I'm Kind of a Big Deal

Sofia has recently been mentioned on some of her friend's blogs. I thought I'd give a shout out since she's taking a nap and can't be bothered with this internet thing.

Most recently (today) she received her first feature in someone else's blog. Well, that's not true. Meghan did blog about her immediately following her birth...and I hesitate to link to this because it shows me in all of my chapped lip, post-C-section glory. But hey, that's life...just concentrate on how teeny weeny Sofia was. Unbelievable!

We love Meghan's visits and someday Sofia will love playing with Howie, cutest dog on the planet. Maybe someday she'll even blog about him.

Sofia hosted a play date last weekend with some friends, old and new. Our buddies Carla and Kaylee blogged about it and maybe this will save me the trouble! We just found out that Carla and Kaylee (and dad Brad) will be moving to Washington D.C. in June. Happy for them, not happy that the girls won't get to play together anymore. But we look forward to following their escapades on the Belsher Bunch Blog! Here's another Kaylee and Sofia cute moment.

Eight is Great!

Happy Eight Months to me! I'm finally taller than the bear!

Month 8 is upon us and Sofia is all smiles!

*She's still a champ sleeper, usually waking up just once during the night. Three 30 minute naps continue to be the norm. We are anxiously awaiting for the two longer naps that all the books say will come soon. We'll see about that.

*Giving kisses. She receives about a thousand a day and has finally started to (sorta) reciprocate. They are wonderfully open mouthed and wet, but are given on command, nonetheless.

*No crawling yet, but lots and lots of rolling. There is a bit of laziness in her...she is happy to sit and play, but if something rolls out of her reach, she'll just move onto something else. She definitely gets this from her mother.

*Most of February (or at least it seemed) was spent fighting our first legit cold. Well, maybe it wasn't even legit, there was no fever. Just lots and lots and lots of snot. We are now quite adept at using the aspirator bulb, much to Sofia's dismay.

*She was doing quite well trying new foods until the pesky cold seemed to affect her appetite for solids. She loves bananas and pears but is still skeptical of peas and potato type things.

*She babbles and talks ALL the time. Dadadadad comes out a lot, but unfortunately is not directed towards the Dada. But it's still cute. The other sound we LOVE to make is the gutteral "smokers hack" as we like to call it. I don't know how she hasn't lost her voice yet.

*The exersaucer is becoming our new best friend. It was slow going in the beginning, she'd tire of it quickly. But now it buys mommy shower time, so we love it. She's just started jumping up and down in it like she's had 12 Red Bulls.

Really hoping there's no lead in that pig.

*The legs are getting quite strong and she loves to stand while being held. If you lift her up in the air the legs go like crazy like she's running. It's hilarious.

Some fun pics from the past month:

A cute gift from her Swedish friend Isak Almgren. Sötnos means "cutie."

Wings of love.

Waiting for the train at Vasona. Will be waiting until spring.

First time on the swing at the park. Overwhelmingly unimpressed.

Closing the barn door.

Happy to be in my crib minus the swaddle.

Rockin' the cankles.

Our Little Olympian

Olympic fever has taken over our house. We watch the coverage each night, thankful for our DVR that allows us to fast-forward through all of the P&G commercials and the boring qualifying races. I also tend to fast-forward to the end of a figuring skating performance if there is a fall. Cutthroat.

Sofia has gotten into the spirit too. But before we get her fitted for skates, we thought we'd try out her short track racing outfit.

Just like Apolo, she prefers her hair slicked back for optimal performance.

Sandy sent her this Vancouver 2010 onesie that she has worn multiple times to show her support for Bode Miller, Lindsey Vonn, Johnny Weir and Bob Costas.

Are you checking out my bum? Eh?

Birthdays Galore

Last weekend we celebrated six, count 'em, 6! birthdays. Auntie Val (12/29), Steve's dad Ernie (12/30), Godfather/Uncle Nick (12/31), Cousin Marissa (1/3), Steve's mom Marcia (2/3) and Steve (2/7). It was a gift opening extravaganza to rival Christmas...which felt like it was just yesterday. Oh wait, it was.

We had a lovely time celebrating, first at Grammy & Nono's for cocktails and gifts.
The cocktail hour has quickly morphed into "Sofia on stage" time, which she doesn't seem to mind one bit.

Then we had dinner at Aldo's - which Sofia enjoyed immensely.

A rare family photo.

I'm already training her to keep her chin down and take the photo from above.

View from the high chair.

Happy 7 Months!

We are a few days late celebrating 7 months...Sofia couldn't decide what to wear. I think she chose wisely, with this adorable hot pink number with the built-in felt necklace that is all the rage this season. You may remember she wore a similar one in brown back in September for her 3 month photo shoot. Auntie Val calls it her "Michael Kors onesie." They were both gifts from Steve's college friend Beth. She found them at an adorable online boutique called Sam & Coop on Etsy. Don't be surprised if you have a baby and receive something from here.

