Upside down

A few weeks ago, I came home from work after everyone else had already eaten dinner. I was sitting at the table eating when Bella toddled over. Being the smart kid she is, she pushed a chair over and proceeded to climb on to the table......all by herself. And tried to help herself to my dinner - haha! 

A bit later, Grandma and Papa stopped by and we were playing with Bella while she was still on the table when she started doing this..........

She was hilarious. She looked at me and said "Hi!" and then would get down....turn to where her back was towards the next person.....and would stand up again to where she could see them through her legs and would say "Hi!"

This kid......she's hilarious!

If walls could talk....

.....our walls would tell you some of the funniest stories about the conversations we have around here......

Olivia: "Mommy. When I throw up, I get bigger!"

Sofia: "Mommy....Bella's a baby. She likes to cry. We're big girls. We like to walk and run."

Sofia: "Daddy! I see three comets way up in the sky!"
Olivia: "No, Sofia. Those aren't comets. I believe those are airplanes."

Grandma, while helping the girls put a puzzle of the United States together: "Girls -- can you point to the state you live in?"
Girls: "Grandma -- we live on the planet Earth."

We have an app for the iPad that has pictures associated with 3-letter words and you are supposed to drag the letters to the correct box to spell the word. Olivia was playing one day and she goes "k......i........t"......"box!" (there was a picture of a first aid kit....and she was correct...it was shaped like a box - ha!)

At some point, Grandma taught the girls that when they eat all their dinner, they make a happy plate. The girls have modified that.......like when Olivia finished eating her chick fil a chicken nuggets..."Look, Mommy. I made a happy box!"

Me: "Sofia -- do you want to get your hair cut?"
Sofia: "No, Mommy. That will hurt me!"

Sofia: "Mommy, it's our turn to hide - you count to 100." and she runs away.

Then she comes back and goes "Mommy! We're going to hide behind the tree just like you!" and she runs away again - haha!

Me: "Olivia....did you know that Sofia is your twin sister? Do you know what that means?"
Olivia [shakes her head no]
Me: "It means you and Sofia were born on the same birthday."
Olivia: "But Mommy.......me and Sofia are different."

Sofia [pointing] "Daddy, what's that?"
Daddy: "Um. Uh. Um. You don't need to know about that right now."
(I should tell you that daddy was in the middle of getting dressed when Sofia had a potty emergency so he didn't make it to his pants before running with her down the hallway. Notice I said pants......not underwear.....pants!)

D:"Have you seen the (whatever brand of cold medicine he was looking for)? I thought we had some here."
Me: "We don't have any more of that, but there's another kind in the cabinet."
D:"Yeah. I'm going to take that one when I go nie-night."
Me: "Um. What?"

And! If our walls could talk, they would also tell you about all kinds of hugging going on around here.........

(I love the way Bella is looking at Sofia here!)

Although sometimes.......hugs aren't quite welcome!

A nice chat with Sofia

So. It's been a while, hasn't it? Work has been crazy busy and we have another couple of weeks....but I'll try to pop in when I can and soon enough we'll be back to our regularly scheduled program. In the meantime, I wanted to give you a peek at what Sofia and I talk about in the morning. And to show you that the "Why?" stage has begun.

Just this morning, Sofia was sitting in the bathroom with me while I was getting ready for work....

Sofia: "Mommy...what you doing?"

Mommy: "I'm putting on my make-up."

S: "Why you putting on make-up?"

M: "So I won't look so tired."

S: "But why you look so tired?"

M: "Because I've been working really late this week."

S: "Mommy.....why you been working really late this week?"

M: "Because we're really busy at work."

S: "But. Why you really busy at work?"

M: "Because, sweetie, [insert name of client here] has to file their 10K with the Securities and Exchange Commission by the end of August and we have a lot of work to get done before then."

......crickets and big brown eyes looking at me.....

S: "Oooooh."

Learn to tell time, ladies

So I'm laying in bed. Sleeping. And I hear little voices in the hallway. I open my eyes and the first thing I notice is that it's still dark. Really dark. 4:30am dark. I get out of bed and catch the girls half way down the stairs and for the next 20 minutes, we have the following conversation. (Don't worry. I'm skipping some parts so it's not 20 mins worth)

Me: "Girls! What are you doing?"

