Goofing off with friends on Sunday night

I finally had a chance to upload this video of Sophia playing with her friends at their house on Sunday night. The three of them were having a ball and Will was thoroughly enjoying it too (you can hear him laughing).

late late late

For a good two months or even more Sophia had to run down the sidewalk before she would even think about allowing me to put her into the car seat. She's graduated to insisting upon climbing up into the front passenger seat, over the middle console, and straight to the drivers seat where she pretends she's driving and then pushes as many buttons and turns as many knobs as she can.

This new fascination with driving makes us late for everything. Yesterday when we were leaving My Gym she wanted to DRIVE but I wouldn't let her and she threw an all out temper tantrum. Welcome to the "terrible twos".

The Countdowns Really Begin Now

Sophia's 2nd birthday: 2 weeks 2 days

New Baby Girl's Due Date: 30 days

Water/sand table - a huge hit

Sophia got an early birthday present last week from Nana and Poppy. She absolutely loves her sand/water table. I've decided we'll only fill it with water this year and maybe next year introduce the sand!

Here's the series of events:

Dry Sophia - exploring the table for the first time.


Wet Sophia - 5 minutes into her exploration.


Almost Naked Sophia - eating a SICLE after playing outside in the water for over an hour.


Naked Sophia on Saturday morning - showing her water table off to Dad. No point in clothes anymore...

March for Babies

First let me say that Will woke up right after I posted my previous entry and he was ready and willing to go with me! Sophia had other plans (she slept in until 8:15) so I left without them. They met up with me about 1/2 way through the walk and then we spent some time in the park and listened to music and enjoyed the crowd a bit. There were several costumed mascots walking around and Sophia loved them from afar, but didn't want to get too close. She talked about the TIGER, the EAGLE, and the WOLF all day.

I had a fantastic time walking on the boardwalk. It didn't rain at all. I saw dolphins not far off shore.

YAY!!!! It's not raining!

I'm heading out soon to the March for Babies and it looks like the rain is going to hold off for a while! That is wonderful news!!!!

We had some friends over for an early dinner last night and Will made his drinks a bit too strong and fell asleep on the couch before 10:00. Sophia stayed up an hour past her bedtime - she got to sleep around 9:30. They're not awake yet and it looks like I'll be flying solo on the walk - at least for the first part. How funny is it that Sophia has woken up at 7AM or earlier every single day for the past 3 weeks and today she's still dead to the world at 7:30! Ahhh, just my luck. Of course this couldn't happen on Monday - Friday! Oh well...

I'll post the pictures later this afternoon! Wish me luck!

CLOTHES

So, I've finally had a chance to organize all of Sophia's baby clothes and had also washed and sorted them! No small task, but it's done. YAY!

Sophia found this little skirt and bloomers combo in the laundry basket and decided to put it on her head. A much different view than the last time she wore it - at 4 months old. :-)

March for Babies

The March for Babies is happening this Sunday morning. I'm excited for the walk, but the weather report is looking pretty bleak. Rain on Saturday and Sunday, but warm. Walking up and down the boardwalk in the rain probably won't be any fun!

I'm happy to say that I made my target goal of $150.00! Special thanks to my supporters!

Ironic??

Is it ironic that I'm walking in the March for Babies this weekend?

I had my OB appointment this morning and the doctor told me that I'm measuring small. I'll be 35 weeks tomorrow and I'm measuring around 31 weeks. She scheduled an ultrasound at my next appointment to take a look to see if everything is ok.

She said I could be measuring small for a number of reasons.
(1) The baby may be tightly curled up in my uterus.
(2) She could have dropped.
(3) The placenta may not be functioning at 100% capacity.
(4) I could have low amniotic fluid {from here...the rest of this paragraph is what I learned on the internet and was not mentioned by my doctor}(- which turns out to be a fairly uncommon thing called oligohydramnios. The treatment is usually rest and can include steroid shots to increase the fluid. I would be monitored with ultrasounds every week to make sure there was an adequate supply of fluid. Most often a spike or flux in blood pressure indicates low amniotic fluid, but mine has remained steady at 100/62 roughly since I first got pregnant. So, it's all speculation. I'm sure that for the next two weeks it's going to bother me, but keep your fingers crossed!

