Zoo Day

Sofia and I had fun exploring the Los Angeles Zoo two weeks ago. She loved the animals and birds. I can't wait to go back.

YUM

I just found this site and LOVE, LOVE, LOVE it. The simplicity of the design, the minimal photos, and wow...it makes me want a cupcake!

http://mingmakescupcakes.yolasite.com/

Fall 2009

I love Facebook. This is one of the photos from Max's dance last Fall, he was invited by his friend from The Willows. I found this picture a week or two back, what a fun memory!

Seeing RED

Sofia just woke up and as soon as I lifted her out of the bed she said,

"Mom?"

"Yes Sofia."

"I want to have a party."

"What kind of party?"

"A pink party."

"Ooo, that sounds like fun, what sort of things should we have at a pink party?"

"Cakes."

"What color will your cupcakes be?"

"Red."

"(laughing)...you would like RED cupcakes at you PINK party?"

"(laughing)...that's silly mom!"

"What else will we have at your pink party?"

"Candles."

"And...what color candles would you like to have?"

"Red and Orange."

"Will you have anything else at your party?"

"MY FRIENDS!"

So...there you have it. Our next party will be a pink party (with the theme color being red) and of course Sofia's friends will be there.

All Smiles

Roppongi

From left to right: Jamison, Marc, Max

Max asked us back in October if we could do something special for Spring break...like...take he and his friends to Tokyo. Each of us have had our own personal connections with this city and decided it would be a great trip for all.

I think to appreciate the expansive nature of Tokyo you need to climb as high as possible, so we took the boys to Roppongi to the top of Mori Tower. Not only is the view fantastic, but you will also find the Mori Art Museum occupying the 53rd floor.

Imperial Gardens

From left to right: Jamison, Marc, Max

Imperial Gardens

Even though I have visited the Imperial gardens on three previous trips, I somehow completely missed the MOST IMPORTANT section of gardens open to the public. We went in search of "cherry blossom island" but found this beautiful expanse of lawn on the Northern end of the palace. Sofia had a blast running around and after I tired of chasing her, Max took a turn. It was a nice place to catch our breath after waking so early for our Tsukiji fish market experience.

In search of...

...a park, we found this shrine. On our last day I ventured out with Sofia to find a place for her to run around safely before taking the 2 hour bus ride to Narita airport. I found a swing set and a jungle-gym with this shrine in the background, what a pleasant surprise!

Upside down

Sofia has just about mastered the "bars". She jumps from the ladder onto the first bar and easily pulls her legs up and over. She will go hand over hand with a little help...and then she will drop to the mats after she has finished. This new fascination with bars really happened around February after seeing an older girl quickly maneuver the hand over hand bars and finish by pulling herself up on TOP of the structure. Sofia was SO impressed. She instantly wanted to copy the girl.

A Star is born...

I think all kids are cute in their sunglasses! Sofia likes to wear hers inside and outside.

Sofia is asking to use the paints every day. We are having so much fun! It was recommended that we only give her the primary colors so she can learn how to mix all of the other colors on her own. She is doing a great job so far, we are so proud of her.

I caught Corbu in mid yawn yesterday...tired kitty.

Shoes

After Sofia got her shoes on she started twirling around the tennis court, she soon announced," I'm rina". This is her word for ballerina. As long as she's having fun!

Toes

Daddy and Sofia

Soccer

I'm sure you will be seeing plenty more soccer pictures. Club started up again today and Max will be back to his two evening practices a week and weekend tournaments. You will also start seeing volleyball pictures! Max has never played but is going to give it a shot this season. He will have volleyball practice after school Monday through Friday and Saturdays for the month of March. Ouch.

Teeny Tiny

Dinner

Sofia just had spaghetti for dinner, a favorite dish.
She says innocently, "Mommy, hands dirty".
This was an understatement considering it looked as if she had spaghetti sauce eyeshadow on.
I cleaned her hands and face and as I was walking to the sink Sofia says,
"I feel dirty".
I reply, "...I just wiped your hands".
"I FEEL DIRTY".
I walked over to Sofia to see why she still felt dirty and realized I had misunderstood her....
"Floor Dirty" and "Feel Dirty" sound very similar.

Valentine's Weekend

Not only did we go to the beach, but we went to Sofia's favorite park at the beach. She had a blast on the swings, Dan pushes her SO much higher than I ever have...it was a great lesson for me. I was nervous the entire time but as Sofia would scream, "higher, higher", I realized I needed to just let go. She was having so much fun.

