One Year Old!

HAPPY 1ST BIRTHDAY!

Wow, what a month! I feel like Sofia has had more milestones this month than the rest of her 11 months combined! Ok, maybe not, but it's significant stuff:

*She waited and tried and waited and finally figured out the crawling thing on her 11 month birthday. Now, she's OFF...loving to crawl all over the house (and show us how dirty the floors are).

*However, if she's hanging out in the "pit" (which is most of the time) she prefers to stand and holler. She stands up and yells as if she's stuck. And she is pretty much stuck, since her cruising abilities are somewhat limited, but she's getting there.
*Sofia LOVES Daddy. She literally jumps out of my arms in excitement when she sees him. It's the cutest thing in the whole world.

*The sleep situation: She's FINALLY sleeping (at night) without being swaddled. We haven't tackled naps yet because the swaddle routine is working, so we're going with it. We finally lowered the crib mattress and added a breathable bumper which keeps her limbs in and saves the pacifier from the floor. Also notice the cream crib cover. Our little "termite" as Nono has coined her, was really enjoying munching on her crib railing. This seems to have helped and she hasn't noticed that there is plenty of wood still within reach.

*We've been *trying* to utilize the sign language that we learned in the 6 week course we took in April-May. To be honest, we're not as diligent as we could be, but I'm more motivated now that I see she's actually getting it and learning the signs VERY quickly. After just one or two times, she'll remember a new sign and associate it with the word. She's not exactly using them to ask for things, but she does use them when the word is said. "Twinkle, Twinkle," milk, waves and duck all seem to be the same. Just depends on if I'm quacking or holding a bottle. She does seem to be using "more" and "eat/food" in the right context. But she'll push her bottle away, sign for more but then not want it. Eventually she'll make sense of it all. Or we will.

*We completed our second session of swimming lessons at AVAC (24 weeks total) and a short week long session at Presentation H.S. with our friends Amy & Mia. Sof is very comfortable in the water and will hold her breath and go under, no problem. The perk of the lessons at the high school is that we can walk there. Since the locker rooms are not exactly equipped for changing a wriggly child out of her swimsuit, I decided to just bundle her up, head home and hope for the best. I think (hope) the wet spot on the stroller seat was from her wet bathing suit.

*The most amazing development is that she finally seems to understand what we are saying! It's like a lightbulb went on this past month and all of a sudden when I ask her to find the stuffed ducky, she crawls over and picks it up. AND gives him a hug when prompted. Amazing.

Enjoying the St. Christopher Festival with Grammy & Nono

Standing tall.

Studying her photo album.

She looks so grown up in her stroller! Although not very happy.

Birthday Balloons!

Maybe his name should be "Early-ton"

Our new friend, Leighton James Effertz, made an earlier than expected arrival on June 10th - six weeks early! Thankfully, he is doing just fine and was able to finally come home from the hospital this weekend. He weighed in at a whopping 5lbs, 13 ounces at birth! His weight has gone down as he's been trying to figure out this eating thing, but he'll be back up in no time. We can't wait to meet him!

Baby Effertz

I snuck away to LA for TWO whole nights in May for Marie's baby shower. It was heavenly! Of course, I missed the husband and child. But it was really fun to be in LA on the westside and visit with some of the LMU crew. Friday night enjoyed a fun dinner with Liz, Jen and Maile...so good in fact, that I forgot to take a picture. Must have been the pitcher of margaritas at Mucho's in Manhattan Beach. Saturday morning Jen and I took a stroll on the Strand in MB/Hermosa and oogled the houses.

Donna Martin Graduates!

The shower was at the adorable Chado Tea Room in LA and it was virtually the most stress-free shower I've ever co-thrown. Me and the girls exchanged maybe 5 emails and it was planned. Like Steve said, this wasn't our first rodeo. And the tea house did most of the work. We loved seeing Marie's pregnant belly...the last time she was this pregnant she was looking adorable in a bridesmaid dress in my wedding.

Me, Marie, Katy (due in August), Gigi & Stacy

Baby Gianna Luna at her SECOND tea house baby shower. She slept the whole time!

Yum.

In addition to the fun shower, I got to spend some quality time on the road with Amy-Jo and Gianna (who wasn't much of a conversationalist). It was great to sneak in a catch-up session on the 405. Post-shower Marie and I made the obligatory Coffee Bean run and spent the afternoon playing Super Mario on the Wii. I couldn't have asked for more!

Jackson prepping his "tickle fingers" for his new little brother.

Mother's Day Redux

My first Mother's Day was thankfully must less dramatic than my last Mother's Day. Once again, we enjoyed a fabulous dinner at Evvia but I was feeling just fine on the drive home and the evening was uneventful. The star of the show was most definitely Miss Sofia. She had a spot by the door so she could greet and wave bye-bye to all of the patrons. When not acting as the only blond hostess, she was busy making Marissa pick up her toys from the floor. This would have been OK, except that poor Marissa had suffered a curling injury just a couple days prior. Yes, you read that correctly. A perk of working for Google is that Marissa gets to go on cool outings like the one to the Sharks Ice Arena where her group received a curling lesson. The most important thing she learned was not to fall on her wrist when slipping on the ice.

Buddies.

Uncle Michael, Sofia on phone, Andrea, Sofia in person & Auntie Val.

We're still working on her manners.

Happy 11 Months!

Once again Sofia is pushing the envelope with her fashion sense.
White pants the week before Memorial Day? What a renegade!

Some excitement from the past month...

*To celebrate her 11 month birthday, she took her first legitimate crawling "scoots!" Life as we know it will soon be over.

*Fiesty! That's the best word to describe Sofia these days. In particular, when it comes to diaper and clothing changes. The words "wrestling a pig" often comes to mind when trying to quickly complete these tasks! Her new favorite thing to do while getting her diaper changed is to roll over and bite the edge of the table.

*She is sleeping through the night more often these days, which is a wonderful thing! If she does wake up, it's usually just once.

*Nursing was swiftly cut short when Sofia decided that biting is fun! I tried all the tricks to make her stop, to no avail. So, we're supplementing with formula until we can introduce milk. I have mixed feelings about stopping...I'm thrilled to have stopped pumping, but I admit I'll miss the time with her.

*We completed a 6 week course in baby sign language a couple weeks ago. Now the trick will be actually using it.

*She's begun to mimic loud noises like the vacuum, blender and the grinder at Starbucks. I think it's hilarious. I'm not sure if the other customers agree.

*She's giving hugs now, but they are really just a ploy to get closer to her favorite thing of all - HAIR.

"Helping" Mommy pack for her trip to LA.

I heart waffles.

The End.

Cinco de Swirlo

Two of my favorite things are Garwood's Wet Woodies and Aqui swirls. Wet woodies only come once per year (August in Lake Tahoe) but swirls are just down the street. In two different directions! Unfortunately (or fortunately) it only takes one swirl to impair my judgment and force me to order a second. So I try to limit my consumption.

When mom friend Amy and I found out that our new friend Tina was a swirl virgin, we decided that Cinco de Mayo would be the perfect time to de-flower her. Actually, it was Tina's idea but we did not disagree. So with all four kids in tow, we met up for a lunch date to celebrate Mexico's unlikely victory over the French in 1862.

Fiesta shirt.

Super shades Michaela.

Avery jonesin' for a swirl.

The gang minus Tina who was getting the swirls.

Happy Birthday Grandpa!

Grandpa Dick loves to give presents to everyone else on his birthday. This year, for Grandpa's 75th birthday Sofia received some new patio furniture. One for her and one for a date. We're taking applications.

Gelato, wine & formula. Mmmm...

Grandma Peg & Sofie