So many firsts............

In the past 3 weeks, there have been so many firsts for both kids, I'm not entirely sure I can remember them all. Scratch that, I'm CERTAIN I will not be able to recall all of them, but I will give it my best shot.

SOPHIA:
-First Haircut and she was a champ, loved having the blow dryer on her. The stylist was amazed there were no tears (apprehension, yes....tears, no).
-First dining experience at a restaurant with nothing but smiles. She was so content and helpful with Keenan (who was screaming at the top of his lungs by the way).
-Her first art class and she is loving it!
-First time she asked me to go the doctor. She has had a bad cold and today she informed me that her ears hurt and she needed to 'go doctor'. She reminded me tonight just in case I had somehow forgotten to call first thing tomorrow.
-She has memorized the books "Brown Bear, Brown Bear" and "Polar Bear, Polar Bear" and gets out the books and recites them to anyone who will listen, usually Mommy and, most importantly, Keenan.
-She is finally counting to 5....believe me, that is progress. She is such a sharp girl, but for some reason, doesn't want to count or recite the alphabet. \
-For all her reluctance to count, she loves to talk and is talking full sentences these days, almost always 4 words, but 6 and 7 strung together are not uncommon. We can understand most of what she says but it is sometimes still hard for the unfamiliar to decipher "Keenan cop pink, my green" (Keenan's cup is pink and mine is green) Keenan's is actually red but we let it pass. A favorite thing to say after we have gone for a run is "Mommy take a shower" and "Daddy should take shower too"
-She is putting on nearly all of her clothes now and participates in choosing her clothing for the day.
-She is amazing with younger children (especially if they are not her brother) and she does her best to soothe them and show them new skills.
-She cracks us up more times a day than I can count...this is not a first, but it still bears mentioning.
-I adore her sweet nature and great sense of humor. Her smile is a million watts and I absolutely love to see it.


KEENAN:
-First carousel ride.....he absolutely loved it and wasn't the least bit frightened.
-First sip through a straw cup. This is intermittent, but we are thrilled nonetheless.
-First attempt at Lactaid Milk....not sure we are ready to switch from Soy formula, but at least he didn't throw up.
-First time he brushed his own hair. Today when I was brushing my hair out after "Mommy take a shower", he grabbed a round brush that I keep in a low drawer and started to work on his own hair, smiling broadly at me, so proud of himself.
-Keenan's first word was not 'mama' or 'dada', but rather, 'ball'. He now also says 'bottle' and 'brown bear' (this is favorite book and he takes great joy handing it first to Mom to read and then Dad, then he goes back and forth as many times as we allow). We also think he is saying 'pig' when he sees that and he makes the sign for fish when he sees photos of fish. In general, this little boy loves books (makes mama swoon) and happily sits in our laps and intently follows along with almost any book we read to him.
-He is identifying certain animals pretty regularly. He usually points to Elephant, Zebra, Sheep, pig, and Dog when asked to.
-He loves to chase and be chased by anyone, but especially Sophia.
-He is starting to fight back when Sophia roughs him up.
-I'm not sure if I already mentioned this in a previous post, but he finally has his first tooth.
-Keenan just received his passport
-He is about to have his last post placement visit (hooray!) We will still have to send family written reports annually, but that is a pleasure and doesn't involve any fees.
-First adult table foods (OK, it is only cheese puffs, graham crackers, oatmeal diluted in apple sauce, soy yogurt and mashed bananas, but if you only knew what progress that is)
-Tried on his first Halloween outfit. This year, Keenan will be a Zebra.
-What I love most is Keenan's gales of laughter...when he and Sophia are having fun, it completely melts my heart to hear them laugh together.