7/29/07 It's been another busy week! First off, SOPHIA WENT PEEPEE IN THE POTTY TODAY! She has been trying SO hard ever since Lucas went and she just sits and pushes and tries, and finally today all that waiting paid off. She was so proud of herself, and she got a chocolate, which I think was her favorite part (what a little sweet tooth!). In other big news, Bella pushed herself up to standing from my leg (I was sitting on the floor). She crawled up, got her legs under her, and balanced her way up to standing! She stood there for about 7 seconds before she plopped back down on her bottom. They are getting SO big. Lucas is getting more reliable on the potty, which means we are heading toward fewer diapers!
The kids got their first real taste of swimming today. We went over to "Aunt" Ann's house and got to swim in her big pool. The kids were a little hesitant at first, but it wasn't long before they were jumping in (into our arms). Even Bella would sit on the edge and lean forward and "fall" into our arms. They LOVED it! Check out the pictures in our album on Shutterfly!
We finally decoded Bella's sniffing (video on Dropshots). Turns out she does it when she wants more of something. When she's in her highchair and gets something she likes, she wrinkles up her nose, closes her eyes and purses her lips, and sniffs in and out. what a silly kid!
The older two have really taken to playing together and playing pretend. Today, they were switching back and forth being the baby and the parent. One would put the other one to bed with a pillow, cover them up and sing them a song. Then they would switch roles. I think they put eachother to bed on every flat surface in the living room! I'll keep you updated on all our new progress! Have a great week!
7/23/07 We've had a crazy week! First off, as you may have noticed from the top of the page, or by trying to view our photos, we are in the process of changing photo sites! Yahoo photos is closing, so we are switching to Shutterfly. Our new address is http://gockley.shutterfly.com
Be sure to change your favorites link :) Right now, there are only a few pictures up, but Yahoo is in the process of transferring over all of our photos (over 2500 of them) so you'll be able to see them all again soon.
As for the kids, Bella got her first bite (Soph was mad that she took her sippy), we broke our first window (Lucas didn't mean to), and we've learned quite a bit of the alphabet this week. The kids also learned to ride a two wheeler this weekend! (with training wheels and helmets of course). Check out our new vidoes on dropshots!
The kids are growing up.... I got nervous the other day because the kids were down the hall and very quiet. I went down to check and they had closed themselves in Sophia'sroom. When I opened the door, Sophia was playing with one of her purses and Lucas was rearranging the dollhouse. I asked if everything was ok and they both looked at me and said, "yep!" So I just went back down to the kitchen.... nothing broken, no fights, no need for mama to entertain them....
Sophia has taken to calling me "Mommy Jessica". Hmmm..... She actually called me just Jessica the other day. I about died. She was trying to get my attention while I was on the phone and she said, "Mommy, mommy, mommy (increasingly louder each time)." when this failed to work, she screamed, "JESSICA!" It got my attention. Lucas called me mom the other day. What happened to mommy or mama. They are growing up too fast :(
Bella has two teeth now and is crawling at warp speed. She said night night the other night! She had her 9 month checkup last week and is 19 lbs. and 28 inches long. The doctor said she looks GREAT! Check out our new videos and we'll have the new photo site up and running soon!
7/16/07 What a weekend it's been! We officially transitioned the kids from their cribs to toddler beds. They have had the beds iin their rooms for a while, but mostly still chose to sleep in the cribs. Well, since the cribs had become more of a jungle gym than a bed lately, we moved them out of the rooms and started decorating them a bit! I'll get pictures up of the rooms soon.
LUCAS WENT POOPOO IN THE POTTY YESTERDAY! We had a big party for him and he got a special big boy toy (Thomas the Train set). He was pretty excited and so are we. I'm seeing an end to diapers soon... WAHOO!
Sophia isn't so sure about the potty yet, but she has started to LOVE to cook. She helped me make noodles yesterday for Chicken and Noodles, and she did a great job mixing and rolling with the rolling pin. Her language continues to explode, and she's getting more and more animated with her songs and dances.
Bella learned to wave bye bye! It's so cute, and she waves to herself sometimes to practice. She also learned to carry things in her mouth when she crawls, like a little doggy! The other fun thing she learned is to RUN in her walker and then pull her legs up and coast. It's hysterical to watch.
We keep growing and getting bigger everyday! Keep checking out our pictures and videos to watch the changes!
7/13/07 Little Miss Sophia has turned into quite the little bossy girl lately. She is constanty telling Lucas, Bella, Me, Daddy and anyone else who will listen what to do. I find myself starting to do what she says, and then realizing, WAIT, I don't need to be bossed around bya two year old! Some of her favorite commands are, "Go get that (fill in object)", "Go! ( and if you don't move fast enough) GO NOW!", "Sit down", and various others that are just as demanding. She's quite the little character, telling on her brother and sister, but getting angry when they tell on her.