Olivia: "Mommy. We have to pee pee potty downstairs."
Sofia: "We have to go downstairs, Mommy!"

Me: "No - we can pee pee in the potty in the bathroom by your room."

So they come back upstairs and we hit the potty. I wasn't surprised by Sofia being up and around, but Olivia never gets out of bed. So Olivia goes to the potty and while we're sitting there with Sofia, who is now on the potty, we continue talking.

O: "Mommy. We're thirsty. We need something to drink. We can't stop coughing."
S: "We need something to drink, Mommy. We like water!"

Me: "You do? Okay. I'll get you some water. But can we please use our quiet voices because Bella and Daddy are still sleeping and we don't want to wake them up."

S: "We can't wake them up, Mommy? We not wake Daddy and Bella up."
O: "Sofia! We have to use our quiet voice."

(Do I even have to tell you they're practically yelling at eachother?)

Me: "Sofia - are you finished?"

S: "Not yeeh-ehhht."
O: "Mommy, Sofia's not finished. She not done yet. But. We're thirsty. We need water."
S: "Mommy. It's really dark outside. Is the sun hiding behind the clouds?"

Me: "No, honey. Actually. The sun is still sleeping."

S:" The sun is sleeping? The moon is still awake?"

Me: "Yes. The sun is sleeping which means you should be sleeping too. We all should be sleeping. Now can you please finish so we can go back to bed?"

S: "Not yeeh-ehhht, Mommy. Not yeeh-ehhht."

So we continue this banter talking about how the sun is sleeping with Bella and Daddy. I finally get them back in bed. It's now close to 5am.

The funniest part, though, is later this morning D went upstairs to get the girls up. They were awake but still laying in their beds.

S: "Daddy.....the sun wake up? We can go downstairs now?"

Hahahahaha. Good strategy to keep them in bed, eh? We have to be careful, though. These are some smart kiddos we have and the whole "sun is still awake" thing could come back to bite us in the hiney when we try to get the girls in bed when it's still light outside - hahaha!

Thankfully, Bella stayed asleep..........................and it's no wonder she's not hearing anything when she's sleeping like this......
Oh yes. She's totally sleeping in this picture. No, no. I didn't take a picture this morning.....but I did take it recently because, for the life of me, I can't understand how she sleeps like this! I've tried to turn her head to the side, but she moves it right back.

Have you met Little?

Remember when I told you Sofia had to call me at work because her puppy just had to talk to me? I don't think I've ever introduced you to Little, have I? How rude of me and Sofia would be quite upset if I didn't share her favorite pet.....er.....toy with you.

So! Not making you wait a second longer, I present to you..............................Little!

Sofia absolutely loves this dog and for the life of me I can't remember where we got it. But she takes that little dog (ah. the secret is out as to how Little got his name!) e.v.e.r.y.w.h.e.r.e. and often times Little has to do everything Sofia does. Like eat. Or talk on the phone. Or use the potty. And heaven forbid we can't locate Little when it's time to go to bed. That silly dog always seems to be running off somewhere - hahaha!

Oh, and what's really funny is when she decides she's going to put Little in her pocket.......which actually means she puts him in the front of her shirt with his head sticking out of her shirt collar. Yeah -- we get some laughs for that one when we're out and about and Little just can't wait in the car!

D and I just shake our head and laugh at how attached Sofia is to Little!

I wanna call Mommy

So I just got back from lunch and saw I had missed a call from home. Of course I call back.

Sofia answers the phone making some kind of noise. I hear D talking in the background so I ask Sofia to give Daddy the phone.

D gets on the phone and goes "Sofia wanted to call you at work and talk like a puppy."

Ahhhh. Now I get it. I must tell you that Sofia's favorite toy right now is this little stuffed puppy -- very little. Who is, appropriately, named Little. Apparently she's all about puppies right now.

So Sofia gets back on the phone and barks at me a few times. Whimpers. Then hands the phone back to D.

As he's coming back to the phone I hear "Awww, man!" and then to me "Now she's licking me!"

I love my crazy kids!!

Time to get naked

Oh yes. You read that correctly. Although we are quite proud of the fact the girls are learning how to dress……well……undress themselves, I don’t think either of us were prepared for the girls to, all of a sudden, “no like the clothes”. To quote Sofia.

