At Four...

Alexis...where shall I begin?!

At the age of four...

You can be pretty bossy.
You like to be in control, like to be in charge, like things to be your way.
As your teacher last year put it, "You have a strong personality, but it will take you far in life."
You come by it honestly....your mom was this way as a child, and probably still is at heart :)

You are confident and independent.
(Although at school and in large, loud settings, you can actually be quite reserved)
You have an amazing memory.
You say things like, "oh i remember this highway exit, we took it to get to Annie's party at the zoo."
You soak up shows and movies and can remember all the words to them.
Thanks to the cold winter weather lately, you are in a huge movie phase.
Current favorites include Tangled, Annie, Brave, The Lion King, Beauty and the Beast and
Mary Poppins.
You can often be found singing songs from any of the above.

"The sun'll come out tomorrow" is your very favorite. See video below :)

You love arts and crafts, love coloring and cutting with scissors,
you still love play doh and painting, and you love writing...
in large part thanks to your amazing 4's teachers.
We can name any letter of the alphabet, and you can write it for us.

At school, there is a letter and theme to each week.
You and your classmates list words that begin with that letter,
you all practice writing the letter, and you bring in items from home that begin with the letter.
It has inspired such a love of learning in you, Alexis.
We'll be going about our day when you will hear a word and say so excitedly to me,
"Mommy, lion begins with L!"
You love to have play dates and request one every single day.
Both you and Ryleigh think it's the greatest thing to bring a buddy home from school with us.

You are in awe of your older cousins Matt and Cece.
You are a sucker for Grandpa Tom's cinnamon raisin bread and his morning snuggles.
You beg Nanny and Grandpa to read you "just one more" bedtime story and give you more back rubs.
And, you live for trips to the ice cream store with them.

You love your little sister so very much,
though sometimes you grow frustrated when she gets into your stuff.
You are working on your patience when she throws your dolls on the floor
or pulls apart your puzzle or tries to eat your shell collection.
You like spotting the moon and stars in the night sky.
Your current wish is that Ryleigh will grow up so she can play with you better :)

Your self sufficiency has grown in leaps and bounds recently.
You get your winter hat, coat, scarf, mittens and boots on all by yourself these days.
You made yourself breakfast yesterday - milk and cheerios with banana and blueberries -
you made the whole thing while I was on the phone, then carried it over to the kitchen table.
Fantastic!
You unbuckle yourself from your booster seat, let yourself out of the car and close the door behind you.
You dress and undress yourself and brush your own teeth.
You have basically learned how to pump on the swings.
Since you are our oldest child, we find all these milestones to be wonderful (and helpful!)
You are all things girly. You love pink and purple.
Your favorite thing to play is dress up. The more jewelry, the better!
You clip clop around the house in high heels and a princess dress.
You also love all the Disney princesses
and continue to ask when we'll be going to visit them in Disney World.

You love to have us watch new tricks -
hopping on one foot, leaping over an item, coasting on your scooter,
a forward roll, jumps on our bed.
You whizz so fast down the street on your bike (with training wheels)
that I now have to run to keep up.
All of a sudden, you are a climbing fool.
Giving you the chance to burn some energy and keep active is important.
You took soccer with your friend Madison this fall

and now that you have (finally) overcome your fear of the big trampoline,
you started gymnastics together this week and had a ball.

We bike ride or scooter around our neighborhood whenever the weather is nice.
We've even started meeting friends for scooter (stroller for Ryleigh) dates.

You have a very goofy, silly side to you lately.

You have started to tell jokes, 

you love running up and poking us when we're not looking, then racing away laughing,

you are big into giving tickles to all three of us, 

and you like to make silly faces and noises to get a reaction. 

You have an innate love for the outdoors
and are always so refreshed by any activity that involves being out in nature.

You love bedtime stories and could snuggle and listen all night long.
As a result, you have begun stalling when it's time to go to sleep.
You adore your father and call him your best friend.
You guys named his car the "best friend mobile", and you ask to do things just the two of you -
trips to Whole Foods with your very own cart from home, ice skating at the local rinks,
bike rides around the block, etc.
I don't blame you...he is one fantastic guy!

You say you never want to grow up, because you want to live with us forever.
You love to help out in the kitchen,
and baking cookies by my side is one of our new favorite traditions.

You are my little side kick, and the older you get, the more I cherish the conversations
and moments we share together.

You are curious about the world around you
and love to ask questions about it and how the things in it work.
You are big into puzzles, board games, scavenger hunts, obstacle courses,
and your all time favorite...hide and go seek.
Your latest phase is to play with my American Girl Doll, Samantha -
who I held onto the past 25 YEARS for this very reason!
You like to have your pajamas match, she sleeps in a doll bed right next to yours,
you dress her for school and for parties, and you keep telling me we need to brush her hair
(even though you hate having yours brushed).
You are also still into anything Disney, My Little Pony, Barbie and Calico Critters.

You have an incredible way of making things happen for yourself.
The crew at our local Starbucks know your name and your order (Peppermint Hot Chocolate)
Larry at the bagel store sneaks you free bagels when we visit.
Ed Reilly, the bus driver at Fairfield University, lets you sit on his bus
and wave to the college kids while mommy and Ryleigh watch on.
When mommy and daddy are at Crossfit, you greet all the coaches and our friends there
and ask to do some pull ups and air squats.
Your favorite babysitter Alice brings over jewelry for you to try on
and takes pictures of her dog and her boyfriend to share with you.

