Tuesday, December 30, 2008

Babys got a brand new bag...


A small pink bag with sequined ballet slippers on it adorns Sofia's shoulder at some point each day. This new fascination began when she started draping socks around her neck, then belts, then a pair of pants, then she found a set of carnival beads and it was all over. Now anytime Sofia sees a string of beads she points and whines until she has it around her neck. This quickly turned into her placing bag straps around her neck and now finally she puts them on her shoulder...until they fall off, then she puts them back around her neck. I was worried at first...um, a baby with anything around her neck just seems bad, but we watch her closely and so far no accidents. The cutest part is really seeing what she decides to place in her bag each day. She will take one or two things out and replace them with new things, today she took out a pair of socks and replaced them with an orange ping pong ball.

Friday, December 26, 2008

Merry Christmas!


We have had one broken ornament this year, last year, due to our mischievous cat, we lost three. Fortunately, this year's sacrifice was a durable, hallmark, Eeyore ornament, without which I think I would have lost five separate ornaments. The first time Sofia dropped the ornament Eeyore lost an ear. The second time, piglet suffered the loss of his ear. The third time, Eeyore lost his antlers and the last time, Eeyore lost his front leg. The injuries were minor and from a distance you couldn't tell that this lovable character was worse for wear. SO, each time Sofia took the ornament off the tree and would drop it, I would have her put it back. (A form of "clean up" perhaps?) Poor Eeyore...but he did save all of the other ornaments, and for that we are grateful!

Thursday, December 25, 2008

Pondering


Sofia has a myriad of expressions but this one we see most frequently. This look usually happens when we ask her, "where is" something. She ponders for a minute, she'll look around, and she'll gesture with both palms up as if to say, "where is it, where did it go?".

Saturday, December 20, 2008

Cool Day at the Park


We went to the park to celebrate Evan's first birthday. It was a bit cooler than normal but that gave me the perfect reason to bundle Sofia up in her new green hat and fleece jacket. The jacket we had purchased for our NY trip but the hat was a happy find just days before in a shop on Abbott Kinney. Surprisingly, Sofia wore her new hat the entire day.

Thursday, December 4, 2008

Swing


We saw JinAh and Jonah last week and revisited the park where Sofia had her first infant swing ride. It is amazing to me that she has grown so much. I still think of her as teeny tiny, even though she is over 30" long!
This week I have really noticed Sofia changing, her hair seems longer, her sounds and babbling are evolving, she even has new expressions. She is trying to say words, first attempts at Thank you have been noticed. Her feet are officially out of size 3 shoes, and she is too long for the 9-18 month pajamas. She took 11 steps at Max's soccer game last week and practices a few steps all on her own each day. She loves to stand in the middle of the room and then sit, and then stand, and then sit...she will lift a size 5 soccer ball and she even tries to stand up with Dan's basketball.

Tuesday, December 2, 2008

Audrey's Ride


Sofia really enjoys being pulled in the wagon.

Sunday, November 30, 2008

Le Artist


And so it begins!

Change is in the air...


...and represented here on a random window in Soho.

Saturday, November 29, 2008

Little Italy


We wandered over to little Italy for Lombardi's pizza, which just so happens to be right across the street from Rice to Riches (my new favorite rice pudding place). Sofia enjoyed a few bites of pizza crust!

Thursday, November 27, 2008

Pastis


A trip to NY would not be a trip to NY if we didn't go to Pastis at least once. This trip we went to Pastis and Balthazar, actually we went to Balthazar twice! The french onion soup is to dye for and the recipe can actually be found in the Balthazar cookbook. The key ingredient is a good port wine...oh, and lots and LOTS of Gruyere cheese!

http://www.amazon.com/Balthazar-Cookbook-Keith-Mcnally/dp/1400046351/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1228506029&sr=8-1

NY, NY


Sofia takes in the view. Our room in SOHO looked to the Empire State building...which I still have yet to visit.

Tuesday, November 11, 2008

Say it ain't so....

The time is nearing when I will be able to stop counting Sofia’s birthday in months and will begin to use years. 1 year to be exact. This day is 29 hours and 15 minutes away. Again, I’m in tears. Where has this year gone? Why are the most special moments over so quickly? I would still go back to day one and would do it all over again. (Does anyone ever say they wouldn’t?)

Sofia, you are surrounded by so much love and adoration, I hope you will read this one day and know how many people you have made happy just by being born!

