Sophia climbing the wooden benches at the Mall
Sophia's new love - Legos!
Sophia enjoying her juice & Gerritt's shoes in Spike's doggie bed
Sophia:
- Always happy, easygoing & laughing. She can entertain herself quite easily. It could be something like falling backwards on a mattress over & over or covering her head with a blanket & then taking if off swiftly. She also loves to run away from me, especially in public places.
- Loves to climb on anything high (chair, table, tricycle). One time I found her standing on a tricycle & watching TV contently.
- Loves the Caillou cartoon & requests it often by bringing & putting a TV remote control into my hand.
- Likes to point to objects in a book & can find almost everything easily (truck, apple, banana, cat, ladybug, etc. as well as geometrical shapes like triangle, rectangle, octagon, square, circle, etc.), "Mommy, ook!"
- Knows all of her alphabet letters & points to letters wherever she sees them (in books & on letters, maps, t-shirts, etc.).
- Loves to brush her teeth & chew on her toothbrush. She often gets the toothbrush & toothpaste out & brings them to me, so I could get them ready for brushing.
- Doesn't like to sleep by herself in the dark anymore, so at bedtime we usually put her in her crib, but leave the bedroom door open so she can see the light & hear us. She will often call out, "Mommy! Daddy!" so my husband often works on his computer next to her crib. His favorite way to put Sophia to sleep is doing the ABCs ("Sophia, A!" Sophia says, "A." My husband says, "B!" Sophia responds, "B" & so on. This technique calms her down quite well).
- Started to cry recently when watching me leave, especially if I am taking Gerritt with me. She loves nothing more than to come along, & whenever she is the car, she squeals, "Wheee!"
- Prefers playing with books & puzzles (especially Legos) to dolls.
- Enjoys making a mess (like throwing little cars or puzzle pieces everywhere), but helps to clean up.
- Loves to give out kisses! My husband & I make sure to get several throughout the day.
- Is very polite. Thank you is probably her favorite word. She always remembers to thank us for everything we give to her even if it involves something ordinary or routine like a milk bottle in the middle of the night. It is the funniest thing to hear her say, "Thank you!" in the darkness when I am half asleep & can't even see where I am going. :-)
- She is obsessed with shoes & spends much time every day rearranging & trying on multiple pairs of shoes by the front door. Her favorite ones are Gerritt's brown leather shoes, rain boots & my Dansco work clogs.
In the naughty chair
Gerritt wearing his favorite outfit
Gerritt:
- Is more serious than Sophia, but loves to giggle, laugh & be goofy as often as he can.
- Is completely devoted to me & wants to spend as much time together as possible. He often checks on me in the shower & even attempts to block the front door so I won't go to work. He usually says, "We have enough money, Mommy. Mrs. Irina (our nanny) go to work, you stay home!"
- Loves to read books, especially the ones about superheroes & cars (the Transformers are his favorite toys right now).
- Has recently started to need the naughty chair (where he sits for about 3 minutes) since he loves to "help" me with disciplining Spike & Sophia by punching or kicking them. I often hear him say, "Mommy, I want you to spank Sophia!" when he sees her doing something inappropriate. I've reminded him multiple times that it's my job to discipline his sister & dog, but he somehow feels responsible for supervising everyone.
- Can understand all of our nanny's instructions in Russian, but doesn't want to speak it.
- Is a big drama queen when I am around & behaves perfectly as soon as I am out of the house. I've been known to call our nanny right after arriving to work to check on Gerritt since I was so distressed by his outpouring of emotion upon my leave.
- Loves to talk & talks contstanly, anytime & anywhere. Even though we read several books at bedtime, as soon as I turn off the lights, I always hear, "I want to talk, Mommy!" Even my Mom noticed how much he talks when visiting from Russia last time. She just couldn't understand why I would reason & explain everything to a 2-year-old child instead of just making him do what is asked (our parenting styles are a little different :-)).
- Loves to help, then get praised. He's been known to crack the eggs for my cooking, vacuum, pick up toys, fold dry laundry, unload groceries from the car, help with grocery shopping & turn on the washing machine & dryer. Sophia loves to run away from me, especially in public places like the Mall or grocery store, so Gerritt often "helps" by grabbing her hand & dragging her back to me, even if she's kicking & screaming. :-)
- Has gotten a lot better at cooperative play & sharing with Sophia. He went from ignoring her most of the time to including her in his activites. Right now, their favorite game together is building a "cake" made out of blankets, pillows & Spike's doggie bed in the middle of a living room & then jumping on top of the pile laughing hysterically.
- Still finds great comfort in his stuffed "doggie." He sleeps & snuggles with it & always takes it with him when traveling somewhere far (like grandma's house).
- Gives the biggest hugs. We have this routine of running into each other's arms when I get home from work. I yell, "Gerritt!!!" while he yells, "Mommy!!!"
I couldn't resist posting another photo of a hummingbird
Spike saying hello to our new neighbors' dog
No comments:
Post a Comment