Cream 2.3

I figured I would be remiss to do a post on Peachy and not one on Cream. Beside, there are so many great things that I want to remember about my Sweet Cream right now. While the saying is terrible twos, I really love this age! Don't get me wrong, we butt heads plenty. And her stubborn personality is indeed a challenge, but their little personalities that are coming out so strongly right now are so irresistible.

As I said, Miss Cream has a side of her that is all stubborn and prickly, but she her other sweet and charming side outweighs it by far. Maybe she is like prickly pear jelly in that way?? :o) Cream loves her Peachy, mommy, and daddy. She is the best snuggler. And even asks for "nuggles" now. How can I resist??!! She will also come up to us and ask us "You play with me?" Irresistible!

She is a little chatterbox and likes to try to out talk her sister in words and volume. Here are just a few of her great quotes:

"Love you soon!" When she is saying goodbye to someone.
"Daddy no say love you me!" After Mr. Cherry had left for work one morning and she had forgotten that he really had said goodbye.
"Daddy, don't cry when the puppy bites you!" Out of nowhere one day to Mr. Cherry.
"Cars are driving crazy!" When we were out on the interstate one recent day.

I love to hear her little voice chime in with mealtime and bedtime prayers. And her singing voice is simply sweet. Her favorite song is "Jesus Loves Me." She will even sing it to her dolls when she is pretending to put them to bed.

She is very good at starting arguments with her sister. Four year olds are sticklers for the rules and facts and it drives Peachy nuts when Cream spouts off some sort of untruth. For example, she loves to say that she is four and Peachy is two. Ha! That gets her every time! She is very adamant that she is in the right and uses phrases like, "Yes it is!" "No it is not!"
She is such a little blessing to our family. I know she will be in for a bit of a shock in February when little Shortcake comes along, but I know she will adjust and be an awesome big sister.

Around Here

I was just looking through pictures on the camera and found too many good ones not to share. So pardon the bit of a photo dump, I couldn't help myself.

One day Peachy decided to style Cream's hair, with the spray bottle we use to clean the floor. Thank goodness I clean with vinegar and water!

In an odd combination of events, the girls decided that Mr. Cherry should take them out one night after supper.

Peachy wanted help with her rollerblading.

And Cream wanted to test out our new-to-us carrier. They all enjoyed themselves and I went for a walk. We will just call him Super Dad!

One of the fro yo places in town had a special promo for the day. Since we were out around lunch time, I decided we would just go and have fro yo for lunch. Peachy decided it was okay as long as we had real food for dessert.

Cream was happy with the change of events and wishes it took place more often.

Peachy got the idea that she needed to set up a photo booth in the living room. She was very specific in her timing, that we needed to take the pictures once it was dark. So after supper we set up the tripod for a few selfies.

The girls and I headed to a harvest event at a very old farm property outside of town this past weekend. The bluegrass band asked if the girls wanted to join in on the rhythm section.

We also got to examine some pretty cool pumpkin and squash varieties.

Strider Balance Bike

After seeing one of our friends' 2 year olds in action on his balance bike, Mr. Cherry and I were really impressed. If you haven't heard of a balance bike, they are just like a regular two wheeler, but without pedals.

The theory behind them is that the child gets accustomed to balancing on a two wheeler and can easily transition to a regular two wheeler skipping over the training wheel phase. When friends and family started to ask what Cream wanted for her birthday, we gave them the option of contributing toward the purchase of a balance bike.

We did a little research and decided to go with the Strider brand of balance bikes. And even better, we were able to purchase it at a local store. Cream still has a way to go, but she enjoys trying her bike out. And really it is so cute seeing her out on her miniature bike! (Isn't that what a bike is all about?!!!)

The Goose is 2!!

Two years ago, I spent the night timing contractions and trying to get some rest. When morning came, we knew it would soon be time to head into the hospital. And before noon we were holding our dear second daughter in our arms. And she was holding our hearts.
Two years later and she still holds our hearts. Asks to be held and for hugs and amazes us on a daily basis. While I have been calling her Cream on the blog, in real life we usually give her the nickname, Goose. And that is just what she is. She can get herself into trouble in 0.2 seconds. She can be loud and crazy. She can be ornery and irritable. she can be sweet and endearing. She can be gentle and loving. She is just a goose. A goose who has my heart.
Everyday we see her trying so hard to keep up with her big sister. And she does a pretty good job at it too! She has a huge vocabulary and uses those skills all the time in her chitter and chatter. She is athletic and loves kicking balls and running and anything that involves movement. I love to listen in to her imaginary play. The little voices that she uses as she holds dolls and makes them have conversations.
I don't love how stubborn the girl can be! Man, when she makes up her mind, it is made up! I know that we can help her mold this determination into a great asset, but boy is it frustrating for her mommy right now!
I can't wait to see what this year brings for our Goose! She will move more from a toddler to a preschooler. She will get to see what being a big sister is all about! And I have no doubt that she will continue to amaze us everyday! Happy birthday, Goose!

