awesome day

**this post has no pictures because I forgot to bring the camera. However, we took mental pictures all day long a la...http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K-MfVmfm9V8

So Saturday we went to the fair. Usually, it's just an excuse to eat food that's really bad for us and make fun of people (does anyone know why the freaks come out in masses to fairs?). We like to play "did ya see" on the way home. "did ya see the 400lb lady in the tube top and spandex shorts?" "yes. did ya see the family with 3 kids and none of them had shoes on?". Anyway, it's hard because the kids aren't ever tall enough to ride any rides (except the ponies, which they ride about 5 times each). But this time they were finally over 3 ft tall, which meant RIDES! Plus, the weather was absolutely perfect (about 67 and sunny). We ended up having a REALLY great day.

As soon as we got there, we put the girls on the ferris wheel. Sophia laughed hysterically the whole time. To say she loved it, would be an understatement. Meanwhile, next to her was Maria SOBBING "get me down from here!!!" (keep in mind, this was the kiddie one and she was no more than 10 ft off the ground). Jack kept saying "WEEEEEE!" every time they went by. As soon as they got off of that Sophia was ready for some more so we went over to the little swing ride (just goes in a circle). And Maria didn't want any part of that one either. While on that, Sophia catches a glimpse of a kiddie roller coaster and it was like a moth to a flame. She kept chanting "roller coaster" like she was in a trance. It was hilarious. So while on that Maria was down on land with us about to have a panic attack that something would happen to Sophia while she was on the roller coaster. She practically ran up and got her off of it herself when it was over. It was clear that Maria wasn't going to ride any more rides, so we let Sophia ride a few more by herself and then we headed over to the "big slides" (one of the few things she will ride). The bad part about those is that Josh has to ride down with each of them because they have to be 42" to go down alone (Maria has 2 more inches to go and Sophia has about 5 more. fingers crossed for next year). So anyway, it's 8 freakin tickets ($8) just for each of them to go down once :-P Anyway, then it was the main event...riding the ponies! After that, we ended up actually finding a bench (rare) and being able to sit down to eat. Then we left Josh there with his friends and dad to watch his 2nd tractor pull of the weekend while I took the kids home (one of those things he likes to do with his friends every year while I'm at home watching Christmas movies or scrapbooking :-).
Oh and on the way home I noticed that the sunset was absolutely beautiful. Just a perfect end to an awesome day!

a couple things...

So, Daddy built them a swing set last weekend and it's been the cause for lots and lots of giggles all week...from everyone in the house. It's 10ft tall. No joke. Because Josh thought 8ft wouldn't be quite tall enough for our 3ft tall children lol. We've both been making jokes about it ever since it went up. He came in the house and goes "uhhh hey, could you call Labron James to come hang up these swings for me". I go out there and see it with my own eyes. I say "hunny, you know the kids are ours right?" (he's 5'5" and I'm 5'2"...and Maria has a medical condition literally called "short stature"). He hung up the swings with the original chain that they came with and they came up to the girls heads...cue jokes, and jokes, and jokes... Anyway, after 8ft of extra chain, it's great and I can't wait until next year when we build the tower and slide part.

Me and Pia pants hanging out outside. (no, I wont cut her bangs, I'm trying to grow them out, they're just in an awkward phase right now)

This picture cracks me up. I love the teeth and the squinty eyes. Precious.

Maria had her last day of school on Wed. Yes, I cried...I sobbed in fact. Hey, they played the song "let them be little" and read a poem entitled "we give them back to you". Trust me, they wanted some tears...and they got them. She has grown sooooo much since the first day of school. She has really come a long way in the last 9 months.

Maria on the first day...

and on the last.

The girls on the first day...

and on the last day.

big tear...

leftovers and wordless wednesday...all on the wrong days

This is really just a hodge podge because I haven't really had anything interesting to say in the last week that would constitute an entire blog.

• How cute is this picture of Jack? Seriously, I love it. It's definitely worthy of WW status.

