2 1/2 Years

The girls' "half birthday" was June 9, which means our little babies are 2 1/2 yrs old. I can definitely tell they are growing a little more independent which is a good thing and a bad thing.

L to R Madeline, Sofia, Josephine

The downsides to having 2 1/2 year olds....

*They are fighting naps! I am NOT ready to give up on naps and I know physically they really shouldn't give naps up yet. They don't crawl out of their cribs for the most part but they basically have a party for an hour or more before they fall asleep. I go up to their room at intervals to shush them and they usually just yell "MORNING!" or "AWAKE!" This too shall pass.... I hope....

A result of refusing to nap- nap at dinner instead.

*Temper tantrums! Josie especially will take a long time to cool off. OK, temper tantrums have been going on for awhile now, but somehow it's more annoying the older they get.

*It's a complete hoot to run away from mom. Not funny and can be scary!

*Lately they get one particular idea in their heads and will have such a fit when I say no. An example is this morning Sofia had a fit because she wanted to go in the car, but I had nowhere to take them and said "no, let's go on a walk in the stroller". HUGE fit. Also, Josie wanted a particular pair of shoes on that would have been bad for running outside. She had a 10 min fit in the stroller and ended up NOT running around anyway! I can't win!

*They always seem to love each other and get along, but they do have their fights too. They hit, pull hair, and push. I intervene when I need to!

The upsides to having 2 1/2 year olds....

*funny quotes...such as...
   -Last night Madeline had a big yawn and after said "Madeline tired". So cute!
   - When they knew Dan was going on an airplane for work they looked up in the sky and yell "HI DADDY!!!" I think they truly believe he can hear them.
   -I was wearing Dan's shorts when he was camping this past weekend just because they're comfy. Madeline looked at my shorts and said "Daddy's pants! Funny!" Cute they see the humor in that!

*They look out for each other (when they want to). Just like when they were babies, they still bring each other their blankies or favorite animals. They also know each others' animals. If they see a frog or a duck, each girls says "Fia duck". If they see a cat, it's a "Josie cat". Madeline usually gets paired with a cow or a horse.

Sister LOVE!

*On the same note, when one of the girls is crying, the other two will say "Josie sad?" Once the crying is over and everyone seems happy they comment: "Josie happy!" When Josie got hurt last night, Madeline and Sofia gave her kisses to try to make her feel better.

*I frequently hear "C'mon Fia!" (or Josie or Madeline) They truly like being with each other.

*They have great memories (which can be bad in certain situations). As soon as we step foot in the nature center by our house, they run to get "their" animals in the box of beanie babies. Sofia gets a duck, Josie gets a cat, and Madeline gets a hippo.

*They have started to say "Miss Sofia", etc. We say that a lot and it's adorable to hear it come from them.

Favorites-
Book- right now all three like "Agate" which is a cute book about a moose with really pretty pictures. They all have better attention spans for longer books now.

Stuffed animals- Josie has to have all her dogs that resemble real dogs in her life (Sadie, Odin, Bristol, Cola, plus a couple others for good measure) plus one cat, Sofia likes her one dog that looks like Odin, and Madeline changes it up but likes the bear family.

Josie hoarding dogs. This really hinders her ability to get upstairs and downstairs!

Activity- being outside and splashing in the pool or running through a sprinkler. They want to take their clothes off the second we're outside if they think there's a possibility to play with water. I just put them in swimming suits because I don't love the thought of being the house with naked toddlers all the time!

Playing with the sprinkler at Grandma and Grandpa's house (my parents)

Beating the heat in our backyard.

Food- I would say it's still lasagna, but also, now that it's summer, all three loooove their strawberries, blueberries, and other fruits. Plus they are all liking rice, mashed potatoes, and meat more than before (especially dark meat chicken).

Miss Sofia :)

Truly happy Madeline!

Josie has decent running form in this picture!

All for now! I need to start writing quotes/stories down because when funny things happen I always think to myself "I need to get this on the blog", but end up forgetting it. The quotes will get only funnier too, so I'll step it up!

Cousins Dane and Peter just had their birthdays (4 and 2) and this weekend we get to celebrate with them in Duluth. I also plan on watching Grandma's marathon and half marathon. Kara Goucher, who grew up in Duluth, is running this year- it's the National Half Marathon championship in Duluth this year so it will be quite exciting. (She already qualified for the Olympics in the marathon.)