Summer is winding down

Katie went back to NJ at the end of August. Steve started school. We are back into our routine.

Sophia and I went to the State Fair with Heather and Katlyn. Sophia rode her first roller coaster. It was pretty fast and she looked scared the entire time but she did it. Katlyn held on to her and that made her feel safer. It is so nice to see the bond they share.

Sophia started a music class which she loves. We go every Friday night. The class is really structured very well. They have the kids constantly moving. Parents join in. She gets homework every week. The teacher said she had perfect pitch at our trial class. That must be a birthparent trait because it did not come from me!! No doubt her love of music has been fostered by Steve.

We are still going to gymnastics. Sophia loves the class. She is picking up new skills every week. She still knows no fear.

Sophia has taken an interest in scrapbooking!! Yippee. She did her first few pages of our recent trip to the beach.

We are looking forward to our mom and daughter 3-day Disney cruise next week. We are going with Heather and Katlyn. We will have lots to scrapbook after this trip.

We have had better days

On August 25th Sophia had major dental work done under general anesthesia. She had four caps put on and many cavities filled. Her teeth were/are in really bad shape possibly caused by lack of pre-natal care/vitamins.

We found out that she needed this work back in June. They never really could tell us just how bad the teeth were since Sophia did not cooperate when they tried to X-ray her mouth. They even tried it a second time a week before the procedure with laughing gas. Would you believe Sophia is immune to laughing gas? Her strong nature and the fact that she was hyperventilating when she was screaming meant most of the gas never got into her. What an ordeal.

We were really worried about how she would react to the mask used for general anesthesia, especially after the laughing gas incident, but she was great. We arrived to the hospital and she was nervous (as were we.) Sophia somehow managed to be brave about the whole thing. She did not resist the mask. It may be because of the sedative they gave her orally but I don't want to discount her wonderful attitude through out this morning.

The work took 2 1/2 hours. We were getting antsy in the waiting room but finally the doctor came in and said she was doing fine. She said they did a lot of work and there was a lot of bleeding but all looked good. Sophia woke up after about 30 minutes of being in recovery. She was scared and could not wait to go home. Shortly after she was home she was herself again. I had to stop her from jumping on the bed!

The next day Sophia cried when I brushed her teeth. Could it be pain? The doctor said to give it one more day to see if things got better. They didn't, they got worse. She screamed the next day. We made an emergency trip into the dentist and the dentist pushed on the gum where Sophia said was hurting and sure enough it is infected. After a round of antibiotics (and a rash from the antibiotics on the eighth day of treatment) things are finally back to normal.

Sophia now gladly brushes her teeth. She in no longer in pain. Her teeth look good. Let's hope things stay status quo when we visit the dentist again in December.

Visit from Leslie, Emma and Will

We were fortunate to spend time with Leslie, Emma and Will for a week in August. They stayed with Mom, Skip and Grandma Beadle so they were not too far away. It was so nice just to hang out and get caught up face to face. We went for walks, swimming, ate wonderful dinners and played games. Katie spent a couple of nights over Grandma Bev's so she could chill with her cousins. The best part of this visit was when Leslie told Steve and me that they are planning to move back here within the year. It will be so nice to have them close. I grew up seeing my extended family on a weekly basis. We have only been able to really do this with Steve's parents and Grandmother. It is nice to add to our local family, especially when you really like the family members!!!

Family Day

We celebrated three years as a family on August 14th. We started the day taking our annual portraits. We then hung out at the mall for a while before heading to the Cheesecake Factory for lunch. It was a great way to remember one of the most important days in our lives.

3rd Reunion

Every year it gets better. The families that traveled together to China three years ago to bring their daughters home have been trying to get together yearly for a reunion. The first reunion was at Grandma Bev's and Grandpa Skip's house. We got together for the day and enjoyed a day in the pool. Last year we all traveled to Jae and Mary's house in Maine for the weekend. This year we did it big. We planned a week at Lewes Beach. Heather found a great house that would hold the families that were staying. Four families stayed the entire week. One family came in for the weekend. One family, unfortunately could not come.

