Our Baby Steps: I love you too!!!

As I sit down to write this blog entry, I can hear Jack from downstairs. He is singing DeeDAH, DeeDAH, DeeDAHHHHHH. He is trying his hardest to wake up his sister. Despite the fact that we can understand most of his words, DeeDah has stuck and I wonder if he will ever call his sister, Sophia. I know he can say Sophia; he just prefers DeeDah. Over the past few months, the kids have gotten so close. We finished the playroom, and the two of them love to play in there together.

Happy Easter!!!!

Sophia and Jack had a great Easter. We woke up, had a mini-breakfast, opened up Easter bunny presents, and then went to church and brunch. It was a very fun and relaxing day.

The end of April and beginning of May was a time to visit family. The day after Easter we went to Sarasota to visit grandma and grandpa, Gigi (my grandmother), and Uncle Steve!

Gigi and Jack playing in the morning

Jack and Mommy feeding the flamingos at Jungle Gardens

Jack loved giving the flamingos food

Jack loved the wooden train at the Gardens

and the slide!

Jack holding a bird! Both Sophia and Jack enjoyed the bird show and laughed watching the birds ride the bicycles and scooters!

Jack and Uncle Steve in the pool. Jack was really comfortable in the water, and he totally remembered his Uncle.

Lots of fun swimming

In early May, I took the kids to St. Augustine for a day of strawberry picking.

Ready in the wagon!

Do you see Sophia's face? That is her "ewww" face. When she sees something she likes, she stops what she is doing and says "ewww!" We will be eating dinner and serve dessert, and she will stop what she is doing and make that face and we all start to laugh. Jack felt like the glasses really added to the look:)

Jack and I picked a ridiculous amount of strawberries. To be exact, we picked EIGHT pounds of strawberries that day!

Jack loves to be outside and to pick fruits and veggies. He has been a great helper in planting the garden. He goes outside every afternoon with Carl to check on the orchard and garden. The big news at our house is that we finally have OLIVES, nectarines and peaches!!! We picked over 30 peaches this week off of our tree.

Sophia didn't help pick but she did help eat A LOT of strawberries.

Jack taking a break to eat some more berries. We also picked tomatoes, and he ate them like apples. It was pretty cool to watch!

Sophia is still crawling but walks with the help of just one finger. She is so close. She chases after her brother and Herme with her fast crawl. She is developing such a little personality. She is super adventurous and wants to always be where the action is.

Sophia still takes two naps a day, a short one in the morning, and then another one when Jack takes his afternoon nap. Both go to sleep around 8 pm and sleep until 730ish. I do admit that sometimes they awake earlier but sit and chat while Mommy gets some extra zzzs. Having them share a room was the best thing we ever did. Jack doesn't like to go down unless he has his D-Dah, and Sophia cries until Jack is in his crib. I hope they continue to be this close.

Jack carrying a lot of strawberries, and pushing his sister. He is becoming such a big boy.

I love spending my days with these two!!!

In May, we also joined My Gym which is a kids gym facility. I am trying to do a mommy and me class with Sophia on Tuesday mornings, and then Jack, Sophia and I go to Jack's tumble class on Thursdays together. Jack loves all of the equipment and especially loves to jump in to the big pit of balls. It is unlimited classes for the summer so I am hoping this will be one of our fun activities for the hot, rainy summer to come.

For Cinco de Mayo, we went to two parties. Jack and Sophia got to see their close friends, Mac, Allen, Cora, Elle, and Marley. They were so happy!

Sophia still has super blonde hair. Her eyes are hazel.

She is such a happy little girl.

Just recently, Sophia has gotten into bows. When I go to put it in her hair, she used to pull it out. I started telling her it looked pretty. Now, she still pulls it out but then wants it right back in!

A long day!!!

For Mother's Day, we traveled to Nashville to see Mimi, Papa, and the rest of the family. Jack and Sophie had a wonderful time playing with their cousins. It was super cute watching Jack and Thomas play trains together, and listen to their little boy chatter. Eloise is still too little to participate but we are super excited for her to get older so that Sophia has a girlfriend.

Sophia still loves to eat. Her faves remain blueberries, cherry tomatoes, cheese sticks, cheese puffs, and pizza. There really isn't anything she won't eat:) Jack, on the other hand, would prefer to live off of chocolate cake (but who can blame him)?!?!

Jack is growing so fast. I was going through the kids' library today, and realized that I had bought him a bunch of word flash cards back in October. He now knows all of those words and surprises me daily with his vocabulary. He is still pretty shy around others but when he gets talking he has a lot of really interesting and smart things to tell you!

I am so proud of what a caring and sweet little boy Jack is. He constantly wants me to put his sister next to him, He tries to cut her food for her, and hand it to her. Carl told me today that he overhead Jack say to Sophia, May I please have your hand? He then cleaned it! During dinner the other night, I walked inside to grab something, and Jack turned to Carl and said, "I love my Momma." It was so sweet. Recently, we will be playing and he will turn to me and tell me he loves me. When I say, I love you Jack, he has the cutest way of saying, I love you too. The "too" is pronounced in the cutest two year old way possible.