Artwork

School is almost over and Sophie is excited for kindergarten. She went to her roundup two weeks ago and met the teachers although we won't know until fall which one it will be. She said she had to cut out an apple, write her name on the back, tell them the capital letters when shown to her, and listen to a story. Her writing is really coming along well as you can see in the following pictures.

She is also interested in what things say. She will ask how to spell things and sounds out the word when we help her along. She is very curious in knowing what words mean when we read stories at bedtime if it is one she doesn't recognize. Which is good practice for us as well. Things aren't as easy to explain as one might think.

Gymnastics Class

So although Sophie refused to do the warm up part of gymnastics the whole 8 weeks of class, even though bribed, she really did enjoy it. She says her favorite is the bars and the balance beam. Every patio border she now sees is a beam to practice on. We are taking a break due to our vacation but she says she wants to take it again. Here are some pictures from her last class.

Tub Time

The bath is a favorite pastime in our house for the two munchkins. Avery has graduated to a seat and Sophie loves to help him get clean.

Cheerios

This morning Avery woke up early! We were sitting on the couch with Sophie as she ate her cheerios WITHOUT milk watching Charlie and Lola (one of the coolest cartoons in my opinion).
I decided to give Avery a cheerio just to see how he handled it. He does have his two bottom teeth and the top left one just popped through last night! He loved them, he chewed the first one no problem, then the second, then the third, then he tried grabbing a whole handful out of Sophie's bowl. She thought it was hilarious. I guess he has another food to add to his repetoire of "real food".

The right place at the right time!

So Sophie, Avery, and I were taking a walk, enjoying the beautiful weather up to Biggby otherwise known as Beaners Coffee shop to visit Jeremy at work. No, he didn't get a new job, he works from there Mondays and Thursdays since our basement isn't finished yet with an office.

To make a long story short, one of our neighbors who we haven't seen since last fall came out to say hi, wow he's getting big, and so on and so forth. Then she asked, "Hey do you guys want a climber? You can have it for free, come take a look. So we followed her out to the backyard and this is what we ended up with! Sophie was so excited to have something to play with in the yard. She told her friends all about it at school today. Very exciting and it didn't cost us a penny, even better!

More Detroit Zoo pics

Crawling on the hippo


Posing on the stump

Mommy and two kiddos

Sophie the prairie dog

A long day at the zoo.

A fun day at the Detroit Zoo

Venturing out to the zoo with some salt and vinegar chips for a snack.

Changing the diaper just when we thought we were ready to go!

Ahhhh...checking out the peacock.

Beautiful

Posing on the hippo.

Who knew a box could be so much fun!

Peeking out the window.


Buddies in the box.


Sophie's pride and joy!

This past week the car seat we ordered for Sophie finally came in for us to pick up. We went with a 5 point harness system that went up to 65 pounds instead of 40 for the added security. It is supposed to be safer than a regular booster in case of an accident. Anyway...Sophie was so excited for Avery to get her old seat and for her new big girl seat with her own cupholder!

The box was just the right size for a doghouse she said. Soooo...that afternoon for an hour or so we decorated it. We used glue, markers, sparkles, stickers, anything she could find. She was so excited about it that when her friend came over that afternoon she asked him if he wanted to decorate it.


Sophie and her little bro spent the afternoon crawling in and looking out the window. Check out the cute pics of them!

Sophie the Guru

Hi Everyone. Jeremy here for the first time. Please, please.....no more applause.

This week we ventured to Meijer (technically, Meijer Fresh......anyone know where the Fresh came from? Email me...better get back on track). Shopping is always easier with 2 parents. Becki was holding Ave and I was pushing the cart with a very rambunctious Sophie sitting in the captain's chair. Sophie kept yelling "Yeahhhhhh!!!!!!". Of course,we would typically frown on such behavior in an upscale joint like the Thrifty Acres. However, right when we were about to ask her to stop, something cute happened.

After a few fluorescent-light-shattering roars from Captain Sophie, we could swear Avery was repeating her. So, with judgmental eyes glaring from other shoppers, we began to encourage her to scream so we could see if Ave was copying his big sister. Sure enough, with impeccable timing, after each Soph shout, Avery would wait about 2 seconds, open his eyes wide, and lean in and yell.

Well, at least we know Avery respects his big sister. And, we also know Soph has embraced her role as a mentor. Let's hope she puts more focus on teaching him quieter things in the future, like calculus. However, Becki and I were witnessing our kids coooperating and having fun together. Public disorder or not, it was wonderfully heartwarming as a parent.

Sophie the Mentor

Jeremy here for the first time. Please, please, no more applause. You're embarrassing

Staph infection

So Avery had this little red bump on his chin that looked like a zit. We watched it for a bit thinking it was probably nothing and would go away. Well after a week of watching it get bigger and bigger Jeremy called the doctor. When he talked to the nurse, she said, "It's probably just from his pacifier. Us thinking, He doesn't use it that much. Well he said we wanted to see the doctor anyway. Good thing since it was a staph infection. Poor guy. The doctor said he usually just prescribes an ointment but since his was so far along, he had to take oral meds as well.
Long story short, get a second opinion!

Avery update

Things are going well here in the Water household. Avery is continuing to do new things each day and is no longer able to be set down in one area without wandering to another. He isn't quite crawling but moves pretty fast by pushing himself with his feet and pulling with his arms. He quite often does the downward dog yoga position. He loves looking out the front window at all the passers by and trees when the wind blows.
He has started on solids and LOVES them. So far he hasn't found a food he doesn't like, although I'd say green beans are his least favorite. Unfortunately, the amount of dirty diapers has greatly increased with his food intake.
It's wonderful to watch him and Sophie interact. She loves holding him and is a great help when he is crying. As soon as she starts acting silly, he stops his crying and watches her. If only we could just get her do to it on cue instead of when she feels like it. Avery loves grabbing her hair and crawling all over her when she lets him. As I write she is calling him Mr. Boy, Mr. Man and they are laughing together on the floor.

Opening Day

Opening day for the Tigers!

Pool Party Fun

Recently we went to a birthday party for one of Sophie's friends. She took a while to warm up and participate but once she did she had fun. Avery was ready to go from the start. He loves the water already. Check out some shots from our fun day.