She loves having her picture taken and is such a help around the house. She's morphed into what Robert calls "mom #2," which can be a little frustrating, but also very helpful! She's starting to spell more and loves coloring, drawing and making pictures of and for her family.
Nellie is still a little nut but is learning that it frustrates us and she has started caring what we think which is both cute and exhausting! If she does something wrong she will give us a hug and tell us how sorry she is, which is such a lesson in knowing what she can and can't do. However, when she's come out of her room at bedtime for the 15th time and we tell her to get back to bed she will look at us, drop her head and say "you don't love me anymore" until we then get up and follow her to the room; it's too dark to see her face I am pretty sure she's smiling smugly every time!
She's very into sports now and I am hoping that she will want to try something besides soccer this fall, perhaps T-ball or basketball?
While we have always had issues with her sleeping in late, I started noticing that when she came in our bed at night she would sleep later in the morning and I couldn't figure out if she likes snuggling (which she does) or just loves our cozy bed (silly me bought the girls IKEA mattresses because they are FIVE and THREE!). One day I asked her why she liked our bed and she said because it was cozy and hers wasn't. I asked if she wanted me to make it softer and she said yes; I bought her a memory foam mattress topper and since then she has been sleeping much better, sleeping in and rarely makes it into our room. She is seriously too much, our little princess and the pea!
She and Ariah are still the dynamic duo and it's so cute to see the two of the remain such good friends, even though there are many others in their class, these two always find their way to each other.
Robert and I met Erin and Bret in Nashville for some old fashioned and had a great time. I loved all of the live music, cheap drinks and country music...I wish I could swap out Vegas for Nashville!
Our girls stayed with Nana and Papa while we were gone and the trip coincided with the last day of preschool, where they had an end of the year picnic.
While we enjoyed 95 degree weather, the girls enjoyed the ocean breeze and beach playground.
By far my favorite part of the trip was going to the Grand Ole Opry; it was so amazing to be in such a historical place, learn about the store and hear all of the great music. There was no one too famous while we were there but it didn't really matter, the talent was still off the chart!
We went to the cutest little spot, Pinewood Social, one evening and I loved it; I highly recommend going if you're every in town.
Some things don't change whether we're home or not...
Both girls are spending all summer enrolled in swim lessons and they are both having a great time! We had done a couple months last fall and this past May with a swim instructor and the girls seemed to be over it. However, once they got to the real lessons, they are both doing so great and learning so much.
In two weeks Nellie went from not going underwater or putting her face in and screaming every time she got wet, to jumping off the side of the pool and bobbing in the water by herself. For session 2 she has already moved up to the 2nd level, we are so proud!
Mila is doing amazing, really swimming like a little fish. She can swim across the entire pool on her own, has water safety and is working on her side breathing; when we went swimming later in the month she swam the whole day without her floaties on.
I think the girls also love it because all of their friends are in it; Mila has 3 girls from school in hers and Nellie's class was all daughters in our mom's group.
Up until this summer Mila and Nellie have both spent from age 2 on over on the preschool side. However, this year, since Mila is going into Kindergarten she is eligible to move over to the "rec club" side with the 5-12 year olds. She's super excited about it because it comes with a huge new playground, she gets to bring her scooter to camp and doesn't have to wear only closed toed shoes. I absolutely didn't expect it but on the first day of drop off over on the rec club side I got a little choked up telling her goodbye...the first day of Kindergarten is going to be a doozy!
I think this is great for both of them, though; Mila being more independent and Nellie learning how to deal on her own...I guess that's a little of the same, isn't it? Mila is a little social butterfly at school, while Nellie prefers to play by herself or with Ariah, but spent a lot of times with Mila and her friends. The first couple of days were hard on Nellie when we dropped her off (and walked across the campus to Mila's area) but by the end of the first week she was playing with new friends every time I picked her up, which is great. She says she still misses Mila but I can tell she's becoming more confident every day.
What we're looking forward to next month: friends/family in town, Palm Springs with the Charlands, Roscoe's birthday and savoring the last few week of having Nana and Papa in town!
