Land that I Love

The last few nights I've been trying to get Lily to say prayers before she goes to sleep (I figure we got her to sleep on her own, we'll keep adding 'grown-up' steps!). Tonight I started with "God Bless our family and friends..." And she interrupted, "Wait Mom, I'll start. God Bless America." CLASSIC Lily!

I think it was last night, Imogene was pitching a fit after she ate and Bill and I were still sitting at the table. Lily was out of her seat too, and when we couldn't make Imogene happy, Lily said, "Imogene, why don't you come have a little chat with me?"

Another mealtime fun-time with Imogene, she was screaming "Moh-Moh" to have more of Bill's food and Bill said "How do you ask nicely?" - expecting her to sign please. She tilts her head to the side and says all sweetly, and quietly, "Moh-Moh?"

Imogene's Tantrum

If Imogene gets mad about something, she always storms off to pout and pitch a fit. When we are on the main floor of our house, she goes to the exact same spot every time. Even Lily said the other day, "I bet I know where she's going." Here she is. She always throws herself onto the little green chair. I just had to photograph it. In her defense, she's very good at self-regulation. She fusses and cries and pouts, and then usually, she's over it. 

Here she is in a little bit better mood!  Imogene has very few words, but a lot of sounds. And this weekend, she added a word. AHMO. As in, Elmo.  I would swear that Sesame Street consulted a linguist before they named Elmo. It seems like most kids can say Elmo if they want to! 

Reviewing the Stella & Dot hostess guide-azine to decide how she's going to throw her next party. Speaking of jewelry, Imogene LOVES trying on all the Stella & Dot jewels. She puts on a necklace, says "oh" for off, and then tries on another one. Over and Over and Over again. I'm having an absolute blast in my new position with Stella & Dot. The jewelry is gorgeous, and it's been pretty easy to line up trunk show parties - who wouldn't want to have their friends over and earn free jewelry!?! Bill & the girls have been very supportive, and I'm so thankful to them for that! 

That's Lily as the blue ghost! She kept yelling "I bet you can't find me Mom and Imogene. I bet you don't know where I am. I bet you don't know who is under this blanket, the blue one in the chair." Her style of hide-and-seek is the same - not so good at the hiding part! 

Castle Dresses

We ordered these dresses in July, and Lily has been waiting to wear it ever since. 

They really did look precious together. 

Washington & Lee

We drove down to Lexington on Saturday for the day. Our friend Karin Treese Bauer (bill's friend from High School and W&L) was inducted into the W&L Athletic Hall of Fame. Congratulations Karin!

First stop, the women's soccer game. It was hot! 

Karin as she is honored at halftime of the soccer game. 

She did this again at halftime of the football game!

Not sure Bill ever thought he'd be pushing a stroller around campus! You could see the students looking at us like "Gosh those people are old!" What I wanted to say to them - "We're not as old as you might think - and before you even have a chance to breathe, you'll be just like us!"

Hot and Tired :) Imogene never napped all day. Even though we were in the car for several hours in the afternoon on the way home! 

Karin & Bill

What a sweet face! look at those wings in her hair! She may have some hair before she turns 2!

Lily is very proud of her new hat.

Maybe one day we'll take this picture on their first day of school here!

Imogene and Lee Chapel.

She is so proud of herself!

Monday

Nothing like a rainy, cool Monday morning to make both girls wake up before 6:30! Lily told me that she woke up because she "recognized Imogene & Mommy's footprints in the hall." Both girls are going to the dentist this morning - that should be super fun for Mommy! Stay tuned for pictures of our very fun, but quick trip to Washington & Lee on Saturday, and the girls looking ridiculously cute yesterday for church :).Publish Post

Therapy Times Three

Imogene had a good week of speech, occupational and physical therapy. She added a new "word" this week. She signs "baby" and says bebe likes she's french - other times it is baba. She learned it from her current obsession, "Baby Signing Time," which is a baby sign language video that she watches over and over and over again in the car. In OT she did some activities that got her to open her right hand a little bit. And today in PT we worked on some skills to assist Susan in her re-evaluation. We've been there over a year!! So it's time again! Today when Susan told her she could get dressed (we still do therapy in her diaper so they can see how her body is growing. for instance her hips seem to be slightly uneven, and her back is curving a little bit). So anyway, we tell her it's time to go, and she immediately starts making her sound for cookie, which is what she gets at the end of therapy as a treat. Such a smartie.
Imogene is so in love with Lily (most of the time). She says her name (DaeDae) over and over when we drop her off from school, and is so tickled when we pick her up. She's even giving out hugs to the teachers!
I would tell you how she's doing when it is dark outside, and you do that thing you do when you close your eyes for hours on end, but I don't want to jeinx it.

