Monday, December 28, 2009

"Sofia is a joy!"

Sofia, playing in the neighbor's driveway the day after Christmas, shows off her jumping skills and spontaneously repeats a phrase we tell her often, that she's a joy!

Monday, December 21, 2009

Moments of General Cuteness - December Edition

Christmas and Sofia's birthday are quickly approaching and my camera was storing a few precious moments that I wanted to share before they get buried beneath photos of family, presents, fun and a certain little TWO YEAR OLD! So in these final four days in our one year old's life here are some moments of general cuteness from December.

Baby Jesus Meets Santa Claus
Ever since we broke out Sofia's Little People Nativity Set there haven't been many breakfasts without baby Jesus. The other morning Sofia looked over and noticed the Santa and Mrs. Claus salt & pepper shakers from my youth which I have now inherited. She motioned to them and asked for "wintah claus."



And so goes the story of Religious Icon meets Commercial Icon. They got along very well. Sofia even shared her waffle with them all, all the while making her pretend smacking sounds. It never gets old. She's so cute!

The other morning she had Santa Claus and Mary clutched in each of her hands facing one another and as I'm making them all some breakfast I hear (in what must be Mary's voice),
"Hello "wintah" Claus. How ah you "wintah" Claus?"
I almost fell over with laughter. She's so polite that Mary! I love hearing Sofia engage with her toys and act out characters. She's so much fun to watch and is always keeping us laughing.

Snack Time with Monkey
Sofia woke up a little grouchy (and with a case of bed head) the other day and to get her out of her funk we invited her Sock Monkey to have a snack with her. She loved it! Notice her posed smile. Depending on her mood she'll smile on command now.



Here's the view from Sofia's eyes,



Sock Monkey's eyes,



and the view from Mommy's eyes.



Sleeping Beauty
Sofia's a big girl these days.

Proof:
1. She sleeps with a pillow.
2. She sleeps with a big blanket.
3. She sleeps with her "Buddy Waddit" blanket.
4. She sleeps with her Baa (stuffed sheep.)
5. She sleeps with her baby doll.

But the most noticeable proof is in this photo.
6. She sleeps with her belly out.



In all fairness she has way outgrown these pjs (and Daddy dressed her!)

Sofia's Puppy
Last night Sofia wanted to take Jax for a walk and we, well, didn't. So I grabbed a leash and put it on her favorite "doggie." She loved dragging him around the house. So when Dan was feeding Jax he let Sofia "feed" her doggie some real dog food in a little plastic dish.





It was a great idea and so cute until ...



don't worry I was able to stop it before being chewed up and swallowed. But she keeps teasing me with it and trying to eat it. But I'm sure at some point, when I'm not watching she will eat dog food. That's her own lesson to learn!

Tuesday, December 15, 2009

Trip to Dallas, December 4 - 6

In May of 2007, Mom's death happened so quickly and came as such a shock to us all that after her cremation we had a lot of questions regarding where she would be kept. We finally, as a family, decided she would stay in Colleyville where she very happily spent the last 23 years of her short 62 years. We chose to put her ashes in the foot of a beautiful granite bench at Bluebonnet Hills Memorial Park. The bench is next to a tree and faces a serene man-made lake and fountain. There is space in the other foot of the bench for when the inevitable day comes and Papi will join her there.

So on Friday, December 4th, 2009 our immediate family got together to remember Mom and bless her ashes as we placed them in the bench.





Dan's dad, our family Deacon, was kind enough to come from Houston and say a few words. It was short and sweet and a nice day to remember Mom as a group, rather than singularly as I know we all do. I remember he talked of her being enveloped in peace and that thought warms my heart...

It was also a great trip because we finally got to see Papi! He moved to Miami some months ago and we miss him greatly. Unfortunately Dan had been sick all the week before our trip so he stayed home to get better. Sofia got a kiss from Daddy goodbye early Friday morning



only to arrive in Dallas greeted with a kiss hello from Bobo!



Sofia had a lot of fun playing with Matthew and



Jakey had a lot of fun playing with Bobo.



Sofia and I stayed with Emi all weekend. It was so much fun! Emi was the cool aunt growing up and she seems to be keeping the title with the next generation. We met with David and Julie at a sports bar on Saturday night. It had great space for the kids to run around and play video games. Sofia really just climbed up and down from the chairs and pushed buttons but Matthew is getting so big and he's more than capable of playing the games and even made new friends.