The doctor told me not to worry. I can't help but think that it's the low amniotic fluid problem because when this baby moves I can literally feel her bones and often it's very uncomfortable. (In some of the stories I read online I learned that when the babies move it can be agonizing for the moms.)

Will reassured me that if there was a really big problem the doctor would have sent me for an ultrasound today. He's probably right.

On my way out the door the doctor told me that it's probably nothing and reminded me that if they had to induce at any point now (even today) the baby would be fine. I'll be exactly 37 weeks at my next appointment and that is considered full term. I've been saying all along that I think this baby is coming early! Maybe I should look up names that mean early and see if we like anything!

Sophia-isms

Sophia's language development has exploded again and she's now about to say lots of complete sentences. She repeats almost everything we say. In fact, she heard Will say damn and then all of a sudden it was her favorite word. Go figure.

Here's some of her other new words or phrases:

• BRAZEE - This is what she calls zebras.


• HOLD YOU - This is what she says when she wants one of us to hold her. She holds her arms up and looks at me with puppy dog eyes and says HOLD YOU. I've never been able to resist!


• GOODNESS - She says this when she sees/makes a mess.


• BEE BOP - This is what she now calls Baby Bop - instead of just BOP


• BJ - BJ is no longer called BEEJ


• STAY HERE - Now she can tell us if she doesn't want to come inside, or go upstairs or leave the playground.... She says STAY HERE!


• IRIS - Iris is the older girl (15) who lives across the street and now Sophia calls every older girl IRIS.


• SAY CHEESE - She picked up a camera in the nursery at church yesterday and said SAY CHEESE


• BARNEY MUSIC - As soon as Sophia gets strapped into her car seat she requests BARNEY MUSIC

New Favorite Foods

Strawberries - she's literally eating 1 lb a day!
Hamburgers - plain with ketchup. No bun, no mustard!
Ranch - she loves dipping cucumbers, peppers & tomatoes.
Cake - a girl after my own heart!
Sicles - better known as Popsicles (especially the blue ones)


Old Favorites that she no longer likes:

Fruit snacks - YAY!!!!
French fries - YAY!!!!
Sweet potatoes

New Feats

• She comes and goes as she pleases now. She can climb or walk up the stairs on her own and she can scoot down on her butt. She always checks in with me first to make sure I know where she's going, but then she's off on her own!


• Will went into Sophia's room this weekend to get her up from her nap and she was shirtless. She took her shirt off when she woke up.

ME EAT THEM

Late last week we realized that a Mama bird has built a nest inside the beautiful Southern Living (plug plug) door hanger on our front door. And guess what? There are 2 little eggs inside! I'm just short enough that I can't even see them unless I'm standing on my tippy toes, but I had noticed that every time I opened the front door a bird would fly away. It never occurred to me that she was living in there!

Will held Sophia up to take a look. She exclaimed ME EAT THEM! ....... And she doesn't even like eggs.

We decided to let the Mama have her babies on our front door and planned on not using that door for a while, but I'm really bummed because I think the Mama has disappeared. One of our neighbors walked right up to the door this weekend after being told about the bird to "check it out". I'm pretty sure that he scared away the Mama.

A sunny day

This morning Sophia and I were playing outside on the deck before it got too hot. She wanted to wheel her little table outside and have a tea party - so we did. We also invited Sadie out to join us and she was tied up on her 20 ft. leash basking in the sun. After our tea party Sophia decided that she needed a real drink and climbed up onto the "big" chair to rest.

It was up in the mid-80s this afternoon so we went out and got Rita's ice. She had blueberry and I had tropical island - we went straight for the ice and skipped the custard although I'm already thinking that we'll have to visit again with Dad in tow. We sat in the grass on the lakeside hill beside Rita's and Sophia watched for ducks while I obsessed over two high school-aged couples paw at each other and talk on their cell phones.

