A Year & A Half + Some

I meant to do an update at 18 months...and here we are approaching 20 months. It's not easy to blog (or even get near the computer) when Sofia wants nothing more than to pound on the keyboard while sitting in a big person chair.

While there are many recent blog posts to share (Christmas, anyone?) I thought I'd skip ahead and provide an update since she's growing and changing so fast - I know I'll forget if I wait much longer.

Busy. That's the only word to describe her. Always moving, always looking for the next thing to do, always jabbering. Toddler-hood is upon us in full force. We've even encountered a few little tantrums which make me nervous for what is around the corner. My mild mannered, easy-going, lovey little girl has proven that she does have horns. This likely does not surprise ALL other parents out there, but I thought maybe we'd get lucky.

Here's some of the latest:

*She's been saying a fair amount of words in the past 6 months, but just recently the "language explosion" has been evident. She's finally really starting to mimic, somewhat correctly, what we're saying. Some new words: bubble, Buddy (in reference to Auntie Jen), airplane. When an airplane is spotted in the sky she's say "Airplane!! Bye-bye." and wave as it flies away. We're still using sign language for a lot of stuff and it definitely helps her get her point across.

While watching this great will.i.am song on Sesame Street, she correctly identified all of the characters. This most definitely does not mean she's watching too much TV. It just means she's a genius. Favorites are Elmo & Abby, but recently Cookie Monster and Zoe have been popular. Fun fact: Grover and Miss Piggy = same voice. Ok, maybe we're both watching too much Sesame Street.

We've been keeping busy with lots of fun activities -
*Regular babysitting by Grammy ("Mimi") Marcia. Sofia adores this time and hollers MIMI anytime there is a knock at the door or a blond woman is walking down the street. This time is treasured by mommy too...

*Sit N' Play every Tuesday which is a 2-hour play date where 5 moms switch off hosting. When you aren't hosting or helping, you are free to go. It's a win-win. The kids are getting some great play time and making friends and mommy gets to run a few errands or eat lunch in peace! We've made some wonderful friends through this group.

*Classes - We're going to The Little Gym which is kinds like Gymboree or My Gym but more gymnastics oriented. She loves it and runs around like a banshee from one thing to the next. It's exhausting for everyone. We've also continued with swimming lessons and she's finally getting into the swing of it. After taking a few months off, this last session she wasn't loving it. But now she's much more comfortable. We've been taking the class with our friends Claire & Grant, who's just a few months older. Such fun!

*Occasional grunts and whining aside, she's still super lovey and is generous with her hugs and kisses...even to strangers, which could be a problem. She LOVES babies and anytime she sees a real baby or a picture of a baby she reaches out like she wants to hold it. And is disappointed when the photo in the book doesn't jump out of the book into her arms.

*She's been a pretty good eater as of late. If anyone has some new foods I can try to bring into the mix, do share. We pretty much have been successful with: scrambled eggs, hot dogs, pb&j, grilled cheese and turkey, mushrooms carrots, pancakes and waffles, smoothies, the occasional pasta or mac and cheese will strike her fancy.

*She's finally on one nap a day. I was resistant to it because often when we did try it, she would only sleep for 1.5 hours max and that just wasn't cutting it. But today she's been asleep for almost 3 hours, and that I'll take!

Here's are some fun recent pictures:

Eating a Nutri Grain bar (at her "desk"). She asks for a "ba!" and reaches up to the pantry door about 10 times a day.

Discovering that the San Jose Children's Discovery Museum is very fun...and very wet.

Huge fan of the jumpy house. Even on her bottom.

Always wants to walk, even if transportation is provided.

You Are The Sun...

Inspired by the Mother-Son dance at Meghan & Craig's wedding (blog post to come soon) on New Year's Eve, I downloaded the song "You Are" by Lionel Richie. Sofia enjoyed it and was sad when I informed her that Soul Train is no longer on the air.

Turkey Weekend

Thanksgiving weekend brought some great times and proof that Sofia is now officially a toddler (i.e. occasionally a pain in the ass).

