I started this post on March 10th and am just now sitting down to finish it! Jeeze life gets away from me sometimes! Time flies when you're having fun you know...
The girls have truly been amazing lately. We have been through so much loss and heartache and their resiliency just astounds me. I am so thankful for them. For their smiles, giggles, and distraction. Every few months I love writing about their current stages so that I can always remember just the way they are. With everything that we've had going on, it seemed like a good time to do this. I always gain a little perspective after writing these and I think I could use a nice dose of that.
Sloan Eloise . Three years & eleven months
One month until the big fourth birthday!! Sloan LOVES her birthday (she gets that from me!) and cannot wait to celebrate! She asks me every morning how many more days until her happy birthday. We will be in Disneyland for her birthday this year, so instead of a party we're having dinner at Ariel's Grotto. We've turned that into her "mermaid party" complete with mermaid party hats and lots of princesses to twirl with! She is SO excited and so I am, I cannot wait to spoil and celebrate her!
Sloan is just old enough to almost understand what's been going on lately. Old enough to feel pain and loss, but not old enough to really process it and understand it. She misses her grandma and our dog Bailey so much. She talks about them regularly and prays to God to give them back to us. She's been really confused which has resulted in some angry outbursts. We are working through these and she does seem to be getting better and better the more we work with her. I hate that she understands just enough to feel pain, but has so many questions that I don't always have the answer for.
Sloan is strong. She's been so strong lately, stronger than I wish she had to be. She is the most loyal person I know, holding the ones she loves close to her. She is cuddly and affectionate, if she could spend the entire day laying on me or at least holding my hand she wouldn't have a complaint in the world. She loves making people laugh and is constantly saying, "Mama! Watch me make this face!" and "Mama! Watch me do this!" in hopes of making me smile and laugh. She looooooves her sister and constantly demands kisses, hugs, and hand holding. Even when P is feeling a bit smothered :).
Sloan is really into coloring, tracing, and writing her name. I love how much she loves art. She loves any type of small figurine type toy (that she will constantly lose and have me searching for). Her favorite days are preschool and gymnastic days when she gets to see her friends. Fun fact, she is the only girl in her gymnastics class. Just a tiny little blonde thing in a sea of little boys and she is by far the least coordinated. She doesn't care at all though, she tries so hard and has an absolute blast. Her favorite movies are Moana and Trolls right now and she loves look and find books.
I just love my big girl so much! She is such a wonderful big sister and I cannot wait to see her with the new baby. She has fiiiiiinally come to terms with getting a baby brother and is no longer asking me to change it into a sister baby :). She loves talking about what we'll do with the baby once he's here and what his name should be. Sloan is convinced there is a girl baby in her belly and she will be naming her "baby Shimmer and Shine". Never grow up sweet Sloan Eloise, you are just so perfect the way you are.
Phayre Golda . Twenty months
Phayre is at my absolute most favorite age! Her language skills are exploding, she's experiencing many "firsts", and wants more than anything to be a big girl like Sloan. She's our wild one, constantly climbing and running and getting into things she shouldn't. But she's also the happiest, sweetest little explorer so she gets away with murder. She is constantly our comedic relief and boy are we thankful for that.
P is the quintessential little sister. Sloan is her idol and she would do anything to be able to do everything her sister does! She loves copying Sloan, dressing the same as Sloan, and spends most of her days following Sloan around. She loves the color purple because Sloan told her that purple is her favorite color (because obviously pink can only be Sloan's favorite color). She loves Moana, Frozen, and The Little Mermaid (even though she's never actually sat through any of them in its entirety). She LOVES baby dolls and stuffed animals and doesn't go anywhere without one under her arm. She's the biggest book lover I know and is constantly bringing a book to me and begging for story time in my lap (which I love so much too!).
Phayre is talking so much! I love when she says trouble, daughter, scissors, flower, pretty, purple, and pepper. They just sound so cute when she says them. P loves cheering everyone on. Whenever we get excited she throws her hands in the air, claps, and says "YAY!!". She's gone pee pee on the potty a few times, thanks to Sloan deciding it was time to potty train her. P has absolutely no interest in potty training unless Sloan is excited and initiating it. Whenever I ask her if she wants to go potty she says, "No, baby!". As in "no thanks mom, I want to be a baby!" I am in no rush for her to shed her babyness so I'm not pushing it.
Phayre has become quite the mama's girl lately. I'm pretty sure she's acting that way because she's copying Sloan though. If Sloan asks me to put her to bed Phayre will start saying, "Mama nigh nigh!!" Poor Eric gets his feelings hurt sometimes, but I keep promising him it's a phase.
P constantly sticks her tongue out, just a quirky little trait that I love. She's super smiley and happy, you can't help but feel happy when you're around her. She loves touching my belly and talking about the baby. She thinks that she too has a baby in her belly and is constantly pulling her shirt up, pointing to her belly button, and saying "BABY!" I just love our littlest girl so much, she's a little ray of sunshine and I am so thankful for her.