The other day, D sends me a picture of Olivia and Sofia. Standing in the family room watching tv. Naked. Well – Sofia was wearing a tiara. And there were clothes and diapers all over the floor. I totally laughed out loud...........and may have shared it with my co-workers.

D tells me about chasing Sofia around the house with clothes in one hand and a diaper in the other hand. “I no like the clothes!!”. How cute, right?! The down side to that is when they took their clothes off during nap time. Did I mention we’re not there yet with the potty training? Mmm hmm. Enough said.

So! Sounds like fun, no?!?!!! And since I do have some boundaries, I would never put up those pictures that made me laugh so hard at work......so how about a different one. Taken on Friday morning. You know…..during the royal wedding. Olivia was totally in the spirit and I must say she’s quite the candidate for Princess, no?!!!

You're hiding? Really?; aka...How dare you post without pictures

So D calls me at work yesterday and he's laughing.......he tells me he was playing hide & seek with the girls. The big girls. Because how can Bella find a hiding place if she can't walk. Or crawl. Or even knows what hiding is.

By the way. I can't stop myself from using "the girls" for Olivia and Sofia. I'm sure you can usually tell when I mean O&S versus all 3 girls...so excuse me for the confusion. If there is any. And I promise I'll tell you if Isabella has turned into super baby and is actually included with "the girls" for something you're just certain has to be Olivia and Sofia........

But I digress. Moving on!

So he's playing hide & seek with the girls and he tells them to hide while he counts. They run off to our front living room and when he goes to look for them, he finds them on the couch. Olivia is laying face down on the couch and Sofia is sitting up with her eyes closed. HA! I think it's so awesome how little kids think they can close their eyes and everything around them disappears.

I'm sure D is now on a mission to teach them to hide better. I just hope he doesn't teach them too well! We've already had a few instances where, all of a sudden, we realize that we're missing a kid. We know they're in the house (our doors are set to beep through the alarm system when one of them is opened, and we would definitely notice that. That's a pretty great feature, btw) but still...they're missing. We usually find them in a closet just standing there quietly. Well except for Olivia. You can usually call her name and she goes "Yeeesssss?!" - haha. And we did find Sofia "hiding" in the pantry once. She was so worn out from all that hiding that she needed to help herself to the miniature chocolate bars left from Halloween that were in there. When I opened the pantry door, there she stood with wrappers in her hands and chocolate on her face.

"Mommy...I hiding!"
Mmmmhmmmm.....and you're eating, too!

One of these things.....

......is not like the other. One of these things......just doesn't belong...........
I was going through my gazillion pictures looking for ones to load to my digital picture frame and I came across a few I had forgotten about. Including this one. Funny, no? Yeah. You're laughing, too. Unless, of course, you don't know which one doesn't belong.........hmmm.

So we're back to the swing of things. It's week 3 of work for me and I'm thankful that my evenings haven't been too late. I expect that to change. Like tomorrow. But that's okay. I mean I did take almost half a year off. Ahem.

So the girls are saying the funniest things lately. Sometimes it's just funny because it sounds so.....adult coming from their little mouths. I thought I'd share:

"Mommy.....I can't fly either. I don't have wings." (Olivia as we were watching an airplane flying across the sky).

"Mommy - I love medicine!" (Sofia) "Mommy! I love medicine, too! I need more medicine!" (Olivia)

"Mommy - you going shopping?" (as I'm leaving for work.) "No, sweetie, I'm going to work." "I gotta go work, too!" (Sofia)

"Andra......are you Mommy?" (Olivia)

"I'm a princess!" (Says Olivia as I'm getting her dressed). "Sofia's not a princess." (oh my...is it starting that soon??!!)

"Mommy, I so pretty!" (Sofia)

"Look......these are my coke-y dots" (says Olivia about the polka dots on her shirt)

"I need another shopping" (both girls after we were in the car from leaving the mall)

"What's the friends doing?" (both girls call any group of people friends)

"Guys! Guys! What you doing here?" (Sofia)

"Olivia - stop screaming, please." (Sofia)

"Mommy......I wanna go time out!" (Sofia. I guess we need to find another method of discipline)

"Where's my Livie?" (Sofia waking up from a nap and not seeing Olivia in her bed)

And finally: The girls were playing and I heard Sofia say "Oh my God!" I have no idea where she got that because neither D nor I say that around them (and I'm hoping not at all!). So I said to the girls "We don't say that. We say 'oh my goodness'". A few days later, Sofia says it again and before I can say anything to her, Olivia goes "No, Pia, we don't say 'Oh my God', we say oh my goodness" and Sofia goes "Yes, Livie, I say oh my goodness." "Oh my goodness!"

