Copy Cat

Sydney and Reina are so funny copying each other.  I have a few shots with Reina and Sydney being cute:

1. In the bath tub without water brushing their teeth (this one started because I was in the bathroom brushing my teeth).  AND
2. Reading books. Both of them love reading books and this morning they were practically reading them together.

Reina is really starting to love all the cheap fruit here.  She took right to watermelon and finally warmed up to strawberries.  Blueberries are the number one favorite food for babies, but my child doesn't want anything to do with them!

Reina is often walking around saying "wa wa" (water).  Sometimes it means she wants a drink, most times it means she wants to get in and play with water.  So, we shared Reina's love for the water and set up the plastic bins outside for Reina and Sydney to play in.  They enjoyed being naked and getting in and out of the cold water!  Sydney loves to do whatever Reina is doing; Reina likes to do her own thing.  This means that Reina would be in one tub, happy to play by herself, and then Sydney would insist on following and squishing in the same tub as Reina.  It was hilarious watching them whine at each other, trying to fit in this little tub together.

I bought a new SLR camera that I am LOVING, so I think the pictures will keep coming! I also have to brag about my amazing AP biology students.  We all worked VERY hard this past school year and the scores just came out.  67% of my students got a 3 or better! The scale is from 1 to 5 and a score of 3 usually means the students can earn college credit for biology.  I can't be more proud and putting my modesty aside am VERY proud of myself.  I am literally glowing today - all that hard work paid off!

Chris has some type of draw for little girls, as Sydney took right to him.  Often Sydney wants to be in Chris' lap - she'll pass all of her toys (or whatever she is carrying) to Chris, and then request to be picked up.  Oh, and he is smiling in the picture - I think he is mimicking Reina's awesome smile.

"Shhh"

Reina still isn't sleeping great at night (and is fighting naps too).  I know that I talk a lot about sleep, but it is something that is very important to my sanity (I am saying this now as I myself am fighting the crankiness after a not so good night of sleep).

During the waking hours when we are semi-rested, Reina continues to learn more words and do cute things.  She has mastered her "shh" sound and gesture; Karen and Joe have three birds that they sometimes shush, and Reina thinks its her job to do the same.  She is also still afraid of "strange" textures - like sand...and grass. We went to the park yesterday to enjoy the gorgeous weather, and Reina wouldn't walk anywhere until we tasked her with picking flowers. Silly girl - surely she knows she can't be a girly girl!

We spent the evening with Liliana and Celeo's family Tuesday.  We brought over Thai and ate dinner.  Reina was pretty interested in new baby Diego - she wanted to hold and pet him.  She was pretty gentle.  After she got bored with the new baby, she tried very hard to get into all of the baby toys - like the swing and bouncer.  Chris always says how its interesting that sometimes she wants to take care of a baby, and other times she wants to be the baby.  Guess that's appropriate for her age.

Its amazing how much Reina understands at this point.  She can stick out her tongue on command or go throw something away or lay down all on command.  I wonder how long until she realizes she doesn't have to listen!?

I bought my first digital SLR camera.  This means there will be many more photos to come! 

Let's Be Friends

Well, we arrived to the states about 5 days ago after what I would call a relatively smooth trip.  We got bulkhead seats for both legs of our flights (Yay!) and Reina did amazing. What's crazy is, she was amazing and she didn't sleep much.  I'm talking like 2.5 hours in a 24hour span.  This means she was quiet A LOT....just taking everything in. She did get a bit cranky the last hour or so, but let's face it, we all were!

Since arriving we've seen lots of people.  Dad and Romeni picked us up at the airport, and then we all hung out in Portland for a night.  It was great to see family right away, and to have them there to take care of us!  Then we drove up to Tacoma to see Aunt Debbie and Jess.  Debbie took great care of us, and it was a nice stopping place before we headed up to Bellingham to see our college friends.

Now we're staying with Karen, Joe, and Sydney (also 18months) and Reina is having a blast.  Sydney and Reina seem to be trading tricks, and thus far Reina has learned how to "meow" and sing.  She has also mastered the cheese face (which I am thinking might be a bit unfortunate!).  The girls love taking baths together and usually enjoy playing together, even though they are still learning how to share.  I've managed to get in some shopping and Chris has been able to watch some soccer, so we're all pretty happy. We saw our good friends Liliana and Celeo, and JP and Elyse on the fourth too!

There is some bad news. Reina has not been sleeping well at night.  We have been fortunate with her in this department thus far - usually we put her in her crib and she goes to sleep.  Since we've been in the States she doesn't want to go down for bed at all and has actually been sleeping with us (NOT good!).  But, last night she slept most of the night in the pack and play, so I'm hoping we're making progress.

We plan on staying up in Bellingham through the weekend, and then will head down to Debbie's on Sunday to spend time with Chris' family.  Then we head off to London to see little Liz graduate.