Halloween

Sophia and her dad had a great time trick-or-treating tonight. She enjoyed walking through the neighborhood and getting candy. She got an awful lot of candy for a little girl!!

Birthday Celebrations

Two years old!!! This is something to celebrate!! We are having several small "parties" with the people who are important in Sophia's life rather than a big and overwhelming party. We celebrate both Sophia and Katlyn's birthdays on Friday October 26th. Katlyn is one of Sophia's best friends. She will be two on November 5th. We got together for a playdate, lunch and cake. The girls had a blast as they typically do when they are together. Sophia got a Dora doll which she has been carrying around ever since. Sophia has really been into Dora over the couple of weeks.

We will have cake on November 1st to celebrate Sophia's birthday and then get together with her big sister, Katie, and grandparents on Saturday for dinner and some cupcakes. Anne and Sophia will be going to Connecticut on November 9th and I am sure there will be more presents and cake with Hollie and Stephanie whose birthdays are also in the fall.

Stay tuned for all the pictures.

How sweet!!

When I picked up Sophia from daycare on Monday (10/29) her daycare provider shared the following story. The four girls were going out for a walk. I sent Sophia with a sweatshirt and jacket seeing it was cold in the morning. Sophia got on her jacket for the walk but was not wearing her sweatshirt. One girl did not have on a jacket. The girl told the daycare provider she did not wear one. Sophia heard this conversation and went to get her sweatshirt. She gave the sweatshirt to her friend saying, "Here Ella. Jacket."

It is amazing to see how much Sophia understands. She not only understood the conversation but that she had something that a friend needed. She was willing to share to help out a friend. Many adults don't "get this" but here is this almost two year old showing what true friendship is.
She has always been generous. She shared her food with us by trying to feed us on our first few days together in China. She continues to share her food and her toys. Now I am not saying she does this all the time. There are a few special toys that she would prefer no one gets their hands on but don't we all behave like that at times. Sophia is remarkable... can a child this young empathize?

Halloween

Fall is here and we are having a blast celebrating autumn and Halloween.

This year Sophia is Ming Ming (the duck) from the Wonder Pets. Sophia loves the Wonder Pets and when we saw a duck costume in Target a few months ago we could not resist. I made Ming Ming's cape out of felt and it looks great.

At first Sophia protested about getting in her costume but sure enough she humored me and Grandma Bev on Friday night.

We also took her to Boo at the Zoo on Sunday since I teach on Halloween night so I will miss all the fun.

Sophia makes a wonderful Ming Ming.

Growing Pumpkins

Back in May Sophia and I went to Home Depot to pick up some plants and seeds for our garden. Sophia picked up a small cup with three pumpkin seeds in it. It was made just for children and I think cost all of 59 cents. Sophia and I planted late May and within days the plant sprouted. It grew very quickly... so quickly you could almost see it grow. We transplanted it outside in June and by July it had taken over the garden. We did not have much luck with the wild flowers this year so I ripped them out to give the pumpkin some space to grow. It used that entire space and creeped out of the garden onto the lawn and even up and over our fence. This pumpkin plant was HUGE. I was amazed to see six pumpkins grow. We watched as the pumpkins grew larger each day and then turn from green to orange. We picked them in late September. We had some very large pumpkins. Who knew Sophia was such a good gardener!! We gave a pumpkin to Grandma Bev and Grandpa Skip and another one to Grandma Beadle. Katie forgot to take her's home. We have four pumpkins left. We plan to carving them, playing in the goop, roasting the seeds. We will also paint one or two pumpkins. What fun!!!!!

September Update

Wow!! Where does the time go? We have had a very busy and exciting September. Anne and Sophia took a mother-daughter trip to Sarasota, Florida at the beginning of the month. They joined Heather and Katlyn there. Katlyn is one of Sophia's best friends, they were adopted at the same time. Heather was house-sitting there so we joined her for five days. We had a blast. Sophia and Katlyn had so much fun at the beach and the pool. Watching them on the beach, running around and playing in the sand was a show in and of itself. They can entertain each other (and us) for hours. They are both very brave and love the water. They just jumped right in the pool and swam. The arm swimmies helped keep them afloat so they felt more independent while swimming. They both experienced Chuck-E-Cheeses for the first time on a rainy night. These two are so self-confident and self-assured.

Sophia also started her parent/child gymnastics class again. Class meets on Saturday mornings. She really enjoys the class. She loves jumping but is not so into the warm-up stretches. She would rather wander off and explore than sit and stretch. She has been doing the stretches at home but I guess there are too many exciting things to explore at the gym.

She is growing up so quickly. She is talking up a storm. I can't say that we understand half of what she says but that doesn't stop her!! She is also picking up more signs and that helps so much. She still loves watching TV, The Wonder Pets and The Wiggles are her favorite shows.

She is getting more and more independent. There are days that she refuses to wear what I pick out for her. She wants to pick out her own clothes and wants to put them on herself. Usually we end up with two legs in one pants leg but she does give it her best try. She only asks for help when she is truly stuck. She has been using the potty every morning. She isn't into going on the potty during the day but the morning trip is always a success.

She is still a good eater. She will try almost everything you give her. She still loves fruit and can't get enough of it. She has been drinking milk in a sippy cup as long as we put strawberry or chocolate flavoring in it.

She still loves being outside. She is really enjoying the new park that opened behind our house. We walk there almost every night so she can run, climb, slide and spin. She also loves to paint and help cook. She is starting to play with her puzzles more often. Sophia loves playing with Anne's old Cabbage Patch doll. She takes it for walks in our house in the doll stroller. She likes pretending she is feeding the doll. Sophia also loves to sing and dance. She enjoys looking at books and having books read to her.

She is growing so quickly I need to post more often!!! Stay tuned to see her Halloween costume.

More September Pictures