Halloween Preview

Sophie is going to be a ladybug for Halloween. She tried on the outfit today and it fits perfectly. She's got a black long sleeved shirt to wear underneath and I still need to get her a pair of black tights and black shoes, but we're set! She didn't even mind wearing the little hat. Take a look at how cute she's going to be. Sorry - it's only a glimpse...

Sophie is into her babydolls again

She went through a spell where she was really interested in nothing but books, but now she's branching out to included her baby dolls again. Take a look at her in this picture - she climbed into the baby doll pack-n-play.



These ones are from yesterday. She's feeding Bitty Baby a bottle and pushing her in the swing.

This morning...

I got a new purse and was in the process of moving all of my stuff from the old purse and to the new one. Sophia got her hands on my old purse before I finished and helped herself to the "goodies" inside. By goodies I mean the "crap" that is left over in the old purse when you're done moving everything that you need/use. This is the same crap that you usually don't know what to do with, but when it's thrown all over your house the answer is simply to throw all of it away!

She first got out all of my scrap pieces of paper and scattered them on the floor. Then she found 2 of her own bead necklaces so she put those around her neck. Pretty soon she was walking around the house with my old purse on her shoulder wearing her beads. It cracked me up.

Sadie's spot in our house is in between the couch and the coffee table in the formal living room. You can see in this series that Sophia wanted to show off her treasures to Sadie and had to go so far as to literally walk over top of her before Sadie even raised her head. What a trip.

Little Miss Hygiene

I'm giving Sophia the nickname of Little Miss Hygiene because she is currently obsessed with the following: (1) Taking a bath, (2) Brushing her teeth, and (3) Washing her hands.

TAKING A BATH

Sophia has known the sign for Bath for a while now, but recently she's been "rubbing her belly" non-stop and requesting to take baths. When she's in the water I usually have to pull the shower curtain between us to avoid getting soaked from all her splashing. She likes leaning over and touching the water to her nose and lips. She came up coughing once, but that hasn't stopped her.



BRUSHING HER TEETH

Any time we pass her bathroom she rushes in and grabs her toothpaste out of the drawer. Even if I'm in my bathroom she'll brushing my teeth, she'll run into her bathroom and grab her toothpaste. She likes to brush before her bath and after her bath.



WASHING HER HANDS

After every meal Sophia likes to wash her hands in the kithen sink with her special soap and we sing "Happy Birthday to You". I think she does it for the song, but it's a great habit to get into. Just this week she's been trying to use a napkin to wipe off her hands if they get sticky or wet. She definitely likes to have clean hands, clothes are another story...

Who would have thought?

Luckily we have two of these colorful spikey balls, but that really doesn't matter because Sophia and Sadie must have the ball that the other one has. It's a complicated game of go fetch that they play.
Oh yeah, Sadie escaped out of the yard this weekend and took a stroll around the lake. We were all down at the lake coaxing her back into the yard when she decided to make a mad dash at the ducks that Sophia likes to feed. I guess she thought she could walk on water. She took off full speed into the lake and immediately sank! For a moment all we could see was her tail and, yes, it was wagging. She emerged and managed to doggy paddle back to safe, dry land, but she must have swallowed a mouthful of water because she was hacking up a lung for a good 1/2 hour.

Due Date

Went to a new doctor today. I really loved the practice.

Found out my due date is May 28, 2008.

You are about the size of a sesame seed now.

Fun play date at the mall

Sophia and I had a play date at the mall today with Emily and her mom, Victoria. Today was the second time this week that the girls saw each other and I honestly think they really warmed up to each other after only 2 lunches at Chic-fil-A. Emily is two and a 1/2 and she's quite a talker. The carousel was a big hit. Check out the girls on their horses.



Earlier this week we had a play date at one of the Virginia Beach libraries. Before the Wiggles and Giggles program began Sophia was walking around the room getting to know all of the "Old MacDonald" animals. Of course she absolutely loved the Sheep. The chicken was her second favorite.

4 weeks old

Hello little baby. You are 4 weeks old today. You are about the size of a poppy seed.

I've got my first pre-natal visit on Monday morning. I'm trying a new doctor for this pregnancy.

A visit with Dr. Mitchell

Today was Sophia's 15-month well visit. As usual she was in the 98th percentile in height at 32 and 1/4 inches long and the 90th percentile in weight at 26.11 pounds. Dr. Mitchell said she looks completely healthy and commented that it was great that her only visits to see him have been for the well routine check-ups.