Say Uncle!

We've had such a great day today. These past few weeks have been filled with whines and melt-downs....such is life with 2-year olds, I guess, but today was a really good day. It's days like this that make me really sad to have to go back to work. Not just the normal sadness at the thought. And we didn't even do anything spectacular.....the girls are getting taller and although their pants still fit in the waist, they truly do look like they're waiting for a flood. (Can I just tell you....they're...well they were....still wearing 18 mos pants. My almost-three-year-olds. Well - 2 years, 8 mos and 6 days, but who's counting, right?! 18 mos pants!) So we headed to the store and found some great deals on pants. I love a bargain- - especially when you're buying 2 of everything! The girls were sitting nicely in the cart saying "Hi" to everyone who walked by. When we were paying at the register, the cashier handed us our bags and Olivia looks at me and says "Thank you for my clothes, Mommy!" I'm not even kidding. Totally unprompted. Melt.My.Heart!

Afterwards we went for a late lunch and met Uncle A who is home on leave from Iraq. The girls have been so funny -- when I told them Uncle A would be home yesterday, they spent the rest of the day asking where he was....was he here. When he got to our house, they turned all shy. Sofia finally warmed up almost before Uncle A left and as he was walking out to his car, Olivia came tearing down the hallway going "Where's Uncle A's going?!?!" The warm-up period took much less time today!

And here's where the story turns into a fairy tale.......as we were sitting at the table eating, Olivia (who was rubbing her eyes) says "Mommy....I wanna take a nap!" And the heavens opened with rays of rainbows and the angels sang. Neither of the girls ever ask to take a nap. I had to resist the urge to throw all of our food in a take-home box and run for home. Had it not been for the stern look I got from D as I went to yank the sandwich out of his hands, we really would have been outta there - haha!

So anyway -- as you can see just a regular day where everyone was happy and well behaved. They're usually very happy. If you could see the hilarity in the evenings around here. Case in point..........
This is Sofia. Proving she is, indeed, the big sister!!

Ya can't make this stuff up, people

I love where we live. I really do. I grew up here and although I initially had not planned to move "back home", I hope we get to raise our kids here.

But sometimes......you just gotta shake your head at people. I mean really.

Today Isabella and I made a trip to our discount store and it was way more interesting than I expected. I was getting Bella's stroller out of the back of the car - I was aware there was a car behind me but I didn't think anything of it - and I hear a lady ask me if I was leaving. She was stalking my pretty fantastic parking space......but I was so confused because I was wondering what was wrong with all the empty ones that were just a few spaces past me. It was a pretty nice day today......walk just a little, people!

So we're heading inside and although it's a pretty nice day, it's still winter. I mean....40 and sunny is nice compared to the 20 and snow we had the other week, right? So you can imagine my surprise when I see a kid wearing a t-shirt and sandals. While (I'm assuming) her parent is all bundled up....fleece, hat..the works. I totally get that you have to pick your battles with kids....but I'm thinking I'd fight that battle pretty hard....or we'd be staying home. Yeah....I totally judged.

We get closer to the entrance and I'm marveling at how the couple saying goodbye to eachother managed to both fit on the moped they were standing next to. They're average sized people....I just never thought of a moped as a 2-person mode of transportation. That had to be a scary ride for the person hanging off the back. My pondering was interrupted when I realized that she was kissing him while he had a cigarette hanging out of the side of his mouth. I've never seen that before. I must really have no talent.

We make it inside and I realize that my shopping partner has fallen asleep under all the blankets. And you have to see just how she was sleeping.......

Classic, right?!!

So we're wandering and I hear "Oh what a sweet little baby! What is his name?" I'm surprised at how often this happens.....but I'm always polite because let's face it....I love showing off my kids! So I smile and say "Her name is Isabella"......and she coos at her for a few seconds more and, as she's walking away, says "He sure is a cute one."

I'm telling you....you can't make this stuff up, people!

How could I possibly forget.....

