13 Months Old

Can you believe that Sophia is 13 months old already? I can't!!

Here's your monthly update on Sophia's new tricks...

She's been signing 'duck' for weeks, but today she said 'duck' for the first time. It sounded alot like DOH. Her bathroom has been decked out in ducks and one of her new favorite books has fluffy duck fur on the cover.

Have a mentioned that she's calling me Mama yet? YEA!!! This is my favorite milestone of them all.

Favorite Fun Activity: Neck Kisses. She loves to be tickled with neck kissed from Daddy and Mommy. She prefers it if you "surprise" her with the neck kiss. Take a look here...she'll slowly move her face/neck toward one of our faces and sit there and wait for us to "surprise" her. Then she laughs her head off. We've even seen her trying to get Sadie to give her neck kisses, but poor Sadie only knows how to kiss on the lips...(see picture below).




A new favorite food: a toasted peanut butter and grape jelly sandwich...but only if it flies into her mouth stuck to a spoon (and the airplane noise must accompany the Spoon Plane.

She's trying to walk up the stairs on her own now, but her little legs are not long enough to reach. This is a constant source of frustration for Sophia.

I love this picture

The playground

Sophia LOVES to go to the playground! We've been spending lots of time at the playground lately and it's only a 20 minute walk so we can usually take Sadie too. It's a nice way for us to spend some fun time out of the house since Sophie is really into taking everything off of the shelves and out of the closets in our house.

We just got back from spending an hour there. We tried to go after lunch today, but 1/2 way there the sky opened up and started raining on us so we had to turn around and come home. I put the plastic cover on the jogging stroller so Sophie wouldn't get wet, but Little Miss Outdoors didn't want to be underneath the plastic cover. She preferred getting drizzled on and feeling the elements hit her straight in the face.

Here are some more pics from our afternoon.

Happy Father's Day

We had a great time on Father's Day. Now that Sophia can walk everything is more fun!

Before church we grabbed some breakfast at McDonald's. Guess what Sophia and I shared? Yep, pancakes - the closest thing they have to a waffle because she simply will not eat eggs. It didn't really matter anyway because she was way more interested in the pretty blue chairs! We had to stop at the grocery store on the way to church to get her a banana.


After lunch and a nap we went to the beach to walk on the boardwalk. This weekend was the annual Boardwalk Art Show where hundreds of vendors sell their artwork, sculptures, jewelry, pottery, etc. It's always a really fun day. We didn't get anything this year, but we did see a really cute photograph of tons of rubber duckies which would have been perfect for Sophia's bathroom, but I didn't have an extra $150 to spend yesterday (and I can probably take a replica picture myself).

Before we came home we wanted to let Sophia get her feet wet in the ocean. First let me say - she wasn't so sure about all that chilly, blue water and when she lost her balance and fell on her bottom into the wet sand we knew it was time to go. She didn't cry at all. She wasn't scared she was just a bit unsure. We were her about the "waves coming into the shore" and she stared "waving" at them. It was adorable. We can't wait to go back again.

Take a look at all the Father's Day pictures.

Do you agree?

What the heck do you think Sophia is saying to Sadie in this video? Is it: "Good dog, sit"?

A new friend

Yesterday we had to mail a DVD for Dad so we went to the Pac Mail store down the street from our house. Sophia made a friend while we were there. This little boy, Cameron, is her age - 13 months. As soon as she saw him she toddled over to him and gave wrapped her arms around him to give him a hug.

It was the cutest thing I've ever seen!

I have no idea how she even knew to give him a hug. She's never given anyone her own size a hug before.

She did it again at the mall today during out play date. There was a little girl who was exactly her height and she walked right up to her and gave her a hug.

A new camera and a new tv

Hip Hip Hooray! We got a new digital camera this week and I'm back in action snapping pictures of Sophia. We ended up getting the Canon SD800 IS which is one of Canon's fastest compact digital cameras, but I still don't think it's as fast as I want my camera to be. I stopped by Ritz Camera at the mall today and now I've got my eye on a different one.

Oh yeah! We also got a new giant tv. Doesn't Will look absolutely stunned - maybe even a little GONZO - standing next to this monster? Happy Father's Day!


Sophie and I were at the mall this morning for a playdate. Sophia had a blast!

She was a little shy at first and hid behind the stroller for a little while when we first got there, but she really warmed up to all the kids and was literally "running" at the end of the hour. She spent some time climbing all over the whales and "slapping" them. Slapping: one of her newly aquired habits...she likes to slap/pat things. I haven't quite yet figured out what it means. It sometimes means this is what I want, but other times it doesn't! Hmmmm......


Sophia didn't like being trapped in the boat.

The older blonde girl in the last picture was really miffed that Sophia was trying to climb on her turtle. Mom had to intervene a bit and remove Sophia from the scene before she was beaten up by the little girl. That's when I knew it was getting a little crowded for us and we packed up and headed for Chic-fil-a for some chicken fingers!

Sophia, my little walker

Sophia is officially a walker now. She crossed over this past week while Uncle Rob was here visiting. She walks everywhere....and she usually picks something up along the way to shake or carry along with her. For the most part she still really moves slow, but at least she's doing it. It's so amusing to be standing in a room and see her walk by on her way into another room.

