Happy 3rd Birthday, SiSi!

Little Miss SiSi was joined by many friends and family a week before she turned 3.  She was an absolute angel the whole day, despite the nearly 100 degree heat.  Great Grandma's B. and Tud joined us, thanks to Grandma Belva and Grandpa Tim who brought them the long way to Savage.  She got many amazing presents - among them new dance clothes and shoes, a Doc McStuffins costume, a coconut (as requested) and apples (again, as requested), among other great items!  Sienna is the funniest little girl I know and, while she obviously takes after Mom in her physical attributes, she is her father in every way besides looks!  While she still has very little interest in being potty-trained (despite the fact that she actually is, as was evident the day she made herself pee on the potty about 10 times in an hour just so she could get the Starburst she so desperately wanted), she is very advanced.  She tells detailed stories, has no qualms about playing for an hour in her room with her babies by herself, and she takes after her cousin, Sadie, in her love of the dramatic arts (aka TV).  Everyone who knows SiSi can't help but want to smoosh her up, she's so cute!  Our lives are infinitely better because she's in them :)

 

Counting Cups

In a move very reminiscent of her older sister, Finley, SiSi decided to line up her birthday cups and show off her advanced counting skills. 

Sienna's Lesson to Her Baby

Sienna, unlike her sister who wouldn't be caught dead in a room by herself, loves to play in her room by herself.  One day, I caught her playing with her baby and talking sweetly to it.  She was pretending to be driving in the car - if you listen carefully you can hear her make a "click" noise when she takes off the "baby's" seat belt.  She later put that baby to bed - on the coffee table covered with magazines for blankets.  She's certainly imaginative!

Sienna: All Things Girl

Up until recently, I thought Sienna was going to be my tomboy.  She can throw a ball fast, straight, and strong, she will jump off of anything higher than her with no fear, and she wants to get her hands into and onto anything and everthing she comes across.  In the last 6 months or so, however, SiSi has been very into all things "girl."  She wants to wear Finley's old dance costume just about every day (including on the day Finley actually had her recital) and when she wears it, she likes to prance around with a wand and yell "Abra Kazaammmm!"  At Finley's recital, she got to go backstage and get full stage make-up by her big cousin, Sadie.  I didn't think she'd leave!  And, the San Frannies came to visit over the 4th of July and Sienna and Finley played "Beauty School" on them for almost 30 minutes (I didn't hear any complaining from Paige and Natalie).  And through all this girlie activity, there is one thing I know for sure:  Sienna will be a dancer.  Just mark my words (and this is not me projecting!).

Swimming Lessons, Dressing Herself, and Watching it Grow

This is what you get when a 2-year-old decides to dress herself - inside out and backward pants.

 Sienna started swimming lessons on Monday.  She wore Finley's old swimsuit that looks like a ballerina tutu and she was so excited to go to the swimming pool she danced around the living room twirling and ran up and down the hallway doing leaps before we left.  She had to go with Daddy because she's 2, but her teacher told Daddy she was too advanced for the class.  While the rest of the kids floated around with their moms and dads, Sienna spent the time jumping in off the side of the pool, chasing diving toys, and playing with the teacher.  She is going to start classes by herself as soon as the class opens up in May.

For my birthday, my Teaching Assistant, Steven, gave me a grow your own poppy kit.  Finley and I planted the seeds and put it on the window to let it grow.  I came into the kitchen a little later and Sienna was sitting in a chair staring at the pot.  I asked her what she was doing and she told me she was "Watching it grow!"

Not a Good Choice!

Today, SiSi sat on the potty for a very long while because I told her she couldn't wear underpants until she learned how to use the big-girl potty.  As she sat there, she told me she had a secret and proceeded to whisper nothing in my ear.  Then, she told me she had "trinkled," but unfortunately she actually hadn't.  I told her we could put a pull-up on since she sat on the potty for so long so we went into her room to get one.  When we saw her empty bed, she proclaimed, "Hey!  Where'd my stuffies go?"  I told her I didn't know and she said, "Daddy took them.  That was not a good choice!"

Sienna Knows Her Letters and Sounds

This is all I could catch of Sienna's new trick, but she impressed me last night while we were watching Eloise.  They were playing with the letters on the refrigerator and Sienna started taking each letter and saying it out loud, followed by the sound the letter makes.  Every once in awhile, she'd throw in a word that starts with that letter.  It was absolutely adorable and I can take absolutely no credit for her knowledge.  I'm guessing her wonderful teachers at Kids Count have been working their magic, just as they did with Finners.

World's Worst Blogger Finally Updates Sienna's Page (with old photos, of course)!