In my last post I said there wasn't much to report. Well.....there's still not much to report, but I did forget a (now) funny story that happened last night.

So we have *this* monitor for Bella's room......we used it for the girls. I loved it then and I love it now. I'm sure there's some false sense of security involved, but I'll take even the slightest bit of peace of mind. And it's no worse than not having any kind of monitor at all, right?

Anyhow. So early this morning as we were sleeping soundly, the monitor went off. There's a sensor pad under the mattress that's so sensitive it detects the movement from Isabella's body breathing while she's sleeping. The sensor is under the center of the mattress and it doesn't reach the extreme edges of the mattress. The funny (now) part is my reaction when the alarm went off (I did this with the girls, as well) --- the beeping starts and I manage to jump 5 feet in the air and land on my feet on the floor (very cat-like, no? and I hate cats).....stumbling to our bedroom door before I even get my eyes open. By this time I've bruised myself on whatever was in my way....oh - and the monitor has stopped beeping, too.

I've yet to lose my footing and hit the ground during my sleepy dash through the bedroom door, but there was this time with the big girls when, allegedly, I was beating up on D to beat him out of the bedroom door. I say allegedly because I was asleep.....and he could be making up anything - haha!

So anyway. Nothing earth-shattering or even that juicy, but if you know me hopefully you've gotten a chuckle from the mental image of me flying through the door. Oh. And this morning, our little angel had managed to scoot herself to the very bottom of her bed and turn herself sideways. Who knew!

Oh. And it just occurred to me that this whole experience, each time that monitor goes off in the middle of the night, is double for D.......the surprise of the monitor and then I'm sure I scare the crap out of him when I do my acrobatic leap out of bed. Poor guy!

I spy.....with my little eye.....something that is

I would like to introduce you to:

Brown

and Yellow.

Do I need to tell you how Brown and Yellow got their names?!?!! Here's the thing. How do you explain adjectives to a 2-year old?? "Mommy......me have my Brown." "Oh. You want your brown doll?" "Yes - I want my brown." We go through this with everything -- and you can imagine how it gets to be a game when we have no clue what they're talking about. It's like a big ole' game of I Spy. Where the adult rarely wins - ha!

S or O:"Mommy -- me have my blue!"

Mommy: "Your blue what? Your blue cup?"

S or O:"No - me have my blue!"

Mommy:"Your blue shirt?"

S or O:"ME HAVE MY BLUE!!!"

Mommy: "How about we have a cookie?"

Aaaaaand the game promptly ends. Until they want something that's another color - ha!

And btw......aren't Brown and Yellow too cute? They're actually baby Snow White and baby Cinderella.

A chat with Sofia

I had the following conversation with Sofia the other night when we were getting out of the car to go to the mall. I can't tell you how hilarious it was -- there was no stopping her. This whole conversation took place in a very short time.......I kept thinking "Is she ever going to take a breath??!!"

Sofia: "Mommy - what you doing?"
Mommy: "I'm unbuckling your seat belt."
S: "You unbuckle your seat belt?"
M: "Yes ma'am."
S:"Mommy - what you doing?"
M:"I'm unbuckling Olivia's seat belt."
S:"Livie - Mommy unbuckle your seat belt. Mommy - I need help you get down."
S:"Mommy - what's Daddy's doing?"
M:"Daddy's getting Bella out of the car so we can go shopping."
S:"Daddy's getting Bella's out of car. Mommy - we go shopping?"
M:"Yes -we're going into the mall."
S:"Mommy - I ride in stroller."
M:"Yes -you can ride in the stroller."
S:"Mommy - I ride in stroller?"
S:"Mommy - you drop keys?"
M:"Yes, honey, I dropped the keys."
S:"Mommy - you pick 'em up?"
M:"Yes - I picked the keys up."
S (as she sees a group of people walking across the parking lot): "Hi friends! Mommy - what's the friends doing?"
M:"It looks like they're talking."
S:"Mommy - the friends are talking?"
M:"Yes the friends are talking."
S (to the group of people again):"Hi friends!"

By this time we're starting to walk to the mall and she's still going

S (as an older lady walks in front of us): "Hi Nana! Mommy - that's a Nana?"
M:"She could be somebody's Nana, but she's not your Nana."
S (as an older gentleman walks in front of us): "Papa! Mommy - it's Papa?"
M:"That's not your Papa, sweetie."
S:"Mommy - I love goldfish. I love juice."