Cute Sophia movies

Sophia and Dad were playing hide and seek the other night and Sophia CHEATED and then she thought it was the funniest thing she'd ever heard! Just watch these videos. To be honest, it was also about 1/2 hour past her bedtime so she's just a little loopy too.

JUMPING on the COUCH

Sophia is a jumper. She jumps on our bed and watches herself in the mirror. She jumps on the trampoline at My Gym and gets upset when other kids try to join her. She jumps off the last step every time we walk downstairs together. (Although twice today she successfully walked herself down the stairs.) She runs and jumps into her beanbag. She jumps on the couch - as she is in this very blurry action shot.

Countdown to Sophia's birthday

Yesterday Sophia turned 23 months old! Amazing that in less than 1 month she'll be 2.

We've got her birthday party booked at My Gym on Sunday, May 18 - just a few days after the real day. She can invite up to 20 other kids (and we may be getting close to that since lots of her friends have siblings.

I just need to take her to Party City so she can pick out a theme. It would be appropriate to celebrate in Barney style, but you can't get Barney birthday plates anymore. So, I'll see what she likes in the store. Maybe Mickey Mouse and Minny.

I'm so glad we're not having her b'day party at our house this year. Just an FYI. Haley's mom went into labor early in the morning on Sunday (3AM) - the night of Haley's birthday party. She was scheduled for a c-section on the 22nd, but I guess the stress of the b'day party really wore her out. All are well. They named their little girl Carly.

Baby Shower

Two of my friends co-hosted a baby shower for me this afternoon. It was a really fun afternoon and this little baby girl was spoiled with lots of adorable summer outfits. She's going to look so cute. Click here and you can see some of the outfits close-up.

Everyone that brought a package of diapers was given a raffle ticket for a Southern Living gift basket. What a wonderful idea! Just look at the diapers I brought home. Sizes Newborn - Two. How nice.

Haley's Birthday Party

Sophia had a wonderful time at Haley's 2nd birthday party this morning. All the little girls looked adorable in their dresses. Haley is the girl sitting in the chair.

Sophia was scared of the clown and absolutely refused to have her face painted. She did accept a tattoo, but I had to apply it for her. At first she chose a puppy and then later decided she wanted a second tattoo and selected a colorful Big Bird & Friends one.

Sophia devoured her entire piece of cake and then had a scoop of ice cream! Just before the cake was served I saw her stick her finger into the decorative icing on the side and then smear it on the kitchen table. Haley was trying to get to the icing too!

She didn't put the hat on until we just about to leave the party, but she did wear it the entire way home in the car and couldn't wait to show Daddy when we got home. See all the pics.

Popsicle play date @ Redwing Park

Sophia and I hosted a Popsicle play date today at 1:00 for my Mocha Mommys group. Sophia and I both ate 2 Popsicles except she may have been wearing more of her second one than actually went into her mouth. It was close to 75 degrees and those puppies were melting fast.

She was extremely nice to all the kids that were there. Two were older and two were younger. She liked giving Hunter, the boy in the stroller, his sippy cup. She also liked following the 2-yr old boy around. He was playing with sticks. She loved CHASING his 4-yr old sister around, but the little girl kept running so fast that Sophia would lose sight of her and then get distracted by something else. It was hysterical to watch.

Sophia simply did not want to play with the little 18-mon old girl in this picture. Sequoia didn't know how to share yet and Sophia couldn't tolerate that. She basically ended up ignoring Sequoia the whole time. At the end Sequoia wanted to give her a hug and Sophia had a fit! There was no way she was letting anyone hug her! Hugs are reserved for Haley and Addie and other close friends. :-)

Haley's second birthday party is tomorrow morning at 10:00 and we're really looking forward to it. I'm sure we'll have lots of great pictures to post tomorrow afternoon.

Playing outside

After 5 days of April rain, it finally cleared up today and it turned out to be a beautiful day. We played outside this afternoon. Sophia wanted to wear her fireman's hat and push a stuffed monkey around in her doll stroller. We also did some sidewalk chalk drawings.