Jake just sat in his carseat like the best behaved baby in the world and did what he does best: look adorable.



Matthew decided to come over to Emi's for a slumber party that night. I don't think I've ever seen Sofia so excited as she was when she realized that Matthew was coming home with us. They stayed up late and danced and laughed to Tom & Jerry cartoons. It is beyond fun to watch them together.



The next day we went by Dave and Tracey's house to pick up Grandma (who Sofia calls Grammy.) She was in town for Mom's memorial service and since John left early she hitched a ride home with us. It was great to get to see Sofia's Coussirat cousins, even if just for a short time. They are such beautiful girls as you can see.



Sofia was excited to have Grandma there to entertain her on the way home. She was especially happy to have Monkey (she says "monkey" so funny, it sounds like she's Jewish, like "mah-Kah-ney" it's funny) even though you can't really see him there in her hand he's there. She loves all of Grandma and Grandpa's stuffed animals. It is especially cute when she feeds them her food and makes little chewing noises for them!



So as you can see it was another fun-filled trip to Dallas! We love to see all our family.

Notes From the Field

When I got pregnant I signed up for weekly updates on how my baby was growing from a website called babycenter.com. After Sofia was born the updates kept coming about her growth and development. They were once titled, My Baby This Week.

I realized today that at some point in the past two years they've been renamed to My Toddler This Week. Today's subject line said,
Your 23-month-old: Week 4
I almost passed out. It's funny how life just keeps moving and before you know it you realize that you've passed many milestones and then a silly weekly email comes and slaps you in the face. Where did the time go? I cannot believe she'll be two next week. We are so happy with our little girl. And although at times we miss that little baby that Sofia once was we are so enjoying getting to know our little 23 months and 4 weeks old toddler.

Overheard in December

Some cute things of note that our girl has been saying lately...

She calls Santa Claus something that sounds like, "Winter Claus"

She calls snowman, "Coolman"

This morning she called Jax, "Jaxy-boy"

Monday, December 14, 2009

Babysitting

My friend Lindsey needed someone to watch her sweet little boy, Isaiah, while she and her husband attended an annual Christmas party. We accepted the offer and quickly put him to work.



Ok, not really.

Sofia was beyond excited to see Isaiah at the house when we got home. They had so much fun playing, eating pizza, throwing balls, pretending to sweep with the brooms as seen above, and dancing. It was so fun to watch them together. I think one of the benefits of daycare has been how much she enjoys the company of other children. Especially when they're as cute as this kid.



I wasn't quite sure what I was getting myself into having two toddlers at once but it was a breeze! Isaiah was so good and the two of them shared toys well and got along great. Sofia loved giving him hugs,



and kisses,



and by the look on Isaiah's face he loved being the recipient. They're sooo cute!





They cuddled up in their pjs with some milk and a cartoon. And when it was time for bed we just laid him down and that was it. They're super easy little ones. Lindsey and I are both so lucky to have such great kids!

Wednesday, December 9, 2009

Happy Holidays from Jax



It's getting cold in Houston, so Jax put on his holiday scarf and wanted to wish you all a Happy Holiday!

Plus, he's been complaining that Sofia gets all the air time on the blog.

Monday, December 7, 2009

Seriously Cute



Grandma took this photo of Sofia modeling an Elmo "hat" during our long car drive from Dallas to Houston yesterday. I love her serious expression but then you move your gaze up and there's that silly little Elmo on her head. She's so funny, our girl!

Thursday, December 3, 2009

Overheard

Sofia and I were cuddling on the couch before bed. She taps her tiny little finger on my nose and says, "Nose. Big nose."

I was thinking, Thanks a lot for saying I have a big nose, but instead I laughed and tapped her nose and asked, "Well, what's this?"

And she says, "Li-doo nose." (little nose)

For awhile now she's been noting when something is big. Like how she eats these mini waffles and we eat big waffles so she'll say, "big waffle." But that was the first time she's talked about something being little. And I'm just constantly surprised by how much she knows! She's talking more and more and I lose count of how many new phrases she says every day. I wish I could remember and cherish them all but time just keeps moving and before I know it I won't even remember a time when our sweet girl couldn't talk.