The kind of pretending Cicily's life inspires - Sophie edition

I was thinking of posting about something I heard while Sophie was playing the other day.  And then I remembered this post about Maya playing: The kind of pretending Cicily's life inspires.  Maya was about 4 years old and Sophie is 3.  Both play scenarios really mirror our lives at the time.  When Maya was 4 we were all about therapists and medical procedures.  Now when Sophie's 3 we're all about wheelchairs and having hope in a future day when Cicily has a perfect body.
So Sophie was playing the other day (she likes to pretend on her own) and I overheard her saying, "It's ok, when you're resurrected you'll be able to walk and do all that stuff."
I'm happy Sophie has perfect 3 year old faith that because of Jesus, Cicily will be resurrected and be able to walk someday.

(No photo accompanying this post as Sophie likes to spend her days as a "nudie" whenever possible.) :)

Sophie-tainment

Cicily (and her teacher) invited Sophie to come on a field trip to the state fair.  Both sisters were happy to share the experience of petting all those animals!   (Yes, we almost came home with a bunny.)

Cicily loves to read books with Sophie before Soph's naptime.  And Sophie likes to give Cis a kiss.

Sophie and Cicily were doing makeup this afternoon.  Even while getting poked in the eye with eyeshadow, Cis was laughing her head off at her little sister giving her a makeover.

 

 

We often joke that Sophie was born to make Cicily laugh.  From the day Sophie was born Cicily has given her looks of pride and amusement - almost like a Mom does.  Maya has always made Cis laugh, but there's just something different about Cis and Sophie.  Sophie can get a big belly laugh out of Cis better than anyone else (including Dad- which is an accomplishment!).  Cis takes absolute pride and joy in seeing her baby sister being happy, silly, and learning new things. 

Maya Love

 

 Cicily has had her yearly super-respiratory illness the past couple weeks.  This means she wakes up and coughs and cries for a while many times per night.  Maya has been coming in to wake us up if we don't hear Cis coughing.  "Mom, Dad, Cis really needs a suction."  Then Maya figured out if she holds Cicily's hand or sings her a song after we leave, Cis will happily fall back asleep.   It's true, Maya's a fantastic big sister. 

Cicily enjoyed pushing Maya around in her chair for once! 

6 year old portraits

 

Cicily turned 6 on October 3 this year.  These are her new, updated 6 year old portraits.  We had to take them on 2 different days as Mom had to learn a few camera tricks, thus the wardrobe change.  Love how all-around beautiful Cicily is.

But I just miss her so much...

Sophie loves watching Cicily get on the bus every morning to go to school.  She talks about Cis being in Kindergarten and how she wants to go to school too.  The week after Cicily started Kindergarten, Sophie and I were driving and saw a little bus like Cis rides.  Soph got all excited and said, "there's Cissy Mom, there's Cis.  Let's go see her."  I told her that it wasn't actually Cicily's bus, Cis was already in her class at school.  "Let's go see Cissy in her class Mommy," she replied.  I told her we'd get to see her when she got home from school in a few hours. 

Then Sophie got pouty and said, "But I just miss her so much." 



It was very sweet to me.  I'm very glad that Sophie loves her Cicily enough to miss her so much.  It also broke my heart because it made me wonder what I'll tell her on the days in the future when Cicily won't be coming home?

Camp Zoo

Cicily got to go to Camp Zoo for 2 days this summer.  This camp was great!  Cicily loved being up close with all the animals of course, but she also loved the staff - they were so cool with her.  We always love kind-hearted people.

Cis got to watch me feed a giraffe (she chickened out -odd).  And she pet stingrays, rabbits, snakes, lizards, and even an elephant's foot!

 We're looking forward to another possible Camp Zoo in December!!!

Summertime!

Cicily got to go back to Camp Wiggles and Giggles this year.  She loved music time!  She's always requesting Bob Marley's Three Little Birds (Every little thing's gonna be alright) now and got Sophie singing it.  It seems very appropriate and it's so cute when Soph sings and Cis beams.

Lots of fun days playing with Michelle!  One day Michelle took Cis to the firestation where her husband works and got this cute picture!

             More camp - ball pit

SEDONA

We went to Sedona for a few days of rest and family time. 

Ghost town of Jerome.  Girls are on an old mining train.

                                                                     

The cool resort we stayed at had a mini-golf course.  And, the girls' favorite - a hot tub out on the patio of our room. 

Of course we saw some archaeology on the trip.  This is going up to some rock art at Palatki.  Cis was enjoying the rugged ride.  We stayed and waited out some rain in this canyon area and were rewarded with some awesome flash flood waterfalls on the red rocks! 

And also this summer - lots of DANCE PARTIES!!! 

Easter

"Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live" - John 11:25

Easter has always been a favorite holiday.  I love thinking about Jesus' triumph over death.  And now it has an even greater significance for me. 

Here is some of our Easter fun.

 We decorated our very own chicken's eggs this year!!!  This is one Cicily made.

 Easter egg hunt with the Watkins Fam.  Cis found a purple (her favorite color) egg hiding up high at the park. 

 Sophie discovering CANDY inside the eggs and Cicily enjoying watching her little sister learn new things.

