Filler

Why is it that Sofie's interpretive dancing always makes me grin like a fool? Observe her latest move, as she stuffs her mouth full of peanut butter sandwich (the rest of which she happily smeared all over our bed sheets...I guess that's what I get for letting her eat PB & J out of her highchair!)



I swear there is a Christmas post on it's way. I'm looking forward to finally sharing what all of my crafty hard work resulted in. It's just that we're still working on cleaning up the detritus that is left over after Christmas (and also daddy is home on vacation so we've been spending lots of time together and also taking lots of unnecessary naps!)

Busy Busy Busy

Hi! I'm still kicking! Although it is 5 PM on Christmas Eve and I still have two crafties to complete. I'm not really worried about it though. Everything else is wrapped and trimmed and baked and cleaned (for the most part). So it will just be a fun evening finishing up my crafts while White Christmas plays in the background!

(and now it's 7 PM and I only have one left!)

Anyway, I wanted to post a little update since I've got a few pictures itching to be shared. Ben, Sofie and I went to have breakfast with Santa on Saturday morning. We saw Frosty and Rudolph there too. Sofie's not too sure she likes the folks who live at the North Pole...they don't quite look like the rest of us!

Then on Monday a little bit of Christmas arrived on our doorstep (except that there isn't really a step in front of our door) from Colorado.

Ishie could not resist the temptation of fresh presents, which I found rather amusing since there have been presents under our tree for a week or two and she hasn't batted an eye at any of them. She went so far as to open a couple of them while I was preoccupied with some house tidying! When daddy came home, and she was still excitedly pulling presents out from under the tree to show us, we decided that we might as well go ahead and open them all up. So we had a little bit of early Christmas! Here is a video that I took before my memory card became inopportunely full. Thanks to GranDebbie and the Vances for an awfully fun Monday evening!



Last but not least (since it is now 8:30ish and this post still isn't published!!) here are a few pictures I took just a bit ago before Sofie went to bed. She and Baby Nona both got new Christmas pajamas!

"Ishie"

...is what Sofie replies in response to the question, "Can you say Sofie?"

And thus, a new nickname is born!

Ishie seems to have decided that having only two teeth is so five months ago. She is working on all four front teeth at once. I feel like I should be teaching her to sing, "All I want for Christmas is my four front teeth..." but alas, she is rather grumpy about the whole tooth growing thing.

Sophisticated Dining

Santa called me today and wondered if Sofie might like some new utensils for Christmas since she is getting to be such a big girl these days. I said, "You know what Santa? That sounds like just the right kind of thing for a little girl's stocking!" In the meantime, we'll keep practicing with the models we've got!

Crafty

Hello! Did you miss me? I'm up to my elbows in Christmas craftiness around here so things might be a little light for awhile...

...but while I'm in the artsy groove I thought I'd throw in a much overdue facelift around here. Enjoy!

Update: What on earth was I thinking? Where did all my "stuff" go? Would you all please please do me a favor? If I used to have a link to your blog over there on the right could you please send me its web address? I don't know any of them...I just click my links. My links that aren't there!!!

Reminiscing

This is a little clip from our wedding 3+ years ago. Our flower girl and ring bearer were two kiddos that were very special to me because I nannied for them for about two years before we got married. As you will see, Alexander was less than thrilled about standing through all that boring ceremony stuff. The kid's Dad, John, has been talking about posting this on You Tube or submitting it for America's Funniest Home Videos for awhile now...looks like the Thanksgiving weekend was just what he needed!

Wheels Turning

This video just cracks me up. Watch as Sofie, in a matter of seconds, comes up with six different ideas regarding how to climb out of Baby Nona's cradle and then, upon planting her feet firmly back on solid ground, treats herself to a little victory dance!

Body Parts

My camera, though it is quite a dinosaur, has a pretty neat flipping screen feature. You can flip the screen out from the back and swivel it around to the front. I suppose it's so that you can perfect your arm's length self portrait but conveniently it can also keep a toddler distracted long enough to snap a picture. My budding narcissist is a big fan of watching herself on the screen and today I took a whole video while she stood still!

