Our little mermaid

Over the summer, we took Izzy to our neighbor's pool almost every day. Izzy has always loved the water but was very afraid to put her face in the water. Over the course of the summer, her fears began to subside (thanks to some mommy and daddy directed aversion therapy) and by the end of the summer, she became a full fledged swimmer. No floaties necessary. So proud.

Camping In

The last few weeks of summer vacation, Izzy developed a passion for making pallets and tents inside the house. She's constantly making little pallets for her babies. As a special reward for being such a good girl, she and Sean built a tent in the living room and had a camp in (instead of a camp out). We ate popcorn and watched a movie together. Sean and Izzy even ended up falling asleep under the tent but I had to retreat to my comfy cozy bed.

Oatmeal Face

As expected, Luke is a voracious eater. He gobbles up anything we give him.

Izzy's first play date

I took Izzy for her first play date today. We met her friend Mia at the park. The girls were so excited to see each other since they hadn't seen one another all summer. They played on the playground, splashed in the water area and then enjoyed some popsicles. They had such a great time and were so adorable together.

Luke's Walkabout

I was poking around in the attic yesterday afternoon and couldn't believe how many forgotten baby toys/entertainers we had hidden up there. I'm always looking for that perfect something to hold Luke's attention so that I don't have to hold him 24/7. I got Izzy's old walker down and assembled it this morning. Thought we'd give it a go. To my surprise, he's not quite tall enough yet to touch the floor but thankfully, he has a helpful and eager sister who's been dying to play something with her little brother. He seemed to really enjoy it. Of course the best part was being escorted around by Izzy who tells him so sweetly, "Come on, little one, I'll push you." Could she get any sweeter?

Crafts

Izzy and I had one of those perfect mother daughter days together yesterday. We started off with a little light shopping followed up with a visit to a dance studio to inquire about lessons. She's been talking a lot about wanting to take dance lessons so I figured we'd check it out. The place we visited wasn't exactly what I was looking for so we'll continue our search but I have a few places in mind as long as it's not too pricey. After returning home, and her nap, we played outside together and then did some crafts inside. We decided to make a caterpillar. Luke spent a lot of his time with Sean and they seemed to have worked through their differences. He's been very good to his daddy since my last post. Consistency and persistence go a long way. It was a great day for all of us.

Izzy's craft caterpillar.

And then there was silence...

A few weeks ago, Isabella started nestling a few of her dolls in her bed with her to sleep with. As the days went by, her collection grew and grew. Don't quite understand why she does some of the things she does. I can't decide if I view this as adorable or just weird...perhaps a mixture of the two. This kind of thing is what makes her even more endearing to me. Not sure where she's going to sleep in the next few weeks as there probably will not be any room for her. Sean snapped this picture last night of our sleeping angel and all her "snuggle buddies."

And a shot of a quiet Luke...a cherished thing lately. He's learned that if he screams and cries as loud as he can, eventually he'll get what he wants--mommy. He's become so attached to me to the point of isolating himself from his daddy (which of course is terribly frustrating for Sean who is a very involved daddy). Luke ONLY wants me to hold him. I can spot separation anxiety when I see it so I've been trying to ignore my mommy instincts and let him cry it out. Tried it yesterday afternoon and he cried for over an hour until I finally sent Sean in to soothe him. I was hoping just having someone get him would calm him and he'd be so relieved that Sean got him he'd stop crying. No such luck. Just made him angrier. After some more time, it was then time to feed him again so I guess he won that battle. I'm not giving up though because in a few weeks, he'll be with the babysitter and I'm terrified he'll do the same thing for her and drive her nuts. I know this behavior can be reshaped but boy is it painful to listen to him cry. It goes against all my motherly instincts. And he's an angry crier...very different from his sister. Wish us luck, for all our sakes. And of course, we're open to any pearls of wisdom.