Sofia loves playing on the bars.

Beach Fun

Sofia is slowly falling in love with the beach. I try to take her at least once a week and, whether intentional or not, we always seem to end up drenched.

Sofia really likes building sand castles and last weekend she actually let Dan take a nap!

Running Track

Max played Brentwood at Brentwood this week. The soccer field is surrounded by a track and Sofia loved running back and forth...of course the runners didn't look very happy.

All Grown Up

Performance

Sofia ran onto the soccer field after Max's game to show off her own moves.

Wonderful Crayons

Sofia is marveling at her crayons in this picture. She loves drawing and coloring. She has mastered circles and straight lines and daily she keeps us amused with her pictures of Molly and random babies. I sit down and draw with her as much as I can, it's fun for me too!

Hats

We had fun playing with my hats today!

Books

Sofia loves the architecture book store in town. The new reason is because she knows they have a candy dish at the checkout counter. She bolts to the dish instantly upon entering the store. I used to try and "pretend" we were there to look at books, after one loop around the store we would hit the candy dish, but they're on to me so I don't bother walking around anymore.

Ice

When visiting the local park Sofia and I buy a frozen treat to tide us over until lunch, she likes this routine ALOT.

For whatever reason, Sofia refers to ice cream as just "ice". It always makes me laugh because in the store or at the park she'll repeat over and over again, "Mommy I want ice, Mommy I want ice, Mommy I want ice"...

Happy New Year!

Dear Sofia,
It is hard to believe another year has passed and we are welcoming the year 2010.

We celebrated your two year birthday last month and you had a blast. 15 of your friends joined us at My Gym Children's Fitness Center where we enjoyed a class and then had pizza and cake. At the end of the night after watching everyone go home you seemed sad...it must have been confusing.

You make me laugh on a daily basis, you say the funniest things. I always think I will remember to blog about them...but I guess this isn't the case since my last post was over a month ago.

Here are some of the words we hear each day:

"I want to have it".
"Mommy go to park".
"1,2,3"!!
"Row, row, row, boat...merry, merry...DREAM"!
"Fia do it".
"I want eat". (Every morning as soon as soon as you wake up.)

You love your My Gym class, we are still going every Wednesday. The last two weeks you have really shown an interest in the hand-over-hand bars and the parallel bars. You are doing somersaults all by yourself and you can do each "practice skill" the instructors introduce. Today they assisted you with handstands.

You love many different kinds of foods, but your favorite right now is "PASTA". You also love Pizza and Okra. (I know...Okra? Who would've thought?) You really like cucumbers and salad and you have been eating broccoli the last two days too, you never liked it before. Peas and carrots were always our "go-to" vegetables but you just haven't been interested in them lately.

I can not tell you how much fun I have with you everyday and I'm more thankful than ever that we have this time together. I love playing with you and introducing you to new things, I love when you ask me if we can paint or draw, I love when we read and sing, I love fixing you new foods, I love going to the park...I love it all.

We have applied to preschool with the intention that you will attend at least part-time in the fall but it makes me sad that I won't have my co-pilot with me everyday. I'm not even sure how moms do it...what a tearful thought. I know that day will be one of the hardest I've had to endure, but I know we'll get through it together. On a happy note, we have nine whole months to play and learn together before anything happens.

I love you sweetheart.
Mommy

Tea Time

Let the opening begin!

Sofia and I had a fun day today. We went to the Farmer's Market this morning to see the ponies. I thought perhaps Sofia would like a pony ride, I was mistaken. Sofia did enjoy petting the ponies, they were all very sweet. We enjoyed crepes and listened to the music, Sofia danced and then we went home to pick up Max. Today was his last soccer game, they won 4-3, with Max assisting the final goal. Now it's time for bed. Yawn. Oh wait, it is time for Sofia to go to bed, not me, I have work to do.

Happy Birthday Sofia

Today is Sofia's birthday.
We had a great day because we were able to see all of Sofia's friends at Audrey's birthday party. Audrey was dressed as the cutest 80's rock-star, complete with leg warmers. Another friend, Brenna, was the cutest little Madonna/Cyndi Lauper ever! Naturally I forgot all about the theme. So sad. After Sofia's nap, our friends Jennifer and Evan came over to play. We had dinner at Gladstones and played on the beach until our fingers were nearly frozen, yes, it was THAT cold!

After putting Sofia to bed I had a good, long, blubbering cry...it is both wonderful and sad to watch them grow.