Some things haven’t changed; I’m still in awe by all you can do. This month has been a fun month because you have started standing on your own. You also will go from a sitting position to a standing one without holding onto anything at all. Other noteworthy accomplishments include: playing in your crib when you wake up, cleaning up your toys – sometimes, eating anything and everything I give you – with the exception of what you feed Molly, hugging all stuffed and live animals which come into your reach, hugging your playmates at mom’s group, playing, “catch me if you can” with Evan, waving goodnight to mommy when in dada’s arms…as if I am going to bed and you are not, saying ooowwwww (the beginning of owie or ouch) while holding your hand over your temple as if you’ve bumped your head, you can sort shapes, you turn the pages of your books very quickly, you still love the same three books I read to you when you were three months old, (The Hungry Caterpillar, Counting with Wayne Thiebaud Counting, and Peek-a-boo Puppy), you crawl after the cat hysterically laughing at her the whole time, you stand up using Molly for support and as she walks you walk with her, and you giggle non-stop when your dada tries to “eat your toes”.

I think I will be too distracted celebrating your one-year birthday with you to actually write on Friday but hopefully I will post pictures so everyone can feel like they are celebrating too. That said, I know I will be wearing black that day.

Thursday, November 6, 2008

Ssshh


Marilyn is one of the women who we call to baby-sit for us when we go out. Last week she taught Sofia how to say, "Sshhh", to Molly. Molly has a very loud, and often frightening, bark. Sofia sticks her finger in her mouth and blows air out, ostensibly making a “sshhh-like” sound. Yes, we are proud.

This picture was taken by Steven, Evan's dad, while we were all at Infusion Cafe, our favorite boba hangout. Sofia is sitting on Jennifer's lap.

Tuesday, November 4, 2008

HOPE

Sofia took her first three steps all by herself today. We were watching the polls at Dan’s office. Perhaps it was all of the excitement at the promise that lies ahead, or maybe she is just developmentally ready, regardless, she said, “Yes I CAN”!

Wednesday, October 22, 2008

Decisions, Decisions....


I love these little animals. This love started when Michael and Kellie gave Sofia the stuffed animal "Giraffe" at my baby shower. I had never felt a stuffed animal this soft. I soon realized that Giraffe had lots of buddies. Next came Pig, and now Cow and Lion. Sofia will still grab her stuffed animals and squeeze them as hard as she can. The most difficult part, once I've handed her two animals, is wrongly assuming she will let her least favorite go. It is almost, but not quite, as impossible as getting my iphone out of her hands once she has a hold of it.

Tuesday, October 21, 2008

Mmm, yogurt


This is what happened when I turned my head for a second the other day while Sofia was taking a beat. I turned my head for two seconds and when I turned back to give her another bite she had her fist swirling around inside the yogurt container. Yogurt was already all over her face. How do they get so messy so quickly?

Saturday, October 18, 2008

Hello?


Almost as soon as Pam and Gary arrived Sofia started pretending to talk on the phone. You tell me, Coincidence? LOL Love ya Pam! It is really cute, Sofia grabs the phone and holds it to her ear and says, "hi". I think at some point all children do this, but the first time it happens is worth mentioning.

We have Dan's older brother Gary and his wife Pam in town this week. It has been wonderful having them. Dan was traveling for four of the days and it was so nice to have company here while he was gone. I have gotten used to "going it alone" as Dan has been out of the country more this year than he has been home. Though, I still have no right to complain, it could be so much worse. Anyway, consider this an official invite to all...next time Dan's away you are welcome to come and stay with us!

Monday, October 13, 2008

Pigtails


I have recently noticed the abundance of pictures I post of Sofia sitting in her high chair. If you ever wonder why, my best excuse is, that this is the one spot where she sits still. My second excuse is that I have been forgetting my real camera a lot these days.

Guess What We Did Today?

Pumpkin Patch


Today Sofia played with straw,


"borrowed" Evan's pumpkin,


tried to eat a pumpkin,


checked out James' teeth,


and stood on a wagon with all of her friends!

Friday, October 3, 2008

Sofia and Clara have a playdate


Sofia loved visiting 2 year old Clara's house today. She experienced a "big girl's" room first hand. She also saw her first baby doll, (undoubtedly one of Clara's favorite toys). If Sofia would have had a second alone with Clara's doll I'm certain it would be covered in drool and likely missing parts. Who would've thought that rubbery, doll limbs could cure teething pain.

