Elsie.....
My sweet and crazy and emotional little daughter.
The one that tries my patience the most with stubborness and random bursts of over-excitement. The stubborness is from Matthew the can't-contain-my-emotions is from me. Bella, Cora, and Elsie had a plan to all sleep together the other night (Frykmans are in Ireland). The beds were pushed together and they were soooo excited. Elsie had built a plan on where each one would go but Cora and Bella weren't going along with it. She could not bend on this issue and had a massive meltdown and chose to not sleep with them anymore. Oy.
She will get really excited about things and kick and flail about or try to wrestle her sisters and stuff like that. Sometimes they are ok with this and sometimes they get hurt. On the flip side of this, she is easily the best cuddler and hugger in the family.
She is getting so big and has really become a kid. I still like to bounce and sing to the big kids before bed sometimes. I rarely do this with Elsie anymore because she is so heavy. We still try sometimes but then laugh the whole time. :)
I'm so happy to say that she has been loving kindergarten all year. She loves her friends there and has a great teacher and class. She is reading books with us now and sounding out words that she sees in real life. She practices writing and will write what she wants with invented spelling. It's been fun to watch her learn and grow so much this year!
Her birthday is coming up and she will definitely be having a party this year. It's been hard to decide who to invite. She has never played with her classmates outside of school so if she wants to invite them I feel like we will have to do the whole class?
What she loves to do: steal my phone and take videos of herself singing and being weird, write and draw, art, bake, play with her sisters, put on a show.
Cora....
My smart and funny little pipsqueak daughter.
She is a mama's girl through and through and through. She still prefers me to do all things for her over anyone else and would want me to carry her all around the house if I would be up for it (sometimes I am).
She is inquisitive and interested in things and comes out with these random statements. The other day she was asking more about Jesus and his rising and said "So Jesus died but then came back to life again?" I'm not good at answering these questions because I am still struggling to understand it all as an adult! Speaking of which, Elsie was really pushing me to explain the difference between Jesus and God the other day. I gave her a pretty philosophical answer but she said she understood.
The other day Cora found a little toy she hadn't seen in a while and said, "At last! There is that toy!" She is just always saying things in an interesting way but still has that squeaky little voice which makes it all the more amusing.
She is the one that has struggled the most with me being back at work. She is generally sad when the weekend is over and checks in throughout the week on how many days are left until we have more "stay home days again".
With Elsie reading now she is motivated to learn as well. She knows some of the sight words and can read some of the easier ones that rely on repetition. She doesn't really have any knowledge of sounding out words though.
Is an early bird and I can never feel confident in what her sleep schedule is. She naps every other day now. She still wakes up during the night sometimes and sneaks into our bed. She is hard to sleep with though. She is always wiggling and throwing her hair around.
Loves preschool and has been doing great there. The teachers have had some fun stories of her being a caring friend and continuously opening up throughout the school year.
What she loves to do: snuggle with mom or dad, play with her sisters, do art and coloring, talk about kids from school and daycare and playing with them. Of all of the kids, she is the one who always relies on me to help her figure out what she should do. Elsie and Alaina can easily get lost in imaginary play but Cora always wants me to set up activities or get her started on something and then she will continue to play.
Alaina....
My baby.
She is so totally the baby of the family and I just feel that it is very unlikely anyone will come after her. She has everyone in the family wrapped around her finger. 2 is actually my favorite age and she is especially charming so my phone is full of pictures and videos of her.
She will give me hugs and push my cheeks and say "I love you so much Mommy, you're my best friend ever!" Telling everyone in the family that they are her "best friend ever" is totally her thing lately. I think she got this from Elsie?
She is definately the most stubborn and independent one in the family. She is very "terribly two" and challenges my parenting skills and tactics regularly. I often tell the families I work with that she is my case study so that I know what works for them.
She insists on picking all of her own outfits. I get her dressed at bedtime and she sleeps in those clothes and continues to wear them through the following day. Changing her out of her pajamas in the morning was just to much of a power struggle. Her very favorites are the heart sweatshirt she is wearing in this picture, a heart fleece, bunny sweater, tights and skirts, and star pants.
Just like her sisters, she loves to sing. Her singing totally melts my heart and I wish she would never grow out of her funny two-year-old way of singing and talking.
Her language has been blossoming lately and she has been talking in past tense and sentences like "I don't remember that one mom." (I think I only notice these things because I work with language development).
What she loves to do: Play with her babies, play with those little creatures in their little house, push strollers, sing, color, play with sisters, play Seek a Boo, be the baby. :)