Happy birthday!

Not on the approved list of Level One solids ...

At 7 months old we're doing some pretty exciting things...

We started swimming lessons at AVAC a few weeks ago and daddy gets to jump in the pool as the token dad whenever he can sneak away from work.

When there isn't a squeezy toy in her mouth, this is the mildly terrified look on her face during class.

*She's eating more solids, including apples, bananas, pears, carrots and butternut squash. So far the favorite by far are the bananas. At her 6 month visit she weighed in at 15lbs, 12 oz (50th) and was 26 inches tall (75th). The doc didn't think she'd gained enough, so we've been trying to bulk her up with more feedings of solids and nursing. She feels heavier to me, but we'll see when we go back for another check-up in couple of weeks. Maybe we should stop by GNC.

The most exciting update is that she's sitting on her own, just in the last week or so. She's slightly wobbly, but can stay in this position for a long time. Until her core gets tired or there is something interesting 6 inches away.

*They say it's a natural progression from sitting to crawling and she's on her way - but not quite sure what to do with her legs yet.
View the following photos as if they were a flip book:

It was a special occasion to have the crazy Farrah Faucet wings, normally we are a bit more refined.

Taking after Daddy already.

One of many playdates at Vasona we snuck in before the storm hit last week.
This is Sofia's friend Avery (8 months) climbing up to say hello.

I believe this is what they call "parallel play."

Twenty Ten

We hosted what has become our annual New Year's Eve party again this year and amazingly, with the the addition of Sofia, it really wasn't much different. Except that there was a baby sleeping in the other room. Last year three of us were pregnant and therefore not up for a ton of merriment. I remember conking out on the couch at like 12:01 and feeling like a terrible hostess. While we were all still tired (probably even more so) this year, we did last a little longer. Thanks to the girls for helping me get the kitchen cleaned up while the boys smoked cigars and drank the brown stuff outside.

We had planned for a babysitter, but she fell through. Sofia had slept marvelously through Christmas dinner at our house with a large, boisterous group in the dining room, so we figured she could do it again a week later - and save us $75. Our plan was successful and she didn't make a peep. AND she even slept until 8:00 am, which was great considering we didn't go to bed until after 2.

The highlight of the night for me was hearing Robin's brother Justin's story of meeting John Taylor's (of Duran Duran) daughters in London. They took him to a club where he met Simon LeBon. Justin (22) had heard of Duran Duran, but was oblivious to how exciting this encounter truly was.

The original "JT"

It seems I didn't take many photos of our guests, but here are some shots of this year's Steakhouse theme:

The menu.

Plenty of vino.

No vegans here.

My all time fave, Baked Alaska.

New Year's Blue Moon
A good omen for a great 2010, we hope!

A December to Remember

I must begin by saying that this December was leaps and bounds better than last December, also known as the Long December. Last year at this time I was in the throws of awful morning/all day sickness that lasted until...I don't even remember. Until I started taking Zofran and was able to make it through the day without heaving. But I digress, we're talking about THIS December which was filled with fun, good food, good drink, good friends and a great baby. Here are some highlights:

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On December 4th, we had a fun night out for the 10th annual Uncle Dave's Eggnog party that our friend Jim Foley throws. In exchange for bringing a toy, we get some tasty eggnog and a date night.

The oodles of toys collected for donation to Toys for Tots.

Enjoying a night out while Grandma Peg babysat.

The aftermath of dinner Kamakura.

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Every holiday season a group of my former Cisco co-workers get together to catch up. This year was especially fun because three of us had babies within two weeks of each other. Judy had Kai and Angela had twin girls. I didn't bring Sofia because mommy needed a night out.

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Another much anticipated annual event is the Horgan's Soup Supper. As the name implies, we feasted on tasty soups. But, of course, there were tasty libations and yummy dessert.

Sofia's presence at dinner.

We finally got to meet Dorothy Kearney (10 months), Sofia's well-traveled friend from Manhattan.
She's been to Europe. Twice.

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Rosemary, Erik, Devan and baby Myles Baker escaped the chill of Chicago for a pre-Christmas visit. Unfortunately, I didn't get many pics, but did get this cute one of Myles (2 months). He's already nearly as big as Sofia.

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I decided that Sofia had to experience Downtown San Jose's Christmas in the Park, even if she had no idea what was going on. Mostly because she couldn't see much from her stroller. Oh well, she's too small to run through the fountains anyhow. We lunched at Peggy Sue's with Dalane who was on her way to Christmas in Lodi.

We stopped by Santa's house, but he must have been in the Fairmont bar having a drink.
Or at the Star Trek exhibit at the Tech.

Lounging by the fire in the gingerbread house in the Fairmont lobby.