What a Difference a Year Makes

A year ago... ....and now.

I'm amazed how different Ally looks. She hasn't let us out of her sight since she was born, so I know she wasn't swapped!

Sidewalk Chalk Paste 101

This summer, Sophia has discovered that if you mix sidewalk chalk with water, you can make a paste that has many uses. It's great for painting the interior of a playhouse. Here is Sophia hard at work painting the kitchen:

I like her use of color on the door: The dining room used to be all white, but now has pink and blue walls and gorgeous painted trellis work. I think the girls across the street must have helped.

The paste also works great on screen doors, although Daddy's not a big fan of this use.

If you're in a pinch, it's also great for highlighting your hair. Just massage the paste into your scalp and wallah ~ instant color!

Ultimate Peek-A-Boo

I'm not sure if this is what the builders had in mind when they built this house, but these squares in our dining room have created fun for our whole family!

First Day Of School

Sophia started preschool today, and I'm not sure which one of the four of us is more excited! She has a new teacher and a new classroom this year, but the daily routine seems to be about the same. There were two girls in Sophia's class last year, and both girls are in her class again this year, so she's thrilled to be with her old friends. Sophia said that during circle time, she missed me and Ally, but her hands were wiggling like crazy as she told me everything else she did on her first day.
And I can't believe how much I was able to get done during those 3 short hours! Yay for preschool!!

Why My Wine Glass is Already Empty:

Mom's Eye View

Lately the girls have developed a new favorite past time. They love to grab onto the back of my legs and play peekaboo with me and/or each other. It was really cute the first 100 times, but now I'm tired of trying to maneuver my way around the house with small children clinging to my legs. I thought I'd take a few pictures before I attempt to end their newest passion and try to direct them towards something else..... perhaps riding Daddy like a horse!

12 Months

I can't believe our little Ally cat is already one, but she sure makes one look cute!! The combination of her blonde hair, big blue eyes, long lashes, and huge grin makes us all melt! She now weighs in at 20lb 6 oz and measures 29 1/4 inches, which still keeps her around the 50th percentile for both. She has a total of 7 teeth and often eats more than Sophia during a meal. Her favorite food is pasta of any shape or size, which is great because the whole family likes it, but not-so-great because it's very messy.

She's still not saying much that we recognize consistently other than mama and dada, but when we put one of her favorite foods in front of her, she smacks her lips and says "nom,nom,nom!" She's also started to learn some animal noises and has sheep, cow, and snake down pretty good. She is a very coordinated kid for her age and can now run, throw, climb, and even kinda jump. It has made play time at the park, in the backyard, and just about everywhere else more fun because she can actually participate now.

Although this video's a couple months old, she's still our dancing queen. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KF7h2O_MkRs Since Ally loves music so much, I'm hoping to be able to get her into a music class of some sort once Sophia starts back to preschool. She's starting to throw some tantrums already, and her separation anxiety hasn't eased up at all yet, so I'm starting to realize how easy we had it with Sophia in that regard. She's also quickly developing a sense of humor and will put something on her head or in her mouth, wait for everyone's attention, and then start cracking up.
Since my pregnancy, Will has referred to her as "our little firecracker" and I think he's right. She keeps us on our toes, but lights up our faces at the same time.