Sister Update

It's been awhile since a Sister Update, and since I took a break from family posts last week, I thought it would be good to start the week off with one. There are a lot of things that different about Nina and Lyla, but one constant remains the love of special blankies. According to the girls, the blankies talk, have feelings, get lonely when left behind, have friends, smell stinky feet when no one else wants to, tickle them, and comfort them when they're upset. I understand completely - I was a blankie carrying girl too. I really had wanted to take a picture of Nina and Lyla together, but Nina also really wanted a chance for the blankies to have a picture together, SO... meet "blankie" and "bankie." Lyla had a pretty big week. She moved from a baby nursery into the world of big girls. Her big girl bedroom furniture arrived last week, and she has taken to it wonderfully (yeah!). As Mark was setting it all up, she kept asking me, "For me? For me?" She was very excited. She is still our shy girl in public or around others outside the family, but around the house she continues to be the comic. She was cracking up Nina and I the other day because she wanted to wear this bucket around on her head. She kept knocking into things, but since we were laughing, she kept it up. She even decided reading with a bucket on her head was a good thing.

Lyla definitely is a toddler in all sense of the word when it comes to wanting what she wants, but she also has a sensitive spirit that gets upset when she's firmly reprimanded. She learns things quickly when she has the incentive to be like her sister. For example, she has a good little golf swing now because she was copying Nina, she was potty trained before she was two because she wanted to do what Nina was doing, and she wants to ride Nina's scooter and big girl bike. Mark let her ride the scooter with help, and instead of the big girl bike, she's riding her tricycle better now.

Nina will be four in a few weeks, but it seems like she's actually going to be turning five. She is getting so tall, she is smart (but of course, I'm not at all biased), and when you have her one-on-one, she's like a little companion. The type of conversations we can have just the two of us are really a lot of fun and quite interesting. Her imagination is huge, and she loves to pretend play and plays really well with friends who like to do the same. She still loves to be dressed up and girlie, but she loves to be outside riding her scooter, climbing on anything, digging in the dirt, riding her bike, etc. She has asked us a couple times if she could play on a soccer team, so since she is the one doing the asking, we're going to try to get her on a team in the fall (if her mom doesn't miss registration again). She is strong willed and doesn't get as upset about being reprimanded initially, but we're starting to see a lot more of Nina wanting lots of hugs and love after the fact, and we are more than happy to praise and love on her for all the good things she does. We have enrolled her to start a three-day a week preschool program in the fall (just 2 1/2 hours a day) which we hope she'll enjoy for the classroom experience and socializing with other kids. I'm guessing the teacher will have a little helper on her hands. In our daily school time, Nina loves to get praised for being a good student. When I tell her that I used to be a teacher, I'm not sure if she gets it. She thinks teachers all have to wear glasses and have their hair in a bun. Not so for Mrs. Simpson! :)

We love our girls and know they are truely a gift from God.