Just Ducky!

Just Ducky clothes arrived last weekend. How sweet do Lily and her doll look together? She looks so grown-up to me. When I saw this in the catalog, I thought "we'll have to do that next year." And then she tried it on, and oh my goodness. She's had a really good week - even though she's been wiped in the afternoons from getting back into school. She has also fallen asleep every night for a week without one of us in the bed. Cue the angels singing! She was doing that fine when Imogene was born, but when things got crazy with Imogene at bedtime, we decided to stay with Lily so we knew at least one person would sleep all night. Didn't really mean to let that go on for more than a year! Oh well!

Lucy & Lola's Birthday

We celebrated with Lucy and Lola for their birthdays (2 days apart) last weekend. Both girls loved the musician and the bounce house. Both parents loved how long Imogene let Maggie hold her in her lap. And how long she stayed in the bounce house! 

Yes, that is Imogene upside down. As best we can figure, because she does it all the time, she's trying to copy Lily, who is always trying to do a somersault. My money might be on the younger one.

With her buddy Kathryn, who is a month to the day younger than her. You'd never know it by the hair!

She could not have been happier in the bounce house- even with the big kids in there too! 

But this was her favorite thing to do. She'd press her face up against the wall of the bounce house and just laugh and laugh at us on the other side. 

Sweet Sisters

Twice today Imogene fell or bumped or something, and twice she hugged me and then said "DaeDae" which is my best attempt at spelling how she says Dada for Lily which is slightly different than Dada for Bill. She goes running over to Lily and wants Lily to hug her to make her feel better. TEAR JERKER!
Then today Lily bumped her head on the school playground and she was wailing, and Imogene came running over to give HER a hug.  AND THEN, if that wasn't enough, at bedtime Imogene was loving and squeezing her "doh" stuffed dog, and Lily said "oh Mom, isn't that just the sweetest thing you have ever, ever seen?" Oh these two!

Imogene got a great report last week from Dr. Madigan. Her eye is doing wonderfully. We go back in three months. We see Dr. Morozova on October 19, when we'll talk to her about the foot brace. Amy, our OT, said today that Imogene is probably ready for a removable cast to use during constraint therapy. This after she got her arm out of 2 bathing suits, and after she kept grunting and saying "no" when we tried to hold her left arm still. So determined, so feisty.

Through the Years

 Through the years! Amazing how much she's changed, but how that little face from 2 1/2 is still in there!

First Day of School

Hooray! Hooray! We are finally in Miss Pam's class. And we're finally back to school! Lily was of course happy as could be today to get back with her friends. We are also so happy to be back with our WWP family. I just absolutely love it there. And I'm not saying that as the Parent Board Chair - I absolutely adore that place!

I wish I had the picture of us on her first day of 21/2 preschool ... have to dig that up from the old computer files! We've both changed a lot! 

Not so sure about that pose in a dress! 

They look sweet, but they are actually talking about Lily is not going to share the new barbie she went to get today (for going to sleep without mommy or daddy in the bed with her) ... then Lucy asked if maybe she'd share it in "25 days?" Lily said she'd see.

They've been friends since they were born! Now in class together!

Labor Day Weekend Fun

Naney was here Saturday through Tuesday. She was of course a big help as we got back into the swing of things after our trip to Maine. 

Playing silly on the parachute in the yard. 

Silly Sigler girls.

Look at that sweet face!

Lily wanted everyone to lay down and look at the trees. Which is kind of sad, because our yard is so dry, that they don't look very good. I'm pretty sure it hasn't rained in over a week! 

 On Sunday afternoon, Lily, Naney and I went with Tracie and Lucy to see the Sound of Music at Wolf Trap Music Center. Here she is, on her way. 

She was so tickled by the entire thing. She didn't get up once - just sat and watched so happily. At intermission she almost didn't get up because she was so worried she'd miss something. She asked me about 1,000 times during intermission to make sure to tell her when it was starting again.

She would get so tickled when they started singing a song - "I didn't notice they were going to sing that!" 

The sun was very strong, so we made them hats :)

Monday night - Virginia Tech v. Boise State at Redskins Stadium. With Erin and Katie ... let's just say the tailgate was a lot more fun than most of the game. Especially the end.

Bill has become a very good, dedicated Hokies fan. Thanks Bill! 

One of the fun parts. If I remember correctly when I took this picture,

 it got really no-fun a few minutes later.

Today was our first day of Ballet at a new ballet school. Lily looked so beautiful in her pink. The new studio is amazing and we were both really pleased with our choice!

Lily and Lucy before class.

With their other friend, Ellie.