Girlies

It has been far too long since I did an update on the girls. Here goes nuthin...

Lyla...

...is already 13 months old. I'm in denial about it
...learned to crawl about two weeks before her birthday. She is showing no signs of walking yet. I'm totally okay with that
...is a tiny little thing. At her 12-month check-up her weight was only in the 2nd percentile and her length was in the 16th.
...can say 'hi', 'Mama', 'Dada', 'Lyla', 'baby', 'bah' (ball), and 'nu-nu' (num-num [food]). She can do the signs for more (though to her it pretty much means 'Feed me!'), please, all done, and milk
...can tell you what a monkey, a fish, and a chicken say. She's pretty good at imitating the sounds for cow and bear
...points to your nose when you ask her to and holds up a finger when asked how old she is
...loves to eat Frosted Mini Wheats (dry) probably more than anything else. She gets so excited when I pull them out of the cupboard. She also loves pizza, oatmeal, applesauce, and anything sweet
...was sleeping pretty well until Daylight Savings. She now struggles going to bed at night, wakes up early, and usually naps only once instead of twice a day. She also wakes up in the night on occasion. Cursed time change!
...was much easier to wean than her sisters were. She took to cow's milk immediately, which made things much easier for me
...loves her family so much. She follows me around wanting to be held, she follows her sisters around, and she gets so excited when Tyler comes home
...gets a ton of attention wherever we go. People everywhere comment on her red hair, blue eyes, and big smile and say that she is the cutest baby ever. I get a lot of stories from random people about every red-headed person they've ever known, and everyone asks where her red hair comes from
...likes to try and feed herself. About halfway through her feedings, she refuses to open her mouth until I let her hold the bowl or jar. Feeding is now much more messy
...loves to open the cupboards in both bathrooms and take everything out
...is just so pleasant and delightful

Kate...

...is the messiest person I've ever known. She always manages to get food all over her face and clothes (and on the counter and floor). The other day she was eating a Gogurt and got it all over her face and shirt. Before I could clean her off, she plopped stomach-down onto a couch pillow, getting yogurt all over it. She then asked for applesauce and as soon as I gave her some she stuck her hand in it
...doesn't know how to sit still. She can't finish a meal without getting off her stool several times. She is constantly climbing onto and jumping off of things. Consequently, she's always hurting herself
...has been cursed with cold sores. She is on her third one. They are totally foreign to me, though Tyler gets them when he's stressed. Today she was late for preschool because her cold sore inexplicably started gushing blood and I couldn't get it to stop. Poor girl

...still wakes up in the night most nights. Between Kate and Lyla, I never get enough sleep. It seems like on the rare occasion that they both sleep through the night, Ada will wake me up. Kate usually wakes up asking me to put her covers back on her. She occasionally climbs in bed with us
...had a big problem wetting her pants for the longest time. I was finally at a loss and called the doctor, thinking that maybe she had a physical problem (perhaps related to this) but the doctor said that since she doesn't wet the bed then it's probably psychological. Tyler had been out of town for almost a week at the time, so that's what I attributed it to (even though she'd had problems off and on for about a year). I don't know what happened, but since then she has been so much better! Knock on wood!
...freaks out every time I try to comb or fix her hair
...played soccer for the first time this Fall. Her team was (and will be in the Spring) the Pink Panthers. Most games she would dance around distractedly on the field, but during a few games in the middle she played really well. Our favorite was when her team had a scrimmage against the "stinky boys", the 4-year-old boys in the neighborhood. It was so fun to watch and Kate had a lot of fun playing
...can't keep her pants to stay up. Her little bum is always hanging out. Her belly is so big and low that it forces her pants down in the front and, therefore, the back
...is constantly spouting out or writing down random letters and asking me what they spell. She will not take "Nothing" for an answer
...loves to help me bake. As soon as I start something Kate pulls her stool over and asks to help pour everything in
...loves to feed Lyla
...still loves to snuggle and hug, which I absolutely love
...is a lot better at sharing things with Ada than Ada is with her
...always smiles and always makes us laugh

Ada...

...loves healthy food (except when we're eating dinner). She says that her favorite food is spinach, just raw and plain. She loves to pull a bag out of the fridge and eat it by the handful
...has been sick a lot lately. We all got sick the weekend before Thanksgiving but poor Ada had it the worst. She puked all day Saturday and had a fever. She is currently sick again, but with a sore throat, fever, and cough this time. She is on her third day missing school
...is constantly improving on her reading. She loves to sit and read books to herself or to Kate. She also loves to be read to. Tyler is reading Janitors to her. I have read her most of the Ramona books and we're currently reading The Best Christmas Pageant Ever
...is also improving in French. It's so fun to see how much she's learning and how well she can speak
...also played soccer this Fall after deciding that ballet wasn't for her. Her team was the Green Dragons and her best friend Quinn was on her team. She can certainly work on her running and aggression but she did really well for her first season ever (I think everyone else had played before)
...likes to hoard stuffed animals and other objects (money, etc.) on her bed
...has a difficult time falling asleep at night. Kate can fall asleep in 5 seconds flat but Ada lays awake for long periods of time. I feel bad for her and can definitely relate
...had two potty accidents within a week of each other at school. I was completely baffled and embarrassed (as I'm sure she was). I was starting to think that she and Kate both had problems. I'm not sure what the deal was, but luckily it hasn't happened since
...is great at helping with Lyla and with aggravating Kate
...doesn't like taking baths (and won't take showers). Don't worry; I make sure it still happens!

I love my little sweeties! They sure make life interesting and I'm lucky to be their mom!