Thursday, January 24, 2008

January update



Where does the time go? I can not believe February is almost here. Sophia continues to amaze me. She is getting so tall. Her face is changing again. She is getting dimples when she smiles. She is talking up a storm. She continues to entertain us with her singing and dancing. She tries to amuse us at dinner with her silly antics. Sometimes she pretends to be a dog and gets on the floor and barks until we give her a "treat."

She has been sleeping in her "big girl" bed for the past couple of weeks. She loves her Dora sheets. She has been very good about being in the bed. She has not crawled out at all. My baby is growing up!!!

Sophia has worn her "big girl" underwear for several hours at a time and stays dry. We will let her lead the way with some gentle encouraging on our part in February.

Sophia still loves gymnastics. She can tumble on her own. She loves to jump and does it all the time. She is a big helper around the house. She loves to feed the cats, carry in groceries, clean the floors and wipe the table. We hear "me do it" a thousand times a day. The other day she told me to stay in her room while she got on the potty all by herself. She is independent and confident.

I am attending training for four days out of state next week. This will be the first time I leave Sophia overnight since she was placed in my arms. Steve has traveled before for several weekends and once for a whole week and she survived! It is not like I am leaving her with strangers, she will be with her dad (baba) but it is still a huge, scary step for me. Yes, me... not Sophia. Sophia will probably handle this better than I do!

Christmas in Connecticut

This Christmas season went on forever! We went to Connecticut on January 18th to spend time with Grandma Barbara. We had a wonderful homecooked Italian dinner on Friday night. Sophia could not wait to open more presents... and she was not disappointed. Grandma Barbara found the perfect gifts for all of us. Sophia loved her doctor's kit and Dora pillow and blanket.

We visited Anne's Aunt Philly on Saturday. It was so great to see her. Growing up we saw our grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins weekly. We used to spend Sundays together. I miss that time and wish that we lived closer so we could see each other more often.

Sunday we all headed to Linda's house. George and Tracey came down with the kids. Sophia and Katie had a blast playing with their cousins. Danielle and Katie are close in age and seem to have a lot in common. The girls all doted on Sophia. She kept up with all of them and giggled all day long. Linda cooked a fabulous dinner. We opened more gifts, yippee!!



We had a great weekend. I wish these visits could last longer. Time flies by.

Wednesday, January 09, 2008

Christmas 2007

We had such a great Christmas season. It was filled with family and fun, not to mention a lot of shopping. Sophia and Katie helped us put up our Christmas decorations. Sophia was fascinated by all the lights and ornaments. We went to visit Santa at the mall and after waiting in line for over an hour Sophia decided she did not want to sit on Santa's lap. We did get one picture with me sitting on the arm of Santa's chair with Sophia on my lap but that is all.

We had a blast baking cookies for Santa and preparing for the big day. Sophia woke up early on Christmas morning and could not wait to go downstairs. She noticed that Santa ate the cookies we left but did not notice the gifts he left by the fireplace. She walked right by them!!! When we asked her if Santa brought her any toys she looked in her toy box. We had to lead her to the new gifts that Santa left. She loved the doll and the chair for her house, however, what she loved the best was the candy in her stocking! This was followed closely by her Dora underwear which she put on right away, over her clothes!




We had a nice morning at home opening gifts. She enjoyed opening the presents and liked everything she got. We then went to Grandma Bev's and Pop Pop's house. Grandma Beadle was there too. Aunt Leslie, Emma and Will flew in from California that afternoon. We had a wonderful dinner and then opened even more gifts. It was a great day.

Nick and Katie came down on Thursday. We had a second Christmas celebration on Friday with Nick and Katie. We spent a good portion of the week at Grandma Bev's and Pop Pop's house. It was so nice to have everyone together. We played games and the girls beat the pants off the boys in Pictionary! We went for a nice walk one day. Sophia loved walking through the woods and jumping in every puddle she could find.




Being with family is the best Christmas gift ever. We are thankful that we had time to spend together.