September 19

How did we find ourselves in September already and only one month away from turning three????  Ay yi yi!  Momma is not ready!  

September also means that Big Brother heads back to school and that Momma and Little Sweetie get to start their daily routine of fun together.  Unfortunately, it's taking a bit of time to get settled in; Momma had to travel to Minnesota for a week with Big Brother and then Little Sweetie had to travel to Ohio for a week with Daddy.  But hopefully the second half of the month will find us in full swing!

     

Routine attempt #1:  Get back to BBC on a regular basis.  The getting there worked out, the bringing an activity for Little Sweetie worked out, the execution with her new favorite coloring utensil (markers) was less than ideal, lol!

But then, just as soon as our full days together had started, it was time for Momma to take Bubby to Minnesota for a full week.  Thankfully, we have amazing friends who love our Little Sweetie and helped take care of her for us.  

     

Super Sweetie and her friend K had a great day together!

Sweetie and her friend, S, enjoying a zoo day!

Swinging time with friends!

It was a long week to be apart, so I was glad when we were together again.  Thankfully, she seems to understand that Momma has to take Big Brother to help make him better and is willing to go with the flow.  However, as soon as we got back, she had to show me that her spunk hadn't left her!

Reunited!  Woo!  Now, let's put Bubby to bed so that Sweetie can...

     

     

     

...become a broom-toting skeleton cowgirl????  Well, why not!  Lol, love this girl!

Ye haw!

But too soon it was time for MORE travel.  Daddy had to go back to Ohio for work and since it was Big Brother's treatment week in Minnesota, Little Sweetie flew back east with Daddy to stay with her grandparents.  

      

Somebody had a great time riding in the little car, helping Pop-Pop with the construction job, and seeing both sets of grandparents.  But Momma couldn't wait to have her home!

 

And she's back!  Just in time to read the tooth fairy book with Big Brother after he lost another tooth!

Besides being a busy world traveler, Little Sweetie has also been busy being a Rare Disease Advocate for her brother, cheering for her favorite team, getting new (awesome) fall clothes, attending birthday parties, and just being a super hero in general.

Supporting the 21st Century Cures Act to help save her Bubby!

      

Ready for some college football and Buckeye cheering in her newest Ohio dress!

Don't be jealous; her wardrobe just really is THAT good...  

...except on days that she thinks it's just acceptable to try to wear pillows.  

Cupcake queen at the birthday party.

And amazing super hero all of the time!  She loves her capes and I have to tuck them into every shirt she wears.  Because, duh, super hero.

Even though summer is coming to a close, that doesn't mean that our outdoor activities drop...no, in fact, they actually start to pick up a bit in Texas because it's cool enough to be outside for longer times!  Still warm enough now to enjoy the boat, but we'll be excited when it cools down a bit for Run Club!

Brave girl standing up in the tube!

     

First Run Club practice of the year!  It was insanely hot, but Little Sweetie still pushed through to run a entire mile!  So proud of her!

Height and Weight

Just over 31 pounds for weight and trying to get to 36 inches for height!  However, if nothing else, she says her teeth are growing big and strong, just like her!  Her dentist agreed and declared her to still be cavity-free!

Such a great job at the dentist!

Personality

Yeah...for personality, I'm just going to leave these right here.  They do a better job summing it up than I could!

     

     

I just don't know, sometimes!  Lol!

Developmental Milestones

One of the aspects of the fall schedule is to get back on track with our learning time.  Without preschool, it's up to Momma to keep our girl's brain growing as strong as her body.  Thankfully, she's bright and inquisitive, so stoking that preexisting fire isn't too hard!

Science time!  Working on some water experiments today!

She's taking it on herself to start spelling! 

Imaginative play sparks so many great discussions between her and I.  I love asking her questions about her play and hearing her explanations and ideas!

The aftermath of learning time with both Little Sweetie and Big Brother...it's worth it!

Fun Tidbits

Little Sweetie had some great bedtime surprises this month!  First her friends, E and J, in California made personal books for her and then our friend, Ms. D, was in town for work and stopped in for a visit!

She misses E and J so much; these books made her so happy!

     

Story time with Ms. D! 

Can't believe I'll be back next month with a 3 year old!  Good night, 

LSM

Little Sweetie's Momma

August 19

The last month of summer!  How did we get here already?  And why does it feel like I am only NOW getting a handle on our schedule and routine?  Oh well.  I'll take what successes I can get before I have to make an entirely new schedule and routine once school starts at the end of the month!