The Friday before Easter we took the girls to pick out some new chicks.  Cicily's school nurse Tami said Cis was telling everyone -even the principal - about how she was going to pick out new chicks later that day.  As you can see, she LOVES them!!!

Spring Break

Some pictures from the girls' week off school this year. 

Maya read books to Sophie and Cicily before Soph's nap.

"Tea time"  outside in the backyard. 

A real picnic out in the yard for dinner.

 Craft time.  One afternoon while Sophie was napping we made bookmarks, bubble pictures, and crayon art.

It's always nice to have Maya and Cicily having fun together. 

Delight in a somersault

Last night Sophie figured out what happens if she puts her head on the ground and pushes off with her feet - a somersault!  We were all proud of her athletic prowess and cheered for her.  Then Sophie wanted "Maya's turn" and then "Daddy's turn" and they obliged with a somersault of their own.  Then it was "Cissy's turn" and daddy lifted her body and rolled her over.  After a few more minutes of somersaults I look at Cis and see her putting her head down on the carpet and painstakingly pushing along.  It's kinda how she looks when she tumbles face first so I was concerned at first.  Then she pushed enough to flip herself over onto her side.  Cicily did a somersault!!!  She laid there on her back laughing her little head off!  We all cheered and cheered for her!  Then she got up on her stomach and tried again.  She became quite proficient at her modified side somersault.  It's quite a bit of work for her - get herself on her tummy, get her legs in a frog position, get her hands in an ok spot, and then spend a bit of time trying to get her muscles to all work together to push herself over her shoulder and onto her side and back.  She was in love with this new trick she could make her body do though.  Cicily did somersaults with her sisters for quite a while last night.  We all had a blast somersaulting and cheering and laughing. 
And today I appreciate even more all the things my body can do so effortlessly.

Little Sicky

Cicily's been sick this week.  Monday was pretty bad, you can tell because this is Cis' attempt at a smile.   She stayed home from school and we read books like this all afternoon.  This is her favorite thing to do right now.  Let the chickens run around the yard and swing with some good books.  We've been so happy to have great weather to read outside in almost all winter.  This day was a little cold, so we brought out the blanket and pillow she loves from Grandma and Grandpa.  It was a nice afternoon, hope she gets better soon.  (Too much Dr. Seuss maybe??)

We've been on Vacation

We've been on vacation for 1/2 of July and it's been glorious! First we went to a cabin with Chris' fam. We went to a fish pond to let the girls experience catching a fish. They were horrified by the prospect of holding a fish and didn't care for the whole fishing thing. Sorry Uncle Adrian, I feel like I've failed.

Then mid-July we got to go to Bryce Canyon in S. Utah for a week with my fam. Beautiful scenery, perfect weather, and awesome family. Wish we could have stayed longer! Here's Cis and Sophie enjoying a river and waterfall.

We had a big family reunion. This is Cicily with her 2nd cousin, Meredin. Meredin is 5 and just loved Cicily. She was so cute, the first time we met her she just came right up to Cicily and said hi, then asked a couple questions about her (one of which I loved, "is she handicapped?") So I explained all about Cicily. Then Cis taught her some of her signs and Meredin pushed Cis in her chair all around the camp. They were legitimate friends. I love it when people treat Cicily that way. The family by beautiful Bryce Canyon.

I didn't mean to block out Cis, but she got me in a headlock hug right before the pic was taken. She's been giving the most excellent hugs lately! We all love it.

Grandpa made up this fun game with Cicily. They swatted that milk jug/ball around on the carpet for at least 1/2 hour. Cicily was laughing the whole time. She loved spending so much time with her grandparents. Playing games, going for walks, enjoying beauty, and even waking them up in the morning. Good thing we have chickens and Michelle at home, or she never would have wanted to leave!

What Cicily's been up to

Mommy putting eyeshadow on Cicily. She loves the girly things - makeup, dresses, hair, pedicures. Good thing she doesn't have any trace of the diva personality to go with it.
Maya turned 7! This is the game Cicily wanted to give her.

Playing Barbies with Michelle in all kinds of different ways. Michelle is awesome at coming up with new games and ways to pretend.

We went to this super farm/petting zoo. Cis loved feeding all the animals. The first one she fed was a little donkey that ended up biting her. It didn't dissuade her from feeding the rest of them though.

Petting a camel. There was also a popular zonkey - zebra/donkey (seems kinda wrong, but kinda cool).

Gathering chicken eggs every day. Cis takes this soft basket outside so she can carry the eggs back in the house safely.

Sophie turned ONE year old! Cis is helping her open the present she gave her.

Playing in more boxes. Twin sisters.

Cis rode in another ambulance. This time it was all fun! Her nurse Michelle's husband is a firefighter. He brought this truck that's similar to an ambulance over for Cicily to check out. What a fun backstage tour experience!

Summertime! When wer're not swimming at Grandma and Grandpa's pool, we've been creating a water park in our own backyard!

Cicily has been all about dresses and pigtails lately. We just bought her this new summer dress, since she only wants to wear dresses now. This is the huge hug she gave Daddy when she went to show him her new dress and pigtails. I think she started liking dresses so much because her Daddy will always tell her how beautiful she looks and make a big deal out of her dresses.