She handled her shots ok. She cried her eyes out when she was getting them. In fact, I saw her watch the nurse administer the very first one - so next time she'll know what's coming for sure I guess. It makes me sad when she cries like that, but it does make me feel good to know that I can comfort her in those moments. Plus I brought her favorite treat - Yogos. She ate them and a drank a juicebox before we left.

Uncle Rob comes to visit

Uncle Rob came to visit over the weekend and Sophia loved having him here. Now that she can climb up onto the couch by herself she was able to get up right beside him and eat her snack while he showed her how to play tennis on the Wii. He whooped my butt, that's for sure.

Check out the two of them playing...

I think I'm pregnant

I took a pregnancy test this morning and the faintest of lines showed up to indicate that I am pregnant. YEA!!! Of course, Will and I both had to turn the test in the light just right in order to see the line, but we both saw it.

I'm going to take another one tomorrow morning and see what that test says! How exciting!!!

According to all my online sourcse, my due date will be May 27, 2008. Only 2 weeks after Sophia's birthday. So far I've checked a few different sites and the chinese calendars have the gender as a girl 3 out of 5 times. I guess it depends on whose chinese calendar you use!

Sophia videos

Watch some new videos.

How old are you? Taken 9/14/07



Playing in the bathtub. Taken 9/5/07

Happy 16 month birthday, Sophia!

Holy Cow! I can't believe she turned 16 months old today. These past few months have been the most fantastic of all of them. Now that She's able to communicate with me, we talk all day long. Just this week she's started saying Bird, More, and Sadie all the time.

We had a great time today. Sophie played outside while I painted the garage door. She pushed her babydoll in the stroller all over the yard. She even paused every so often to smell the flowers and give her baby a kiss.


Then we went to a different playground so Sadie could come with us. This playground is really old, but Sophie really likes it there. The ride-on toys are just her size. Take a look:



Take a look at the rest of the pictures from our day.

Too many activities?

Monday: We had a 2 hour play date at The Jumping Monkey with the Moms Group. It was a "brunch" event and we took watermelon - a very last minute idea! Sophie really enjoyed this plastic, purple rocking toy. She was riding on it with such speed/force that I really thought it was going to try a 360 and you know that would have been ugly.

Tuesday: Music class at 9am. This class is so much fun. The theme for this week was Vegetables and I'm pretty sure Sophia can now do the sign for Corn. Sophie has been pretty shy for the last 2 weeks and hasn't wanted to walk up to the keyboard when it's her turn, but I think next week she'll be more open to it. She loves the stickers that Ms. Virginia puts on her shoes at the end of class.
Stickers, not yet an obsession, but definitely her latest novelty. After class we met one of my friends and her two little ones (3 and 10 months) at the WOW Garden for almost 2 hours of play. Sophie slept all afternoon.

Wednesday: We didn't go to the Library program this morning because Sophia needed a nap. She was yawning through breakfast. We're going to lay low today.

Tomorrow/Thursday: We're meeting a neighbor and her little girl at the library for Lapsit. Katherine is only 1 month older than Sophia so we'll see if they like to play together. This will be our first time back to the Library in a few months for Lapsit because they take the summer off and I know Sophia will be so excited when she realizes what we're doing. I know she's going to have a totally new experience this time around because now she knows and sings the "I Love You, You Love Me" song and she knows how to clean up her toys during the "Clean Up" song.

Friday: I was going to take her to the Zoo with the Moms Group. We haven't been there since June and I think she would really like to see the animals again.

So, that's a whole lot of activities and basically our entire Fall is going to be packed with fun things to do. So move over house chores, Sophia Alexander is in town and ready to color the house blue and orange, literally! We can't stay home or else I'd go nuts. :-)

Leaps and Bounds

Motor Skills:

Sophia is trying so hard to be a big girl. She just hit a few fun milestones: shaking her head YES, throwing a ball overhand, and my personal favorite, she's almost able to WALK up the stairs.

Oh yeah, she also walked on her tippy toes yesterday!

Language Skills:

Will heard her say Shoes. I've heard her say Up and Dog. She's now calling Sadie by the name of "DOH" and something else I can't remember. When she talks to Sadie her voice gets completely different - kind of like she's commanding Doh.