• Speaking of pictures, yes, this is in fact a strawberry shaped like...uhh...well, a rack...I'm sorry, I know it's juvenile, but it has been cracking Josh and I up for two days. that's just the immature sense of humor we have, and I LOVE it.

• We had to reschedule our family pictures because they were supposed to be Sunday, but because of the storms, obviously that didn't happen. We are actually doing them at my moms house with all 10 of us for her 50th birthday gift. She's been talking about having family pics taken for years and just hasn't done it, so we thought we'd do it for her. lol. Of course I have no room to talk since I wanted to get them since last year for my birthday, but Josh didn't want to spend $700 on pics. (tangent: this I THINK, is what my EPSIL (evil psychotic sister in law) was referring to one time when she said that I "forced Josh to buy $700 patio furniture"????, when in actuality that furniture was cheapo stuff that Josh wanted and got from big lots. I guess since she wins every argument in her house, she thinks I do too. It must be unusual for someone like her to understand a couple making decisions TOGETHER. lol. ok tangent over.)


• Sophia has been calling Maria "Somia". I think this is what's going on in her head...if Pia=Sophia then Mia should=Somia. Pretty good logic if you think about it.
• It's officially 100 days until our vacation!! And if ANYONE deserves a vacation, it's us! We've spent the last 5 1/2 years having babies, taking care of them, paying our bills, working hard & doing the right thing. So now that we are practically debt free (obviously we still owe on our mortgage and car) we can finally go on a vacation the RIGHT way. Without having other bills we can't pay or paying for it with a credit card. We are so excited and now our kids will appreciate it so much more. Hopefully they will grow up to be responsible like us and not grow up feeling entitled to things like that.
• Josh got all of our plants for our garden yesterday. Last year was just a trial run to see what we liked/used so this year will HOPEFULLY be totally used. We got 24 tomato plants, 2 peppers, 1 cucumber & 2 strawberry. Also, I got the seeds the other day for corn, pickling cucumbers, pie pumpkins & carrots. I'm hoping to get a little more spaghetti sauce out of this years. We just ran out a couple weeks ago and I had to get store-bought. Once you've had homemade, the store stuff is like eating plain tomato sauce out of a can. LOL. For some reason, my green beans from last year all have a funny...like pasty? kind of taste, so I don't think we'll do them this year, however I did get some seeds. It'll really depend on if we have the space.
• When we went to pick up the plants last night, we stopped at the place where we used to go get ice cream after Maria was born. We'd walk up there every night, and it was just really nice. However, they closed it down a while back, so Josh was all excited when he came home from work last night and said "they opened it up again, we have to go tonight!". It was so cute. The problem now becomes that we sold the double stroller and IDK about having the kids walk the mile on a rural road with no sidewalks. But it would be stupid to drive a mile, ya know?
  

Don't forget...

Danifred did a post a while (is it awhile or a while?) back where she listed things she doesn't want to forget about her kids right now. And I'm a cheater cheater pumpkin eater, so I'm going to copy her paper and do one of my own, however, mine will just be about LIFE right now.