Our next door neighbors, who have one son off at college, call for you on the phone.
They invite you over to help bake cupcakes, to feed their dog treats,
and to count the fish in their pond.
They sneak you frozen grapes with chocolate sauce.
And, when we come over to pick you up,
we find the three of you chatting and laughing at their kitchen counter.

I think they must recognize the light, the zest, the playfulness and confidence that we see in you.
(That, or we just see all of these people entirely too much!)
At four, you are at times challenging,
but always, always beloved by your father and I.
(Which is quite obvious from the ridiculous number of pictures included in this post)

At One...

Ryleigh,

At the age of 1, you:
Are a little peanut
(29 inches and just about 20 pounds)

You have three teeth,
and pretty much everything in your path goes into your mouth
You love to be naked and make it quite hard for us to change a diaper
or get you dressed these days.

You are so close to walking on your own.
You take a few steps each day.
You are so steady on your feet.
You can squat in slow motion.
You can walk around the house holding onto just my pinkie.
But you need something to grab onto to give you the confidence.
You are gentle and a bit cautious by nature.
In the meantime, you are a crazy quick little crawler.
You scurry around like a squirrel.

You love to climb - onto the fireplace, up the stairs, up Lexi's playhouse slide.
You have just begun pointing.
You have also started handing us toys and things that interest you.
It's like you want to make sure we see all the cool things also.

You are big into exploring the world and the things around you.
Luckily, instead of just dropping everything in your path onto the floor,
you have now learned how to "put things in"...toys back into their toybox,
books back into the drawer, clothes back into your dresser.
Don't get me wrong though, making messes remains great fun for you.
You are officially obsessed with toilets.

In addition to pulling ALL the toiler paper off the roll,
you literally stand at our side and watch us go to the bathroom.
If we hand you toiler paper, you throw it in for us, and then you reach up to flush.
You also think it's great fun to grab things from the garbage can
and put them into the toilet - if mommy looks away for an instant.
It's funny - and also more than a little invasive.
I hope this interest remains when it comes time for potty training.
You love food and could snack all day.
You like to feed yourself and grab the spoon out of our hands.

You've started throwing your cup and your food overboard,
and you refuse to keep a bib on...
so mealtime is once again quite messy.
We have said goodbye to your (crazy expensive) allergy formula and hello to whole milk.
You are just about weaned from your beloved bottle, except for at bedtime.

You don't have any interest in baby food anymore,
but could eat your dad's chicken or sweet potatoes for every meal.
You couldn't believe your luck when we gave you chocolate chip pancakes last weekend.

You are starting to say a few words: mama, dada, bye bye, baba, nuh nuh for no, mah for more.
You still love music, and you get a big kick out of the class we just started with your buddy Paige.

You now go to the Toddler Town at your big sister's preschool on Fridays.
You are hysterical as soon as we step foot inside the classroom.
You look up at me with this tearful expression like,
"You're seriously going to leave me here...for three whole hours?"

Lexi never cried and rarely looked back...I am not used to this.
But, by the time I drop your sister off at the 4's room downstairs, you've stopped crying.
And they say you are getting more and more comfortable (and happy) as you get used to the routine.
You are still in between one and two naps - so the three hours at school is long for you
(see photo below, this was just after pickup...you couldn't even wait until you got to the crib).
But in another month or two, I think you'll switch to one nap for good.

You throw a fit every time I buckle you into the carseat.
You take your hat, socks and shoes off as soon as we back out of the garage.
Otherwise, you are still very agreeable, very cheerful and very go-with-the-flow.

You love to snuggle with Mr. Lambie, and you are super attached to that binkie.
I can ask you for a hug,
and you'll rest your head on my shoulder and give a little squeeze.
You are such a delight to us.
If I walk to another room, you come looking for me -
reaching your arms up for me or tugging at my pants.
You greet daddy with the biggest hugs and laughs when he gets home from work each day.
You think your sister is super cool, and always want to be right by her side,
imitating her and playing with/rearranging all her things (much to her chagrin).

You love spinning, hanging upside down, playing peek a boo
and touching our teeth, our noses and our eyes.
You give us little headbutts to show your affection.
Your cheeks get kissed about a thousand times a day.

You have the sweetest smile.
You bring such happiness to our home and our family.
So there you have it....that's a little about you - at the age of 1

Family Photos

We had my friend Steph take some family photos this fall.
I wanted to get a few shots for holiday cards
and also just wanted to capture this moment in time.
Vic and I, and our two girls, while we're still here enjoying Ct.
We decided the nearby Fairfield University campus would be a good spot,
especially since the girls and I spent lots of afternoons
on walks there in September and October.
It was short and sweet.
After the marathon newborn session,
we knew we wanted a mini session this time around.
The fact that it was FREEZING cold helped to ensure a quick shoot.
It was casual, fun (for me at least) and I'm so happy with the pictures/memories.
Thanks Steph!
Here are a few favorites