Happy Half-Birthday!

Sofia's half-birthday is also known as Christmas Day. To celebrate, we gave the bear the day off and brought in Santa for the monthly chair photo. And because it was a holiday, we had Daddy home, hence the good smiles.

My friend Ginny, from book club, shares Sofia's June 25th birthday and was quick to tell me "it's the BEST birthday, you get presents every six months!" Wow, did she ever! We have so many great new toys. Soon she'll want to do more than eat them.

*Her personality is really starting to take shape and it's been so fun to watch. She's mellow and happy (most of the time) and was a trooper with all of the pre-holiday trips to the mall. She happily looks around and smiles at strangers, as long as they aren't scary men with beards (Uncle Michael excluded).

*The smiles and giggles are easy to come by and the cutest ever.

*She babbles and chats a bunch and her new favorite sounds to make is one similar to a pterodactyl. I was saying it sounded like a cat in heat, but Claire mentioned that Grant makes the same sound and Lauren coined it pterodactyl. I've decided that sounds better.

*She's getting closer to sitting on her own, but does not seem much closer to rolling over (back to front) or crawling. I'm not complaining, I'll take "non-mobile" for awhile longer. A couple of days after her 6 month birthday, we started her on rice cereal. It took her a few days, but she got the hang of it.

First taste - what the hell is this?

Much more fun to just play with the spoon.

She LOVES hanging out in her Graco 4-in-1, AKA the "Rocket Ship."

Stuck in side plank position. This is the same face I have when I do this move.

"Watching" football with Daddy.

Merry Christmas!

Here Comes Santa Claus

Some Christmas-y activities from the past couple of weeks...

Nothing says Christmas like blacktop, power lines and a traffic signal.
But we did find a fabulous tree at the St. Christopher tree lot about half a mile from home.

Sofia was obviously thrilled with the outing.

And in other Christmas traditions that are more for the parents...
We visited Santa last week and Sofia never knew what hit her. We slid her onto his lap, danced around like fools so she'd look at us and not the scary bearded man holding her.

Lauren Pumps It Up

Lauren is three. WOW, how did that happen? It seems like just yesterday I got the call from Steve.

November 29, 2006
Steve: Claire had the baby!

Me: What??? But she's not due for another month!

Steve: Yes, and Mark was in LA when she went into labor and he had to drive all night, downing Red Bulls, to make it back in time and he JUST made it back in time.

Fast forward to November 29, 2009 and we're celebrating Lauren's 3rd birthday with many, many three year olds at Pump It Up, Jr. We've learned many, many tips, tricks, parenting techniques from Mark and Claire over the past few years, and this may be one of the best:
By the time your kid is three and wants to invite all of her pre-school/playgroup friends to her birthday party, that's when you move the party OUT of your own house and shell out a few bucks for someone else to entertain and feed the restless natives.

Adults were allowed on the slide, and I must admit, it was quite exhilarating.
Thankfully no one had a camera ready.

Emma in the jumpy jail.

Claire and Sarah wishing desperately that Pump It Up, Jr. served margaritas.

Conversations overheard at this table included the pros and cons of chunky peanut butter and
a heated debate over Obama's Nobel Peace Prize.

Wow.

The princess of the party.

It's my party and I'll sit in the HUGE inflatable throne chair if I want to.

Just watching the kids was exhausting.

Old Friends, New Babies

It's been a busy year for many of our friends, us included. Four babies in '09 and one more on the way, due in December. All of those babies are second children, except for Sofia. Fun times when the gangs all here! The last time we all got together was for the Piccolina Party in June when Maria & I were both pretty pregnant and Jen & Bryan hadn't yet publicly announced #2. Matt & Maria, who live in San Luis Obispo, asked if we could get the group together while they were in San Jose for Thanksgiving...and who are we to turn down a party.

The Albos graciously opened their home the day after Thanksgiving for a Mexican potluck and the chaos that can only come from 14 adults, 13 children, one trip to the emergency room and many Coronas.

Sofia continues her tour of bouncy chairs in other people's homes.

Guilty!

Just like a college party! Minus the pregnant chick and the 8 month old.

Nico Bennetti (3.5 months) makes his San Jose debut.

Lauren helping Grant eat his puffs.

No words can describe how cute this is.

Christmas in the Park

We had our next session of the "Watch Me Grow" package with photographer Andrea on Saturday. Check out the sneak peek she's posted here!

Thankful

This Thanksgiving, Sofia is thankful for...

*Ten fingers on which to chew
*Two teeth to chew on said fingers
*Time to lounge in the "calm vibrations" bouncy chair
*The lights in the ceiling
*The top button (heartbeat noise) on the Sleep Sheep
*Zurberts on her tummy that make her giggle
*Leg calisthenics with Daddy

and...

Hugs and kisses from Grandma

Two Great-Grandmothers that adore her

Visits from "brother" Rags
and the promise of inherited style from Uncle Michael

The dream of someday being able to sit AT the table, not on the floor near it

...and for being the only one allowed at the dinner table in her jammies.

Happy 5 Months to Me!

I will try to not be TOO cheesy, but 5 months is just the cutest. We get smiles like this all the time and often full on laughs. Thankfully she thinks we're really funny...and really good singers. I spend the majority of my day making up songs about anything and everything. For example, tonight Amy-Jo called and I made up a song about "Enzo's Mommy" that she just loved.

Quickly catching up to the bear.

