Did you put that in the blog??

Our summer has been tons of fun and as a result I haven't been very active on the family blog. When Tim and I swap stories at night and I tell him about all of the hilarious things our kids did all day he always asks me, "Aww, did you put that in the blog?" I really wish I could say yes but the unfortunate truth is I haven't really updated since May. Our original intent with this blog was to have a place to record some of the events of our family (since we lived far away when the blog started) and to have a place to record all of the funny and sweet things our kids do in baby/toddlerhood. So my new goal is to post at least once a week to share and record some of the events in our family.

Sofia is almost 3.5 years old now and is a full blown little girl. She is sweet, polite, charming, inquisitive, sensitive, and loves her brothers fiercely. She refers to them as "my boys". She generally wakes up/gets up (doesn't nap much these days) from her "rest time" and asks when we can go get her boys.  Sofia loves to dance, read, create art projects, help cook, run, participate in gymnastics, swim, bike, sing and garden. Yes, you read that correctly, she gardens. Sometimes we joke that Sofia has an old soul. She pulls out a knee pad and will sit and garden (pick off dead flowers, harvest ripe vegetables from the garden). Tim and I have noticed that she is also becoming very social with other kids. She is less interested in playing with us at the playground if there are other kids her age there.

The boys are at such a fun stage. They are into anything and everything and have shown me how different raising boys can be from raising girls. Many people called me crazy for taking my kids out alone with me as much as I did in their first two years of life but boy has my risk paid off. I can now take everyone out by myself confidently. Of course we still have a melt down from one child every now and then but for the most part, it always goes really well because I know when my "windows of opportunity" are and when I need to pack it up. 

Everett is all boy all the time but is also a sweet and sensitive guy. He loves tractors, trains, trucks, balls, and jumping off of anything that is elevated. We can't go anywhere without Ev finding something to jump from. He definitely falls, but he doesn't cry much. He dusts himself off and gets ready to try again. Everett loves to experiment around the house with rolling cars off of various things. Above all, he loves trains. He spends a good hour every day setting up different sets of train tracks or categorizing his trains and cars by color and shape. Everett sings all day long and has a knack for memorizing songs rather quickly. He prefers to sing by himself though so any attempt to videotape him is usually busted when he sees us watching him. Everett isn't a huge talker but he's getting more confident every day.

Sullivan is definitely the comedian of the family. He is also the biggest talker. He talks all day long and asks me, "Mama, what's that?" at least 60 times per day, no joke. Sully is also a very affectionate little guy. He spends a lot of time hugging and kissing his siblings and Tim and I. Whenever someone leaves he always says goodbye and loves to say "Love you, Miss me!" when he means to say "Miss you". Sully can frequently be found in yoga positions or doing push ups or pull ups. Sullivan also repeats things a lot and can easily repeat new words after only hearing them once. He calls his brother Everett, Evie, Evie J, or when he's mad he says, "Everett James!"

And just for Tim, here's a story he wanted to include. Last night Sully and Sofia were under the weather so after quite a few wake ups from both children I ended up sleeping with Sully in our bedroom and Tim snuggled Sofia while Everett slept through the whole thing. When Sully woke up this morning I said good morning to him and gave him some snuggles and kisses. He said a quick "Hi" and snapped up and said "Where's Evie?". Then he quickly hopped off the bed and ran into his bedroom to check on his brother. Raising twins is definitely a lot of work but moments like these are so awesome to see. The bond these guys have at age 2 is just incredible. I can't even imagine what it would be like to have someone in your life who has been with you since conception and you've never been apart for more than an hour or two. It's amazing to watch them grow up.