I want to learn from you big sister

Yes, it's true, little sisters want to do everything their big sisters do. Everything, even if the big sister is 11 years older and even if it's HOMEWORK.

Sadie gets in from school and right away she has a little shadow that has been waiting for her all day. She loves her big sis. She wants to be right by her side whether she is washing her hands getting rid of all the nasty school germs, ha-ha!, getting her snack, watching Hannah Montana or whatever. She copies her when she is dancing or doing her dance excersizes going up and down on their toes. They could not have been any closer if we had them closer together in age.

Alexandra looks up to Sadie for everything she does. She wants Sadie's claps and laughter of approval. She will eat things for Sadie that she will refuse to eat for Mommy and Daddy. We have to ask her to do it for Sadie, and in her mouth it goes as Sadie is clapping for her and saying "good girl Lulee". Yes we have stuck with Lulee as her nickname. Long story short, one day I called her Lulee Lutendoodle and Ryan called her Noonie Nutendoodle. Ryan calls her Noonie and the rest of us call her Lulee. Although the other day he admitted to me that Noonie was really more of an infant nickname and he is gradually calling her Lulee as well. Sadie has always been nicknamed bug. I guess because of my fascination with lady bugs, we have our very own Sadie bug. :)

I was cleaning dishes last night and Sadie and Alexandra were at the table doing Sadie's homework. By the way, yes that is an "X" on Alexandra's head, "X" marks the spot. She busted her head Saturday and had a boo boo, which she has been showing everyone. The band-aids have been removed today and there is just a little cut that I'm sure will go away soon.

Alexandra's first official play date at our home

After Alexandra's first birthday party this past June, I decided that we MUST change the dining room into a play room. There were waaaaaay too many toys in the living room and if we wanted room for her to sleep in her own bed (which, yes, we are still having trouble with) then we definitely couldn't put all of the toys in her room. Anyway, I moved the dining room table that seats six and the hutch into the breakfast eat-in area. Then arranged all the many toys and put them along the walls and got foam letters that fit together to put in the floor to make the place a little more appealing to Alexandra.

For the longest she would not go in there without someone going in there with her (mainly me or her older sister Sadie). Here lately however (Thank you God), she has been exploring her little play room and has decided that it is not so bad in there after all. She is playing in there all the time now. I decided to invite a little friend over for her. This past Friday was Alexandra's first play date at our house. We have been to several play dates and of course had her 1st birthday party with little friends in to play. But, this was her first one-on-one play date in her very own play room. Her little friend's name is Jack, which was an easy name for her to say because her Nana has a kitty named Jack.

Alexandra and Jack played so well together, it was so cute. They ran all over the house chasing each other. They played in her play room, her bedroom which has a tent that both liked. Jack's mommy and I had to sneak a peek at them every once in a while to see how they were doing. They got along so well. I wasn't sure how it was going to go, because she is not around kids her own age a lot. She normally plays with sister Sadie, age 12 and her cousins Nick and Logan who are 11 and 8. I didn't know if she would share her toys or not. She and Jack loved playing together. We peeked in on them at one time and they both were lying down on a big tweety bird pillow. Another time they were inside the toy box together. It was absolutely precious. So the play date was a big success and I believe she and I are ready for another one.



After Jack and his mommy left, Alexandra was pooped and decided she wanted to take a nap on her little bed. They wore each other out. :)