Bye Bye Baby Hairs

Sofie got her first haircut this past Sunday. I've been working on getting Daddy to agree to a haircut for a month or two. He has, in turn, been moaning things like, "You can't cut her baby hairs off!" I finally convinced him that I suspected that if Sofie were aware of that well-known fashion trend called the mullet she'd be pretty upset that we continued to inflict it on her. So Sunday afternoon he finally caved in and, although I had envisioned taking Sofie to a salon for her first haircut, I decided to seize the opportunity for fear that he would change his mind at any moment.

While it certainly isn't perfect (Good grief is it ever difficult to cut a straight line when your client finds it necessary to wiggle every other second or so!) I think we can all breathe a sigh of relief that the mullet has seen it's last days. And while that is a very good thing I have to admit that I'm really missing her baby hairs!

Mischief

So, all you parents out there, I know you can relate to this scenario. Every once in a great while your house becomes mysteriously quiet and you know that somewhere there is a mischievous little elf who is up to no good. Imagine, if you will, that when you went to spy on this little elf you found...not a pot of soil dumped out onto the carpet or a roll of toilet paper unraveled and soaking up something vaguely soap-like streaked across the bathroom floor, but instead this:

That's right, Little Miss Undergarment has struck again. She has very very quietly draped three choice pairs of underpants around her neck and is now, without a word, filling up an unguarded Rubbermaid container with the contents of daddy's sock drawer. I just wonder what she's got planned for all of those rogue socks?! Any guesses...?

Oompa Loompa

You'll need some warm snow boots, thick snow pants, a fuzzy hat and mitten set, and a cozy coat with a furry hood to weather a winter like the ones we brew up in Oh-hiya. And if all that gear makes you waddle...oh well! I guess that's just the price you have to pay to be close to this little snow angel!

Growing Up WAY Too Fast!

Seems to me that Sofie is hankering for a certain pair of "assets" about ten years early! She is also fond of getting into my drawer full of underpants, picking out her favorite pair, and parading around with them draped over her head like a sash. Maybe she's up for Miss Undergarments USA?!

Usborne Books Anyone?!

Hi all! I've agreed to host an e-show for Usborne books. (Please contain your groaning!) Sofie and I attended a home show today where we got a chance to take a peek at mountains and mountains of cool books. (Seriously, I think the Usborne consultant cleaned out her bookshelf to put on display for us...hundreds of books.) If you know me, you probably know that I LOVE books, so it was fun but overwhelming. I much prefer having the time to peruse at my leisure and weigh what I want with what I can afford to spend my money on. That's why I thought this e-show opportunity would be a nice way to go. So...if you're interested you can go to www.UsborneBookStoreByMegan.com, click on my name in the upper right hand corner, browse, and see if anything strikes you. The website is nicely organized into age ranges (but be sure to check out the Value Packs too!) for your convenience, book prices are $5+ and there are many nice products that you might want to consider for Christmas gifts (check out the Seasonal section!) I will only get a kickback off of this whole deal if y'all collectively purchase $250.00 worth of products (which is a LOT of money, so I am highly doubtful that it will happen!) so go and check out the books and know that I am not recommending them because I think that I'm going to get something for free, but because I think they're a quality product and they just might help you with your holiday shopping this year!

(...and if you happen to be a teacher (or know one) who is in need of some books Usborne has a really cool program designed to get kids reading and help them earn lots of free books for the classroom, so make sure you contact a consultant near you to learn more about it!)

Sing Along with Sofie Songs

At the moment this is the extent of her repertoire. She also does interpretive motions to Skinamarinky Dinky Dink and The Itsy Bitsy Spider. I'm not trying to say you would recognize the motions, but she is proud to show them to you all the same!

Sofie's Words

In no particular order...