In the last two weeks, Sienna went from being a goofy little toddler to being a real big girl!  Unfortunately, that does not mean she is going potty on the big-girl potty, but it does mean that she has started showing her personality in full force.  Her new self made it's first appearance at bedtime one night.  She told me a very long and detailed story about a princess who lived in a big pink castle and she wore pink and purple and green and there was a dragon - a BIG dragon - that lived in a bush with strawberries and peppers and 'maters!  Sienna's big-girl self also now decides exactly what she wants to wear and when.  She apparently does not like jeans and, in fact, prefers jeggings which she will tell you over and over if you try to get her in said jeans.  On the way home from school one day, Sienna asked her sister, "Finley, what's kindergarten?" and patiently waited for a reply.  She can count to ten in Spanish (I'm sure Dora taught her that) and while she's wandering around the house, you might be lucky enough to hear her sing the Johnny Appleseed Song or B-I-N-G-O!  Last night, Sienna was really big as she played house with Ninny.  She told us her name was Lily and she was 29 (later she told us she was 100).  And don't worry, she's old enough now to choose her own bedtime, which is usually long after her father falls asleep waiting for her to.  Once a stinker, always a stinker!

Sienna, Scared of Santa

 

Santa came to Kids Count and all the children were very excited to sit in his lap and tell him what they wanted for Christmas...except for SiSi.  Cam showed me all the adorable pictures of the employee's children smiling at Santa, telling him their wishes, or at the very least, sitting uninterested in his lap, like Eloise!   Our little scaredy cat wouldn't go near him, even after he gave her a puppy and a candy cane.  How cute is that!?

 

 

Happy Halloween!

SiSi's Halloween almost got stifled by a nasty case of strep throat!  Luckily, Daddy and Sienna got on meds in time to enjoy the festive day.  Funny enough, Sienna's Halloween costume wasn't that different from her daily wear, since she is thoroughly obsessed with "pretty" skirts and dresses and has a definite opinion about what she wants to wear (and we are very glad that we are getting more wear out of Finley's old dance costume!).

Happy 2nd Birthday, SiSi!

Sienna celebrated her 2nd birthday on Grandma Brenda's actual birthday, which turned out to be an absolutely perfect day to revel in the sun.  We grilled burgers and ate sinful potatoes (thanks Grandma Brenda), salad and relishes (thanks Grandma Belva) and Mommy's favorite grape salad (thanks Grandma Julie).  Sienna loved each and every present she received and has been playing with them ever since (so has her big sister!).  She got a wand from Steve and Sondra (who couldn't be at the party but stopped by earlier to visit), a Sesame Street school bus from Auntie Megan, Uncle Phil, Sadie and Eliose, cogs and screws, a growth chart, and a super cool puzzle from Grandma Julie and Uncle Jimmy, super cute clothes and a baby doll from Grandma Belva and Grandpa Tim, a baby doll high chair from Grandma Brenda and Grandpa Kevin, an art smock from Auntie Annie and a little piggy book from Uncle Luke (Dunka Duke, as SiSi calls him).  After opening presents, we ate bee cupcakes and Sienna ate the candy bees off the cake.  Finley chose the theme since Sienna loves to sing, "Bringing Home a Baby Bumblebee."  We spent the rest of the afternoon lounging in the perfect late summer/early fall day. 

 

Now that she's 2, Sienna is really showing her personality.  We all love how she sings songs to herself while she plays - everything from "EIEIO" to "God Bless America!" (Great Grandma Joyce is smiling down from heaven on her for that one.). She's very loving to her babies and to her "Ninny" when Finley gets sad - although she also has a fierce temper and pulls Ninny's hair at the drop of a hat.  She goes on and on and tells long stories, although many of the words are indecipherable, but she definitely has the inflections down.  She loves Barney and watches his DVDs to fall asleep at night.  She LOVES the pool and has very little fear in the water.  She also loves to do gymnastics and she tries to copy every move Finley makes.  She does still hate loud noises like tractors and vacuums ("I scared.  I scared of tractors," she says).  She's just as sweet as can be and so huggable, even when she is standing on her chair and climbing on the table with a twinkle in her eye!  We love you, Sienna!

Apple!

The other night, the family was sitting at the dinner table, eating.  Sienna was in her high chair in between Daddy and Mommy and Finley was across from her.  We had been eating for 5 minutes or so when Sienna started reaching and saying, "Apple!  Apple!"  I kept thinking she was reaching for the salt and pepper shakers and that she thought they were apples - although I certainly knew she was smarter than that, especially since she can now count to eleven!  All of a sudden, a lightbulb went off in Daddy's head and he said, "I know what she's doing."  He grabbed her hand and she reached for mine, and we all realized that she wanted to sing the Johnny Appleseed song.  We had to sing it several times, of course, after that cuteness!  Oh, the Lord IS good to me :)

Ears Are Good!