Sofia is talking up a storm this week and is stringing more and more words together. Again, I'm not doing a very good job at writing them down, but some which I do remember are:

I tall
Watch me
Mommy, baby, park
Mol Mol itchy
Mommy help
I working
Daddy working
Happy baby to baby (singing "happy birthday to you")
I eat
humpety-dumpety
Ho, Ho, Ho

Hmm, what to draw...

I put Sofia's easel outside and she seems to love it out there. The climate is really perfect right now, the slate deck is finally cool enough during the day to walk on, from May - September it was so hot we were burning our feet. Sofia likes to draw pictures of the sun and babies. She will also draw pictures of Molly (affectionately known as Mol Mol).

Ponytail

Sofia's hair is long enough to put into a ponytail! Getting her to hold still while I do it is another story.

Reminiscing

Has a year gone by?
Was Sofia's hair really that short?
Did Dan really let me dress her in that brightly-colored, striped outfit?

I feel like all I say on this blog is, "Where did the time go? Why is time passing so quickly?"
Sofia is an amazing little girl, full of curiosity, excitement and a love for babies like no other!

We have decided Sofia will go to pre-school next year and we have applications in at three schools. They all offer wonderful programs filled with play and exploration. I may want to go with her. The thought already makes me sad. I won't dwell.

Trick or Treat

From picking out the pumpkin, to enjoying the candy she worked hard to receive, Sofia had fun this halloween.

All grown up...

When I look at this picture it makes me feel like I have an almost 2 year old little, girl who is turning 12 years old next month.

Most everyone is aware of Sofia's baby fascination, when we see a stroller Sofia must look inside to see if there is a cozy, little, newborn in need of her attention. At the park, she doesn't often run to the swings or slide, she first scopes out the park for the strollers and/or bottle-feeding/breast-feeding babies. So, imagine Sofia's enthusiasm today when at the park she spied a mom's group meeting with approximately ten, three month old babies. Sofia was in awe. She ran to the mommies. She squealed with delight. Then she picked the smallest baby to kneel next to and exclaimed, with a deafening screech..."HI BABY". She then stole another baby's rattle to give to her new small friend. What a fun day.

Painting

I finally purchased Sofia's little table with chairs and it has become her art work station. She has been having fun experimenting with markers, crayons and paint. Often I will sit down and draw while she paints, I enjoy this activity more than most others. (Though...stuffed animal tea party is a lot of fun!) She holds her brush well and knows to dip it in the water before adding paint...next we will buy clay!

Maui

This past weekend we enjoyed a four-day stay at the Ritz Carlton in Maui, Hawaii. The best part about booking this trip is that we used American Express points, so the trip was practically “free”. Naturally, of course, resort spa-treatments, food and alcohol were priced accordingly, despite the recession. We spent four days sipping over-priced but delicious pool drinks, napping, swimming, shell collecting and of course, dining. We did not venture out beyond our hotel’s property, we did not exercise, we did not shop…we just relaxed.

Sofia had a lot of fun playing in the kiddy pool (1’-6” deep); she could run in and out at will or would lie down on her back or stomach. She practiced kicking and blowing bubbles in the water. She also romped in a little play structure the hotel had just installed; she aptly named it the “Park”.

When she wasn’t in “her world” she was busy with Dan, Max and I in the grown up pool where we would toss Sofia back and forth between us or on the raft and off the raft. She would giggle every time we would “miss” and she ended up in the water.

Though the games were a blast, and Sofia clearly LOVES the water, her new favorite thing to do is order a drink. Saturday afternoon at the pool Sofia figured out that the waiter/waitress would bring you drinks if you ask them. (!) Our server, Kristie, said, “Can I get you anything else”? Looking directly at her, Sofia replies, “APPLE…SMOOOOTHIE”. We all laughed. Kristie told us they have never made an Apple smoothie but that she would figure it out since Sofia asked so nicely. We are ALL so very spoiled.

Today

Our conversation this morning while driving to Sofia’s My Gym class:
“Mommy”?
“Yes Sofia”
“To-choo”
“Wow! Did you see a choo-choo train”?
“No” (long pause)
“To-choo”
“I don’t see a choo-choo train either Sofia”.
“TO_CHOO”
“OH, you would like a tissue!”

Park

Each time we get in the car and pull out of our driveway Sofia says, "Park?"
Here are a few pictures of what she likes to do at our local haunt.

Dinner party...

I couldn't pass up sharing this...

Is it my imagination or is one baby starting to look like the lack of oxygen is beginning to get to him?