Happy New Year

Gung Hay Fat Choy!!!!

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.

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.

Let it snow!

LET IT SNOW

What a wonderful day. If you could only see Sophia this morning. She wanted to wear her fairy dress Grandma Barb bought her this morning. She was dressed in jeans and a sweater with her fairy dress over it. We got on her coat and opened the door and she squealed with delight, "It snow out." She bounded through the snow running and playing.... making me late for work.

I only work a half day on Wednesday so after lunch we played in the snow again. That is when these pictures were taken. She was having a blast. She loved trying to make snowballs, eating snow and just plain old running around in it. If we could only all enjoy things as much as this two year old does the world would be a better place.

After her nap she headed out again, this time with her baba and went sledding. She laughed non-stop. The snow up her mittens and in her face was not going to prevent her from enjoying every moment. They made up a wonderful concoction of snow and strawberry syrup and claimed it tasted great.

Thankful

There is so much to be thankful for this Thanksgiving and every day of the year. Today we were thankful to share the day with family. We had dinner at Steve's parents house. We had a wonderful dinner and enjoyed spending time with each other. This year Katie spent Thanksgiving with us. While we were all thrilled to have us her with us this year no one was happier than Sophia.

Sophia adores Katie. Katie truly gets what being a big sister is all about. I can watch them play for hours. Katie can always make Sophia laugh. They share a special bond.

Trip to Connecticut

Sophia and I took a trip to Connecticut to visit Grandma Barbara for a few days. It was wonderful to spend some time together. It is important to me that Sophia gets to know her grandparents.

We also spent a day with Aunt Linda and Sophia's cousins, Stephanie and Hollie. The girls had a blast. Linda took us to a place where the kids "mined" for rocks. They had so much fun. We also celebrated the girls birthdays seeing they all have late fall birthdays.

I wished we lived closer and could spend more time with Grandma Barb, Linda and the girls.

And today she turns two!!

It is hard to believe that my little baby is two today. She is getting so big. She is talking up a storm and asserting herself more often.

We started the big day by singing Happy Birthday to her in her crib as she woke up this morning. We had a cupcake and a balloon for her. We also gave her the gift we bought in China for her second birthday. This year it was a children's story book with PinYin, Chinese characters and an English translation. The stories were interesting to say the least. They may have lost something in the translation!

We also had cupcakes with some of the neighborhood children after dinner tonight. She had a blast. We also gave her our present for her tonight, the Rose Petal Cottage. She LOVES this!! and I must admit I do too. I wish they had toys like this when I was growing up. I guess having a child is like having a second chance at childhood again. I certainly love getting on the floor and playing with Sophia.

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