and Friday) from 8:30 am to 11:30 am. 

The orientation was only for the kids (no parents), and Samantha did great!  In fact, she walked in like she owned the place and began playing immediately.  There was absolutely no separation anxiety, and she barely looked up to tell me goodbye!  That's my girl -- completely at ease wherever she goes ...

I won't lie; a little part of me -- the mother in me -- can't believe how fast she is growing up.  But, I'm excited for her to continue learning, and can't wait to see what this new milestone brings ...

Family Bridal Shower

My cousin, Sean, is getting married this Fall, so the girls and I attended the family bridal shower this last weekend for his fiancee, Christina.  It was all that Samantha could talk about -- the gift, who was going to be there, etc.

On the morning of the event, we were eating breakfast as Sam informed Steve that we were going to Christina's shower that day.  She very seriously told him that he couldn't go because "it was only for girls."  Then she told him that we were going to the shower "because Christina fell in love ..."  Neither one of us could keep a straight face.

As I was getting the girls dressed, Steve secretly asked me if I had a necklace in my jewelry box that Samantha could wear to the party.  I found one that would be perfect for her.  (To this day, she is convinced that Daddy gave it to her as something special that she could wear.  That's fine with me).

Sophia loves to smile for the camera:

My girls and me:

The best picture that I could get of the girls:

Both of the girls joined in with Christina to help with the opening of the girfts.  It was so thoughful of Christina to let them do that -- it really made Sam's day.

Sophia and Aunt Minnie:

Both of the girls were so well-behaved and on their best behavior for the shower.  I think that they both had so much fun seeing all of the familiar faces and going from one person to another.  They both fell asleep on the way home -- exhausted from all of the excitement.

Later, when I asked Sam what she thought everyone loved so much about her at the shower, she didn't hesitate with her answer.  She said, "Momma everyone loved my hair and my necklace."  It's true.  She gets so many compliments on her hair -- and the compliments on her necklace were an extra bonus since she spent a great deal of time showing everyone her "special necklace from Daddy."

End of the Week Randoms

Steve bought a newspaper last weekend, and the girls enjoyed looking through the comics, especially Sophia.

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We've been picking a lot of tomatoes these days -- some from our plants and some from our neighbor's plants.  The girls took a real interest in reaching far into the plants to retrieve some nice, red tomatoes.

The bowl started to fill up quickly ...

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Sophia has started thowing her own diaper away now (well, just the wet ones!).  She will walk all the way from the bedroom to the trash in the kitchen, lift the lid and drop it in there.  It saves me a little bit of time, and she gets the biggest sense of accomplishment out of it.

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This could be one of my most favorite pictures of Sam from this summer ...

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Sophia has now started playing with the chalk out in the driveway.  Occasionally we will see her try to stick it in her mouth. but I think that she now understands what it is really for.  She uses all of the colors, sometimes one in each hand!

Samantha uses her chalk to practice her letters.  She's getting better and better at them.  (We think that she is going to be left-handed).

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While Samantha is still unsure about the whole "corn on the cob" thing, Sophia is not afraid to try new things and had some with her dinner a few nights ago.

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Steve loves a good bandana; I'm not sure why.  He just does.  So, I guess that he couldn't resist picking up a package of them at the farm store the other day.  And here is my family modeling them.  Cute models, but the bandanas are a bit much for me!

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Sophia LOVES pushing the baby stroller around the house.  She is constantly making laps from one room to the next.  (Note the look of total concentration on her face!).

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My sister, Michele, picked up a few items for Sam at a garage sale last weekend.  There were a couple of games, a goodie basket full of art supplies and ... a desk.  We picked them up from her this week, and since then, it has been non-stop game playing, crafting and "homework" pages.  (We have been doing "homework" with Samantha for almost a year now -- various pages from Preschool and Kindergarten level workbooks).

Both of the girls love the new desk:

Even Sophia joins in with crayons:



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Lately, the girls have been enjoying having their snacks on a picnic blanket in the living room.  I guess that it just makes "snack time" a little more fun when you can sit on a blanket!

The look on Sophia's face is priceless -- it's almost as if she is saying, "Another picture, Momma?  Really?"

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Sophia's personality is developing every day.  She loves to play peek-a-boo, and will giggle right out loud whenever someone will join in with her.  She loves to run and hide behind something, just to get a reaction out of you ... and when she does, she gives the biggest smile ever.

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