Will and I were proud parents this weekend when Sophia demonstrated that she knows the signs for Eat and Drink. We went to Outback and she did the Eat sign from the car to the restaurant and then again on the way out to the car.

Her absolutely favorite sign right now is More. She wants more of everything, but mostly more songs, singing and dancing. She's actually doing the More sign in this blurry picture.

She's also catching on to a few brand new signs: Done/All Gone, Shoes, Book, Horse

Swimming with Laura

Sophia and I went to a brunch this morning to bid farewell to some of our bible study friends who will be moving away because their Navy dad got restationed. They will eventually end up in Germany, but in the meantime they have to move to Monteray, CA for a few months of training.

I wasn't quite sure if Sophie would remember anyone from this group because it's been about 4 months since bible study ended, but she warmed right up to everyone after a few minutes of playing the "Nobody can see me if I cling to the back of my mom's legs and peek out through her knees every 10 seconds" game. She was especially fond of Rigby, the American Poodle. She was sticking her face in his waiting for him to kiss her! He didn't! :-)

Sophie went swimming with Laura, the most amazing Nanny I've ever met. This wonderful woman volunteers her time and love at every gathering this group of ladies has. She's amazing with kids of all ages, but I really think she's always had a special thing for Sophie.

Sophia absolutely couldn't get enough of Laura in the pool today. Sophie really didn't want to get out of the water and was tugging on Laura's suit to get back into the swimming pool to play with her. Sophie begged Laura to carry her out to the car. She cried her eyes out when we left Laura. When I offered her Lambie, she threw him on the ground. She fell asleep on the way home...

Quite a day!

Sophie is getting a new tooth somewhere on the top which means that she's not sleeping or eating very well this week. (I think she only has 6 teeth to go now!) So, even after an action packed morning of music class, a quick stop at the mall for lunch and then a visit to the library to return our books, Sophia would not take a nap. She fought it all afternoon. I was trying to wear her out so she would take a nip nap, but she wore me out instead. I'm beat! She finally fell asleep around 8PM.

Sophia loves to dance and jump around the room. So we played songs and danced his afternoon after she got a bath. She's my little DJ. She's figured out how to turn the radio on and off so she decides when we dance and when we "do other things". It was so funny when at one point I walked out of her bedroom while she was calmly reading a book and when I returned (2 minutes later) she was sitting in the pile of books that she had just "read". Literally, nothing was good enough today, not even her favorite books.

Collecting Tennis Balls

Here's a movie of Sophia collecting tennis balls for us.

Time at the pool

We went to the kiddie wading pool yesterday with Dad. Sophie loved playing with the toys in the water and kicking her feet over the edge. She's still a little scared to be in the water any deeper than her belly button, but she getting used to it more each time. Check out the pictures:

Uncle Dan comes to visit

Uncle Dan came to visit over Labor Day weekend and to catch some last hot summer rays. Believe me, it's still "Hot Summer" in Virginia Beach for at least another month unless we start seeing some hurricanes, but anyway that's off topic.

We hit both beaches. Will, Daniel and I went to the Oceanfront on Saturday night and sat outside at Mahi Mah's for a few drinks while we listened to a band called Pulp Fiction whose specialty was either 80's or Oldies, I couldn't tell! We also got to bear special witness interesting characters we call Tourists drinking and being sloppy! (So glad this season is over!)
Iris, our teen aged neighbor came over to babysit after Sophia had gone to bed. For it being our very first night out with a babysitter it went surprisingly OK. Of course I worried, but I didn't call. Sophie didn't even stir the whole night and Iris' only comment was that Sadie wore her out. I hate to say it, but, Sucker! On Sunday afternoon Will and Dan headed off to Sandbridge for some body boarding while Sophie took her nap. She and I joined them on the beach when she woke up. Sophie had a picnic dinner on her towel and then ran around in the surf with 3 Labradors chasing a stick. Need I say it, ADORABLE! (but no camera at the beach....)

Not that we didn't get a ton of other pictures this weekend. Another huge part of the weekend activities was playing tennis. Will and Daniel hit the courts on Saturday morning for some long overdue matches/sets/games. I was able to get them back out on the court again on Sunday. Even Sophie had a blast playing tennis.

Here's a few of my other favorite shots from the weekend. Click here to look at all 185 of them.