• Jackson does this thing where he holds onto a table or the couch etc. and sort of bounces and giggles so hard he can't catch his breath. It's hilarious and sooo stinking cute, but Josh always has to go and make it dirty and he says that it looks "just wrong"...men! lol
• I was just talking to a friend about how I think that Josh and I are the definition of opposites attracting. We are always teaching each other things and opening each others eyes to new things. And I think we really do bring out the best in each other. After being with him for almost 8 years, I honestly don't know how couples who are really similar can be happy (or get anything done) that way.
• Marias teacher tells me that "I wish every child had maria's sense of humor" at least once a week. I love it. I think she is just a genuinely happy kid so she will laugh and giggle and carry on about literally ANYTHING.
• I think Sophia has a future as an exercise instructor. She's always gathering us up and giving orders for different "moves" she wants us to do. "circle you head", "lift up you arms", "shake you booty", "flap you wings" (this one is her favorite and she just looooves it if her "wings" touch the person beside hers.) And it's always totally random like if we're all in the kitchen after dinner she'll just start doing it.
• On the subject of jobs, I'm almost positive that Jack will be a garbage man. I CANNOT keep the kid out of the trash. It's ridiculous. And it's not just the trash, it's the recycling, the girls toys, the DVD drawer, the picture boxes. Anything he can get his sticky little hands on, is fair game. I love him, I really do, but by the end of the day, that boy is working my last nerve! (my hope here is that in 10 years when I read this, I'll be thinking "Oh, I'm sooo glad he grew out of THAT!"...but I'm not holding my breath)
• When Jack walks it's HILARIOUS. He takes the smallest steps ever. It takes him 500 steps to get 5 feet. I love it. The difference between the way they all walk in the beginning is really interesting to me. Sophia used to not move the top half of her body and it was soo funny. And maria started running the day after she started walking. I kid you not, I actually have video to prove it. LOL
• The girls ask to play with play-doh and to color every.single.day. And it's always before 8:30am. I started telling them that the rule is, not to ask until after I get done with my breakfast so that my eyes can be fully awake. So now they come into our room at 7:am asking if my eyes are awake yet. lol
• Last night while the girls were going to the bathroom before bed, Josh layed down in Marias bed. I layed down next to him and I said "awww. are ya happy honey, both of us squeezing into a twin bed, just like when we were first dating" lol. Then the girls both climbed into bed with us and Josh says "No. This is SOO much better". My heart melted.

I wish I could remember everything about them forever. The way they say every word and the things they just have to have a certain way. In 15 years, I will be wishing I could go back and remember all the little things, hopefully posts like this will help remind me of the simple things about our life that make it SOOO amazing and such an incredible blessing.

I could have sworn...

I could have sworn we were raising girls....but apparently we're raising sailors.

Maria: (as she stands up on her chair and shakes her butt at Sophia) You wanna see my booty Pia?

Sophia: No. You wanna see my mouth Mia! (as she opens her mouth to show off her chewed up food)

Josh: What the hell are you teaching them every day!

Clearly, I am not the negative influence here. ;-)

Best parts of my day

• Being woken up by either a) the girls begging for food lol. or b) josh kissing me (either option is awesome)
• Hearing the girls say "bye, my booey" when josh leaves for work (we have no idea what that means, but they've been saying it for more than a year)
• Watching Jack actually EAT ON HIS OWN. Omigosh, he's finally eating finger food by himself (no medieval force-feeding torture machine needed ;-))
• The girls "tippin toe" (tip-toeing) out to the living room and peeking around the corner to see if they can get up from their naps.
• or if Maria has preschool, it's when we're waiting in line and she asks me what every single button or knob in the car does. She laughs the whole time b/c she thinks it's hilarious that I answer her every day. lol I LOVE that laugh and I wish I could bottle it up and save it for 10 years from now lol.
• Sophia helping me with the laundry. She loves helping me sort it and put it in the washer and she absolutely HAS to push the buttons. lol.
• When Josh gets home and the girls RUN, SQUEALING to the back door to see him. then he gives them the mail to give me and he gives me a kiss hello...no matter how dirty he is from work (however, some days it's more like a peck due to oil, grease or whatever else is on there lol).
• after-dinner dancing! (not always every day)
• The good night "routine" when we put the girls to bed.
• 8:01 when the house is quiet and josh and i have time ALONE :D
• laying in bed with josh holding hands and talking. i love it. it's nothing special, but we've done it every night for the last 6 1/2 years we've lived together. (except for a short time when he worked midnights :-( and an occasional fight that went over-night lol).

3 years and 1 day

(three weeks old)

(three years old)

(yes that is a 1 & a 2...it does equal 3 after all...;-)

So, our little Pia pants is 3 years and 1 day old today. Here are some things she can do right now and some things I always want to remember about her right now.

(and I just remembered that I didn't do one for Jack on New Years day, so I will do that tomorrow, I promise).

• She speaks like a 4 yr old. She's always been advanced with her speech (maybe it's genetic lol) and that has just continued. .


