Sister Update

It's so hard for me to believe that the summer is almost over. I love the summer no matter if it's 90+ degrees every day or just mildly hot. I just love the long, sunny days, the chance to be outside, and mostly I love the thought that winter is a long way away. We've had a good summer, so I'll be sad to see it go. Mark and I felt like we saw the girls growing up a ton this summer. He'd come back from a four day trip and comment that they seemed like they changed more even in the few days he was gone. They've maintained a good relationship (for the most part), but now that Lyla can actually tell on Nina for the things she does, it's probably a much more healthy relationship. :) They both have enjoyed going to the pool, playing outside with their new friends on the street, staying up later than normal, and riding scooters around the neighborhood.

Here they are after making a "castle" in our dining room. The only thing they got help with was draping the white sheet over the chairs. Everything else they came up with. They played in there a long time actually in some imaginary world that Nina created for them.

Nina has had quite the active summer. You saw the vidoes a couple months ago just after she decided to put her face in the water at the pool, now she is a swimming fishie. She can swim almost half a length of the pool before getting tired. She swims, takes breaths, and keeps swimming until she reaches me, then she wants to turn around and swim back. She wants to do that over and over. She's made huge progress this summer at the pool. She's also zipping all over the neighborhood on her scooter. She used to ride a three-wheeled scooter, and we got her a two-wheeled one for her birthday, but it took her seeing it in the garage for about a month before she gave over to riding it. It required a lot more balance, but now she's racing around the sidewalks like a pro. She still likes having her "school time" during the day while Lyla naps, and is quite the good little student. She will start preschool this year (going three days a week) and will actually play on a little soccer team in the fall. She had been asking us about playing on a team, and this time I actually didn't miss registration. I thought I had plenty of time to look into it, clicked on the site, and saw that day was the last day of open registration - so much for thinking I was ahead of the game! She still asks questions about EVERYTHING. It can really get exhausting, and just ask my mom about trying to watch a movie with her (which she experienced in the car on the way to NC). The questions never stop. However, she's growing up so fast and is a great daughter and a good big sister. While not a baby and not completely a big girl yet, Lyla is in the land of little girl. As a baby and early toddler, she used to be so shy around others, but now she's warming up to people a bit faster. Around those she sees a lot (our friends on the street, my family, etc), she feels pretty good about playing without Mark and I in view. But if others are in the mix who she doesn't know every well, she's still much more likely to want to stay real close to where either Mark or I are at. She's also more reserved when other kids are over our house to play. However, once everyone leaves or once she's back in her comfort zone, she's running, screaming, shouting, and being a nut. She loves to be silly, and she loves to copy everything Nina does. She mimics what Nina says, her manerisms, her dance moves, etc. She also still loves to snuggle occasionally. Sometimes she'll just want you to hold her while she puts her head on your shoulder. She loves to ride Nina's old 3-wheeled scooter with the other kids on the street, and she likes climbing, swinging, and hanging at the playground. Contrary to her sister, she's pretty tough when she has a crash, scrapes her knees/ elbows, or gets any other sort of boo boo. It might be an adjustment for her this fall to see Nina get to participate in things she's not old enough to do yet (soccer & preschool), but she'll be right there before we know it!