Our Little Preschooler

Juliet started school for the first time ever this fall!  She is in a great preschool program for 3 year olds that meets three days a week for a few hours in the afternoon.  She loves going to school like her big sister and has no problem saying goodbye to mama and going off on her own.  There are a lot of special days and field trips at Juliet's preschool.  Already this fall she has gone to a pumpkin farm, a fire house, a snack factory, and a play.  She also just finished her first session of gymnastics.  She was very excited to actually go into the gym herself after watching her sister from the lobby for the last two years.  Last week she had her exhibition class where the parents could go in and watch the children get certificates and medals.  Juliet was thrilled and said "I winned!"  

Her language has just exploded in the last three months - she talks all the time and sometimes we can't believe what comes out of her mouth.  She's very imaginative and has a funny sense of humor and a dramatic flair.  When I asked her what she did on her first day of school she said she chased a little boy on the playground and then stuffed him in the trash can.  Once when walking up the dark staircase she said she thought that trouble was brewing.  And the other night when we were trying to put her to bed she popped up and announced that her sleeping days were over.  It's fun to watch her growing into her own little person!

Lily Starts Kindergarten

Lily is a big kindergarten kid now!  She has started all-day kindergarten and even rides the school bus, which she loves.  Her school started gradually with several half days before she went for a full day, which helped her get used to it.  She likes her teacher, has made some friends, and thinks it's really cool to eat in the cafeteria.  She looked so tiny getting on the bus the first time, but the neighbor girls were with her and she wasn't scared at all.  It looks like she is going to have a good year!

Juliet's a Big Girl Now

September was a big month for Juliet - she learned to use the potty and started sleeping in a big girl bed!  I think seeing her sister go potty helped a lot because she picked it up pretty easily.  We never even got out the little potty, but skipped that step and put her right on the toilet from the beginning.  Because pull-ups really didn't work, Jules wore panties early on and that definitely sped up the process.  More messes to clean up, but it's worth it to have the whole thing done with so quickly.  Our big girl got a Dora certificate to make it official and said "I'm so proud of me!"

Shortly thereafter, we moved Juliet from the nursery into what used to be the guest room, painting it a soft purple.  She's in a twin bed and was so cute the first morning, running into our room at the crack of dawn saying it was wake up time (a gate did go up at her door after that).  The downside is that she no longer naps every day, and in the beginning she would sometimes cry for her crib, saying she missed her baby bed.  She's doing great now though and feels very grown up.  We're so pleased that she's reached these milestones.

Lily's First Day of School

Yesterday was Lily's first day of school.  She is in a preschool program for 4-year-old kids that meets three afternoons a week.  She was so excited about it, when she woke up in the morning she wanted to make presents for her teachers.  She made a mosaic heart and a flower, which she hid behind her back and then presented to her teachers when she met them.  She said she plans to make seven new friends, all girls (the only boys she likes are her cousins).  I think the structure of school will be very good for Lily, and she is also starting gymnastics and swimming lessons again.  It's nice to get back into a routine with the kids!

Juliet's First Haircut

Juliet had her very first haircut last week, just a tiny trim because we love her curls.  She was quite serious about it, sitting very still up in the barber's chair.  She looks so grown up in her after shot!

Lily Starts Preschool

Lily started preschool this week and she loves it! She goes three mornings a week and would probably be happy to go every day. She didn't seem nervous at all (Juliet was the one who cried when her sister left the first day without a backward glance). Lily has made friends with a few little girls but she informed me that they don't play with boys. She has also started taking gymnastics classes once a week, which I think will be a great for her.

Juliet's First Birthday

Juliet officially turned one at the end of March and we can't believe how quickly her first year has gone by! She can walk when holding onto our hands or furniture and she very much wants to be a big girl like her sister. She climbs into little chairs to sit and turn the pages of books, examining each page. She shakes her head yes and no, claps, points emphatically, and blows kisses (she actually makes a "mwah" sound now!) She brushes her hair, hugs doll babies, and tries to sneak drinks of her sister's juice. She is becoming a daddy's girl and crawls adorably after Michael wherever he goes.

At her 12 month doctor's appointment, we found that Juliet has been growing and thinning out a little. Her height is 29 3/4 inches and her weight is 21 pounds, putting her in the 70th percentile for height and the 55th percentile for weight. A few days after her birthday, she decided she was done with nursing and stopped altogether. Although it has been uncomfortable for me, we are thrilled that she self-weaned. She has been eating and sleeping well and is easy to soothe back to sleep if she wakes during the night. I'm not sure I'm ready to give up my baby yet but, ready or not, she is moving on to toddlerhood!

Double Birthday Party

This weekend we had a birthday party for both Lily and Juliet, whose birthdays are just two weeks apart. Grammy and Nana were able to visit us for the weekend to celebrate and the Emricks also came for the day. Having all the little girls together made it really fun!

Playmates

Lily and Juliet have become great playmates! The baby follows her big sister around, copying her, and Lily is happy to play along and make up stories about what they are pretending.

Juliet is now pulling up on furniture to stand and is also getting into all kinds of trouble (such as climbing inside of cabinets - Lily thinks it's hilarious). Baby loves to play peek-a-boo and to show us that she is "so big".

Our big girl Lily in recent weeks decided to start using the potty and is now wearing panties all of the time except when she is sleeping. Unfortunately, she hasn't been sleeping well since being potty trained and we hope it isn't the end of naps for good!

Juliet at Six Months

Juliet is already six months old! She is so fat and happy, we call her our Buddha baby. At her pediatrician checkup she was 75th percentile in length and 90th percentile in weight! She wakes up with a smile on her face and brightens up our days.

She said her first word "mama" to get my attention when we were all sitting around the table. She was looking right at me and said it very clearly, just the single word, and then grinned when I looked at her. Now she is working on her "da" sounds.

She is becoming much more mobile, already starting to crawl by dragging herself in an army crawl the way Lily used to do. She prefers her sister's toys to baby toys and will move across the room to get them! She has also (sort of) started to eat rice cereal and drink water out of a sippy cup. She doesn't actually ingest much but likes to feel like a big girl.