• she runs, jumps, kicks, climbs, throws, catches* and all that fun stuff.


• she is absolutely OBSESSED with Jack. she loves him like I have never seen a child love another child. I really thought that Maria was protective of her when she was born, but that is NOTHING compared to how Sophia is with Jack.


• she eats with a spoon and fork well, however it's not exactly clean...same goes for a cup (she does it, but if we're having company or something i usually just give her a sippy so she doesnt get all excited and knock it over).


• she makes up songs and sings them all.the.time. (yesterdays went a little something like this...."happy birthday to meeee. everyone gonna sing to meee. because it's my birthdeeee.) and i hope i always remember the way she dances right now.


• she recognizes the basic shapes and colors


• she knows some letters (including "S" of course) and tries desperately to write her name.


• she speaks Spanish...neither of us have any idea what she's saying, but who cares. (she's actually doing it right now lol)


• She almost always puts her fingers in her dimples when you ask her to smile for a picture.


• she's an EXTREMELY picky eater (which I'm SURE is Gods punishment for the way I was about eating at her age...or ALL ages lol) and this includes hiding food in her cheeks and storing it for hours...or going and spitting it out in the bathroom (another one of those things that I have NO idea where she got it from....;-)**


• She's about the hungriest child ever. She asks for food CONSTANTLY and last week she finally found an answer to my question of "why are you always asking for food?". her answer..."because mommy, I'm hungry when my bodies hungry". Can't really argue with that logic (esp. when she says it while she's lifting up her shirt and rubbing her belly).***


• she likes to "call" people on her phone and she actually has a whole conversation with them that generally starts a little something like this..."hey. whats up. what are you doing? nothing? oh. ok...." and almost always leads to "when you comin over?".


• she's working on sharing and taking turns. however I think the fact that I've heard her put her barbies "in the corner" says a little something about how that's going lol


• she LOVES being read to. her favorite is "are you my mother". she asks me to read it to her daily and i do it happily because i know that it wont be long before she's reading it on her own.****


• she begs EVERY DAY to go to preschool and still gets teary when we drop Maria off at school.

• She's sooooo polite it's about the cutest thing ever. Even if I tell her no about something she STILL says "ok thanks mom".

• She's always asking people to "play twirly whirl" with her. Which pretty much just consist of each party holding one end of a string and twirling it around. But she thinks its the coolest thing ever. :D

*ok, her catching isnt exactly perfected yet, but she still tries and that's whats important.

**i know that sentence is grammatically incorrect, but I can't figure out how to fix it and still make it say what I want.

***she actually did this at the restaurant last night...gotta love her.

****she has most of it memorized already. i keep trying to get it on video and can't quite get it all for one reason or another.

christmas pics, NOT for the scrapbook

I'm not ashamed to say, I'm having a shitty day. Ohmegah...now, I'm rhyming.

Josh and I were picking at each other this morning. Then we try for the SECOND day in a row to get a family pic in front of the tree, and for the SECOND day in a row, Sophia absolutely refuses to smile, which, of course, lead to tears, tears and more tears. Ugh. TURD! It's not exactly something that happens in the blink of an eye, ya know (getting all 5 of us bathed, dressed in dress clothes, hair done, makeup done, posed, tripod up, etc., etc....). So, doing it two days in a row is a HUUUUGE PITA. So Whatthehellevah! I give up for the day. I totally understand that it's not even 5:00p, but, I'm throwing in the towel of this day. Josh just said "well, we can try again tomorrow". I really admire his sticktoitiveness. He really is the yin to my yang. lol

So this is what we ended up with...

I'm actually thinking of just sending this one out since the rest of us look good.

music to my ears

So, I'm pretty sure that my parenting skills are mildly successful. The older they get (obviously) the more things that come up. HOWEVER if you start things when they are young (like respect for everyone and everything, manners, sharing etc) they will carry over to when they are older. I know I was not the best kid when I was growing up, but I would never have spoken to my mother the way I've heard some children speak to theirs. It made me so proud to see that Maria got the highest score on "respect for others" and "respect for property" on her evaluation at school every month so far.