Cool stuff this month:
* First two teeth came in last week
* Has rolled over from front to back a number of times, but is not doing it consistently yet
* Still sleeping great at night and taking three 30 minute naps during the day
* Weighed in at 15.5 lbs (75-90th%) and measured 25 inches (50th%) at her 4 month appointment, which was actually at about 4.5 months

A change of scenery...tummy time in "Rag's Room."

Cannot get enough of the TV.
Doesn't even matter that it's that crappy Deal or No Deal.
I rationalize that it's helping her get closer to rolling over. Even if it's rotting her brain.

Just my favorite photo of the month. She doesn't really like this hat.
It's too big and when she turns her head the hat does NOT move with her.
But it's so cute, I put it on her all the time anyway.

All I Want for Thanksgiving Are My Two Front (Bottom) Teeth

Just in time to gnaw on a big turkey leg...or anything she can get her hands on...

We welcome the FIRST TWO TEETH!

With very little of the drama we've heard so much about, the first two teeth sprouted this past week. I have a feeling we were let off the hook with the first two. And to answer everyone's question, no, she has not allowed "The Good Doctor" Nono to take a look at them yet.

Red Hot Chili Pepper & The Other One

Sandy came to visit all the way from Connecticut to help celebrate Sofia's baptism! Sandy is a wonderful family friend who is more like family. She grew up next door to my mom in Pennsylvania and has watched me and my cousins grow up. It was so wonderful to have her here to meet Sofia and celebrate the baptism and Halloween with us. We lovingly refer to her as "the other one", a phrase coined by my cousin Jennifer's daughter Abigail (our flower girl) a number of years ago. Abigail, age three at the time, couldn't remember our names. When she came down in the morning one day while Sandy and I were visiting, she asked me "where's the other one?" and it's stuck. Mostly because I think it's funny and keep bringing it up.

Sandy and Sofia - already great friends.

When you let Daddy choose the costume, a chili pepper is what you get. To be fair, I found the costume online and only gave Daddy two options, this or a ladybug. A ladybug was far too boring and not at all in the realm of "culinary." So, cute, hot, fleece chili pepper it was.

Trick or Treating (aka showing off the cute bundle) at Daddy's office.
Mommy took Sofia's share of the treats: candy, pizza & a coke.

The cutest monkey around - Grant celebrates his 7 month birthday (10/30) by going bananas!

Princess Lauren protects her stash. Not long after this we witnessed a sugar high like none other.
There was spinning in the front yard, bumping into furniture and many, many giggles.

Sandy and the pooped pepper recline on the Imelli's couch.

Savannah Keane (18 mos) the flower looks a little nervous about all this Halloween stuff.

Sofia v. Devil

"It's the perfect day to cast out the devil!" was the response that my mother-in-law gave me when I scoffed at the idea of having Sofia's baptism on Halloween. And when I thought about it, she was right. What better day? So we all gathered at the chapel at Bellarmine to celebrate baby's first Sacrament. She is officially tied with mommy, who also has one Sacrament under her belt (marriage). But I'm not sure it counts if you don't do them in order. Godmother/Auntie Jen will have to advise me on that.

Father Cobb (who presided at our wedding) and Father Wade, both from Bellarmine, performed the ceremony with their usual wit and grace. It was great to have them both be a part of Sofia's special day. Post-sacrament, we celebrated, as we like to do, with much food and drink back at the homestead.

Sofia with the Jesuits, mom and dad and her proud Godparents, Jennifer & Nick.

The whole crew

When it came time to provide Sofia with the holy water, Fr. Cobb was a bit...well, heavy handed.
He splashed her whole face and proclaimed many times "Oh man! I really got her good!"
She cried briefly, then rallied like a champ.

Back at the house we took a few more pictures in her lovely gown that was also worn by Godmother Jen and cousins Marissa & Andrea!

She changed into her party dress and tights to coordinate with Grandma.

Gabriella, Lauren (with Sofia's SJ Sharkey), Claire (mommy to Lauren & Grant) Grant and Dominic. Chaos ensues.

Happy 4 Months To Me!

We're loving four months old! She's such a joy and such a good, happy baby. We've been enjoying seeing the changes in her recently as she explores the world around her and really starts to notice things.

*She rolled over for the first time, from her front to her back. She hasn't done it since, but we know it's possible!

*Each session of tummy time she's a little stronger. It won't be long before she can sit up on her own.

*Smiles are given often and without much provocation. They are the best. We've started to get lots of giggles too!

*She is still sleeping like a champ...typically 11-12 hours per night. She's still being swaddled in the Miracle Blanket, although about 75% of the time she's broken free by morning. Sometimes she likes the pacifier to fall asleep with, then mommy or daddy play the game of "catch the paci" so she doesn't roll her face onto it and wake herself up. Often mommy will sit in the dark and wait for it to fall out for up to 30 minutes...while playing on her iPhone. Sigh. The things we do for good sleep!

*She's finally able to hold her head up enough to ride facing forward in the Baby Bjorn and she seems to LOVE it. We've gone for a walk around the block, to Erin's birthday pre-party and to a Stanford tailgate in our Bjorn. For those of you that aren't sure, it's pronounced "Bee-Yorn."

This is "Monkey Friend", who appears to be the favorite.

We spent a lovely October afternoon playing in the backyard recently. So much to look at outside!

Some tummy time in our Halloween duds.

Army crawl through the jungle.