It is hard to describe the week. The girls had a blast playing with each other. We had four 3 1/2 year olds, a 5 year old, 7 year old, 8 year old and 13 year old when we were at our max. Everyone got along so well. Yes, there were occasions when someone would not share, there were a few tears but overall the girls got along beautifully. The parents even enjoyed a night out without the children.

The beach was great. We were on the bay so the waves weren't big. The girls enjoyed running in an out of the water. They found hermit crabs, conchs and sand crabs. Unfortunately, two girls and a dad "found" a jelly fish.

Heather arranged a treasure hunt for the girls. Todd has a family member that really looks like a pirate. He came and helped the girls find the clues to find a buried treasure. The girls each got their own little treasure box filled with goodies. This was a blast!! Sophia was a bit afraid of the pirate at first but joined in on finding the treasure and forgot all about being scared.

We went to the boardwalk on Friday. Sophia rode the rides there and played games to win tickets. Winning the tickets was more fun for her than actually taking home the prizes.

The week went by too quickly. We are already thinking about what we will do next year. I am not sure if we can beat this year's fun.

Sophia's First Cruise

Anne's mom has been wanting to go on another cruise for quite some time. Anne's sister, Linda, wanted to get away with her family. She found the perfect trip that met both needs. Linda booked a 4-day cruise that left out of New York and went to Canada. Linda invited Mom. My mother would be in a room by herself so she invited me and Sophia to join her.

Sophia was thrilled. We would see Grandma Barbara, Auntie Linda, Chuck and her cousins, Stephanie and Hollie. She knew she would be going on a boat. We even checked out the virtual tour online. I don't think she realized just how much fun she would have.

The night before the cruise Sophia could not sleep. She was so excited. She picked out an outfit she wanted to wear on the cruise and could not stop talking about the trip. We took a train to New York. That in and of itself was a treat. Once we got to NYC we took a cab to the pier. Sophia LOVED the cab ride. Little things make Sophia so happy!!

Once we got to the ship she was amazed. She could not believe the pools, the stores, the food and the fun. She spent her days swimming and playing with the girls. She had a blast every night at dinner. The waiter and waitress treated the girls like princesses. They got everything they asked for. We also stayed up really late on two nights so we could see the shows. Sophia loved the dancing. She danced in her seat while we watched.

My mom enjoyed spending time with us. She loved spending time with her grandchildren. I know she loved having dinners with us. Most of all, I think she loved the casino.

I am so glad we were able to do this trip. It made Mom so happy. I haven't seen her that happy in a long time. We planned this at the last minute so George and his family were not able to go. Perhaps we can arrange it so we can all cruise together next year.

Fishing with Baba

Sophia has been fascinated by people fishing at parks. She has been asking for a fishing pole. Baba bought her one and took her fishing on July 5th. She had a blast. Sophia can cast very well for a beginner. They did got catch any fish on this first attempt. The fish were biting.... but biting the worms right off the hook. They are going to give it another try with a smaller hook.

Not catching any fish was fine with Sophia. She had fun trying and then enjoyed some time on the swings. I know she loved this father daughter time as did Steve. I hope these are the moments Sophia will remember.

I am so proud

While there are many parenting books and on line resources available no child comes with a step by step guide to raising a happy, confident and empathic child.

My mother and I have been talking about what parents do to raise children who are compassionate and caring. My mother and father must have done something right seeing they have three children who have these qualities. We wonder about how this was accomplished and wonder if it is just from modeling of those behaviors. Perhaps it is that simple. Be a good person and your child will see that and learn to value being kind, compassionate, caring and empathic.

This week Sophia made me so proud. While I can not say we are totally responsible for this act of kindness I like to think we contributed to it. I have talked to Sophia about giving away things we don't need to people less fortunate. We donate clothing that no longer fits or things we no longer need to Goodwill or people in our community that are in need. We sponsor a child in China in an effort to give back.

This week Sophia called me up into her bedroom after being put to bed. She was holding a stuffed animal in her hand and told me that a child at daycare needed this so she was going to give it to him. She could not wait to go the next morning to give it to this child. The boy was not there the next day and I was sure she would change her mind once she brought it back home but she did not. She woke the next morning and could not wait to get to daycare to present her gift. I watched her as she gave it to this "baby." She glowed with pride, almost as much as I did.