So, back to the point of all of this. We have been working on "taking turns" because as every toddlers knows...everything is MINE! lol. So I've sort of just eliminated the issue. If they start fighting over something, I take it. And I tell them that when they learn to take turns they can have it back. And ohmyword, I think it's actually working. It's been about two weeks (of being CONSISTENT) and this morning when I was barely opening my eyes I heard this beautiful exchange between my girls....

Maria: Today is you're turn to get the pop-tarts, Pia.
Sophia: Thanks Mia.
Maria: Yesterday was my turn, so today is your turn.
Sophia: Today is your turn to have the princess cup.
Maria: YAH! Thanks Pia!! You have the princess cup tomorrow.
Sopha: OK Mia.

It's like music to a mothers ears :D

hearing is in the ear of the beholder...

....or something like that.

We've had a few frustrations over at the McDonald household due to a "promise" I made to Sophia. It's easy to get things mixed up in a 2 yr olds head.

I say....."You can't go to Preschool until you are potty trained"
She hears...."when I get potty trained, I will get to go to Preschool."

So these last couple weeks that she's been potty trained have been frustrating for the poor girl. I keep trying to bribe her (yes, I know!). I've been buying all these books to give to them for Christmas. So the last two days, I've given her one when we get back home. Pretty soon I'm gonna run out of books! lol. So I'm looking for something to get her into, that she will see as "school". A friend of mine suggested the Library. So, I'm definitely going to look into this! It'll be especially good for her, since she is such a little reader. (which reminds me, I'll have to post the video of her "reading" her favorite book that she has memorized.)

Poor Jackson, has been working on these teeth for.ev.er. I really wish, for everyones sake, he would get them already. Drool and tears everywhere. We're gonna need a raft pretty soon ;-) lol.

AFA Maria goes, she's spectacular! Joshs aunt and cousins were in this weekend to go to the "joke", and I was soooo happy they got to come over and visit beforehand, since the kids and I weren't going. So his youngest cousin, Hannah, was teaching the girls all this sign language. I can't even remember all of it, but she did and I guess she taught it to her class yesterday at school. I was so proud of her. :D I swear, they know what they are talking about when they say "their brains are like sponges"! They remember EVERYTHING. It's so amazing to see them learn something new. Even when they are little and first standing up for the first time, like Jack. It's so awesome to see the surprise on his face when he realized what he did. I just love, love, love it! :D

the secret to potty training

I feel pretty confident sharing with you all the secret to potty training. Yes, folks, you heard right, I have the secret, after potty training two children. ;-) I know this may be hard for you to believe, but it's true. I don't know why all those pediatricians who write books never called me to ask about it, because I've been sitting at home for the last 4 1/2 years waiting. So here goes, the secret to potty training is....DON'T RUSH OR PUSH! Right around 18 months, we all start getting antsy about the amount of money we're spending on diapers or how disgusting it is to change a 2 yr olds poopy diaper (which makes no sense at all, b/c it isn't any MORE disgusting than changing a 2 month olds diaper). And we read the books and listen the Dr. who all say "any time you want to you can start potty training" and "MOST children are potty trained by age 2" (which I find to be total crap b/c I hardly know of any kids that were PT by age 2).

When it was Maria, I didn't worry as much because she was so delayed with everything else and mentally I didn't feel like she could even comprehend it. So yes, she wasn't PT until she was probably 3. And we worked on it FOR.EV.ER before that because she didn't "get it" ya know. She was spending half the day on there and if she went it was shear luck, not because she knew she had to. It was stupid. Why didn't I just wait until she was ready instead of forcing it because I was ready. Because once she was ready, it was the easiest thing ever. We took a break and went back to it and that time, she got it right away and it was fun and she felt good about herself, etc.