Thursday, September 18, 2008

France

I have a few pictures to upload from our trip to Poitier, France. As always I wish I had more time to "document" our adventures, but the following pictures will have to do.




Since our visit to France, Sofia has fallen madly in love with...bread. Any and all kinds of bread. In France her favorite seemed to be the hard "biscuits" which were served with our pate, but here at home any old wheat bread will do. (Sofia has even taken a fancy to pizza crust. Her hands open and close wildly as if to say, "gimme, gimme, gimme".)


We walked the grounds of the chateau each day and explored the old church next door. One of the days we even ventured out to the cemetery. We relaxed in the kitchen and talked to Patty and Erin whilst they busily prepared our next meals. We would pop in on Dan and his crew to see how their designs were coming along, but for the most part we stayed out of their hair.







While Sofia took naps and I would walk to the garden to see if I could find new flowers blooming. I have been testing my floral photography skills for my mom who has found a love for painting flowers.





This was a very relaxing and peaceful trip, it was exactly as I had imagined.

Saturday, September 13, 2008

Sugar


Sofia is licking the sugar container at Houston's Restaurant.

Friday, September 12, 2008

Another New Look...


Well, I can honestly say I've been thinking about becoming a brunette for YEARS. I've always chickened out and have gone with seemingly easier colors, (i.e. red - 2001 and platinum - 2004), along with the variety of blond tones I've come to know and love. Those of you who know me well know that I really do enjoy mixing up my look, so it should come as no surprise that after three months of trying to get Reva to do SOMETHING different, I finally convinced her to cut bangs...really short ones. (I had a picture to help her understand what I was aiming for.) The following day I had Diane do the color and she couldn't have been happier. "People rarely change their look", she told me and so "it's fun to do something totally different". Diane is the one who took me to platinum and I had little to no breakage (a very common problem when bleaching all of the color out of your hair!) so I consider Diane my hair hero. Reva is also my hair hero because no matter how many times I contradict myself, ("I would like to keep the length - but can you cut this all off"?) she still manages to achieve the exact effect I am looking for. Piero is the BEST hair salon ever.

Wednesday, September 10, 2008

Meet Audrey



This picture makes me laugh. Meet 9 month old Audrey - an adorable, confident, fashionable gal, who hosts our mom's group each week. Evan and Sofia were first to arrive this past Monday and Audrey instantly stood up, cruised over to Sofia, and put her arm around her, as if to say, "hey buddy welcome back"! I was laughing and didn't capture a very clear shot so these will have to do.

Monday, September 8, 2008

Saturday, September 6, 2008

"Whoaaa"


So much has happened since my last post, I don't know where to begin. Every day Sofia surprises me with something new...this morning she demonstrated her ability to go from a laying down position to sitting up. I was just telling Jennifer on Thursday that Sofia hadn't shown any signs of knowing this skill, and then out of the blue it happened.

This past week she has said, "bye-bye" which sounds more like "buh-buh" and "all done" which sounds like "aaa dahn". She has also mastered "whooaaa". My most proud moment this week was when she used her sign language sign for "all done", this has happened three nights in a row. She can also sign, "milk".

The one other cute detail I will mention is that Sofia loves stuffed animals. She gives them a big hug and then kisses them. It is adorable.

This is all for now....Sofia calls.....

Saturday, August 30, 2008

James' First Birthday


Sofia celebrated James' first birthday with him and he had tis super cool "water table".

Friday, August 29, 2008

Window

Thursday, August 14, 2008

Happy 9 Month Birthday Sofia

Nine months.
17lbs, 28- 3/4" tall.
Sofia, I can barely eek out this sentence without tears filling my eyes. You are more amazing with each week that passes. How do you do that?

When you were a newborn I would spend hours staring at you, soaking in every last detail, from your tiny fingers to your even more tiny eyelashes. I tried to take in every moment. In our most recent days I realize that you have become so active I am unable to sit and stare at you for even a minute. You will take long pauses, where you seem to be contemplating who knows what in that little head of yours, but after a few moments you are back to climbing, reaching, pushing, pulling and grabbing whatever is in sight. Upon realizing this, at your very next nap I let you fall asleep in my arms, where you stayed for 45 minutes. This flash of time was akin to being really thirsty and taking a long drink of water. There is nothing more satisfying or calming to me in this world than watching you sleep.