Sophia loves giving gifts. She picks out the gift she wants to give. For my birthday she gave me a stuffed animal (a frog) which she now sleeps with. She gave Steve a car for father's day. She wanted to get him a baby doll but changed her mind when she got to the store. I see that she picks out things she likes in these gifts. The act of giving away one of her toys this week was totally self-less. She acted out compassion and nothing could make me prouder!

There is something to be said about modeling. We encourage Sophia to be independent and at times we talk her through tasks. Well the tables turned the other night when I put her to bed. She has been sleeping in her tent. I lay on the floor to read her stories. When I was getting up one night I asked her to help me up off the floor (she loves to help out.) She told me I could do it myself I just needed to try. She then talked me through getting up. "First roll over. Get on your knees. Now put one foot on the floor....." She encouraged the entire time telling me I could do it if I tried. When I did it she said, "I am so proud of you. You did it yourself!"

Life doesn't get better than this.

Celebrating Grandma Beadle's Birthday

Grandma (Phyllis) Beadle turned 87 years young on July 1. Seeing Nick came down for a weekend visit right before the "big day" Steve, Nick, Sophia, Bev and Skip celebrated with Grandma a few days early. Unfortunately, Anne was away at a weekend interpreting workshop series and was unable to attend. Katie was in NJ. Our hearts were with Grandma as she celebrated her big day.

The day was spent swimming, enjoying good food, laughing with family and of course, cake.

Referral Day--3 years ago!!

It is hard to believe that three years and one day ago we had no idea who Sophia was. It was three years ago today when we went to the agency's office and got Sophia's file. It included a summary of her milestones, development and three pictures of Sophia taken when she was six months old. I will never forget the moment I first saw the face of the little girl who would someone be my daughter. I can honestly say that I loved Sophia before I ever knew her. I loved the thought of her. Seeing her picture made me fall in love even more. I thought I knew a mother's love for a daughter then. This pales in comparison to the love I now know. Motherhood is an amazing journey.

This picture will be a yearly one. It is Sophia holding her referral picture on the anniversary of our referral day.

June update

We started the month on a very low note. Sophia had her first appointment at the dentist. Sophia was great in the chair while they examined her and cleaned her teeth. She was a trooper. She tried so hard to be brave. It all went down hill when they tried to get x-rays. She did not like the films in her mouth. She started gagging and crying (well, screaming) They were not able to complete the x-rays but what they saw with the naked eye was pretty overwhelming. She has three teeth that are decaying. She needs caps on them. There are about eight more that need fillings. She will need to be put under general anesthesia at the hospital to have this work done. We got a second opinion and they agreed with the treatment plan. The dentist is only in the hospital one day a month and during July it is the week we are at the beach so right now we are planning on having this done on August 25. We are becoming more diligent about brushing after each meal and flossing at night. Sophia doesn't like it but complies.

Anne's brother, George, came to DC with Danielle and Gianna. We were able to spend the day together on Sunday. We walked the mall and then back to their hotel. It was a loooong walk. Danielle and Gianna were troopers. Sophia even managed to walk quite a distance keeping up with us. We then relaxed by the pool at George's hotel. Sophia went swimming with Danielle and Gianna. The night ended with a dinner at Clydes. Sophia sat with Danielle and Gianna so I got to enjoy a meal without a little one hanging on my arm. What a treat.


We celebrated Father's Day a little early seeing Katie was with us and Sophia would be in Connecticut on Father's Day. Sophia picked out a gift for her BaBa. She had her heart set on a baby doll but then decided on a red car when we got to the store. Sophia loves giving gifts to people, especially gifts that she has picked out herself.
We visited Grandma Barbara in Conn this month. We had a wonderful time again. This time Sophia helped Grandma make lemon cookies (Grandma's trademark cookies) I captured the whole thing on tape. I am so glad they were able to do this together. We visited Linda's and Sophia had a blast playing with her cousins. We even played a game of mini-golf while we were there. We will be taking a short cruise with Grandma Barbara, Linda and the girls in July. We wanted to take this cruise while we could. Unfortunately, my mother is having a harder time breathing and walking so we didn't want to put off this trip any longer.