Which brings me to Sophia. We had tried this before with no luck. she would pee on the floor (yes, you heard right) while she was waiting to get her diaper changed. The girl COULDN'T hold it. So why on earth, did I (and everyone else) push her so hard to go on the potty? We did that for a week and I just said "no. I'm not doing this. I'm not going to spend weeks and weeks fighting with her over something so stupid" So, I just dropped it for a month. This time when I put panties on her last week...pure perfection! She came to me about a half an hour later and said "mommy, I think I need to go pee". And it's been like that ever since. I have never in my life heard of anyone having such an easy time. Yes, she's 2 1/2 (ok, more like she'll be 3 in two months...) and I've been berated by people about letting her wear diapers this long, but at the same time...THERE WERE NO FIGHTS! there was no frustration (from her OR us). It was not a struggle, it was just the natural progression of things. The way I look at it, I have enough things I need to fight with them over, I really don't want to add another. I mean, I don't advocate people waiting until the kid is in kindergarten or anything, I just think that you know your child and you know when they are able to understand certain things and I have a very hard time believing that that is at 18 months. In my opinion, it is the parents who are trained, not the child. It's like how my mom always asks Maria if she needs to go (like right after she eats, etc.). It's stupid. SHE knows if she needs to go, and SHE will tell YOU. I am not trained, she is! I can't ever remember asking Maria if she needed to go. And I have never once this week, asked Sophia if she needed to go. I have relied solely on her telling me and she hasn't had a single accident. Ok, I take that back. The very first day I forgot to put her diaper back on her for her nap and she couldn't get herself situated on the potty before she went a little bit. But otherwise, she's been golden! And I swear, I'm doing it this way for Jack too. If it's worked for 2 out of 2...it's gotta be right...right?

in case you missed it

Here's a little cuteness to brighten your day :D

and the journey begins

Yep, we're starting the inevitably tortuous journey of potty training with Sophia. Yes, I am well-aware of the fact that she is 2 1/2 yrs old and I should be positively humiliated by the fact that she STILL has never actually gone IN the toilet. Next to it, yes. In the next room, sure. Immediately following a 20 minute sitting on it, of course. But never actually IN the bowl.

I have to say that the girl has some staying power too. She is absolutely obsessed with food. If we want her to do anything we offer food (I know, I know. stop shaking your heads in disapproval). But not this. I even bought chocolate chip cookies to offer as an incentive (the small piece of candy wasn't doing the trick). But still nothing. There she sits today on the pot telling me "mommy, I don't want to be big girl like Mia and go pee on the potty! I like going pee in my diaper!" WTH!? Who would proclaim their love for such a thing? Only Pia, I suppose. hence the nickname "Pia pee pants". Cruel yes, but truthful nonetheless. I have implemented the "no diapers" method. It's a major pain in the ass for me (like I don't already have enough laundry to do), but it is the only thing that worked for Maria and it honestly didn't take too long with her.

I personally, am blaming all of my shortfalls as a mother on Maria. She was too easy. (other than nearly dying in the NICU and all). When I told her to do something, she did it. When I said something was off limits, she stayed away. When I said no to something, I never heard a word about it. She was sleeping through the night a month after she came home from the NICU, for crying out loud. I was recently watching video of her a couple days after her second birthday (she had just learned to walk and I was capturing her running 4 days after taking her first step). The door to the basement was wide open and she was standing about 6 inches from the opening because I had told her MONTHS before to not go past that line. Show me another 1 1/2 yr old that would say "ok mommy" and never go near it again.

So then we get Sophia and I act like a 15 yr old with my first child or something. I remember telling Josh one day "she said no, to me today" Josh goes "WHAT? well what did you do about that?" (like we're solving the war on terror or something) I said, "I stood there like a moron trying to figure out what just happened". That had never happened the the 3 yrs Maria had been alive. And now, here Sophia is telling me that she doesn't care if she ever gets to go to school, be a big girl, wear Dora panties or EVER get out of diapers at all. We have been joking about the fact that she can count to 10, recognize some letters, knows almost all of her shapes and colors and speaks like a 4 yr old, yet she can't seem to figure out the complex equation that is "peeing on an actual toilet". At this point we are convinced that she will be heading off to Harvard in her Depends with a travel pack of wipes in her backpack.

