Two Peas in a Pod

Lately, I've been intrigued by the differences in Sophia and Olivia's personalities. I realize their personalities are far from fully developed, and a lot can and probably will change, but for right now it's fun to see how delightfully different they are. Sophia is quite independent and exceptionally determined. Sometimes I find myself wrestling with her to get her dressed or into her car seat, and I'm amazed at how driven and strong she is. Ever since she was itty-bitty, she's been very physical. She loves to play rough, run around, and take on new physical challenges. She often half skips and half runs where ever she's going. At the same time, she can be very tender and thoughtful. She will often try to comfort her sister by rubbing her head and stroking her arm. Sophia will often find Olivia's bunny and give it to her when she's upset. She gives kisses often and can be very cuddly, but only if she's in the mood. If there's a ball in the area, she'll find it. In addition to her stuffed sheep, which she calls "Baba", she loves to sleep with her shoes. Her favorites right now are her snow boots and her tennis shoes. She has about 15 words that she can speak and 15 more that she can sign. People say that she seems quiet, yet she's not hesitant to interact with people she's never met. She often cracks us up by contorting her face and making funny noises. Olivia loves anything sparkly and pretty, especially clothes. She loves to dance,sing and change her clothes. She tells me daily that she likes stars and her favorites colors are purple, pink and blue. It seems to me that she has a good vocabulary for someone her age. She loves to talk and play with kids, but is quite selective about when she'll speak to adults. However, at home she never struggles to find something to talk about. She's quite introspective. She often identifies her own emotions often and is concerned about how others feel. She loves to play with her sister, and frequently asks me if I can get Sophia to play with her (Sophia loves to play with her, too, but she doesn't always want to do what Olivia has on the agenda). She is quite protective of her Sophia and will regularly tell me what she thinks Sophia needs. Olivia loves to paint and color. One of her favorite books right now is a children's book with Vincent Van Gogh paintings, and she says she likes Starry Night the best. Her imagination is quite vivid. She likes to pretend that she another person, Kylie, her cousin, is an all-time favorite. Pretending she's an animal, like a baby goose or a flying dolphin, is also a favorite pastime. As I'm writing this I'm realizing how many similarities the girls share. Maybe my next entry will be about how I've been noticing how alike Sophia and Olivia are.

Bag Balm Disaster

Yale's mom called us last weekend and left a message saying that some of the photos that were recently uploaded to the website required explanation. The first set of pictures are of our friend Kat making wax molds of Sophia's feet so that she could then pour plaster into the molds. We now have perfect plaster models of Sophia's feet sitting on our shelf, including every wrinkle and itty-bitty detail. They're quite adorable. We had Olivia's feet done, too,when she was quite a bit younger. The other set of pictures that stand out of are Sophia covered in a white powder. You really have to look at them to see just how covered she was. The day before the girls decided to play in the Bag Balm which was in Sophia's top dresser drawer. We sometimes use this for a bad case of diaper rash. Olivia had to drag the rocking chair across the room and stand on it in order to reach the drawer. Anyway, by the time Yale caught them it was all over a big stuffed chair, covering the items in the drawer, and worst of all, it was about an inch thick in Sophia's hair. I tried washing it about 4 times and that did nothing. I read on the internet that cornstarch would get it out. I tried that twice and didn't notice a bit of difference. I finally found the solution when I called a hair salon and they told me to buy clarifying shampoo. After washing Sophia's hair with this 3 times, she was grease-free. I think the girls, at least Olivia, learned a lesson from this experience. Olivia felt so badly for her sister when she had to be covered in cornstarch, that she said, "I am so sorry that we played in that cream!" I was glad to hear the remorse in her voice because that is not a mess that I want to have to clean up again in the near future.