This little girl, Lianna, is our neighbor. She was a bit shy today and didn't want me to take her photo. She's going to be 4 in June. Sophia will be 2 in May. Check out how tall Sophia is compared to her.

New Sophia Movies

Sophia had a fun filled weekend and I wanted to share some of the movies with you. Take a look:

This is my favorite one. It's called ONE TWO EIGHT TEN



Old MacDonald Had a Farm



Sophia and Sadie

FAVORITE

Sophia picked up the word FAVORITE somewhere along the way and now refers to this denim blue hat as her FAVORITE!

She's been wearing it every day since Sunday. Today she wore it to TARGET and then (ME HAVE IT) when she went into her crib for a nap. It's a little big for her head and keeps falling in her face, but she doesn't seem to mind.


This past weekend was certainly a "dress up" weekend. It all started with Mommy's tan ball cap and then progressed to JEWELRY which included 2 necklaces and stretchy arm band and finally ended with a CAPE, especially hand crafted by Daddy.

Share, Daddy!

So, we were shopping this weekend and I left Sophia in the shoe section while I browsed on ahead of them. They were happily entertaining each other while bouncing a ball back and forth. When they finally caught up to me Will was grinning. He told me that part he was "hiding" the ball from Sophia by not giving it to her and she looked him right in the eye and said SHARE!

Sponsor Me at March for Babies!

As some of you may know, I'm participating this year in March of Dimes' "March for Babies" event on Sunday, April 27th on the Virginia Beach Boardwalk. All dollars raised will go toward researching the causes of premature birth and birth defects.

Hopefully our baby will go full term. We only have 7 more weeks to go, but I've had 3 friends deliver 5 weeks early within the last 3 months. Please help me help other moms who have given birth prematurely.

Thanks for your support. Yes, it's a tax write-off charitable donation.

Movies...

Lately all Sophia wants to do is watch her own MOVIES on my laptop. She is currently obsessed with the Easter Egg coloring ones, but I don't think you've seen this one of her and Grancy yet. Take a look.

At the end of the video when she's gets shy about saying the Easter Bunny....picture her now answering Grancy's question. She says BUNNY every time!

Celebrate!

Sophia says her name all the time now. She knows when it's SOPHIE-AH's turn. That's how it sounds when she says it: SOPHIE-AH - with all the emphasis placed on saying Sophie and then as if an afterthought she says AH.

Every single week in My Gym the instructor takes turns asking each kid what their name is. This week Sophia actually answered for herself. She snuggled into me and became quite shy as she mustered out: SOFA. I wanted to laugh out loud, but instead hugged her and told her what a great job she did.

8 weeks to go.

Baby girl #2 is due to arrive in exactly 8 weeks. She probably weighs over 4 pounds at this point. I feel enormous and stretched, but still have lots of energy to get out with Sophia during the days for fun. However, by the time dinner is said and done I'm spent and find myself falling asleep on the couch by 10.

Will went into the attic this past weekend and we resurfaced all of Sophia's baby stuff. WOW - I never knew we had so many teethers, rattles and little stuffed animal toys. Sophia's been preoccupied all week with these new TOYS all week. She definitely doesn't seem to remember them at all, but is having an awesome time rediscovering all the buttons to press and noises they make. Of course, all the batteries are 90% dead and instead of making fun sounds some of these toys sound like they are moaning!

The Sprinklers Are On!

YAY! The Botanical Garden turned on the sprinklers in the WOW garden today. We packed a snack, a towel, a change of clothes and headed out at 9:30 this morning. We planned on being out for a long day, but the weather didn't allow for it.

Sophia loved watching the frogs squirt water out of their mouths. She remembered how fun it was to play in the water, but mean Mommy wouldn't let her. It was a little chilly this morning and the thunder clouds were rolling in, but next week I'll let her play. We made it to the car just seconds before the hard rain came down. By the time we got home, the rain was almost over and then it got really sunny and nice so we got to take Sadie for a walk. She loved it.