My favorite girls

Proud BIG sisters!

We have a picture of Katelyn looking at Vanessa, just after she was born, in almost this exact same pose. Even after two months, she still loves to hold her baby sister and sing to her.

Our Ballerina

Katelyn has been dancing ballet and tap for three years now. At the end of each year, the entire studio performs in a recital, which is truly a big show held at in local college’s auditorium. There is a dress rehearsal and costume changes. For one weekend a year, our lives are dedicated to this recital. Katelyn loves this weekend because it is the one weekend where she is totally in the spotlight, plus she and her class are able to perform what they’ve been working so hard on all year long. It is a fun event and exciting to watch Katelyn be brave and go out on stage in this enormous room and perform her dances. Because her class is young, you never know what you’ll get. For the most part, everyone in the class is actually doing the routine, but usually the timing is off or the enthusiasm is at different levels between the students. It is very entertaining to watch. I am so proud of Katelyn for following through this year and never giving up. And what is even more important is how proud she is of herself.

After the recital, we all go out to dinner. And what celebration is complete without a candle?

Oh, to be little...

Vanessa laying on a shelf in her bookcase.

My Little Fish

This summer, we enrolled Vanessa in swim lessons for the first time. Even though we have a pool in our own backyard, we have found through our experience in teaching Katelyn how to swim, that the girls respond to a different teacher much more so than Mommy or Daddy being the swim instructor. But this is probably true for almost anything…my girls listen to their school teacher more than me and they listen to their friend’s parents more than us as well. It’s like when we have a play date at someone else’s home and the girls get fascinated with one particular toy and end up playing with it the entire time. To them, it is the latest greatest toy. The best toy ever. One that they love so much. And one that we have sitting at home on the shelf collecting dust. But for whatever reason, that particular toy at their friend’s house is that much more appealing than the exact same toy at home. The same is true for teachers – someone else is that much more appealing that Mommy or Daddy. So we pay for lessons.

When Vanessa was younger, she was not a big risk taker. In fact, she would go around things in her way to get what she wanted (thereby taking the longest route), without having to go over or through (taking the shortest route). Risk taking was something that she worked consistently on in her OT sessions. Well apparently, it was money well spent.

In her first session, she mastered each of the tasks that they were learning – floating on the back, floating on the tummy, blowing bubbles, jumping in from the side, putting head under the water, etc. She would go all the way into the pool, to the pool’s floor, which is at least 3 feet, causing me to slightly freak out just in case her instructors weren’t keeping a close eye on her. Thankfully, they were and they were constantly reminding her that she cannot swim yet.

She is very athletic and I think will be swimming on her own very shortly. She was so confident in her ability during her lessons, that she seemed fearless. It would be nice if she had some hint of fear in her, but it is wonderful to see her taking such big risks.