No pics for this post, but SiSi had her ear-tubes-follow-up a couple of days ago and everything looks good.  She passed her hearing test with flying colors and improved a ton from her before test.  She clearly can hear because she asks Momma to sing any number of her favorite songs - ABCD's, Itsy Bitsy 'Pider, Rock-a-bye-baby, Bringing Home a Baby Bumble Bee - and matches pitch perfectly.  Naturally ;)

Pigtails for SiSi!

Sienna has had only a teeny weeny trim since she was born and Mommy thought it was much easier to let her "bangs" grow out while she is a little stinker rather than wait until she is older like we did with Finley.  After spending a girls' weekend with the cousins/aunts/grandmas in Sioux Falls (where she clearly had a blast in the pool), it was clear that she was very over her top-of-the-head ponytails.  When we returned home, Mommy caved and gave her a bigger trim of the bangs, which left her smiling from ear to ear.  This morning, we were able to put her hair in her very first pigtails ever and she left them in all day so she must have loved them as much as we lover her.

Summer Sienna

These pictures are from a photo session with my good friend, Kelley Conley Reiter, and they truly capture my little stinker, SiSi.  This summer, she has grown and changed so much.  She continually surprises us with new words, phrases, and skills.  She is a very good talker - last week she told me, "I'm scared of the tractor," after our neighbor was mowing his lawn.  She is a total copycat of her big sister.  She studies Finley's every move and repeats everything she says and does.  Sometimes, this worries me...  She is nearly fearless (minus the tractor and riding on Grandpa Kevin's boat) and I'm sure she's going to be a gymnast.  She loves to walk, one foot in front of the other, on the curb that surrounds our park, and she leaps and jumps right on the curb.  When she falls down, she laughs and gets right back up.  Finley has been learning how to do backwalkovers (spotted by me) and of course, this means Sienna is, as well.  She's actually really good!  Sienna also has been sleeping in her big-girl bed for a couple of weeks now.  Some days, it's easier than others, but most of the time, she goes down pretty easy and she always stays in her bed all night long.  One of the funniest things SiSi does (in retrospect) is that she throws full-on fits, much like her father!  One day, I went into her room after she was sleeping, and she had destroyed her room.  She had thrown every single book from her bookshelf around the room, knocked over her lamp and the ipod player, tore every kleenex from the box, and spread her toys across the floor.  When she gets really mad, she screams a high-pitch scream, makes super tight fists, and grits her teeth while she shakes.  If anyone is near, watch out, because your hair will get pulled and you will get scratched.  Luckily, her sweet little personality comes out very quickly once she gets her anger out.  We love her so!

No Pics but Many Updates

Since we just got a new computer, all of our pictures are unaccessible, but since I had a minute and a fast computer, I thought I'd give a quick update.  SiSi is a regular talker these days.  On Friday, May 19, she said her first full sentence with intention when she said, "I want a book," while I was changing her diaper in the morning and then, she was off!  The next day, she opened up the refrigerator and pointed the the pickles and said, "I want a pickle!"  She now sings "Twinkle Twinkle", the "ABC's" and the other morning I caught her with "The Lady with the Alligator Purse" in her lap and she was saying, "In came doctor, in came nurse."  This morning she was cracking Finley (who she calls "Ninny") and I up by making her angry face.  She grits her teeth and makes fists and tenses her whole body until it shakes.  Then, she laughs.  She is one funny little stinker!

Sienna's Favorite Words

Sienna is growing up faster than ever and has started talking.  Every day, a new word or phrase surprises us and even if she doesn't quite have the phonetics down, she definitely has mastered the inflection of many words and phrases.  Among her first words and phrases were "Uh-oh," "Where'd it go?," "Tickle Tickle," and "All done/gone." Lately, she has been saying, "Up and down," from her favorite book "Elmo Loves Opposites."  Every day when Daddy and the girls get home, she points at the big evergreen and says, "Tree!"  She has loved the word "shoe" for practically as long as she has been wearing them.  She loves to tell you what a lion says ("Rarrrrr") and what sounds a monkey, doggy, rooster, horse, chicken, and lamb make.  She points at all of her facial features and makes it evident that she knows exactly what you are talking about at any given moment. 

Besides all of her communication advances, Sienna has also told us that she is no longer a baby by refusing to sit in her high chair many days so that she can sit at the table in a big chair next to her sister.  Also, before we lowered the crib a couple of weeks ago, Sienna proved to be quite the athlete when she climbed out of her crib and wandered into the living room.  She always keeps us on our toes!