She's been talking a lot too. There aren't any new words to speak of yet, but she's been very vocal this week.

Her sleeping schedule has shifted a bit and now she's waking with the early birds -usually just before 6AM. I suspect she's anxious to "get her walk on". I'd say that 4 out of 5 days we're able to get out and take a walk in the early morning before the sun gets too hot.

Keep your fingers crossed that we find a camera this weekend.

Can't Say Cheese

I'm in the middle of a major crisis. Our digital camera broke and I haven't been able to take any pictures for almost a week. If you have any recommendations, please send them my way. Thanks!!!

Getting stuck

Earlier today I was sitting back silently watching Sophia play by herself. She was playing in the formal living room and walking around the table with the coasters and then depositing them in the open drawers. This was a really fun game for a while, but eventually she tired of it.

The next thing I knew Sophia crawled right underneath the couch. Believe me, it's not a very large space and she realized she was in a pickle as soon as her whole body was under the couch. I could hear her getting upset as I ran for the camera. When I returned she was on her way out from underneath...but I was able to catch these two images on film. What an adventure for Sophia!

This is her completely under the couch. All the white stuff at the bottom of the picture is our carpet.

And this is her as she poked her head out and crawled out of there.

Sophia flicks

I think this is my favorite video of Sophia to date. She really loves up Lamb at the end. She always shoves her face into Lamb. It's adorable!

This is probably Will's favorite video.

Sophia was practicing her walking skills after church on Sunday. See what she found.

Sophia not listening to Mommy.

Sophia on the trampoline.

A pool party

We went to a Memorial Day pool party on Monday. What a great day. The sun was so hot that day and the cold pool water was so refreshing... after braving a few minutes of shivering.


Sophia warmed up to the pool after about 10 minutes of climbing up Will's chest to get out of the water. I think the cool water was a shock to her system, but once she was used to the water she even felt comfortable splashing around a bit.

Of course the best part about the whole day for her was playing with all the big kids. She's really getting to know a few of them because we see them every week. She thought the trampoline was super fun! She was grinning harder than ever before and she kept looking about me as if to say, "I cannot believe I'm having this much fun".

Strawberry Festival

Every year during the Memorial Day weekend there is a Strawberry Festival in a town called Pungo close to our house. I honestly think this 2-day festival has the biggest annual economic impact on the entire town. Scary! Festival goers have their choice of yummy strawberry treats including strawberry shortcake, strawberry daiquiris, strawberry funnel cake, strawberry lemonade, even strawberry tacos. The only you can't get is strawberry pie. Every year we search for it, but every year I am I to settle for the strawberry shortcake.

I have to say that this year was the best year so far ~ all because of Sophia. We went into the petting zoo area with her and she was able to pet a 6-day old baby duck, ride on a tractor bike and get up close and personal with a cow statue! It was a really fun day.

A look back at how much you've grown

One Day Old


Two Weeks Old


One Month Old


Two Months Old


Three Months Old


Four Months Old


Five Months Old


Six Months Old


Seven Months Old


Eight Months Old


Nine Months Old


Ten Months Old


Eleven Months Old


One Year Old

At the kiddie area in the mall

Check out this cool play area for kids at the Lynnhaven Mall. I've been going to this mall (only 10 minutes from our house) for over 3 years now and I NEVER knew there was an safe indoor play area on the same level as the food court. Will found it the last time we were at the mall together and took Sophia there. Today was my first time, but we'll definitely be going back for more fun and more pictures! These pictures do not do the play area justice.

Sophie's b'day party

We had Sophia's first birthday party at our house last weekend. It was so much fun. She loved the chocolate cake and surprisingly didn't get very messy. She got more on Grancy than she got on herself. And the highchair did have be hosed off outside when everyone left, but otherwise Sophia was clean!

Our themes were balloons, Winnie the Pooh, Time Capsule and WALKING. OK, you're right, walking was not a planned party theme, but that didn't stop Little Miss Sophia from walking across the room in front of all the guests. I think she was enjoying her caffeine buzz or sugar high from the chocolate cake. She had walked a few steps here and there before, but now that she's had this crowd-pleasing moment she walks all the time! Here's the tail end of one of Sophia's birthday party walks.

To see all of the birthday pictures - click here

Sophia uses a spoon.

Sophia has graduated a bit in the meal department! For the most part Sophia eats with "her own utensils" which happen to be her hands, fingers, fists and arms. She'll use whatever she can to get the food in her mouth.

I'm happy to announce that we're able to add a real utensil to the list. She's able to feed herself with a spoon if you load it up with food for her. Usually there are 2 spoons in action and she's using one while I'm scooping food with the other one for her. It's actually less messy to use two because she's less inclined to twist the spoon around in her mouth and taste it from all angles.

Just look how far she's come. Here's a video of Sophie eating solid food for the very first time:


Here's a video of Sophie using the spoon on her own:


Some of her new favorite foods now include:
spaghetti
french fries
chicken fingers/nuggets/shapes
juicy pears
frozen peaches
green beans - she still loves 'em
cheerios
bananas