dreams for the future

So yesterday as the girls were playing outside (yay for low humidity so we could actually enjoy being outside for awhile!) I was thinking about what they may be "when they grow up."

Will Rebecca be a soccer star on the World Cup team?

Or maybe a coach or teacher?

Or maybe she'll be an opera singer.

No, I think it'll be a cheerleader.

Rachel is pretty sure of her career path.  She told me as I took this picture that she is a surfer.

No, actually, Rachel changes her mind all the time.  Sometimes she wants to be a vet (even though she's scared of most pets), sometimes a teacher, sometimes a mom, sometimes an astronaut.  And she talks a LOT about getting married.  She said the other day that maybe in kindergarten she would meet the person she is going to marry.  Then she said she's going to marry Blake, our neighbor.  I told her she'd better not tell Blake that, or he probably wouldn't want to play with her.  When she asked why, I said that boys don't like to think about getting married until they get a lot older, so she shouldn't tell a boy that she wants to marry him.  I'm a little bothered that at five years old she thinks so much about these things!

an outing

Today we checked out a new children's museum in our area.  I recently found out that with our membership to our children's museum, we could get into this other one (about a half hour away) for free, so we tried it out.

It was small, but for free, it was definitely worth it!  :)   We'll definitely go back sometime--it would be great for a rainy day (or a hot day, like we've been having!).

The girls had a great time.  The pictures are blurry because they were always moving!  I couldn't get either of them to hold still or take the time to get a decent picture because I was constantly chasing Rebecca, but you can still get the idea.

Rachel, my dress up queen, loved all of the costumes.  She was a train engineer,



...an eye doctor...

...and also a firefighter and police woman, but I didn't get pictures of those.

Rebecca spent a LOT of her time climbing in and out of chairs.

See what I mean??





Rachel loved the farmer's market section

...and she gave me a news broadcast (with no help from her little sister, who just got in her way).

She was painting at this construction site, while Rebecca played firefighter for awhile with the fire extinguisher (which ended up in her mouth over and over)...

...and the fire hat, which she kept taking on and off so fast that I couldn't get a good picture (this one I snapped as quickly as I could from standing up because by the time I would stoop over to take it, she always had it off!).

It was a fun morning, and both girls behaved really well, which makes it so much easier to go places!  Now they're both resting.  Ahhhh......rest for me, too! 

the fountains

Rachel's been asking to go play at the fountains at our nearby shopping area all summer.  We went once, a month or so ago, but they were closed.  I've been wanting to take her ever since, but was hoping to find a time when my husband could stay home with Rebecca, since it's really not a very good place for her to play yet.  So today was finally the day. 

This was the first time she actually played in the water and didn't just dance around, watch, and run away when she got a little bit wet. 

She had a great time, and I had fun watching her.

learning language

I think one of the most enjoyable parts of seeing a little one grow up is watching them develop language skills.  It's also SO fun to watch her learn to walk right now, but that is a relatively quick skill to learn, in the scheme of things, and then it's over.  Developing language is a longer process, and one which I find fascinating.

Rachel is still learning to use words correctly, and sometimes I correct her, and sometimes I don't, depending on how glaring the error!   One of her common phrases right now is, "There are none people upstairs right now," or whatever it is she's talking about.  I keep correcting her, "There are NO people upstairs...."  or, "There aren't ANY people upstairs," or whatever.  She's learning. 

It's also amazing to me to listen to her tell stories (she tells them all the time--some she's made up and some she's retelling from books we've read or stories she's listened to--quite the imagination this girl has!!).  When she tells these stories she uses words I know she wouldn't know, except from hearing the stories, which has so enriched her vocabulary!  I can't wait until she can write her stories down! 

Rebecca is just starting the learning process, and it's so fun to watch!  Right now she says:
-Dada
-Mama
-Nigh'-nigh'
-Nah-nah (this is "no-no" which she hears a LOT from us!)
-Ahhhhhhhhh-Dah (this is "all done" and it's accompanied by waving her hands in the air)
-Bah (ball)
-'es (which is "yes"--this is her latest word, along with a huge nod of her head--a new movement, too)


The rest of her language is conveyed with sign language and gestures (she knows the sign for "more" and "eat.") She uses "more" to tell me all kinds of things--mostly what she wants--she signs "more" and then points to what she wants.  She shakes her head "no" when she doesn't want something. 

Like I said, I find it all really fascinating.

to the dentist

I've been dreading yesterday ever since our last few rough doctor's visits....Rachel's first trip to the dentist. 

I've been asking my dentist for years when I should take Rachel, and he's always said to wait until she's five, before she goes to kindergarten.  I kept hearing about other moms taking their kids when their kids were much younger, but I thought the dentist should know, so I stuck with his advice.  Well, I should've gone several years ago, because years ago she would've loved it, just like she used to love the doctor.

Yesterday, she didn't love it.

And neither did I. 

