Not Much...

Not a whole lot going on of late except, oh...

The whole "my sister is getting married" announcement. Sounds pretty exciting and now the whole family is making plans to head to Florida for the big to-do. I've never met the new fiance, Jeff, but if he can put up with her than he is tops (tee hee)!

Other than trying to make plans for the marriage shin-dig, we've been researching preschools for Ayla, gearing up for Halloween events, and enjoying the beautiful weather. I've spent time learning the area, checking out the numerous (and SO cool) Farmer's Markets, malls, metaphysical stores, bike trails, parks, etc. There is just so much here... even now, a month later, I feel overwhelmed.

Sophie is all over the place, determined to express her opinion on things in whatever manner she can get it across. She's quite clear when she says she wants more, when she wants to be read to, when she wants to nurse, or when she doesn't want something. "Sophie, are you ready for a diaper change?" Response? A vehement shake of her head "no." Haha She's got the cutest little "bye-bye" wave, too.

Ayla is impressing us more and more lately. She is developing into quite the independent girl.. umm, excuse me. She has changed her mind and she is "a boy now." She's is certainly interested in exploring the variations and questions of gender attributes and stereotypes.... Anyways, she has been working on learning to write the alphabet, cutting in straight lines, and writing/learning number concepts. She recognizes every letter and just about every number (she gets confused between 6 and 9 and has a hard time remembering 8). As of right now, when you ask her to write the letters H, T, and L and numbers 1 and 0, she can do it very well. She is also very much exploring our boundaries and how it relates to doing what she wants to do. There has been some butting of heads, but its wild to see her listen to reason (when she wants to be reasonable! Hah). She can ride a bike beautifully, loves to play at the park, is super helpful when grocery shopping, and is wildly imaginative (wildly).

This week, we are heading to one of the local farms in a hunt for the perfect pumpkin. I think we are getting a sugar one, too, so we can make some pumpkin butter (mmmmmmm). We are also checking out 3 different Montessori schools and one progressive cooperative preschool for Ayla. Should be loads of fun.

A late birthday shout out to Grandpa!! Happy Birthday!