Sophie loves the flower people

For Christmas a few years ago my mom got me 2 of the cutest little ceramic flower people that have movable leaf arms and legs. I've always had them "sitting around" my plants in the kitchen. From her tall highchair view, Sophia recently discovered these little people and loves to play with them when she gets the chance. I would love to know what "make believe" game she's playing with them here....

This video is really really short - but she's holding onto one of the flower people.

Thanks, Kansas Alexanders

Uncle Mike, Aunt Misty, Terra, Madeline and Baby Alexander got Sophia Bitty Baby's stroller for her birthday and she loves it. In fact, her eyes lit up when she saw it across the room. She knew exactly what to do with it.

On the first day she was content to push Bitty Baby and Pacy Baby around in it. She even gave them toys and books to "play with" while she was strolling them through the house. She put extra toys in the basket underneath and was really playing the part of "mom" to her babies.

All of that changed when Sophia realized that it's even more cool to RIDE in a stroller inside the house! So now she demands to sit in her umbrella stroller and be pushed through the house all day long. She likes to stop to visit all the babies in the picture frames on the low shelves throughout the house.

Here's the best part - as of last night - she actually doesn't even want to be pushed around the house anymore. She just wants to sit in the stroller for hours on end. She wants Mary (her Mary Had a Little Lamb doll) to sit in Bitty's stroller beside her and they play together. It's all very complicated...unless you're Sophia or Mommy!

Regardless - THANKS TO THE KANSAS ALEXANDERS!!!!!!!

Sophia turned 1

WOW! Sophia turned ONE on Monday, the 14th. Her official stats are:
Height: 31 1/4 inches (97th percentile)
Weight: 23 pounds 6 ounces (85th percentile)

What a year!

It's so hard to believe that 12 months have already passed. It seems like yesterday that we brought her home. She was so small and delicate. Now she's a full-fledged toddler of epic proportion! She had her very first temper tantrum on her birthday. We were leaving Grancy's house and Daddy picked Sophia up from the learning table toy and she immediately started leaning out of his arms, crying and kicking her feet as if to shout "Put Me Down! I Was Playing With That!" Believe me this kid definitely knows how to display her frustration to alert us to what she wants. It's her way of talking to us before she can actually talk.

That and the signs and words she uses. She's got quite a little repetoire now.
She knows and uses these signs: giraffe, dog, duck, milk
She understands these signs and may do them soon: bath, flower, drink
She says these words: Sadie, baby, Dada, Ma. I'm waiting to see what word she comes up with for "Lambie".

Thanks for the sunglasses, Grandma

Grandma sent Sophia a pair of sunglasses the other day. They are a HUGE hit. Sophia loves to wear them - inside and outside. Take a look at her this weekend at the playground. She wore them for the whole stroller ride to the playground (at the tennis courts) and for most of the time we were there. The best thing was that it wasn't even sunny.

Sophia goes down the slide

Having fun on the swing

Going Super High with Daddy

Weekends with Daddy

I realized something this weekend. I'm not the only one who "lives for the weekends". I know Will also enjoys his weekends, but I swear Sophia becomes a different person on the weekends too- because she gets to spend time with her Daddy. She's so peppy, excited and just a ball full of energy. How cute is that?

She prefers Daddy to feed her, to hold her, to play with her, to read to her, snuggle with her before bedtime, etc... She's always mastered her major milestones with Daddy - creeping, crawling, taking the first few steps, etc... (However, to be completely honest, I think she still prefers Mommy for the diaper changes and multiple clothes changes each day, but otherwise Mom is chopped liver.)

The up-side to this story is that I don't actually mind. It's really nice to sit back and watch Sophia showing off and trying to impress Will. One thing is for sure - she loves her Daddy!

Dora The Explorer

You've all heard about Sophie's passion for babies...talking to them, rocking them, carrying them around, etc... Well she's now getting obsessed with Dora and Diego. I'm convinced it's because they both have really large faces and look like Sophia's babydolls.

She eats Dora and Diego yogurt and will grab onto the yogurt container and move my fingers out of the way so she can see them. I got her a Dora plate and bowl which she loves to use - and by "use" I mean that she loves to promptly flip over any plate or bowl placed on her highchair tray.

Sophia cut another tooth

I saw it this morning. It's her third bottom tooth. It's officially #7. It's no wonder she's been napping all afternoon. It was so nice to have the time to clean the house. :-) Thanks tooth fairy!

A bunch of Sophia movies....

I've been meaning to post all of these movies to the blog. They're listed newest to oldest.

Sophia, Daddy and Lambie - Sophia is learning to walk!


Sophia claps on camera


Sophia claps with mommy


Sophia signs giraffe


Sophia playing with her toys


Sophie shares her lunch


Her first word - listen close for her to say Sadie - minus the "s"


Eating breakfast

Mommy and Me Ballet

First of all, hats off and many thanks to Aunt Claire and her friend, Hilary, for the powder blue balerina leotard and skirt! We've also got the long-sleeved version in pink for the cooler months and dance tights for when Sophie gets a little taller.

Yesterday we spent the afternoon dancing on our tippy toes at a "girls-only" Mommy & Me Ballet event. One of the Moms was a dancer in a previous life and was able to lead the group in some baby-friendly stretches and twirls. Sophia was an excellent student. Her eyes were glued to the mom/instructor the entire time. Sophie really got a kick out of seeing all the other little girls dressed up as balerinas and squealed with delight when she was able to stretch her arms up and down like all the big girls.

