It’s been a while since I did an update on the girls, hasn’t it? I was laying in bed just last night, thinking about how BIG sweet Ainsley is! I swear I was just blogging about her pregnancy with you all, and now she is inching up on four years old and suddenly seems so much older now that she is in preschool. And, as mommas of multiple kids know, the second kiddo just doesn’t stay a baby quite as long as the first did. Collins always has Ainsley to push and pace her, meaning this momma is always amazed and a little sad about how very grown up my baby is becoming, too.
So, in case you’ve been wondering what the girls have been up to lately, here’s a little Hofmeyer family update!
Ainsley //
-Attending preschool two mornings a week and LOVING it. She asks every day if it’s a preschool day. It’s a faith-based 3-year-old preschool and I can’t say enough great things about the decision to send her and all that she is learning about faith and the world around her.
-Participating in her first year of dance! I said I would never be a dance mom, but like all things in motherhood, you tend to eat your words in favor of what your kids want and desire.
-I know all parents think their kids are smart, but I’m always amazed at this kid’s power to reason. She is so curious about the world around her and how things work and I LOVE her little mind and the way it works!
-She is TALL. I suppose that doesn’t come as a surprise to anyone who knows me + Joe in real life. We’re both tall so our girls are following suit, always in the 90+ percentile.
-Loves to eat mac and cheese, drink milk, make homemade graham crackers with mom, and prefers jelly sandwiches over peanut butter sandwiches. As you can probably tell, her nutrition is something we’re working on and have plenty of strides to make. 😉
Collins //
-Wishes she was attending preschool like Ainsley. Ha! But seriously, I think this kid would happily attend preschool if they let mom come with.
-Which comes to my second point about Collins. She loves people, but she REALLY loves mom, which makes things like leaving her in church nursery r with a new babysitter quite difficult. Thankfully we have a handful of trusted caregivers that she loves and that I can easily leave her with without major tears.
-She is a climber! Ainsley was not a climber, so this is new to us. She climbs on EVERYTHING. She is very content to climb onto the dining room table and sit there for the longest time, just happy to be on the table. See also: She has a lot of bruises from trying to climb on all the things.
-Collins is also a pretty physically advanced kid (see above point) and does well keeping up with her sister, running/walking everywhere and trying to track down Ainsley.
-She understands nearly everything we say to her, but doesn’t talk a lot yet. Her vocabulary has grown since getting tubes (yay for passing her hearing test!) and she currently clearly says “Mama” “Dada” “Pippa” (sounds like Bopa), “Ainsley” (sounds like Cece), “Mimi” “Nana” “Papa” and more.
-Loves milk as much as her sister always has/does, eats nearly everything we put in front of her
-Has a general love for life and love for people and is such a happy little baby-toddler, can be needy at times and can never decide if she wants to be held by mom or running around
This season of life with the girls, while busy and crazy, is just SO incredibly fun. I find that I always feel I’m hitting my parenting stride in any stage when I’m getting SLEEP. So now that both girls are very consistent sleepers (though very early risers) it’s much easier for me to enjoy their ages and stages because I’m well-rested, too. We are able to up and go so much more easily than we have been able to in the past, and they are great travelers. Both our girls really love being “on the go” so I’m thinking it’s their way of telling mom and dad that they want to travel to more places. Noted, children!
I’m so thankful for their joyful spirits and what a gift these two are to their parents! We love you, Ainsley and Collins!