Monday, January 7, 2013
1/7/13
Exactly one week ago, our girls became cousins for the first time. They now love saying hi to her on faceTime any chance they get. Tonight Sophie hugged the iPad as she said "hi baby juwia" (or baby Jesus, but I'm giving her the benefit of the doubt this time).
Sunday, January 6, 2013
1/6/13
I have been completely captivated by this book today. It's over 400 pages, I started it yesterday, and I'll finish before I go to bed tonight. I absolutely love the "can't put it down" novel, and this definitely qualifies!
Saturday, January 5, 2013
1/5/13
This morning the girls and I got up and readied ourselves for swimming lessons at the YMCA. But when we got there, they told us that lessons don't start until the following week, and we couldn't even use the pool. As Emily repeatedly said, "what a bummer"! So instead, Eric took the girls to the mall to play for a bit, where they met new friends, including "baby Jesus" (which is what Sophie has taken to calling every new baby she meets, including her new cousin), and snapped this picture.
Friday, January 4, 2013
1/4/13
I'm quickly discovering how much I love doing this! It forces me to take five minutes and create a lasting memory, all while stirring a spirit of thankfulness within me.
Recently I've been remembering how early Em gave up her naps. When she was Sophie's age, she was pretty much done with naps. Sophie, on the other hand, is a wonderful sleeper. She sleeps almost twelve hours most nights, and still usually takes a two hour snooze in the afternoons! Here she is this morning as we most often find her: clutching her bunny with a book or two within reach.
Recently I've been remembering how early Em gave up her naps. When she was Sophie's age, she was pretty much done with naps. Sophie, on the other hand, is a wonderful sleeper. She sleeps almost twelve hours most nights, and still usually takes a two hour snooze in the afternoons! Here she is this morning as we most often find her: clutching her bunny with a book or two within reach.
Thursday, January 3, 2013
1/3/13
Sophie is a big fan of Diego these days, and she is forever asking to read this book. Today she pointed to an animal in the book and said "what dis mommy"? I was folding laundry, but glanced over quickly and told her it was a monkey. She looked at me, smiled, and said "no, mommy dat a sloth". Yup, I was just corrected by my toddler.
Wednesday, January 2, 2013
Happy Birthday Emily!
Emily,
Today we celebrated your fifth birthday, just two days after we welcomed your first cousin into the world: Julia Beth Plantinga! These five years have been filled with lots of growth and change, and it's hard at this point to imagine life without you, or even what you were like when you were only two or three years old. I think this picture from earlier this week of you making a snow angel captures it well: you are growing up so quickly that your mother and I can hardly keep up. Even your coat and snow pants barely fit (and if you knew the effort your mother makes to keep you girls not just clothed, but stylishly clothed, all while trying to appease the cheap Dutchman she married, you would know that she is not often ill-prepared in the clothing department). You have grown up so much, and I am incredibly proud of the little girl you have quickly become. You are smart, cheerful, caring, obedient, empathetic, and a great deal more.
I am perhaps most impressed at what a wonderful big sister you are to Sophie. All the instruction manuals for raising children say that when you have a second child, the first child is supposed to get jealous and whiny and generally behave badly. Well, you did not read any of those instruction manuals. Instead, for five days in a row before Sophie was born, you woke up in the morning and asked "baby Sophie come out?". You were ecstatic when you met her. When you first met her, you were happily munching on saltine crackers and I told you that Sophie was hungry. You immediately handed her your last cracker (a food which the toddler version of you often acquired by throwing tantrums). Others in the room didn't seem to think much of that, but I knew then that you were head over heels. Since that time, you have continued to ignore those instruction manuals, and been incredibly loving and caring to your little sister. You are what I call a "little mother" to her.
Sometimes I try to explain some of this to you when I tuck you in at night, but you are still only five years old and often just worried about how many stories we can read before I turn the lights out. So instead I'm writing it here, where you can read it once you are older. Perhaps it will be when you are a teenager and you have decided that your father has ruined your life by embarrassing you.
In any case, I'm so glad I got to help you celebrate your fifth birthday. As I write this on a cold day in January, my only regrets are that I can't take you camping right now (something you bring up FREQUENTLY), and that I am finishing graduate school and am often too busy to spend more time with you. Happy birthday Em, I can't wait to spend another year with you!
Love,
Daddy
Today we celebrated your fifth birthday, just two days after we welcomed your first cousin into the world: Julia Beth Plantinga! These five years have been filled with lots of growth and change, and it's hard at this point to imagine life without you, or even what you were like when you were only two or three years old. I think this picture from earlier this week of you making a snow angel captures it well: you are growing up so quickly that your mother and I can hardly keep up. Even your coat and snow pants barely fit (and if you knew the effort your mother makes to keep you girls not just clothed, but stylishly clothed, all while trying to appease the cheap Dutchman she married, you would know that she is not often ill-prepared in the clothing department). You have grown up so much, and I am incredibly proud of the little girl you have quickly become. You are smart, cheerful, caring, obedient, empathetic, and a great deal more.
I am perhaps most impressed at what a wonderful big sister you are to Sophie. All the instruction manuals for raising children say that when you have a second child, the first child is supposed to get jealous and whiny and generally behave badly. Well, you did not read any of those instruction manuals. Instead, for five days in a row before Sophie was born, you woke up in the morning and asked "baby Sophie come out?". You were ecstatic when you met her. When you first met her, you were happily munching on saltine crackers and I told you that Sophie was hungry. You immediately handed her your last cracker (a food which the toddler version of you often acquired by throwing tantrums). Others in the room didn't seem to think much of that, but I knew then that you were head over heels. Since that time, you have continued to ignore those instruction manuals, and been incredibly loving and caring to your little sister. You are what I call a "little mother" to her.
Sometimes I try to explain some of this to you when I tuck you in at night, but you are still only five years old and often just worried about how many stories we can read before I turn the lights out. So instead I'm writing it here, where you can read it once you are older. Perhaps it will be when you are a teenager and you have decided that your father has ruined your life by embarrassing you.
In any case, I'm so glad I got to help you celebrate your fifth birthday. As I write this on a cold day in January, my only regrets are that I can't take you camping right now (something you bring up FREQUENTLY), and that I am finishing graduate school and am often too busy to spend more time with you. Happy birthday Em, I can't wait to spend another year with you!
Love,
Daddy
1/2/13
Today we celebrated Emily's 5th birthday. She requested a dinner of chicken nuggets and french fries, with ice cream for dessert. She got to do pretty much whatever she wanted, which included skipping rest time in lieu of watching her Felicity (American Girl) movie, having a lot of chocolate milk, and opening another round of presents. We love you, Em!
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