ALLIE
She continues to be a total daddy's girl. Matt and Allie have this amazingly special relationship and like one of my friend's said about her daughter's relationship with her daddy...when Matt is around "I do not exist"
She LOVES golfing - definitely her favorite outdoor activity to do. I'm sure that just maybe it has a little to do with the fact that her daddy loves golf too :) but this kid really does love it and she's actually getting really good at it too!
She loves preschool and is doing really, really well in it. Her teachers just love her (and Allie loves her teachers) and say that she is a 'dream student' - music to my ears :) Her best friend at school is another really sweet girl which her teachers say is really a testiment to her character - 'good' girls ususally flock to 'good' girls. I pray this continues throughout her school years!
Every time I drop her off somewhere (preschool, church, etc) or I leave she demands I give her 'hugs and kisses' first :)
She is soooo smart. I know I'm her parent and I see her through 'mommy goggles', but really, she is so bright, loves to learn and learning is really easy for her. Some of the things that she knows and tells me just blows my mind.
She is such a sweet big sister. Everyone always told me that the older sibling makes the youger sibling tough because the older one beats up on the younger one, but that is NOT true in our house. Sienna terrorizes Allie way more! Allie is (usually) so sweet and easygoing, the girls really do not fight all that much. Allie always looks out for Sienna and is so helpful with her.
She continues to be a ridiculously picky eater. We are continually working on it and using some new strategies and tactics. She is a VERY healthy eater, she just doesn't have a large variety of foods that she eats and does NOT like to try new things. But by the time this kid turns 4 I am determined to get her to eat pizza and ice cream!!!
She's the perfect combo of girly girl and tomboy. She loves getting her nails painted, twirling in dresses and dressing up, but she also loves to play sports, dig in the backyard and use her tools.
She is an awesome swimmer. We are still doing swim lessons which have totally paid off because she can completely swim on her own. She can jump into a pool, get onto her back and backfloat for a long time, then swim forward some more, then flip back onto her back again and backfloat - all completely on her own. It's pretty awesome and she loves it.
Her nickname has become Minnie - not as in Minnie Mouse (although she does LOVE Minnie Mouse), it is because she is a 'mini' Matt. She is constantly following Matt around and wants to do everything that he does. As I said above, she is his little shadow whenever he is around. And also talking to Matt's parents, behavior-wise she acts so similar to the way that he did when he was little. Matt loves having his little Minnie around :)
She has super long gorgeous light brown hair, almost to her bottom - I just LOVE doing her hair everyday and she is really good about letting me.
Her favorite TV shows are Bubble Guppies and Mickey Mouse Clubhouse and her favorite movies are Finding Nemo and Toy Story 2.
Allie is sweet, caring and kind. She cares about other people's feelings sometimes more than her own. She loves to laugh, play and spend time with her family more than anything.
SIENNA
She continues to be a total MOMMY'S girl (Matt and I are lucky that we each have one:) She STILL cries when I leave a room, drop her off at church or drop her off at MOPS.
She is a cuddler - BIG time! I can't even count the number of times a day that she comes over to me to lay on me or lay her head on my shoulder when I'm holding her. It is the best thing in the world. I rock her every night (not to sleep, just when we are getting ready for bed) and she'll just lay on me while we sing and pray. Oh it melts my heart.
She's still a total paci addict. We are really trying to stick with the rule that she only gets her paci in bed or in the car but this kid always manages to sneak one downstairs or find one hidden somewhere - I'll look over in the middle of the day and she's got one in her mouth! It's going to be a tough habit to break but I'm sooooo glad we've had it for this long because I think I would have died if she didn't take one!
She continues to be a spirited (aka, feisty) little girl. She's been getting a lot better and easier lately, I think she's turning the corner with some of her behaviors which is nice and she's definitely happy the majority of the time (which wasn't the case months ago). She's so sweet and happy but if something doesn't go her way - WATCH OUT!
She has SO many words! (And I'm not talking about just repeating words - because she will repeat anything we say. These are words that she totally knows) Everyone always told me that the second child usually talks much later than the first, but I'm not sure if that's the case with my girls. The difference is that Allie's words were incredibly clear from the beginning, you always knew exactly what she was saying. Sienna is a little bit more difficult to understand. I think this has helped a lot with her spirited-ness because now we can communicate much better with each other. My very favorite is when I put her to bed I say "I love you" and she says in her sweet little voice "wuv woo" :) Also, instead of saying the word 'yes', she always just says 'uh huh', it is pretty funny.
She loves books and loves to be read to. She constantly brings me books and then backs up to sit in my lap - it's so cute :)
She's a decent eater, not as picky as Allie but still not the greatest. Guess I'm just never going to have one of those kids who will 'eat anything'. Oh well, you win some, you lose some :)
She LOVES her big sister and is in the total copying phase. Almost anything that Allie is doing, Sienna wants to do too. It's so cute to see Sienna mimic Allie.
She has 12 teeth - the 4 middle top ones, 4 middle bottom ones and 4 molars.
She is a pooping machine - this kids poops 3-4 times a day. I suppose it's better than the alternative!
Her hair is NOT growing!!! I swear it looks the same as it did when she was 6 months old. It's gotten thicker and she has these little curls in the back that are pretty long but for the most part is not longer than an inch (this is so hard for me since at the point Allie's hair was so long already!) It's probably a blessing in disguise that I don't have to do 2 girls' hair every morning (but I'm still praying for it to grow...fast! ha)
Sienna is sweet and spunky all in one. She is very independent but also very attached to the ones she loves and feels comfortable with. Her sweet smile is contagious and she has the best facial expressions that just crack us up.
Aside from my wonderful hubby, these girls are the loves of my life! I just can't believe how big they are getting but I am loving every minute!
