Seoul Swims Again

Here are the pictures of Seoul's second swim session this summer. [May-June] She decided she didn't want to do any more this year. I want her to remember it as fun so I agreed. We'll go again next year. I think she is more comfortable in the water, which was the goal.

The final little collage is Sydney's cute little face as she plays while watching Seoul.

Sydney's half-birthday!

18 months old and conquering the world one milestone at a time!

I've been intending to do a big post about Sydney for months now but she is doing new things every day and I didn't know where to begin.
(Yes, poor second child gets far less blog-accolades for each new thing she accomplishes - oops!)

So to begin...

Sydney loves to be involved, included, recognized. She adores her big sister, and tries to do everything she does. Don't ever question that she understands. She knows. I'm pretty sure she knows what I want and already makes the mental decision to obey or disobey. And no question, sometimes she chooses to disobey. She is a vocal little child - happy or upset she is emitting some kind of scream. Her laugh is joyful and infectious. She is a good balance of girly and tomboy - she loves barrettes and dresses but also doesn't hesitate to get down and dirty in the garden. When we say prayers, she folds her arms and murmurs like she is saying the prayer, and then ends with a big 'amen'! She loves to sing and dance! She replies with "Love you!" [vove you] when you say it most of the time.


{These are 100% current pictures - the best I could get of a child that is constantly moving.}

Sydney talks non-stop. Here is a sampling of her "first" words:
banana (bana)
ball
bye
dada
mommy
Jesus
sissy
water (wawa)
milk
bird
up
Belle
snack
cookie
milk
stuck
help
Seoul
love you
candy
bread
bubble
puppy
cat
helmet
bike
pink
purple
amen
cracker
cheese
hat
goggles
book
She literally picks up & tries new words every day. Today's cutest new word is 'monkey.'

She still does a few signs but as she speaks more she signs less. To note, she knows the signs for:
more
food
please
thank you
banana
book
all done
help
dog
cat
milk
drink
potty

Whenever she sees a dog, she pants (the baby sign). She now says 'cat' when we see those. She recognizes half of the basic colors. She can identify most animals in books, and has started verbally identifying them (although some aren't quite discernible but she makes the same sound every time for each animal). She is learning the sounds that go with each animal, and does some of them. She enjoys coloring, especially on the easel (or her body).

Favorites right now:
sitting on Seoul's bed to read books
Belle
cheese
her blanket
her helmet
strawberries
playing in water (pool or kidwash)
going for walks
dolls
rolling her arms for "The Wheels on the Bus"
song: Itsy Bitsy Spider
walking on her tiptoes

This is what I can think of to write about our little princess. She is a gem, and such a joy to have in our family. We are so blessed to know her. Love that girl that is not so much our baby anymore!

{Disclaimer: I try and note things every day in my journal but I very well could have missed many things.}

April photo dump

So I'm running out of ideas for post titles... and I'm still only finishing April pictures! Argh! Anyway, here it is - the last of April photos from Kelley's phone and my phone. Let me guess, you'd like to see current pictures of the girls, right? Well, stay tuned and hopefully you will soon - haha! 

Seoul loves her dad and wants to be like him... wearing his hat and everything!

Sydney loved having her teeth brushed. The sign she made up is to stick her finger in her mouth and move it around. Whenever she hears me call Seoul to the bathroom or if she sees me, she comes running.

Say it again: Seoul loves her dad! They are so cute together and have so much fun!

This little brown baby is a game for Seoul and Kelley - they hide it so the other can find it. One time Seoul put it in his work backpack and he found it at work. So here's the brown baby on Kelley's desk.

When did our baby get so big? Look at her little feet all the way down to the footrest!

We went to a Young Women's fundraiser, bought a cupcake and Sydney DEVOURED it!

Bubbles is our "pet" giraffe and the girls love to play. Takin' a little rest from play with their friend :)

A little merry-go-round at the mall. Sydney's tagging along because all the cars were taken.