11/9/08
dada
mama
cocko-cracker
hi
eye
no no
uh oh
up
dow-down
hot
di do-thank you
bah-ball
duck-stuck
cock cock-quack quack
oof oof-woof woof
meow
dut-duck
dut-button
dut-that
nigh nigh-night night
dai dai-bye bye
dis-this
oh wow
woah
yuck
ew(pshew)
duh-done
nana
doo/zhoo-shoes
teez-keys
sock
C-"Sofie, can you sing the ABC's?"
Tees-teeth
Tickodickoticko-tickle tickle
Go
Attempts "I love you"

11/10/08
cheese

11/11/08
hat
woe woe-“Row row row your boat”

Lovebugs

Sofie and I have been enjoying a lot of time lately getting to know some new friends, Dawn and her son Nicholas. Sofie and Nicholas had eyes for each other from day one. Naturally things have progressed and are getting pretty serious between them. This week Sofie decided it was time to seal the deal...



Personally I think it's a match made in heaven. Did you see how lovestruck Mr. Nicholas let Sofie have the car keys after that display of affection? What a pair! So now that Sofie and Nick are going steady he invited her on a date to wake up Santa. Perhaps you were unaware that Santa needed waking? Well, apparently it takes Santa an awfully long time to recuperate from that whole Christmas shindig every year and he chooses to hibernate quite soundly at the mall for the month of October. The kiddos tolerate it for awhile but come November they're getting pretty anxious. Is one month really enough time to decide who's been naughty and who has been nice, to oversee the manufacturing of all those toys, and to make sure that the reindeer have been diligently training for their marathon?! So the kids conspire to gather together around Santa and collectively shout for him to wake up. It usually works!



And since Santa is so grateful that the kids wake him up in time to tick off his to-do list he graciously agrees to let them sit on his lap for a picture free of charge. What a benevolent soul!

"Munch"kin

Oh how I love the blogger grapevine! We learned about a fun photo contest called the "Fun With Food Photo Contest" hosted by 5 Minutes For Mom over at our friend Brynn's blog. While I'm pretty sure Brynn is going to win with her spaghetti mug and pigtail sprouts we thought we'd give it a shot. I love this picture of Sofie trying to stuff a whole apple into her itty bitty mouth. I'm pretty sure she learned that from me since I am regularly helping myself to a munch on her chub chub cheeks! The grand prize is a $500 grocery gift card and who couldn't use that!

My Fellow Americans...

...look out!

Here comes the world's smallest pollster and she's voting for a change...

...a diaper change, that is!

Now go VOTE!

Greetings on Halloween!

Part 1: Daddy, Sofie and I carved her pumpkin this week. She sat and watched intently as Ben pulled off the lid and told her about the pumpkin goo inside...

(I learned this trick in finishing school!)

Sofie had a great time playing with the pumpkin guts. She's pretty convinced that spoons should be held upside down. She also feels it is best to stab them repeatedly into whatever might be innocently waiting in the bowl for her.

Daddy carved a classic jack o'lantern, "Jack." His teeth were inspired by a certain little girl we know very very well!

Part 2: Have you ever seen anything cuter than this?

Ben and I took "Dorothy" trick or treating along with some friends tonight. I forgot how much fun trick or treating is! Halloween definitely gets my vote for the greatest holiday ever. Sofie and her little boyfriend Nicholas were real troopers during the hour and a half that we went door to door. They were being so good that Sofie even managed to get a sucker unwrapped and popped it into her mouth without anyone noticing what she was up to. What a booger! (But man oh man, what a cute booger she is!)

Heavy Cream=Yum

While I'm busy over here tooting my domesticity horn let me just brag a little more. I am a fabulous cook. And the secret, I have discovered, is heavy cream...yum!

I made this chicken tikka masala last week and although it's sort of a lot of work it was definitely well worth it. Tonight for dinner I made this chicken milano (I added mushrooms and chunked the chicken) and good grief it was delicious. Heavy cream is my hero!

Crafty...Cute...Christmas

I must've been bitten by a crafty bug in the middle of the night because I woke up this morning and just about the first thing I thought was, "Hm...I think I'll redo Sofie's stroller!" The stroller, being pretty much Sofie's favorite thing in the whole world, has taken a beating. The frame is still in great shape, but the fabric along the seat bottom got torn, separating it from the frame so that the stroller wasn't really accommodating passengers anymore. Sofie pretty much hadn't noticed, or was ignoring it quite effectively and pushing the stroller around everywhere as if nothing was wrong, but I had a pretty big piece of fabric that I used as a tablecloth for Sofia's birthday party and it was just itching to be sewn into something. So I went to work...and about an hour later, voila!

