Sisterly Love

The girls love to cuddle, especially under the same towel after swimming. Here they are on Yiayia and Papou's deck after the dip in the pool. At times like this, I can't imagine why they would ever fight....hahaha...

Pool Time

My girls both LOVED the big pool at Yiayia and Papou's house. Too bad that by the time we move there (Labor Day weekend), the pool will need to be closed for the year. At least next summer they will be able to swim, swim, swim!


The girls and Thea Jo:


This was their favorite thing; hanging on the handle:


Stella's obviously trying to do some gymnastics or something:


I think she was contemplating jumping right in from the edge. Good thing her suit is a flotation device.

We had one really great weather day for the big pool (although the water was still pretty cold), and then one good weather day for the kiddie pool. The girls will still get to use the kiddie pool once we move as long as it stays warm enough in MA in September. Sometimes it's hot (indian summer) and other times it's very cold (sweaters and pants) in September. At least they will have the swing set and slide and chalk and tricycles....all the things they LOVE!

Whoa

Just when you're at your breaking point and think you can't handle any more stress, things seem to fall into place. Drew and I have been SO stressed out about where life was going to take us, and finally it's worked out! Drew accepted a job with a great company in Boston and we will be relocating to MA Labor Day weekend!!! While the expense of living up North is not ideal, seeing my girls thrive being around so many family members and friends is going to be worth anything we have to sacrifice.

We just got back from a 10 day trip up North to visit family and attend a wedding (the best we have ever attended, aside from our own). Being in New England and knowing we're returning there so soon made it feel like we never left. It was surreal driving back here to SC and thinking that it's only for 4 more weeks. We have started the daunting task of packing our entire home and getting rid of things we don't need. On the ride home (which took us TWO FULL DAYS), we were discussing how great it was to see our girls with family. In the 7 days we were actually visiting, our girls visited 7 different houses and felt right at home in all of them. This was not due to remembering visiting before we left...it's been to long for that. It was simply because every home belonged to either family or friends and they immediately felt welcome and loved. There is NOTHING in this world that can ever replace that feeling. As a mom, I felt so good having my girls experience that. There were some homes we did not have time to visit which will be added to the ones where they already feel at home. That is the one thing growing up that I wish I had had. All my relatives were so far away that I never had another home to go to regularly where I felt comfortable no matter what. My girls have missed out on that being here in SC but will get used to it VERY quickly, as they did on vacation. It reinforced in my mind that we made the right decision by taking the job in Boston. We will be making some sacrifices (home size, vacation opportunities, material things) but gaining so much more. We will miss our friends here in SC. We will miss the things to do in and around Greenville, but we look forward to the opportunities that await us in New England. On our trip, my girls got to go in the ocean (first time for Stella, first real time remembering for Sophia) and will get to have that opportunity any time they want. It will be about an hour or two drive from anywhere we choose to live. I can teach them to ski at the mountains where I used to go. The opportunities make me so excited I want to leave today!

If you've never visited New England, I suggest you plan a trip. There is nowhere else like it. You can travel between the 6 states so easily and they all have such different things to offer. Last Saturday, we started out having breakfast in NH, drove to ME for a wedding, back to NH for dinner, then to MA (right on the CT border) to spend the night. You can go to the ocean in five of the states (sorry VT), go on beautiful hikes in ME, NH, VT (I'm sure in MA, too), ski during the winter at great mountains, explore the incredible history in Boston (by far my favorite city), attend sporting events for some of the best teams in the world....the list goes on and on. NYC is an easy drive, Washington, DC in one day...how can anyone resist?

Big Girl Panties....

Stella's ALMOST ready for them....

Stella woke up from a 3 HOUR nap dry and then went pee on the big potty!!! She was so proud and so happy with the mini egg treat she received. Sophia was also so proud, and asked if Yiayia and Papou would be so proud of Stella. Once we get back from visiting NH and MA, I'm going to potty-train Stella for real, just in time for her 2nd birthday!

Dress-up

My little girly-girl Stella loves to get all dressed up. She especially loves lots of accessories. Her birthday is coming in a few weeks (2 already!) and I'm going to get her more purses, necklaces, hats, etc. She just can't get enough! This is what my little princess put on this morning, minus a few purses she put down before I could snap the picture:


Her crown is falling off since her hair is so fine, but it did look cute. She's reaching for one of her fancy gloves in the purse:


She has discarded all of the bracelets:


But does NOT want Sophia to have them yet:


What a pretty princess!

What a nice sister

Stella decided to hand over all her jewelry and such to Sophia. Here she is starting with the bracelets:


Now a necklace:


Once Stella handed everything over that she had been wearing, Sophia ran to get anything else she could hold:


And since Stella now had no accessories, she came back with this:

Greek Girls

After dinner, Sophia requested that we get her "Greek Girl" scarf so she could be a Greek girl. Then, she thought the hoola hoops completed the look. Here both girls are shouting, "Cheese!"


Another try so I could see Stella's face:


In the middle of yelling, "Greek girls!" As you can see, Stella was REALLY shouting!


My Greek dancer princess!


All Greek-girled out.

Where's Sophia?

We got an idea from a magazine from something fun to do, and here is the result...Can you find Sophia?