Baba (Steve) had a scare at the playground at the end of the month. Sophia was running up stairs on the play structure and tripped. She hit her hip or rib area and blacked out for a moment. Thank goodness Steve was right behind her and caught her as she fell back. It was scary but all was fine.

Sophia has been climbing into bed with us every morning. She cuddles up and goes back to sleep. I don't fall asleep quite so fast when she is bed with us. This is becoming a new habit. Thank goodness it isn't all night. It seems to happen in the morning. She is sleeping in later once she is in our bed so I guess we have to take the good with the bad.

Sophia loves picking out her clothes. She often will refuse to wear what I pick out. We have had some very interesting outfits but as time goes on she is getting better at matching.

May update

There is something about May 1st... it seems that spring is in the air. This is the second year that our azalea bushes bloomed again on May 1st. This is the second year in a row that I have Sophia's picture in front of the bushes in full bloom. It just so happens to be Sophia's half birthday on May 1st so it is neat to see the comparison at 2 1/2 and 3 1/2. The picture in the purple hat is from 2008.


Spring was short lived with a taste of summer on May 2. Sophia took her first swim of the season at Grandma Bev's and PopPop's house. She used the noddle to keep herself afloat. She would prefer her arm swimmies but BaBa wants to teach her how to swim. She was scared at first but seemed to get comfortable as time went on.

Sophia "graduated" from the parent-child gymnastics class into a preschool class. She could have started this class when she was three but her friend was in the parent child class and I liked going with her. Her friend is still in parent child class but Sophia was really ready to move on. She is doing great in the class. She listens well, tries new things and really has fun. I watch from the window so we can talk about what she accomplished in class during our drive home.

Sophia is growing up so quickly. I swear she grows taller every night. Her face is also changing. She is more inquisitive than ever. There is no doubt she is a thinker. Her ability to reason is amazing. All I can say is she is wise beyond her years.

April update

We had another fun filled month. Steve's step-brother Micky and his family came down to spend time with his father. We were able to spend some time with them on Thursday night, as well as, all day on Saturday. Micky and Erin have two boys and a girl. They are all a little older than Sophia but they all got along beautifully. On Saturday we went to the train museum and then out to Little Italy for a wonderful Italian dinner. We ended the day with an Easter egg hunt. Each child was assigned an egg color to look for so even Katie was able to play with it still being fair. The older children helped Julia and Sophia find their eggs. It was so nice to see everyone working together without fighting over who should get the egg.

Sophia ran a high fever again. This month was as bad or maybe worse than two months ago. We had a hard time getting the fever to go down at all. Once again, Sophia did not want to eat or drink. She laid around and was miserable. The doctor checked for the flu and strep test. Thank goodness the news about the swine flu had not hit yet otherwise I would have been a mess.

Sophia has taken an interest in dinosaurs. Steve took Katie and Sophia to the museum during Katie's spring break. Sophia lost interest quickly but I think they enjoyed the trip.

Sophia got up early one morning and climbed into bed with me and Steve. She went back to sleep quickly cuddling up next to us. I am not sure if she got used to sleeping in our bed when she was sick or she was just testing her limits. Either way we let her stay with us seeing she went back to sleep right away.

February / March update

Time flies. February flew by without much excitement. Katie spent her February vacation with us. Steve took Katie and Sophia to the train museum. Sophia loves this museum and the fact that she was able to share this with her big sister made it even more fun.

Sophia ran a high fever in February. Tests never revealed any infection but she was running a high (104.7) fever which was hard to bring down for five days. This was the first time we really noticed Sophia being sick. She has gotten colds and coughs but things never seemed to slow her down. These five days were different. She was lethargic. She didn't want to eat or drink. We had to watch her for dehydration. It was very scary. It is hard not to be able to help. She ran a fever something like this in Oct 08 but it didn't climb quite this high.