I used the trim and the buckle from the original version and, although you'll notice that there aren't any close-ups, I'm pretty darn impressed with my skills considering that there was no pattern. I have plans to make a dress for Sofie and an outfit for Baby Nona with the rest of the fabric and then we'll have to take a nice color-coordinated stroll around the block! I made Sofie's Halloween costume this year too. You'll have to stay tuned for that one! That is, if she isn't covered in a winter coat and three blankets on Halloween! It's getting really chilly around here these days. I had to put Sofie's winter coat (which, incidentally, I bought brand-new for $12...what a bargain!) on her the other day before going outside to spend some time in the sunshine. I really can't stand lugging around a coat everywhere I go, let alone one for me and one for her, but I think she makes a darn cute Eskimo, don't you?

...and while we're waxing on the topics of craftiness and cold weather I might as well announce that I've declared a homemade Christmas this year. We're not getting out our Christmas ornaments, since they'll likely turn into toys, so we decided to string popcorn and cranberries and make gingerbread cut-out ornaments for the tree instead. Ben is going to make Sofie a really neat toy box for Christmas and I'm going to paint it and make a cushion for the top. I've been brainstorming crafty gift ideas for the rest of the fam for the last few weeks as well and I'm really really excited about what I've come up with so far. I'll be busy crafting over the next couple of months, and hopefully there will be a post-Christmas blog to showcase the fruits of my labor.

Christmas, for me, has been sort of awful for the past few years. We've never really had enough money or time (why oh why do fall semester finals need to be the week before Christmas?!) to "do it up right" and as a result it always turns into a stress-fest. Last year the holidays were maybe the worst I've ever had. I was so ridiculously over-stretched (was it really going to kill someone to give us the day after Thanksgiving and Christmas Eve off for crying out loud?) and I had such a strong desire to make Sofie's first Christmas a special one. It went by in such a whirlwind and I just remember being so hurt that I hadn't been able to slow down enough to enjoy it...that it couldn't be the way that I had hoped and expected it to be. So I'm ready to reclaim Christmas. I'm ready to let go of all the expectations and find joy in the season without succumbing to all the pressure. I can't wait for the snow, frosted windows, hot cocoa and Christmas music. I can't wait to bake cookies, wrap gifts and go to Christmas parties. I'm looking forward to making Christmas cards and taking Sofie to pick out a Christmas tree. Dahoo doray and all that jazz!

So, in these crazy times...this crazy economy...if you find yourself too burdened by the everyday to even think about the holidays please please join me in reclaiming Christmas. There's a mug of cocoa and a sugar cookie with your name on it at our table this year...just come on over!

The Artist

Hold onto your hats Jackson Pollock fans, there's an up-and-coming artiste on the rise...



If you will, please note the artist's uninhibited free range of her studio, her unique review of her work, the staccato flair with which she makes her markings and her innovative use of both ends of the crayon. What a natural talent...

Behold Sofie's first completely unassisted piece of art!

The work will be held in the artist's private collection and is not for sale as it is considered a priceless masterpiece by the family of the artist.

An Apple a Day

I've been giving Sofie the opportunity to experience more and more foods in their complete form lately. Nearly every morning she greets me with a proud grin as I present her with a whole banana to eat monkey-style. Recently, I handed her an apple with just a couple of starter bites taken out of it to reduce the amount of peel. She gradually worked on it for several hours (she still only has two bottom teeth!) until it was the size of a pebble!

Going...

Going...

Gone!

Punkins

We made another trip to Mapleside today to pick out a pumpkin. Sofie grabbed her stroller on the way out the door, as she pretty much always does. Often we have to wrastle it away from her before leaving but today, luckily, we were going to a place with plenty of space for her to push it around so we let her bring it along...and it even came in handy!


We chose a lovely little round baby...er...pumpkin to bring home to be carved and displayed very soon!

Superstar Sofie

Our medical center's video is up on the hospital website. Sofie's cameo is very brief, but she made it into the video! If anyone is interested in taking a look at it you can email me and I'll provide the link.

(I don't mean to make your life more difficult by asking you to email me. I am just trying to monitor the amount of access the world at large has to our personal information!)