And now for the pictures. There are even more on flickr:

Play date @ our house

Sophia had her library friend, Hailey, come over this afternoon for a playdate. The girls played really well together for a solid 2 hours. Of course at the end of the playdate I think Sophia was on the verge of a having a meltdown...but she played her heart out while Hailey was here.





Sophia was a gracious host and was happy to share her hat, juice, crackers, books and toys, but she was not ready to share either of her babydolls. Each time Hailey went for a doll Sophia prompty snatched it away from her. She also became a bit upset when Sadie preferred Hailey's attention over hers. Don't mess with a girl a her dog! It looks like we're going to have to work on sharing.

Hailey just took her first few steps last week, but she was really showing off for Sophia today - even holding onto Sophie for support as she tried to walk. Of course, Sophia does not want to be out-done and she stood balancing herself for about 15 seconds before falling on her butt with a thud. She was so proud of herself and showed us all how much so by flapping her arms like she was getting ready to take off into the sky!

Hailey turned 1 on April 2nd so she's a little bit older than Sophia, but they didn't seem to mind. Hailey doesn't really like to wear a hat and it was difficult to get this picture, but doesn't she look cute modeling Sophia's yellow sun hat?

Splish Splash

Taking a bath is one of Sophia's favorite activities. She loves playing in the water with her toys. The bright colored cups floating in the water are a set of nesting cups that she can also stack. All the cups have holes in them and produce waterfalls. I've been holding these cups up for months showing her and now Sophia is filling up the cups and holding them up to watch the water trickle out of the bottom.



She also loves filling up her bright orange shampoo pitcher with water from Wanda, the "Spigot-cover" fish. On a few occasions Sophia has actually held the pitcher up to Wanda to get some water.


When the bath is over Sophia can't wait to talk to the baby in the mirror. She just loves standing up and banging on the mirror to say HI to that baby!

Sophia turns 11 months

My little baby is 11 months! I can't even believe how fast this year has gone. It's not over yet, but we're rounding the corner to Sophie's first birthday and in the middle of planning a super fun 1st Birthday Party.

Favorite New Food: Waffles (Lucky for mom they are now flavored with syrup so NO MESS!)

Favorite Toy: Books, books, books. She loves flipping the pages. She loves touch and feel books. She loves talking to the babies in the books.

Rise and Shine: Between 7:30 and 8:30 AM

Bedtime: Between 7:00 and 8:00 PM

New Fashion Statement: It looks like Sophia's hair is getting wavy as it grows in longer. Her eyes are definitely more green now than blue.

Mom's Favorite New Trick: Sharing. She offers her toys and her food to me. She picks up Sadie's toys and gives them to her. It's sooo sweet.

Talking: She's able to say a few words of Sophia-Speak. She's got AddEh for Sadie. She's got Dadadada for Dad. She's got Hey for Hello. She's got Mamamama for "I don't want this" or "Move me". That's all I've been able to figure out!

Click on the big arrow to watch the movie below.



Sign Language: THIS IS HUGE! Sophia looked at Sadie last night and performed the sign for dog. She's been doing it all morning! So officially her first word is DOG. Will and I actually predicted that Sadie would be her first word because we say it so many times each day, but dog works just as well! Yea, Sophia!!!!

Walking: Any day now. She's able to walk around only holding on to one hand. She even balances on her own for at least 3 or 4 seconds.

Sleepover at Grancy & Big Daddy's House

This past weekend marks Sophia's first overnight visit without Mom and Dad. Grancy and Big Daddy babysat while Will and I went to a wedding in Maryland. I probably had a harder time adjusting to being away from Sophia than vice versa. In fact, when we showed up on Sunday she just crawled over to say "hello, mom" and then wanted to play on her own.

I'm pretty sure Grancy and Big Daddy kept Sophia really occupied. She read books, had a bath and played with all of Grancy's home decor. Sophia got to go for a walk with Big Daddy while he sheltered her from the rain with the world's largest Cadillac umbrella. Sophia, Bitty Baby and Grancy played in the tunnel and in the teepee.

My Little Feet Arteest ;-)

I used to think that Sophia was headed for a career in soccer. Then it was climbing or something else where she would be active. I pictured her winning a medal in the 2024 Olympics in "some fastest" running event. I've seen her in many careers in my head. Just last week I thought for sure she would become a librarian. But now that I've seen what she can do with a canvas, I just know she's going to be a very famous, creative, aloof artist! Check out what she created yesterday in her very first art class.



We went into Norfolk yesterday to the Drawn to Art Studio and took the Mommy/Baby Art Class. It was so much fun and I can't wait to go again. Sophia was the oldest baby in the class. The instructor's son, Dane, is 7 months. (He'll be the acrobat for sure!) The other baby was only 4 months old and she rode around in a sling and slept through most of the class.

Sophia really enjoyed having her foot painted and smashing it onto the paper. She seemed really intrigued by the whole process. The inward foot painting you see here is the Sophia Alexander modified version. The other babies were both able to position their foot straight up and down, but Sophie's piggies were too long and stuck over the border. The instructor commented that Sophia's feet were the first ever in 5 years to "stick over the edge". EEK!!! Do you remember the size of her feet at birth?