Well either way, wish me luck. I understand that this is an uphill battle and am totally prepared for the fact that I am totally unprepared. (again, thanks Maria ;)

shave and a haircut...two bits

IDK why, but that little diddy has been stuck in my head since yesterday....OH WAIT! I DO know why. It's probably because Maria decided it would be a good idea to chop off all of sophia's bangs sometime and somewhere this weekend. We don't have the details, but to be honest, it isn't exactly a mystery and it definitely doesn't matter. Either way, my beautiful baby, now has 1/2 inch long bangs. I'm dreading the next 6 months of them trying to grow back to a normal length. I guess family pictures are out of the question...


But, other than that, we had a nice fathers day. Todd came over and appologized for his behaviour, which was nice of him. IDK how things are going to be from now on, but at least the "fight" is over.

So after that, we went to my moms for dinner and we stopped and got her a birthday cake on the way there. It's funny how we are, as mothers. We don't expect the same things that we give others. I would never think of not getting the kids or Josh a birthday cake. But I can't remember ever having one, since I moved in with him (except for this year...but I didn't get a card or gift, so I consider it a wash). And my mom is the same way. She NEVER gets a birthday cake. I hate that for her. So I specifically stopped to get her a DQ oreo blizzard cake (DELISH BTW).

We had a good day though. Basically, we just sat around talking about people...it's what we do best lol. My Grandpa always says that "if everyone were as perfect as us, we wouldn't have to talk about them" lol. It's all in good fun though. :D

a new direction

This is going to be my attempt at ignoring everything that is going on right now. I'm going to try to blog every day this week about a positive person in my life. Todays edition is SOPHIA. (I'm doing Sophia today because I just got done saying half of this stuff last night, so I don't have to think as much today).

If I had to guess, I would say that Sophia is going to be one of the most popular kids in school. She just has that personality. She isn't phased by falling down (which is good because she does it 100 times a day) or people laughing at her (generally after she falls on her face). She's friendly with everyone. She's that kid in the grocery store telling EVERYONE about her blankie and her Gam (my mom) and how she went in the swimmy poooo yesterday. She's extremely funny and likes to be the center of attention. (as I'm reading this, I am realizing that my mom said ALL of these things about me when I was a child...).

She is pretty advanced with a lot of what she does (potty training being the exception). She speaks like a 3 yr old. She is telling stories and asking questions about everything. Some days she says things I can't believe. And sometimes she does things I didn't even know she could do. She has this hilarious voice where she says "yummy in my tummy" in an almost growl. it's so funny you'd pee your pants (if I can get her to do it today I may have an addendum tomorrow). She loves to "help" me in the kitchen and with all my chores. she will attach herself to my shirt and not let go. When she takes care of her baby doll she is so sweet and sensitive it brings tears to my eyes. I can't help it as she "supports the head" when she lays her down for a nap, then proceeds to tell everyone to be quiet "shhh my baby seeeping".

Every night I try to give her a kiss and she covers her face and wont let me. But as I'm closing the door she says "kiss me mommy! kiss me!". She would eat every single minute of the day if I let her. She's stubborn and she knows how to push everyones buttons and she loves doing it. She gets a rise out of seeing ANYONE yelling at her to "stop that!" She runs away laughing screaming "don't get me, don't get me".

She loves everyone but her clear favorites are me, my step-dad and "aunt kai" (my sisters bff). She was a screamer as a baby and she's a squealer as a toddler. I love em both. She's adventurous and curious. She's independent and strong. She loves her sister more than anything in the world and cries at the mention of her going off to school without her. I barely see the baby that was "talking" the day she came home from the NICU. Now she is a person with a personality all her own, who won't let anyone bring her down. It doesn't matter how she was feeling at the beginning of the day, if there's a party, pia is there. She will be the girl at the party trying to get everyone to dance and she will be the last to leave.