Still a super helper! On Mondays when the garbage gets picked up she always runs to the window. One morning she waved and the garbage man waved back. She calls all drivers "Mr. Gilly" from the book/movie Trashy Town. Afterward she loves to bring in the garbage can all by herself.

Sydney also adores her daddy! We went to visit him at work, when he was on the Randall Children's Hospital campus.

Sweet face.

Seoul helped Grandma pick, wash, and eat carrots from the garden. Yum!

Sydney and her friend playing on the wobbly bridge.

Gettin' a little sun!

We walk to the library for story time. One day we got home and this is what I saw. Sleeping yet hanging onto that book!

Sydney loves to help unload the dishwasher. She hands me all the silverware since she can't quite reach into the drawer to put it in the right spot. I do have to say that for all the help she provides, she also tears apart the kid drawer that has all the plastic spoons and plates.

This is such a common pose these days. She also evolved into sticking up one of her legs so she is balancing.

PARK PICTURES

This is my dear friend Jennie and her cutie, Caitlyn. We had a nice walk to the park, visit, and play time.

just some randoms

Seoul is very into puzzles lately. For Christmas Grandpa gave her a box of wooden princess puzzles- one of the best gifts ever!

Seoul has never fallen asleep in odd places... until today. She didn't take a nap. I was making dinner and she asked me for a snack. When I came around the corner, I found her like this. She was out - even slept through Sydney slapping her on the tummy trying to wake her up.

Stylin'

Cooking and serving food - what a great team! They love this play kitchen so much!

Can't get enough of these lovely flowers.

Seoul loves to pick dandelion bouquets. I said, "Pose!" and this is what she did. Can you say diva??

At the pond feeding the ducks.

Seoul's favorite toddler song is "Where is Thumbkin?" these days. She loves 'Mr. Tall Man' and yes, I think it's funny, not inappropriate. Yet.

Sweet sisters playing together.

I found Seoul putting her babies to bed. Seoul's baby is on the left - Baby Toot Toot. Sydney's baby is on the right - no name yet. She even included Violet the Puppy for the night time music.

When I can't find the girls, this is often where they are. Sitting reading books together. Seoul's bed was the spot of choice lately.

[pictures from April 2012]

Seoul's Mischief

One day I knew Seoul was out of bed and in the living room when she was supposed to be taking a nap. I asked her what she was doing and she said nothing. I put her back to bed without another thought. A couple days later when I went to use the camera, I discovered she had taken 127 pictures. Yes, that is a lot! When I asked her about them she said, "I'm funny! Look at these silly pictures I took!" Oh my - what can I say to that?! Here is just a sampling of her "silly" ones that captured things that were important to her.

Seoul and her cute, mischievous face!

This is a favorite book in our house - Cinderella Skeleton.

She is very into drawing people, and loves her green friend.

Seoul loves the Easter window decals. I'm pretty 

sure we didn't take them down until the end of May.

The yellow mold on the porch was her dirt pie.
She would check on it & stir it every day.

The girls were so excited when our tulips bloomed. Seoul 

gave me an update every day about their health - how big they 

were, if they're dying, petals falling, etc.

We love this silly girl!

[pictures from April 2012]

just playin'

Just playing with some settings on the camera, trying to capture memorable shots of the girls. They have so many matching shirts, and they love it. Every day they choose which "matchy match" shirts to wear. I love the girls' curiosity and desire to explore.

[pictures from April 2012]

warm days!

We live for the warm-weather-play-outside days! Even when the sun isn't out Seoul wants the kidwash or the little pool out. Sydney doesn't love to go through it but she likes to pretend she will.

We hope for more sunshine!

[pictures from April 2012]

Kelley's worst nightmare

July 2, 2012

Sydney wearing the cd player playing music while she's pushing the popper toy. So noisy!!

Funny: Seoul is jumping around trying to stop Sydney from making noise so she can talk to me - actually bargaining with me trying to get me to pull out her too-small Hello Kitty shirt to wear.

Now the girls are screaming at each other to see who can scream 'stop ' the loudest.

The joys of a mother's day. It's pretty funny really!