I was laughing so hard at her --- it was like rapid-fire conversation that was all over the place! And just so you know -- Nana is my grandmother - Sofia's great-grandmother. The girls think every older lady with salt & pepper hair is "a Nana." We were eating lunch at D's mom's restaurant one day and an older lady walked in and was standing fairly close to where we were sitting and one of the girls, I think it was Olivia, goes (in a very loud voice) "Hey! It's a Nana!"

Miss Sofia is quite the Chatty Cathy, isn't she??!!!

You don't say......

Wanna hear some toddler-driven conversations we've had lately? You must....but first - check this out:

Funny, right?!? I don't remember what I was doing, but I noticed it was fairly quiet and this is what I saw when I walked into the family room. Hilarious!

Okay.....so. For the recent conversations we've had.

Me: "Okay girls - let's put your shoes on to go bye-bye."
Olivia: "No thanks. I stay here."
Me: "Um. Well - you have about 15 more years before you can stay here when Mommy and Daddy leave."
________________________________

Me: "Livie, are you feeling okay?"
Olivia: "Yes, Mommy, I happy."
________________________________

Sofia: "RRRAAAAAAARRRR! Mommy - I scare Bella!"
________________________________

Sofia (to anyone other than me or D who is holding Bella): "Hey.....that's Mommy's Bella!"
"Mommy - is that your Bella?"
Mommy: "Yes, sweetie, that's Mommy's and Daddy's and Olivia's and Sofia's Bella."
Sofia: "Mommy can I hold it?"
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Olivia: "Mommy - I no change-a diaper anymore."
Me: "Oh really? You're not changing your diaper anymore?"
Olivia: "No. No change-a diaper anymore."
Sofia: "Mommy - I not pee-pee anymore."
Me: "Oh wow. Are you sure?"
Olivia & Sofia: "I sure."
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Mommy: "Come on girls, let's go play."
Olivia: "Mommy, I tired. I lay down."
Mommy: "Oh then we better go upstairs and take a nap."
Olivia (jumping up from the couch): "Mommy! I not tired anymore!"
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Heard over the monitor one morning:

Sofia: "Livie - you want Mommy?"
Olivia: "No - I want Daddy."
Sofia: "Livie - is Daddy take a shower?"
Olivia: "No. Daddy not take a shower."
Sofia: "Livie - is Daddy at work?"
Olivia: "No. Daddy not work."
Sofia: "Livie - is Daddy pee-pee potty?"
Olivia: "Yes. Daddy pee-pee potty. Pia - I want Mommy."
________________________________

Also heard over the monitor one day:

Sofia: "Livie - catch!"
Olivia: "Okay, Pia, I catch."
[BAM]...apparently there was a real golf ball in their room. Thank goodness Olivia hasn't learned to catch something that small. And that Sofia's aim isn't that great either.
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Sofia: "Mommy......I love toast. I love cupcakes. I love Grandma. I love moon. I love crayons. I love story. I love school. I love birthday cake. I love stars."
Mommy: "Okay....but what do you want for breakfast?"
________________________________

and finally.......

Sofia: "Look Mommy! I cwapping!"
Mommy: "You're what?" Sofia: "I cwapping!"
Mommy: "Ooooohhhh. Sweetie, we've got to work on your L's"

(it goes without saying that Sofia doesn't actually know the word it sounded like she was saying!)

They definitely keep us on our toes!!!

A new nickname....

I'm thinking Rooster........what do you think??
Olivia has always had the craziest hair when she wakes up in the morning. It's hilarious and I have no clue how she does it. It's so much that when we are going out, I usually have to re-wash her hair in the morning (or at least soak her hair) and dry to make it look presentable. If we're staying home....we run a brush through it when we can catch her - haha!

We're counting down the days to Christmas.....the girls don't really "get" Christmas (the true meaning or the other part), but they are quick to recognize Santa. A funny story-- the other day we met my mom, sister and Carter at one of the home improvement stores that was having a Christmas activity for the kids.......you walked in and Santa was waiting there and then the kids went to the different departments and got candy and other prizes. It was cute.

