Swimming, Swimming and More Swimming!

My little fish sure love swimming this summer! Please enjoy a little snippet of Lily and Sophie working on their latest swimming skills:

Lily's back stroke (back swimming)

Lily's 1 millionth head stand:)

Sliding board at the baby pool! (Sophie has since gone down the one in the big pool, too! Unfortunately, the camera would likely not survive through that shoot)

Lily jumping off the diving board! She passed the swimming across the pool test, so I finally let her do it!

Sophie's crowning achievement: swimming (with vest donned)!! This took about 1 month for her to get brave enough to do- she finally took that last little toe off the bottom of the pool and then realized it wasn't so scary afterall:)

April-July 2011 pics

Easter morning

 

Daddy with his girls

Book time

Sophie (before and after)

Truman (Lily wanted me to show you this, Grammy)

Family birthday party for Lily and Sophie's second cousin, Allie

Lunch playdate with Grandma and Paige

4th of July!



All about Bees!

The girls learned all about bees at Green Spring Gardens today! First the instructor told them why bees are so important and what special job they have. Then they made their own antennae and were ready to reenact the life of a bee:)



Lily had the very important task of being a flower, which each kid took a turn pollinating.
In fact, she was first to answer every question, volunteer for each activity and make sure that she was the first in line whenever she could. Type-A might be an understatement for this girl!




Here's Sophie Bee taking her turn and pollinating Lily Flower.



Back inside they played a game in which each bee was sent a message by another bee about the location of some nectar(colored index cards). Then they located the nectar, carried and placed it into the honey comb(laudry basket turned upside down).



You can tell how intently Lily and Sophie are watching and listening to the teacher here;)





My little bees enjoying some nice honey after a hard day's work!



Before we left we walked around the gardens and pond(in the sweltering heat).

 Lily was especially captivated by how tall these water lilies were.

Hoolahoop time!

After practicing since last summer, Lily has finally mastered the fine art of hoolahooping! She's so proud of herself- take look:)

Poor Sophie still has some practicing to do. . . but she looks darn cute while trying!

All About Lily at 5 Years Old!

Here is the newest, most up to date info about my Lily now that she is 5 years old:)

5 years old doctor's check up:
She is in almost the exact same percentile as last year in height and weight:
weight: 38.5 lbs - 41%
height: 43 in -  60%
Lily's vision is also still 20/25, she passed her hearing test, and survived through one shot(not a pretty scene)
She's a healthy 5 year old:)

Motor skills:
Fine motor- Lily is writing her upper and lower case letters in school and is making progress in keeping her letters in the correct "room of the house". She is also getting to be a pretty good cutter- doesn't have to ask me for help very much any more:)
Gross motor- Lily can now skip pretty well. She is working really hard to do a cartwheel, which is a source of great frustration. She'll get it. . . eventually. . . She is also learning to roller skate in her new first pair of real roller skates-(yes, helmet, elbow pads, and knee pads are worn, aunt amy). That's about it!

School skills:
Please forgive me for bragging: Her teacher reports that she is the best reader in the class! She is also currently counting up to 70 with her class and learning simple addition (using her fingers:) ). Getting ready for kindergarten!

10 traits that describe Lily (in no particular order):
Curious(understatement), detail oriented (aka micromanager), passionate, artistic, wild(at times), caring, extroverted, goofy, and thorough

Favorite things (quite similar to last year, but taken to a whole new level!):
1. Dress up(pretend play)

The masked retriever (zoro-esque hero)

*I worked my magic again to make the hat seen here (and mask) totally out of construction paper:)

Masked Retriever with the damsel in distress

Dancing fairy ballerina

Super hero entitled "Rainbow girl"

Notice the question mark on her back- this is "Mystery Girl"

Mystery Girl from the front

Mystery Girl saves the day!

"Hello, I am Daddy and I am on the phone", says Lily in her deepest voice;)

2. Fashion shows- This activity needs its own separate post:) Stay tuned!

3. Drawing, coloring, and painting- princesses or girls with pretty dresses still tend to be her favorite subject. Notice the addition of a neck in some of her pictures this year!

Snow White

Cinderella

Tinker Bell (and the great fairy rescue)

Me (jumping on the trampoline:) )

Fall colors tree

To my Lily:
 I love your curiosity and love of life and even your endless questions- they keep me thinkingJ. I love it when you tell me jokes, even though the punch line always has something to do with a poopy diaper or an attempt to get someone to say “underwear”. I love how you can go from tears back to smiles in nanoseconds. I love how you never forget to give Sophie a kiss and a hug before school and how you always make sure that Sophie won’t be afraid at night by closing the closet door. I love how you always seem to make a new friend wherever we go. I love your beautiful smile and everything else about you!

Love,
Mommy