Stories by Daddy

Daddy is a great storyteller! Sierra has been really into storytelling for a long time. Most nights at bedtime she prefers we tell stories instead of reading books. And Daddy is MUCH better at this!

Sierra usually requests what she wants the story to be about and the most common requests right now are: skunks, bears, puppies and sharks.

Here's sweet Daddy telling bedtime stories while stroking Sierra's hair. (they didnt know that i was spying!) Soooooo sweet :)

Rubbing off

After a long time of reminding Sierra to use her manners, it is so sweet to see her politeness come out without us even prompting. (of course this isn't perfect, we just went through a phase of a very rude "whaaat?" every time she didn't hear what we said)

She says "excuse me" when she needs to pass by someone. She says "thanks" almost every time you give/hand her something. She regularly asks who made a meal and says "Oh, thank you ______ for making this for me!! I love it!".

And the best part, is its rubbing off on Reid too!!! He also says "cuse me" when squeezing by or stepping over someone. He says "pease" when he really wants something and says "tank you" as he hands you something. Yay for good examples from big sister!!!

I have to end this with a bit of reality. The bad things are rubbing off just as quickly! Reid also yells "NOOO!" when he's mad, says "mine!" in a greedy voice, and slaps his legs out of frustration - all things he also learned from big sis.

We'll take the good with the bad! :)

Date with Daddy

Oh, Sierra was SO excited when Daddy told her that he was taking her on a special birthday date, just the 2 of them!!!! She kept telling me all day "... but it's just me and Daddy, not Mommy and not Reid, just me and Daddy!"

They went to Chick-fil-a and had dinner, ice cream and played together on the indoor playground! They had the whole thing to themselves and 6'3" Daddy even climbed all the way up the slide! Haha! What a fun Daddy!!

She was wired from the sugar and excitement of the evening and she sure felt special!!

Sierra and Reid are incredibly blessed to have an amazing Daddy who loves them soooo much!

Hard at work

Big helper

She loves helping right now!!! Picking up toy messes, sweeping, cleaning floors and furniture with wipes, setting and clearing the table, unloading dishwasher, folding and putting away laundry, dressing herself AND Reid, carrying things to and from the car, etc, etc...

I even caught her the other day trying to change the toilet paper roll by herself!

I am savoring this desire to help because I know it doesn't last forever :)

Best buds

They have so much fun (uh, ...and conflict) together! I'm so thankful they have each other!!!

Hopscotch

Sierra traced each of the numbers. They had a blast!

Sierra says

At bedtime,
S: I don't want to go night night, I'll just play and rest in my bed.
J: You can do that at nap time but at night you have to sleep. We all have to sleep at night.
S: Oh. But why?
J: Because God made our bodies to need sleep.
S: Yes, and if we don't sleep, that will make God not happy and he will cry.

After dinner, "my tummy is so so so soooo fat! See?! Haha, I am so fat!"

"I will put Reid's cup right here in case he wants it. I will help him because I'm sweet Sierra!"

Room time

Our big girl bed rule is that Sierra has to stay in her room until we get her (if she wakes early) - both at nap and morning times. So, we got her a few toys and puzzles that are just for her to play with while she's having room time.

This morning after she went potty at 5:30am she never got back in bed. She was VERY busy in her room!

Here is one of the many things she did:
Made a "train" of animals (her "buddies"), each one laying on a "nap mat", with a letter on top of each. She was so proud to show me! "Guh guh G for Goo! Cuh cuh C for Macaw! Two two two for White Bear! ..." and on and on...

Even though I wish she had gone back to sleep, this is a much better alternative than getting into trouble around the house!!