I thought I had prepared her well.  We read books about going to the dentist.  We watched youtube videos for kids about your first trip to the dentist.  We talked about it.  We practiced.  I purposely took her to a children's dentist so they'd be as prepared as possible for dealing with frightened children, but she was psyched about going (after the initial tears when I first told her about it two days ago).  She jumped out of the car when we got there, so excited to go!  In the waiting room, she was great.  It all started going down hill in the x-ray chair when she wouldn't open her mouth wide enough for the hygenist to get the xray film into her mouth. 

I won't go into specifics, because there are too many.  Suffice it to say that she tried REALLY hard to be good (at one point as we were waiting she said, "My tummy isn't feeling too well," her bottom lip started quivering, and she said, "I'm NOT going to cry!" all while tears started filling her eyes.), but it just didn't turn out the way she wanted it to.  She was so nervous--so nervous, in fact, that she didn't talk at all to the people at the office.  That's saying a lot for my chatty Rachel who will talk to anyone who will listen--especially new people.  But it wasn't pretty.  It involved me holding her arms down so she wouldn't grab the tools in her mouth, her crying and trying to sit up and get off the chair.... not good.  I asked the dentist when I should bring Rebecca in, in order to avoid this with her.  She said pediatric dentists start seeing patients at a year old, so she said to go ahead and make an appointment for her the next time Rachel comes in.  Hopefully we can avoid a fear like Rachel's in the future with Rebecca.

The dentist actually said she thought Rachel did well for her first time and for being very scared.  So I guess other kids must be worse than that????  It gives me a very small comfort to know that at least she's not the only one.  I just don't understand where this intense fear of doctors and being touched has come from.  It was both frustrating and heart breaking to watch.

Hopefully in January it will be better....but I'm not too hopeful.

Oh, the good news is that she doesn't have any cavities.  At least there's that....

all good things must come to an end

We're home...our little mini vacation at Grandma and Grandpa's is over.  As with any trip, I'm sad it's over, but it's always good to go home, too.

Here are some wrap up pictures....

Rebecca ramped up her walking another notch yesterday, walking all the way across the floor over and over.  She was so proud of herself!  She raises her arms up for balance, making it even cuter to watch.

Rachel wanted to go back to the lake, since it was so hot and crowded when we went the first time, so Grandma took her yesterday.

Rebecca isn't the neatest eater, but she sure loves food!

Great Grandpa enjoyed spending time with the girls, and they enjoyed seeing him, too.

Rachel and one of her very favorite people in the world....

Thanks, Grandma and Grandpa, for a great visit!  We'll miss you!

fun at grandma's--part 4

Today is our last full day at Grandma and Grandpa's house.  Tomorrow morning we head back home, Rachel has a birthday party to go to in the afternoon, and Daddy will be home late tomorrow night!  We're looking forward to seeing him.  It's been a fun visit, though, and we'll miss getting to see Grandma and Grandpa every day.

Yesterday was a long but fun day.  We went to "Grandma's Zoo," expecting to stay only a couple of hours, but both girls behaved SO well that we ended up staying a lot longer than we had planned.  We were all worn out by the end of the day.

Here are some pictures from our fun day.

Rachel and Rebecca in the beehive

Looking at the new baby elephant with Grandma

Rachel the Elephant....Rachel the Dog.....Rachel the Giraffe

Rachel the Zebra (she loved these costumes in the kids area)

fun at grandma's--part 3

Yesterday we went to the science museum.  Rachel remembers it well from last year when we went there.  She had a great time again this year.

We spent a lot of time in the grocery store area, as you can see.  Most of the food wound up in Rebecca's mouth.  Gross!  And she loved pushing the grocery cart.

This firetruck was Rachel's favorite last year.  This year Rebecca got to join in on the fun (last year I was wearing her in the baby bjorn on my chest the whole time!).

And here's a bad picture of Rebecca walking, though I somehow got the video to load yesterday, so you don't really need the picture, but here it is, anyway.

Oh, and Rachel gave me a harp performance on the string-less harp.

Today was a more relaxed day.  An old friend of mine came over with her little boy for a little while, and while Rachel talked her ear off I got to get a word in now and then to my friend.  Then Rachel and Grandma went on a picnic at the park while Rebecca napped and I got a little break, which was nice.  Rebecca's been SUPER fussy while we've been here, so I needed it!  Tomorrow I think we're going to "Grandma's zoo" (that's what Rachel calls it).  I haven't been since Rachel was about Rebecca's age, so I'm sure it will be fun.  Rachel's excited to see the giraffes, since we don't have them at our zoo.

walking!

fun at grandma's--part 2

Yesterday Rebecca REALLY started walking!  Many times during the day she took a bunch of steps in a row.  It's so fun to watch and she gets so excited when we cheer and clap for her.  I don't have any pictures because the camera was never close by when she'd attempt it, but I'll be sure to get some in the next couple of days.  I'm sad her daddy is missing it....but he'll be so surprised when he comes home!

So yesterday's fun was going to the library to get Rachel some books for while we're here and jumping on the trampoline at the neighbor's house (my parents' neighbors are on vacation this week and they told my mom that Rachel could use their trampoline and swingset whenever she wanted while she was here.  Isn't that nice?)

Rebecca hung out nearby under the climbing toy, just being cute!