Sophia (4 1/2) is ready for baby brother to arrive (mostly so that Grandma will come stay). She remains an amazing big sister, and doesn't like to be referred to as a "little kid." We can complement her by saying she looks beautiful, but not cute (because that's for babies and little kids like Claire). She loves everything fancy (This may have something to do with the Fancy Nancy books she adores), wanting to wear a dress or skirt and leggings each day. She's a true girl already in wanting whatever she doesn't have. Right now she likes to straighten her naturally wavy hair. (Of course, I wish I had her curls :) Sophia is my sweet indulgences girl. She's very into gifts, treats, and anything special. She is continually making new decorations for the house and tying ribbons on everything. She gets rather upset if I try to rush through a tea party without putting snacks in the proper serving dishes. She also prefers everyone at the party to look fancy. Her not-so-fancy Mama doesn't usually meet the dress code.
Sophia has asked more than once why she can't go to first-grade next year instead of kindergarten, to which we have to respond that she'll just barely be old enough to start kindergarten, for goodness sake! She continues to love preschool and her friends. We caught a glimpse of what's to come when we went to a kindergarten information night and Sophia wanted to spend the entire time with her friend. They even sat in the very back of the bus together for the bus ride. "See ya, Mom and Dad!" She lives for Wednesday night gymnastics and is constantly practicing her hand stands and cartwheels all over the house. Claire tries to copy and wants help doing sommersaults :)
Even with all these big girl behaviors, Sophia still loves to be reminded how she is our first baby. She still loves to snuggle up with us. Her new thing is pretending to fall asleep while Mami prays at bed time so that Papi has to carry her to bed. She craves time on Mama's lap (though there is very little space there these days) just as much as Claire does and often requests I sing her the special "Sweet Baby Girl" song I made up. I think she'll always be the truly affectionate hugger of the family.
Claire (1 1/2) is noticing the few baby things we've put up around the house and each time we get in the new mini-van (yep, we made the switch), we talk about how little brother will soon be sitting in that little baby carseat next to her. She doesn't show too much interest. We'll soon see how she takes being bumped from her "baby-in-the family" spot. Claire is determined to make herself more understood and we're all working on listening very carefully. She uses a number of Spanish words (agua being her favorite), a lot of English words and phrases, like "What's that, Papa?" and "Thank you, Mama" (though only we understand many of them), and screeches! This week she's set on telling us every time she goes potty in her diaper, saying "popo" (even when she's just wet) and using the sign for bathroom. Then she wants to go sit on the potty and change her diaper standing up in the bathroom. She detests the changing table! She's asserting all sorts of toddler independence these days, which is wonderful, but trying too. We went through a little no phase where that was really all Claire said for a week or so. She would walk around all day spouting it off. And when we'd count to ten, Claire would only say the number nine. We joke that it's because it means no in German. She's also quite the hair puller and is often the instigator in fights with Sophia, screeching and warning Sophia to stay back. One day she even gave Mami a bloody nose. We're working on using a gentle touch. At the same time, she's turning out to be rather affectionate as well. I'll commonly find her tackling Sophia with a good-natured hug and she's always ready to give out besos or kisses. She's very sad whenever Mami, Papi, or Hermana go bye-bye and if she had it her way, she'd always be rocked to sleep.
Dance parties have become a daily must at our house, as both girls adore music and dancing. They also love crawling around through homemade forts. Claire is obsessed with play-dough and crayons. It seems she's taking after her big sister in her love of arts and crafts. Sophia needs an artist's portfolio to keep up with 5-10 pictures she draws, paints, and colors each day. And she gets furious if she catches Mama trying to recycle one of them. I hear, "I'm mad at Mama" a lot these days, but thankfully we always manage to come back around to, "I love you, Mami."
Stay tuned to see how life changes dramatically once we welcome our little boy...
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