We kicked off the weekend with a small gathering of the usual suspects. The days of meeting at the bar on the Wednesday before Thanksgiving has long gone to the wayside and now we attempt more family friendly events that still include beer & wine. Chaos ensued - mainly in the form of 7 boys ranging in age from 5 to 10. WOW.

The hostess with the mostess.

The boys take a break from trying to find something fun to play with amongst the little girl baby toys.

Thanksgiving Day started with the usual TV tug-o-war between football and the Macy's Parade. String just can't get enough of Al Roker's bad jokes and Broadway performances. The day was going smoothly until Sofia took a face plant on the driveway mid-afternoon. The bump on her upper lip must have bothered her immensely because her performance at Thanksgiving dinner was definitely sub-par. Grumpy and pissed. I think the only food she ate all evening was a piece of cheese and a biscotti. Thankfully, carrying around other people's purses and wearing Grammy's jewelry seemed to brighten her mood.

This pretty much sums it up.

Anti-social, but content with her umbrella.

A girl's best friend...

The day after Thanksgiving was the annual sausage making party at the Bisceglia's. The grown-ups are quickly becoming outnumbered! Great fun, food, friends, Beaujolais Nouveau and a rocking horse. What more do you need?

Meeting of the minds.

Alone for 5 minutes in the playroom with the older kids = covered in stickers.

Noni, Sofia & Mommy enjoying lunch.

Jesse & Caitlin sans Jack who surely is being snuggled by Grandma Debbie.
You can see more of Jack here!

I heart rocking horses.

A Rare Martha Moment

My "Martha" moments used to occur much more frequently. Nowadays, they have to be prompted. Before a post-Thanksgiving party, String suggested "Why don't you make marshmallows? You haven't done that in years." So, I hopped online to find the Barefoot Contessa recipe I'd used in the past. But instead stumbled upon this one from Alton Brown that I like much better.

And who doesn't love a s'more? So I broke up some squares of graham crackers and Hershey bars and viola! S'more in a cupcake cup.

Sous Chef/Taste Tester

Fall Firsts

Recently Sofia experienced a couple of very important milestones. Well, one very important (at least in Steve's family) and the other not that important unless she decides to become an equestrian (highly unlikely considering mommy's aversion to manure). But both very cute.

She has attended her fair share of Stanford pre-game tailgates over the past two seasons, but for the Stanford vs. Arizona game on November 4th she actually was allowed into the stadium. For about an 1/8th of the first quarter, but still...Once the novelty of everyone cheering wore off, she was content to make her way back and forth in our row for about 10 minutes. Then it was time for mommy and Sofia to make the trek back to the car and San Jose where we could watch Stanford pummel Arizona in the comfort of the living room.

Visiting with Noni, Andrea & Marissa.

Cheering on the Cardinal with Grammy.

Earlier that same day we attended our friend Emma's 3rd birthday party in her grandparent's backyard. The company Once Upon a Pony brought Blue, the very old and gentle pony for the kids to ride as well as a pen full of cool looking chickens, rabbits and a pigmy goat. Sofia was very tentative towards Blue in the beginning, but warmed up and started following him. It took a couple of tries, but finally she sat and rode around the driveway and then refused to dismount.

It certainly wasn't a look of pure joy, but it wasn't terror!

Don't Hurry Down the Chimney

Despite visiting Santa (from the stroller) earlier in the week to try to "warm up" to him,
this is exactly what I was expecting. Needless to say, she forgot to tell him what she wanted for Christmas.

Compare to last year when she was blissfully unaware of the dude behind her.
Didn't realize until now (comparing to cool mall Santa above) how fake his beard looks.
The lawn chair doesn't help!

Pumpkin Cutie Pie

Back before Halloween Sofia and I made the trek down to Morgan Hill and Uesugi Farm to check out their HUGE pumpkin patch extravaganza. It's only a few blocks from Grandma Peg's work, so she met us on her lunch hour. Just a handful of pics from the outing...

Pumpkin carving contest winners. WOW.

The queens of the patch.

Our new favorite thing: Kissing stuff. Anything. Pumpkins, pictures in books, daddy's slippers.

Perspective.

Ready to roll.

"Hey you, horse. Where are you taking me?"