Sofia, I have loved every day with you. The last nine months have been more wonderful than words can express and you have grown so much. Here are just a few of the things you can do: you are walking when I hold your hands, you play peek-a-boo by holding your blanket in front of your eyes, (then promptly lowering it), you eat three meals of solid foods each day, you are mimicking sounds, you can army crawl, you look for praise and seem proud, you yell "mah" after we yell, “Max” when we call him up for breakfast, you eat cheerios and pick other small food pieces up with your first finger and thumb, you have signed “milk” to me when you REALLY want your milk, you reach for molly and the kitty cat, you turn your book pages with ease, you can stand unassisted holding onto a table or your play-gym and on a few occasions you have actually let go.

You are a very happy baby Sofia; you smile almost all of the time. People stop me in the grocery store, or on the promenade, to tell me how beautiful you are and what a great smile you have. You like being held by anyone and everyone. I hear this is about to end, so I will brag about it now as we all know how quickly babies can change.

At nine months you are doing so much more than I thought a nine month old would do, and if that isn’t enough, my love for you is stronger than I ever thought possible. You simply amaze me.

Thank you for being my daughter.
I love you,
Mama

Sunday, August 10, 2008

Santa Monica


We went for a long jog today, from our house down to the beach. (Long for me at this point in my life.) I jogged too long and ended up walking the whole way back. Actually, I walked about 3/4 of the way back and then called Dan! LOL. My back started hurting so I thought I should take it easy. We were out there for 2 hours and Sofia had a nice long rest!

Monday, August 4, 2008

My Boys


Since they still look the same, and since I have no other pictures to post today, a picture from Italy of the boys will suffice. We were at the end of our trip here, walking by the Duomo in Florence. Max is growing up so fast, 15 is fast approaching.

Tuesday, July 29, 2008

Toys


We were playing with the Eric Carle flash cards today. Sofia likes all of the colors.

Zzzzzzzzzzz......


This is the second time we've gone to playgroup and Sofia has fallen asleep while everyone else is playing.

Lap Dog


Molly is the most jealous dog on the planet. I'm sure I've mentioned this before, but sometimes we are aghast at her behavior. She follows Dan around the house, not letting more than two feet between her nose and his foot. She sits on the sofa practically on top of him, she sits under his chair, she rides in the front seat of his car (okay, I never said Dan didn't perpetuate the problem), she even lays next to the shower door...just waiting for him. Waiting for what I'm not sure, but her co-dependance is unbelievable.

At Dan's office one day last week Sofia was getting all of the attention. Molly decided she just couldn't handle the situation, so she sat on Sofia, (in hopes I suppose that Dan would begin to pay less attention to Sofia and more to her). Thankfully, Sofia found this quite amusing and played drums on Molly's back. It was a win/win, Molly got a back-rub, Sofia had a fuzzy puppy in her lap, and Dan paid attention to both of them.

Monday, July 21, 2008

My Little Angel


Sofia was so sweet today. I love being a mom.

Laughing Out Loud


Could I possibly be this funny?!

No Excuses


After 3 months of deliberation, I finally decided on the Baby Jogger jogging stroller. It has a great hand brake, so I can run down Temescal. ("Can" being the operative word.) We tested it out on Sunday, I am SOOooooo out of shape!

Saturday, July 19, 2008

Oh Brother!


I wasn't sure when it would happen exactly, but I knew that one day Sofia would fall for Max. As she became more alert and responsive I waited for the sign. A few months ago I was bouncing Sofia on the yoga ball and Max was sitting with his back to us about two feet away. After a few minutes a very loud “Eehhhh” emanated from Sofia’s tiny mouth. Max did not look. Another loud, “Eehhhh”. No look from Max. Finally after the third and loudest, “Eehhhh” (and a little prodding from me) Max turned around. Sofia laughed, she was clearly proud that she finally caught Max’s attention. Sofia loves her brother. Every time he walks into the room she smiles one of those ear to ear, “you’ve made me the happiest person on the planet” smiles. It’s priceless. Max and Sofia are still a few years away from hide and seek, name that cloud animal, or tag, but I just know they will be friends.

I can’t tell you how happy it makes me to see the two of them connecting. This reminds me of my brother and those early childhood memories that I will cherish until I’m old and grey. I miss you John.