She's emerging.....





Here she is!



And here's Stella's response when a piece of the shredded magazine got stuck to her foot. She won't go anywhere near the pool.

A minute later...

After removing all bags, pom poms, hats, etc, Stella went back and got just one hat and just one bag...much more tasteful, for the moment:

Stella the girly girl

Stella can't get enough of purses, hats, necklaces...anything girly. She loves playing dress-up with princess costumes, but if they aren't around, she finds anything to carry/put on. We have some little purses that she likes to pack onto her arms, the more the better. She will go in the closet and get whichever hat suits her fancy at the moment. Sometimes she'll get some old gift bags or paper bags from stores (the ones with handles) and carry them around empty. She tells me she's leaving and says goodbye. Once in awhile she'll fill a bag with everything she can find and then carry it around, or put it in their shopping cart and push it around instead. The other things she loves are backpacks. My mom got the girls each an airplane backpack (before their skybus fiasco!) and Stella loves to pack it with things and wear it around the house. Sophia had no idea about dressing up in princess things or necklaces, purses, jewelry until she was almost 3 (she got dress-up stuff for Christmas). Stella learns young because the accessories are available. Here she even adds pom poms:





Then she took everything off and came to show me:

Touch a truck

A few weeks ago, in downtown Greenville, there was an event called Touch a Truck. There was a city block closed and every kind of truck imaginable was there for girls and boys to climb upon. Sophia was intimidated by all the people and all the trucks, so it took her awhile to try anything, but eventually she did get on a boat, a school bus, in a hummer and on a fire truck. Here, Sophia, Stella, and their friend Abby (in pink) stop to play a round of Ring Around the Rosy:


When they walk all together, they look like they could all be related:


Stella was far less afraid of the trucks...here she climbs on the fire truck with Abby:


The girls all enjoy the fire truck:


Sophia and Abby are trying to decide where to go next:


We were going to have a picnic at a park downtown, but it ended up being very hot so we just headed home. Sophia still talks about the trucks and can't wait to visit Grandpa again so she can climb in his big trucks!

Odd

We have two odd girls and never know what they are going to do or say. Here they are after taking a bath. The love their frog towels (which match their frog bathroom decor) and love to goof around before getting into pjs. Stella goofs around as Sophia hides her face, laughing, of course....

Giraffe

Riding in the car while Alex was visiting, he described to Sophia how to draw a giraffe. Here's what she made:


The scribbles to the right in the picture are trees so the giraffe can eat some leaves. One of her favorite things to draw is a submarine under water (the Yellow Submarine, of course). This drawing consists of blacking out the entire screen and using your imagination to see the sub.

Dolphin

Here's Sophia's drawing of a Dolphin from about a month ago. She is currently obsessed with her magna-doodle and loves to draw and have pictures drawn for her.

Time to update

Going through my photos, I realize I have lots to update and keep forgetting. I'm going to do them as separate posts for my own sake and so that reading one is not so overwhelming.

Feelings

We eat dinner as a family every night at the Athans household and tonight was no different. We usually talk about the day with the girls, including activities, the friends they saw, etc. Tonight, there was a lull in conversation for a few minutes when Sophia said, "Mom, even when babies are really little, do they still have big feelings?" I think Drew and I were totally silent and speechless because we were not sure how to answer. We weren't even sure Sophia was really asking about feelings or if she meant something else. Through conversation with her, we determined she really was talking about feelings and was genuinely curious. I had talked a lot with her today about how she was feeling at different times and what different words really mean (frustrated, angry, sad, etc). I asked her what she thought and she said she believes babies do have big feelings, just like her. I asked her about her feelings today and her first to report was happy, so that was good! I'm curious to see what she thinks about next. Here's a part of the conversation:

Sophia: "Mommy, even when babies are really little, do they still have big feelings?"
Me: "Do you mean feelings like happy, sad, mad?"
Sophia: "Yeah."
Me: "Yes they do. I think everyone has big feelings. Do you have big feelings?"
Sophia: "Yes, but nobody can see them."
Me (and Drew): "How come?"
Sophia: "Because they're inside."
Us: "Yes, Sophia, they are inside of you."
Sophia: "Are they in my bones?"
Us: "Well, they're in your mind and your heart. How were you feeling today?"
Sophia: "Happy!"

After dinner, Drew takes time to play with the girls before bath or bedtime. Tonight he drew on the magna-doodle with Sophia. He drew a picture of a curly-haired girl riding a motorcycle and here is there conversation:

Drew: "Hey Sophia, who is that riding the motorcycle?"
Sophia: "That's me, Daddy. Why am I not wearing a helmet?"
Drew: "You're right, Sophia, I forgot to draw a helmet."
Sophia: "You always have to wear a helmet when you ride on a motorcycle, Daddy."

She doesn't miss a beat. From the age of about 18 months she has pointed out every single motorcycle-riding person she has seen and states whether the rider is wearing a helmet or not. If not, she clearly thinks the rider is silly because that is just not safe. Now Stella has picked up the habit from Sophia. They both get genuinely excited when they see someone wearing their helmet. I think I'm raising policewomen or some sort of safety officers. As long as they don't want their own motorcycles someday I'll be happy!