The girls and I tagged along with Brian for a work committment he had in Destin, Florida for a few days. Charleigh LOVED the beach, as this was the first trip she's made to the beach at an age that she can remember the experience and talk about it weeks later. It was Reagan's first trip to the beach, and it was so much fun seeing her chubby toes in the sand.
Daddy and his girls...Charleigh LOVED running up and down the boardwalk!
Reagan loved the wind in her hair! Who doesn't when it's the ocean's breeze?!?
Sister Love
Sweet toes in the sand!
Reagan's watching her big sister explore on the beach.
What does a 2 year old think about at the beach?
We've spent some time at our neighborhood pool and a fountain at a neighboring town. Charleigh has started to get into running through the fountains and splashing. She's swimming (in her vest) all over the pool and loves to "jump in by me self".
We've also joined a local children's museum, INK. It's a really neat experience for kids, with little store fronts along a "road" through the middle of the building. It's designed so that kids can pretend to do all the things they experience in the real world. Charleigh particularly enjoys the grocery store and veterinary clinic.
The puppy dog needed some medicine. Notice she's sitting on the bottom of the exam table. :)
We've had some fun play dates this summer, too. Charleigh and Audrey made some jello pudding popsicles during one of her visits to play at our house. They enjoyed eating them at Charleigh's "picnic table".
Charleigh has really gotten into dressing up recently. One afternoon after her nap, she threw on a lei, sun hat, and oven mitt...such a funny ensemble! She also likes to wear any grown up shoes she can find. She can even get her toes in a pair of me or Brian's flip flops perfectly, and the more bling a pair of shoes has the better...thanks to Grandma for owning lots of shoes with pizazz!
Reagan's been eating solids for a few months now, but just recently I started giving her food that I've processed. The first attempt at corn was quite comical! You see, the skin of the corn kernels doesn't puree very well, and at the end of Reagan's feeding, she proceeded to rub her fist in her mouth and ALL OVER her face; therefore, covering her face in tons of corn skin. Charleigh and I were laughing so hard at Reagan, and the harder we laughed, the more she rubbed her face! It made for some very cute pictures, which made up for the mess I had to clean up! Thank goodness it's bathtime immediately following dinner at our house! By the looks of this picture, you wouldn't think she ate much, but she did eat an impressive amount.
If that doesn't make you smile, I don't know what will!
Charleigh continues to be an amazing big sister. She loves Reagan tremendously, and she always makes sure Reagan is happy. She'll tell Reagan, "No, Reagan, no! Don't be sad!" Reagan gets many songs sung to her and many kisses and hugs throughout the day.
Reagan is now 6 1/2 months old. She's a very happy baby, but she does have a temper on her. When she's frustrated, tired, or just feels like we're not doing what she's wanting for her, she blows raspberries over and over again. So, that, in addition to the drewling associated with some teething (I presume teething, although none have popped through yet), makes for some REALLY soggy clothing! Reagan has been sitting up independently now for two weeks. She LOVES to dig in a basket of toys and lay them all around her. She's content doing that for about 15 minutes on her own. Since she's been sitting, she's now figured out how to get on all fours and rock back and forth. Reagan is ALWAYS on the move and soon it's going to get even busier as crawling is on the horizon! She also likes to play in her exersaucer and jump in the doorway jumper. A funny thing she does that people always comment on are her ankles always in motion. She rolls her ankles around and around with her legs stretched out straight. Sometimes when she gets really excited, she'll straighten out her arms and legs, rolling her wrists and ankles, and that's usually accompanied by a really cute smile. She's a sweet little baby, grabbing our faces with an open-mouthed kiss!
Charleigh is 2 years and 3 months old. She's still a fun-loving, sensitive, silly girl. We've been potty training for about a week. I originally thought I'd wait until closer to Christmas, making her 2 1/2, but once Reagan started sitting independently, I thought I'd give it a good attempt because I knew I could plop Reagan down and she wouldn't go anywhere. The first few days were rough, I think more for me than her, but here at the end of this first week of training, she's telling me when she needs to go and she goes within seconds of sitting down! That's a big deal, as it was taking a 10-15 minute trip to the potty, reading book after book before any action would happen. She loves her big girl panties and is SO proud of herself when she goes on the potty! Charleigh's first day of school (Mother's Morning Out) was today. She got to meet her teacher and see her classroom last week. She was so excited to get to use her school bag today and take her lunchbox with her. I was worried that she may tear up when I first dropped her off, as that's been the norm at the church nursery ("Sunday School" as we've been calling it to prepare for regular school). Quite the contrary! When welcomed by her teacher, she walked right into the classroom and never looked back! Not a single tear! As is her character, she walked over to the kitchen and stood back and quietly observed a little girl before getting in the mix. When I picked her up, as we held hands and walked down the hallway out of the building, she looked up at me and exclaimed, "That was real real fun, Mommy!" Can't believe what a big girl she has become, and I couldn't be more proud!
I say it all the time, but time really is flying! I am enjoying being home with Charleigh and Reagan and trying to soak up all these precious moments with our precious girls!
