The girls are doing so great! They have started swimming lessons and are both doing so well. The lessons focus primarily on life-saving skills. Della has passed three of her 4 check points she needs to complete before she does her completion check-off. She can swim under water with her eyes open, she can roll from her back to her belly to swim underwater, and she can float unassisted on her back. The last skill she needs to master is rolling from her tummy to her back.
Cora is mainly working on floating in the correct float position and turning from face down in the water to face up. She is so close to doing this and she has done really well at holding her breath underwater which is great.
Cora is crawling everywhere now so we have to keep a closer eye as she is always interested in eating everything too :) One of her favorite things that she does is crawl a few feet and then she'll sit up and use her legs to turn in a circle. Once she goes one way, she'll go around the other way to get a different perspective. It is so funny to watch but I have yet to capture it on video. We call it her "sit and spin" move. She continues to be such a happy baby and now can wave to us, point at what she wants, clap her hands, say Dada, Della and bah. No Mama's yet but I am waiting patiently :)
Della is learning so much at school! Her official preschool (rather than summer sessions) starts tomorrow. She can recognize most letters and even can tell us what letters some words start with. Especially the letter D. Well see something that starts with a "D" (like on a book or magazine) and she'll say - Mama, look! It says Della :) She loves her teachers (Miss Nicki and Miss Bre) and she loves to learn. Lately, she has been playing teacher with all of her "kids" (stuffed animals and dollies). Her class is called the Cheerful Clams but the other 3 year old classes are called the Precious Peacocks and the Jumping Jellyfish (she calls them Junkin' Jellyfish though). Our living room is divided up into those three classrooms and she is quite particular about which of her kids go where. Cora is always in the "Junkin' Jellyfish" class :) Luckily, that classroom is where the toys are.
It always amazes me to see the mannerisms that they copy from us. The other day, I stubbed my toe and had my head in my hands to somehow ease the pain and Della said "Mom, I don't want to hear your whining" which Derek thought was just hilarious. It made me feel a little bit uncompassionate at the time but Della is currently in the stage where the whining is a little constant and she likes to mimic Cora's crying or other babies that she is around.
On Friday, my work sent me to Universal Studios for the day which was rough... (not) I absolutely love me job so far and am continuing to learn and grow my accounting skills. Derek is doing well at his job and is wrapping up some compliance meetings that he was having a travel frequently for. I am looking forward to having him home consistently and he is looking forward to more time at his office doing regular work.
Our next upcoming is adventure is a camping trip with Louis and Shannon's family. We are so excited!!
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| Licking the beaters after making Mom's birthday cake |
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| These girls are the best of friends |
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| I am amazed at how blue Della's eyes are here! |
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| Bed head! |
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| Cleaning a pumpkin from Mom's garden - we had 5 big ones! |