Lucas has just been plain ornery since we got home. He tells me no before I even get the question out, which gets pretty annoying. However, despite all the "two year old" behavior, they still would do anything in the world for Bella, and she absolutely thrives on the attention. She tries so hard to be just like them, and got her first taste of talking on the phone the other night (see video). She now battles the other two for it everytime someone calls :)
We had an interesting morning, which I'm guessing will give you a little chuckle this Friday the 13th :) I decided to get the kids dressed and let them play outside in the backyard while I mowed the back lawn this morning. I realized as soon as we got outside that it was a bad idea when we walked into the grass and it was drenched! But, since we were all dressed and ready, I figured we'd try it. I got the mower going and tried to make quick work of the lawn when I noticed that Lucas had his bubble mower out and was walking alongside me. He proceeded to trip and fall face first into the wet, freshly cut grass and came up with a "grass mask". Literally covered in grass. I looked around to see where Sophia was and she had sat down in the grass, so not only had a wet bottom, but was covering her legs and arms in wet grass clippings. After finishing the mowing, I got out the hose and sprayed off my now green children. After Lucas was hosed off, it was Sohia's turn, during which Lucas managed to run BACK into the grass and get covered again. Sophia realized that being clean meant going inside, so she too bolted back into the grass. So here's the image, me 1/2 covered in wet grass clippings, chasing around two wet, grass covered two year olds who are screaming, 'No inside, no inside!" and running in two different directions all over the yard while I am frantically chasing them with the hose. And poor little Bella is sitting in the swing looking at us like, "How did I get born into THIS family?". I did manage to eventually get them hosed off and undressed and inside, where we ALL had to hop in the shower to get the rest of the grass off. I can only imagine what this afternon will bring.....
7/8/07 We're back in Memphis, but both of our computers are broken! Sophia accidentally dumped a glass of lemonade in the laptop and for some reason, our other computer doesn't want to turn on! I'll do the best i can to keep the site and pictures updated during our technological meltdown!
The kids had a blast in Indy,and got to be in the neighborhood parade for the 4th of July (check out the pix!). It was led by 2 firetrucks, and the kids got to climb on the firetrucks and got firehats from the firemen. They had so much fun! They learned several new songs from Uncle Jake, Aunt Neenee, Uncle Ryan and Papa, and Uncle Jake taught them to play piano and harmonica!
Lucas actually went pee pee in the BIG potty today, and Sophia sat on the potty, which is a HUGE step since she is petrified of it. Lucas also runs around singing a variety of songs he learned in Indy, but more often than not, he changes the words to things he sees or remembers, or sometimes just nonsense words or phrases. For example, the song he sang on the video "Uncle Ryan, Uncle Ryan, hey hey hey, goodbye", ended up "Uncle LouLou, Uncle LeeLee, back back back, hello...". Who knows where he gets it?
Sophia's language has really taken off lately. She has told me things that I didn't even realize she heard or knew the names for. She is constantly surprising me with new phrases. She's getting so big. She spent almost 15 minutes tonight putting her dolls to bed, and probably would have gone longer, had it not been HER bedtime. She kept covering them up (all had exactly the same blankets -she sorted through ALL the burpcloths to find the ones that matched), then uncovering them, moving them, singing to them, rocking them, then covering again, one by one.....
Miss Bella is growing up literally before our eyes. She learned to clap today on command, and gets the biggest kick out of it. The kids cheer and clap, and she just claps along and beams because she knows she is so big. She pulls up and cruises now, and had learned to plop back down on her bottom to get down. She crawls up steps and over large objects (pillows, etc.). She talks ALL the time and is still just as in love with the kids as she ever was. They are just as in love with her too, so it is really fun to watch them all together. The kids won't eat a snack or meal unless Bella gets something too. They always remind me (as if I need reminding) to bring Bella in the car, or the house, or wherever we are going. I will tell them, "Ok guys, it's time to get in the car!" and they both ask, "Bella car too?". I hope they can all stay this good of friends forever! :)
7/5/07 A really short update, but I had to post it. I know it will probably humiliate Lucas in the future, but LUCAS WENT PEE PEE IN THE POTTY TODAY! He's such a big boy and he even went on two different occasions today. I have a feeling Soph won't be far behind since she was pretty jealous of the attention he got :) Also, the kids have learned some new songs since they've been here (in addition to the uncle ryan song - see videos). Titles include (lyrics from...) Old McDonald had a farm, Holla- Holla Back, Vanilla Ice Ice Baby, and Baby got back.... Stay tuned, videos to come:)
7/2/07 We're in Indianapolis visiting and the kids are having a blast. I'm just gonna post a short update since they will be waking up soon, but I'll do more when we get home next weekend.
Last week, Nana was at our house and she brought the kids new animals for their set. Sophia's was a donkey and she tells us now that the donkey says, "SHE-haw!" (Must be a girl donkey?)
Lucas now beeps when he backs up his trike :) Our car(since it's as huge as a BOAT) has a backup sensor, so I guess that is where he got it from. I about fell out the first time he did it.
Bella is everywhere and started waving hi and bye bye. She is being very shy since we've been here. She just grins at people and then dives into my chest. She started cruising down the couch yesterday for the first time. She's gonna be walking just as soon as she can figure out the whole balance thing.
We're having a great time and the kids are looking forward to the "boom booms" (fireworks- we're still missing F's and R's, so we tried to make it easier). They are also going to be able to participate in the neighborhood parade on the 4th, so we are going to decorate Lucas's trike, Sophia's double baby stroller, and Bella's stroller and walk behind the firetruck through the neighborhood! How exciting! I'll have pics up soon!
Have a great 4th and stay safe!