Sorry about the drought around here lately. I have plenty to write about and a few pictures and videos to post...I just haven't had the urge to take the time to do it lately!

It's Time...

...to start my diet because:

• I feel crummy. I've been eating way too much junk food and drinking lots of soda. I haven't been on a regular exercise regimen since before Sofie was born. My body is feeling sluggish and just plain gross. My clothes are starting to feel snug...yuck!
• I've gained about four or five pounds since I've been home with Sofie. My philosophy is: don't ever let yourself gain more than five pounds. Five pounds takes only a few weeks to reverse, but ten, fifteen, twenty begins to seem like a daunting task.
• Kyle and DeAnna's wedding is only two weeks away...I don't want to feel frumpy in my dress and I don't want to dislike myself in the pictures. After all, the amazing Rachel Barker is their wedding photographer!

Keep me accountable, oh dear Internet, I'd like to lose 3-4 pounds by the wedding!

For Heidi

I realize I'm her mama and naturally I think she's a genius but aren't you impressed with her stroller pushing skills? And isn't if funny that she seems to feel that Baby Nona must share her strange propensity towards smashed berries! Her stroller pushing is even more impressive when we're walking along the sidewalk where she routinely runs it off the side and then readjusts so that we can continue. What a good little mama! She LOVES to push this stroller around and she does not discriminate against passengers. Earlier today she was pushing around some lavender socks and a black crayon...maybe she thinks it's a grocery cart.

For Sofia

A wordle (www.wordle.net) created from the text from this past year's "Monthly Updates!"

We Heart Fall!

We have been spending lots of time outside enjoying the fall weather we've been experiencing over the past week...and here are the pictures to prove it!

These were the objects of Sofie's desire carefully gathered on a blustery walk we took last Sunday (the day the hurricane blew through!) In addition, a half-rotten crab apple, a cigarette butt, and some goose poo caught her eye. I hope you understand why they are not pictured here!

Here's Sofie pushing her hippo around on the pavement. This hippo was a gift from Aunt Jean for Christmas and it has really grown with her. You can put the "handle" down and take him for a ride which she really enjoys too.

The rest of these pictures are all from Mapleside Farm's Johnny Appleseed festival which we attended today. The festival is a little on the lame side, but it's a tradition for us to attend since our wedding took place at Mapleside nearly three years ago. It's always fun to reminisce about how much things have changed since that fateful September day! Here we are enjoying a horse drawn hayride.

Sofie and the horse took a moment to size each other up...

Each year we bag some apples to take home and turn into pie. This year we found a shady spot to relax and Sofie went to town on one of our apples...if only she had a few more teeth!

Quality time with dada...

The traditional picture underneath an apple tree. We have a wedding photo here and one from last year with Sofie tucked away in her sling!

Meet the um...biceratops family (or as Ben suggested, "triceratops after rhinoplasty!")

All in all...a great week...and we are looking forward to many more days of beautiful fall weather before old man winter settles in!

12.5 Month Stats

Sofie had her 12 month well-baby appointment this morning. Here are her stats:

Weight: 22 lbs. 3 ounces
Height: 2' 5.2"
Head Circumference: 43.7 cm

We waited for a looooooooooooong time in the examining room to see the doctor. We passed the time inspecting things, turning the pages of magazines (sorry about the rips!) and singing songs and nursery rhymes. After a rousing game of patty-cake, Sofie took Baby Nona's hands in her own and helped her play too, just like I have helped Sofie so many times before. What a smart little fart!

On our way out we were stopped by a camera guy who was filming a video to promote the satellite offices of our particular medical center. He thought Sofie was adorable and wanted to know if she could be part of the film. How can you say no to that?! So they filmed her being re-weighed (fully clothed this time), having her temperature taken, and getting her head measured. She was a complete ham for the camera. The video should be up on the website in a month or so...I'll keep you updated!

Rachel e-mailed me a couple of days ago to let us know that our complete photo session is now available. I will be getting a set of proofs, but I am having a really really hard time narrowing down my favorites to purchase enlargements of. If you are interested in checking them all out (there are 113!) send me an e-mail and I will walk you through the instructions on how to view them...but there's a catch! You must agree to kindly report back to me with your opinion on five or so that you loved the most. I would be so eternally grateful for the insight!