March was a little more exciting. We had another small snow storm to start off the month. While it was not a big storm, Sophia had a blast. Steve was away for five days at the beginning of the month so it was just me and Sophia at home with the pets. Our puppy, Boba, was more work than Sophia and all the other pets together but we managed.
Sophia went to a Pirate Adventure class offered through our Parks and Rec Dept. Sophia loved it. She wore her pirate hat and came home with lots of cool crafts including a treasure chest with coins in it. She wasn't ready for me to leave the room but I hung back and let her do her thing. She really enjoyed it

We managed to have a play date with Katlyn. We went to an open gym where Katlyn takes gymnastics. Katlyn has always been a dare-devil but I have never seen her like this. She was totally in her element. Sophia and Katlyn are such good friends. I am hoping we can continue this friendship despite how busy life gets.

We finished up the month with a visit to Grandma Barbara's. We all love these visits. It gives me time to spend with my mother and gives Sophia a chance to get to know her grandmother. We also get to spend time with my sister and her daughters. Sophia loves spending time with her cousins. This trip we ended up going to the Mystic Aquarium. Sophia was in awe. She loved seeing the fish. I think her favorite exhibit was the beluga whale. She picked out a stuffed penguin in the gift shop. The entire visit was so much fun. We visited Aunt Philly while we were there. I wish we could spend more time and see more people but the time always goes so quickly. We went to the beach to find some shells and build a sand castle. Sophia managed to get wet despite the rain boots she had on. I don't know how she continued to play with wet and COLD feet but she managed.
Sophia is getting more independent with each passing day. She has starting picking out her own clothes and getting dressed with very little help. She also told me I was annoying her. She is growing up too quickly.

January update

January was an amazing month. We started the month ...or rather finished the year with a trip to Connecticut to celebrate Christmas with Anne's family. We drove on New Year's Eve, which ended up being a huge mistake. They were predicting some snow in the northeast but we knew it would not amount to anything. Connecticut ended up getting about 2 or 3 inches but that caused a huge traffic jam. I-95 was a parking lot from New York through Connecticut. A trip that should take 4 1/2 to 5 1/2 hours ended up taking us about 10 hours. Sophia and Katie were troopers. Thank goodness for the portable DVD player Santa brought us. It made it a little more manageable with Sophia. We spent a few days with Anne's sister Linda. Of course, Anne's mom was there and Anne's brother George and his family came up on New Year's Day. It was nice to see all the cousins play together. The adults enjoyed the time chatting, watching the kids open the gifts and playing a fun dice game. Sophia, Stephanie and Hollie enjoyed the snow in the days that followed.

We were lucky enough to get some snow at the end of January. Sophia had a blast with our dog pulling her on the sled. If I could capture the giggles in a bottle and hold onto them forever I would. Sophia is filled with joy, gratitude, excitement and love.

Christmas 2008

We had a wonderful Christmas. Nick and Katie came down to spend the holiday with us. Katie made a wonderful gingerbread house again this year. I think this is becoming a tradition. We went to church as a family on Christmas Eve. Christmas morning was filled with excitement. Sophia understood that Santa would be leaving her gifts. It is so much fun to watch the excitement in the eyes of a toddler. This was, by far, my best gift this year.

Santa left Sophia a sippy cup in her bedroom. Yes!! Santa tiptoed into her bedroom to leave a present and note. Santa's note said that Sophia is big enough to use a sippy cup with water in it at night and no longer needs a bottle of water at bedtime. Sophia heeded Santa's words and transitioned to no bottle with only a few night of some quiet whinning.

Sophia was thrilled to see her dollhouse, her "pee pee in the potty" doll and DVD player. She went from one thing to another. She really enjoyed openning up all the gifts... tearing through the wrapping to reveal the toy.

We spent Christmas Day with Steve's parents and grandmother. Sophia got wonderful gifts from Grandma Bev and Pop Pop. She got her very own leapfrog computer... a huge hit. She got the donut shop she had been asking for from Grandma Beadle. Sophia could not have been happier.

It was nice to have Nick and Katie with us on Christmas. We missed Leslie and her family but hopefully we can take a trip out to California one of these days to see them.