September 2012

October 2012

November 2012

December 2012

January 2013

February 2013

March 2013

April 2013

May 2013

June 2013

July 2013

August 2013

Peachy and Cream Together

My royal children

Lately these two have been having more and more success at playing together. This does not mean that they always play together nicely, but they are having longer and longer stretches of playing without a huge disagreement. I came home the other day to find them dressed like this.

Cream does make a cute Prince!

Peachy informed me that she wad the princess and Cream was her Prince. (Mr. Cherry informed me that Peachy had to tackle Cream to get all of the pieces of the costume in place. However, when I arrived they both seemed happy with the set up.)

I believe that the prince is rescuing his damsel in distress here.

Starring Cream

Here are a couple of videos I had on the camera that I couldn't resist sharing. (Especially with Em and Justin! :o)
Here is Cream showing us her muscles.

And here she is after watching her sister blow out her candles.

Cream at 19 months

I wasn't planning on posting a 19 month update for Cream, but seeing how much she is growing and changing lately, I just couldn't resist.

(All of these pictures were taken by my friend Tina out of her home. She is just starting to get into photography and asked that I bring the girls over for a practice session. I love how all of the photos turned out and will post more later.)

*Cream's language development has all of a sudden started to soar. I would say it really started growing over the last month. She would add a new word almost everyday. Since Easter it has really taken off. She will say words to us all the time. And it is then our job to figure out just what it is that she is trying to communicate. The other morning she was in our room after waking up and told me hungry. This morning she told me breakfast and yogurt. During Bible class at church on Sunday she was looking at one of her picture books. She pointed at the apple and clear as day said, "Apple." Then she pointed and said shoes, towel, spoon, car, and meow meow (for cat.) It is so fun watching her soak in the world and figure it all out right now.

*She also has been asking to use the potty. Until this weekend, she hadn't had any luck in actually making potty while sitting on it. This weekend she had success. Now of course she wants to use the potty all the time. I am not thinking that she will be trained soon, but these are steps in the right direction.

*Lately she has ideas on not only what she should be doing, but also what other people should be doing. She will take your hand and show you where she would like you to sit. When we are getting ready to head out the door, she will make sure that everyone has a pair of their own shoes and also a jacket.

*She has really started to want to do things on her own. While at times this can be frustrating, it is also so gratifying watching her attempt and succeed at something like putting her boots or pants on.

*She continues to be our little mimic. If she sees someone do it, she had better give it a try. This can really be quite amusing. The other day I had to sternly whisper something to Peachy. Pretty soon Cream was right there whispering sternly with me. (It was hard to keep a straight face.)

*Even though I feel like I end up having to separate the two girls all of the time, there is still that genuine bond of siblings. When Cream can't see Peachy she goes around calling her name. And before she goes down for her nap, she always makes sure to tell her sister 'nigh, 'nigh.

*One of my favorite things right now is she will come up to me and with arms outstretched and say "Hug." Even when I am smack in the middle of preparing supper it is hard to resist and melts my heart.

Two Clowns

I have been having a very hard time getting pictures of the girls these days.

Peachy seems to be in a stage where she either hams it up or avoids the camera all together.

And Cream is just a constant ball of motion.

Getting a good picture of either of them is hard, but one of both of them together is down right impossible.

Here are some shots I recently took while they were both sitting in a chair together.

Fail!

Cream: 18 Months Old

Cream up and turned 18 months old at the end of last month. There is something to be said about the second child, at least in my case, of always being the "baby."

And while I still think of her as a baby and refer to her as a baby, she is quickly passing out of that phase. She is an active little ball of fire with new words being added to her vocabulary everyday. I am not sure how big she is at this point, but she has her appointment today, so I will find out.

My guess is that she is over the 50% for height and weight, but I don't think she is as big as Peachy was at this age.

Here are a few of her likes and milestones from the recent months:
*I gave her a first haircut after her bath last week. She really didn't need much cut off. I only cut the tail that was forming in the back. Her hair does look fuller with the straight line across the back. Funny story about the hair. I saved a chunk just like I had after Peachy's first cut. However, I just placed it on a counter and later couldn't find it. Thankfully we did find it after a few days. Such a second child thing for me to do.

*She loves this little finger play that we do in our family class every week. You put three of your fingers into your other palm and say, "Three little fish, swimming in a dish, three little fish, swimming in a dish, one jumps out, oh no!" You continue until they all jump back into the dish. She just loves it and does all of the motions. It is great for when she is getting antsy or worked up about something.

*She also likes to count to three and say, "Yay!" She usually only adds in the two, but it is fun all the same.

*Her sleep patterns are finally worked out. We don't have to go down during the night anymore and she consistently sleeps from around 8 to around 7. It is really, really nice. She also usually naps one nap a day for about 2 hours.

*She has a sudden fascination with kitty cats. She picked out one of the ones I made and ensured that it would always be hers by sucking on it. Whenever she sees a picture of a cat she will say, "Meow, meow."

*She is quite coordinated. I am amazed at what her little body is able to do. (This probably comes from the fact that I am a klutz without much coordination or body awareness. She gets it all from Mr. Cherry.)

*She has started to enjoy using crayons and pencils to scribble on paper.
*She loves, loves, loves babies. When she sees a baby she will talk to it and pat it. She also loves to take care of her baby dolls. Such a little momma.