Our Growing Little Girls

Could it be that my two girls are asleep at the same time? I better not say that too loud or little ears might hear, and that will be in the end of this overdue blog post. These last two months have been full of happy and sad moments. A definite highlight was a visit from Grandma Shore. The entire week before her arrival was full of "airplane . . . grandma . . . coming." Katie was convinced that each airplane flying over our home (and we are on the flight path for all planes leaving Colombia) contained her grandma. And once Grandma was here, the only person who could read to Katie, do her hair, help her dress . . . was Grandma! The week with her went by quickly, but we were grateful to have her here.

After a rather dreadful start to potty training, Katie has taken off and now wears big girl underwear all day and all night. We are very proud of her, and she is very proud of herself! Interestingly, just about the time we stared potty training Katie (the beginning of May), Katie decided that she no longer wanted to sleep in her crib, she no longer wanted anyone to pick out her clothes or dress her, and she wanted only a big girl cup. She must have been ready and waiting to start this new leg of her toddler journey! This, of course, is not to say that she never wants help, but she is certainly one independent and determined little girl.

Katie continues to love music. She spontaneously sings songs she knows and songs she makes up (usually in honor of one of her stuffed animals or Pooh/Tigger). And as part of the pre-school coop we have in our house, Katie has been introduced to dance (a little ballet, a little modern . . .), and she loves it. Katie's other favorite activities are "reading" books, making meals in her play kitchen, caring for her bear and dolly, and playing with friends. While she has her toddler moments, she is usually our sweet big girl.

Emily is our little joy baby. She wakes up before the crack of dawn, but listening to her babble about mama mostly makes up for that. She too loves music and claps her hands & makes happy sounds as soon as she hears songs. Katie is her favorite person. Katie can make her laugh and squeal like no other. Her favorite games to play with Katie are stealing the bear (e.g. wait until Katie's attention is focused on something else and then grab Katie's special bear and snuggle with it) and pulling Katie's hair.

Emily loves to babble (lots of mama and gaga) and make what I call a dinosaur sound to let us know that she is there and ready to join the fun. She has learned to pull herself up and has started to creep. Her favorite thing is to have someone support her while she bounces up and down. As for crawling, she love to lunge onto her stomach, but once there, she hasn't figured out quite what to do. We aren't worried though because we know that once Emily starts crawling or walking, we'll need eyes on all sides of our heads.

I am grateful for these two little precious girls and for my patient husband. As many friends come and go here in Bogota, they help keep me grounded.