One Year Old

My big Worm you are one year old. You have weathered all four seasons, experienced every holiday, and brightened 365 days with your sunny personality. I am so proud to be the mama of a one year old girl...I am so proud of you!

You are really starting to grow into yourself and beginning to display your independence. We've just begun to experience your first wiggling, body-flailing bouts of defiance when you are not so pleased with our choices for you. It's a challenge, for sure, but secretly I'm so excited to see you begin to show your own preferences for things. I'm hopeful that I can be skilled enough to nurture your independent spirit while setting appropriate boundaries for you. What an exciting challenge!

You're quite a bruiser and I'm beginning think that the scrapes on your knees are a permanent fixture! You don't seem to be afraid to tackle physical challenges (now the vacuum cleaner...that's a different story!) and you dive headfirst into each new task. Recently, you've become quite proud of your ability to get yourself into your little Sofie-sized rocking chair. You're not quite tall enough to back into it, so instead you climb up onto it. Then you find yourself sitting backwards, so you carefully swivel your legs around to the front, and after you've squirmed yourself into a position you're happy with you rock rock rock yourself with a big grin across your face. You've knocked the chair and yourself over plenty of times in your pursuit but it hasn't discouraged you much at all. You're even beginning to work on balancing yourself standing on top of it while mama grits her teeth nearby and let's you feel out your limits on your own! This month you also tried out the sliding board on your own and you pretty much think that's the best invention in the world. It elicits hearty belly laughs each time...from you and from us too!

New vocabulary this month includes "Wow! Doo! (shoe) Nana, Nona (your baby doll), Uh Oh! Tickle tickle, and Oof, Oof (Woof Woof)" You're pretty convinced that every animal says, "Woof Woof!" The geese that you loved listening for all through last winter have returned. This morning we had a brief run-in with them as we were leaving the house, you crying out "Oof oof! Oof oof!" all the way! You also sort of modify your Woof to attempt a monkey sound "Oo oo!" Your gestures have increased this month as well. You know the signs for eat and for finished. You've started pointing at things, although your point is somewhat haphazard and it's often difficult to figure out what you're interested in. You like to point your pointer finger right up nose to nose with mine and giggle. You pat the ground when I pull out a new diaper for you...a mimicry of my gesture for, "Hey you crazy woman, get your bottom over here and plop it on this diaper right now!"

I'm pleased to announce that you absolutely love your birthday baby doll, Baby Nona. You pretty much drag her around everywhere with you (and she's got the banged up dirty face to prove it!) You like to put her in her cradle for a little rocking, then pull her back out again, over and over and over. You like to push her around in her baby stroller (sometimes while she sits, quite acrobatically, on her head!) You like to un-velcro her clothes and feed her a bottle (with intermittent breaks to taste what's in there for yourself!) Most nights we put Baby Nona to bed in her cradle. In the morning, after we settle a bit into our routine, I say to you, "Sofie, where's baby Nona? Is she still sleeping? Go wake her up!" You diligently waddle into the bedroom where you shuffle around awhile and then emerge, ever the proud mama, beamingly clutching your baby.

You're quite a little charmer and you consistently have strangers fawning over you. One morning we were at the library, and as I spent a few minutes on one of the computers, you made your rounds flirting with all the other computer-patrons. As we got up to leave, a man with kind eyes remarked, "I think she's going to be a politician!" You're happy to introduce yourself to pretty much anyone and you love to be the center of attention. This morning after story-time ended you were thoroughly enjoying some kiddy music that was playing on a CD and you must have felt that it was just the right time to do an impromptu interpretive dance. You bopped and swayed, swinging your arms from side to side, and twirled in circles as we all admired you. You had me laughing so hard that tears streamed down my face...and that is what you've blessed me with most this year...lots of uninhibited laughter. Laughter and joy, pure unadulterated joy. May you always have a glimmer in your eye, my one year old girl. You will always put one in mine!

Inspired...

...by our Arizona friend Brynn!

A Party for a Worm

...story coming soon!