So we stop to see Santa and Carter went first. After Carter's turn, we walked the girls to him and, like last time, they didn't want to have anything to do with Santa. So they stood there with us and Santa was talking to the girls. When he asked the girls if they had been good this year, they didn't answer. So Carter spoke up.......he goes "Yeah....they've been good. Well.....they've been whiny sometimes."

Hilarious, right??!!!

Says Sofia.....

I was listening to Sofia count today.....

31, 32, 33.......and as she was counting I'm thinking to myself "I didn't realize she knew about the 30's -- I thought we were still trying to get her to stop skipping 16, 17 and 18 on her way to 20"....

37, 38, 39, 30-10, 30-11.....30-16, 30-17, 30-18, 30-19, 30-20!

Hey.....at least she didn't skip 16, 17 and 18!!!

My Daddy! My Daddy!

The girls are big in to ownership these days.......

"Mommy, is that Sophie's blanket?" (Oh yes - and Sofia has taken to calling herself 'Sophie'.....Sofie??)
"That's Livie's seat"
"No, no, Pia -- that's mine!"
"Is that Mommy's baby?"

And most recently, they've been having conversations about whose Mommy and Daddy it is.
"Is that Sophie's Daddy?"
"Is that my Mommy?"

I heard them over the monitor the other morning talking to eachother and Sofia would say "I want my Daddy." Then Olivia would say "I want my Mommy." Then they would switch.

But let's be honest here.......when it comes down to it, it's still really all about Daddy. If I had a dollar for every time I've heard "My Daddy, my Daddy!!" just today.....I wouldn't have to go back to work in February. I'm serious.

So here's a funny story. I went to pick up the girls from MMO this afternoon without D -- it's the first time I've ever picked them up by myself. As I was walking down the hall towards their classroom, the kids were coming out of the classroom to sit by their backpacks. When the girls saw me they started running towards me saying "Mommy! Mommy!".....but they stopped just short of me, looked past me and one of them said "Where's my Daddy??"

I told them that Daddy was home with Isabella and started getting their coats on to go home. So Miss Olivia goes and sits down next to her backpack and says "I wait for my Daddy." Ha! So I had to explain to her that she would be waiting a very long time for her Daddy.......or she could get in the car and go home with Mommy. Seriously!!!!! So she gets up and points down the hall and says "I go this way" and as she's passing by her teachers, she stops and says "Bye Miss XXX, bye Miss XXX. I see you later!"

Hilarious!

And now for some sweetness.......although the girls fight quite a bit with eachother on some days, on most days they're very sweet with eachother. I took this picture the other day when they laid down together to catch an episode of.......guess who.

Love love love those girls!

Says Sofia.........

Me: "Are you ready for your baby sister?"


Sofia: "No baby sister, but I love ice crean!"

I stand corrected

We have tons of flash cards with all kinds of things -- numbers, letters, animals, household objects, etc. etc. and the girls love them. We don't keep them in the toy box because they would be all over the house all the time, but the girls know exactly where we keep them (and, conveniently, they're just out of reach. Smart Mommy.). Usually they stand in front of where the cards are kept and we'll hear "Mommy.....do cards?" There's a box that one of the sets of cards came in and they each get a part of the box because when they name the card, they like to put the card in the box top. This entertainment is usually good for at least 30 mins of entertainment. In toddler time, that's like hours - ha!

I must admit - when I'm going through the cards with both girls at the same time, I'll pick the cards they get based on the cute way they say the words. I can't help it -- I know they'll stop that soon enough, but it's so darn cute I can't stand it!! And they each have their own different words: pista (pizza), pomato (tomato), ice crean, e-wanna (iguana) --- Sofia; crock-dials (crocodile), tee-VEE (television), biolin (violin), snowbaby (snowman) --- Olivia. Cute, right??!!

The other night I was going through the cards with Olivia and she turned the tables on me. She started showing me cards and saying "Mommy, whassat?" So I would name the cards. When I would get them right, I would get a "Good job, Mommy!" or "Thas wight, Mommy!" and when I would get them wrong, I'd get "Nooooooooo. Thas not XXXX, thas a YYYY!" You can guess how we respond with right and wrong answers, right?!!!

She was so funny -- I had been getting several animals wrong and she'd finally had enough. (Insert big sigh from Olivia) "No, Mommy, thas not bison........look - thas CROCK-DIALS!" And then she was finished doing cards with me - hahahaha! Well then. I stand corrected.