But, for now, I feel like I can safely say we've been nailing our routine.  Park time (when it's cool enough), Boot Camp (which saves Momma's sanity), My Gym keep us busy during the week, Swim Lessons, and learning time.  The weekends are spent out on the lake as a family.  

     

My cool girl, just riding around to our next adventure at the park.  She is so beautiful.

     

My little workout partner at Boot Camp!

Time for lunch at Jason's Deli!  Little Sweetie has been there so often this summer that they are about ready to hire her!

     

Sister and Brother cheering each other on during swimming lessons at Ms. J.  Momma and Daddy were very proud of how well each of them did!

     

Doing great during her learning time lesson!  She loves mazes!

Prepping for boat time!

Although Little Sweetie thinks our boating supplies work just fine in the living room as well!

Happy girl on the lake!

It took awhile, but we convinced her the tube was best used with the boat and not in the living room as a TV watching lounge.  She keeps getting braver and braver riding in it on the lake!

We also filled our time with our awesome babysitters:  We tried to play as much as possible Ms. A before she went back to college and we got to cheer for our Ms. K as she dove in the Olympics!

     

Oh Ms. A!  We are going to miss you so much when you go back to college!

     

Trying to get these two to smile together for a good luck picture for Ms. K was an Olympic level challenge within itself!

We found Ms. K during the Opening Ceremonies!  Go USA!

Ms. K made it to the semifinals!  We are so proud of her for how well she represented our country!

We love you, Ms. K!  Go USA!

And our summer hair battles continue...we had a lot of success with getting her to try to pigtails this month, but although the frequency went up, the duration of the hairstyle did not.  

     

Super Sweetie at least will wear her pigtails!

     

     

     

She?  Sometimes she loves them and admires them!  I wish she would let me do more with her hair!

However, summer is quickly coming to a close.  Big Brother will go back to school, Momma and Little Sweetie will start our new fall routine, and Run Club will start!

     

Some people are worried about their back to school wardrobe; we're just worried about our running clothes wardrobe.  Run Club, we are ready to run fast!

We are going to miss Big Brother when he goes back to school, but we are starting to groom a new friend.  Thanks, Aunt S, for Little Sweetie's new doll!

My two loves of summer...and every day!

Height and Weight

Back up to 31.4 lbs for weight and holding steady at 35.75 in. for height!

Personality

She is still fiercely independent and really loves doing things herself and had even begun to tell us that she "can do it better" than we can.  Love this feisty girl.  Although I don't love it when these feisty moments show up when I have to take her out of the bath but she thinks she shouldn't be done yet.  Sigh.

"But I'm NOT DONE with my bath!"

Developmental Milestones

Sam's fine motor skills are awesome!  She is doing great at drawing things that can be recognized (with a little information) and she loves making things with Plato.  In terms of speech, we are asking "Why" questions, which is way ahead of schedule.  We're very happy with how she is progressing because Momma is dealing with a little guilt about not having her in school yet.  With Big Brother's clinical trial schedule, it just isn't an option right now, but we work with her at home and hope we are doing enough!

She said it is a drawing of "fishes in the ocean."

Play doh time!

Fun Tidbits

After putting Big Brother to bed one night, I came out of his room in order to get Little Sweetie to bed next. However, what greeted me was this sight and a little voice saying, "I packed us a picnic, Momma!"

About three years ago, Big Brother would have also pulled the same tactic to try to stay up a little later. He LOVED playing picnic or restaurant and taking my order was one of his favorite parts of the game. However, three years ago I would have told him, "No, it's time for bed," and cleaned up the picnic and carted him off to bed, thinking that Momma was tired after a long day and that we had plenty of time for future picnics. 

Except we didn't. We had no idea how much time we didn't have. 

Big Brother doesn't play picnic anymore, not like he used to. He doesn't ask to take my order anymore or tell me that everything costs "Five dollars!" Although he is still doing well overall, he doesn't have the attention or language ability that he used to have. Sanfilippo has stolen that. 

So the moral of the story? Little Sweetie went to bed a little late tonight and I ate every bite of that pretend picnic.  

Every. Single. Bite. 

I will never take a picnic for granted again.

Good night, 

LSM

Little Sweetie's Momma