We Have Keys!

Many moons ago, I think it was August, Franco and I decided to start looking at houses on the off chance that we found one we liked better than the one we are living in. With the flood of foreclosed homes in the area, prices were way down and it could be a good opportunity. Well, low and behold, we found one within a few weeks. It was a short-sale and was in escrow at the time, so we doubted that our low offer would ever be considered. Fast forward to November when it fell out of escrow and our offer was accepted. Despite a few bumps along the way, we signed our paperwork last week.

Yesterday evening our realtor brought us the key! Very exciting, right? Actually there was a mix up and the key we got last night was not the actual key to our new house. No worries, Franco shimmied through a window to let us in so we could look around. Yep, we broke into the house. Amazingly the cops did not show up, nor did any of our neighbors. I'm going to have to start a neighborhood watch program! This morning our realtor dropped off the correct key and we're back in business. The plan is to move by the middle of January. We've already found a family that is going to rent our current house. Looks like we're off to a busy start this new year!

Above is a picture of the new house. It is about 2200 square feet, single-story on a corner lot in a gated subdivision. It is only a mile or two from our current home, but has four bedrooms and two and a half baths. Considering that it hasn't been occupied for months, it is in pretty good shape. The yard actually looks better than that now. Someone, not anyone our realtor knows of, cleaned up our yard front and back. That was a wonderful surprise -- one less thing to do.

When we get all situated, we'll have everyone over for a party.

Our Unexpected Christmas

Despite being scheduled to leave on Christmas Eve, Franco was home for Christmas! What a nice surprise. He was put on home-reserve, so we couldn't go far, but at least we were together. We hung out around the house in our pajamas for the better half of the day, I cooked and baked up a storm, then we got put-together enough to go visit some friends that live here in town (the Telfords). Merry Christmas!!

Reunion Time

Each year my college roommates and I try to get together for a mini-reunion. There are six of us girls, five are married, and four have kids, so it gets harder and harder to find a day and time that works for everyone. Add to the mix that two of girls live out of state and it is amazing that we ever see each other. We took the kids to Coyote Point Museum in San Mateo and then followed up with lunch downtown. It was a really nice day.

From left to right is me, Sophia, Mayra with her nephew Amadeus on her lap, Tara with Tom and Abby, Michelle, Amy and Baby Ella (in the stroller asleep). Katie was the only roommate missing, but she is at home in Boston with her brand new baby girl, Mae. Franco was the only husband in attendance, so he took the picture with each of our cameras. As always, he was a very good sport about being the only husband there. If he hadn't gone, I doubt I would have had a chance to talk to anyone... Sophia is a very busy girl.

Sophia did really well that day, despite a two hour car ride (awake) and having her nap pushed back a couple hours. She passed out within two minutes of driving on the ride home -- she was exhausted!

Sophia's Second Christmas

Since Franco is scheduled to work the actual holiday, we wrote to Santa and requested to receive Sophia's gifts early. Boy, what a headache! We were on the phone with all kinds of elves, had to send an official copy of Franco's work schedule, a typed request stating when we would like her gifts, and then we had to sign a contract which had to be notarized. But this morning we woke up to presents near our tiny tree -- the man delivered as requested.

Sophia received a toy cellphone, a book, some crayons, and various other little gifts. She was really good about helping rip off wrapping paper. The phone was the biggest hit of the morning. She made us all take turns holding it to our ears (including the cat). Here she is as she walked around making calls:

When all was said and done we noticed that Sophia had acquired a few more duck items from Santa and her grandparents (who were all here yesterday). This called for a picture! We located all of the duckies, positioned them and the child on her new little sofa, and clicked off a few pictures before she had a chance to throw them in every direction.

That's a lot of duckies! I'm not positive if we managed to count them all, but there are more than 30. This evening we took a couple new ducks to the bath and found out that some only float on their side and one floated best upside down. Apparently hats and scarves are weighted. Sophia loves them just the same.

All Bundled Up

Sophia and I just returned from a trip to our mailbox. It has been cold and rainy off and on all day today. I know it is California and I know we have nothing to complain about when it comes to weather, but I'm not used to the 40's. Our box is about a block from the house so I bundled up Sophia in several layers and left her slippers on because they are warmer than her shoes. She rode in her stroller so we could keep our trip short. Isn't she cute?!

Arts and Crafts

Christmas came early! While Sophia and I were out yesterday afternoon at a friend's house, Bella (our cat) decided to make me a present. Actually she made me four. That would be four little piles of vomit. It was like finding eggs at Easter -- with my socks. OK, I actually only found the first spot with my sock because I ran into my room with the lights off to get my slippers. Then, after throwing on all the lights to figure out what happened, I found the other spots. I'm very glad that I was the one that managed to find them instead of Sophia -- much easier to clean the floor than the cranky one-year-old. Poor Bella, it's probably my fault that she was sick. She doesn't get brushed as often as she should since we had Sophia. Luckily she seemed to have gotten it all out of her system and is feeling better.

As for the sock, I decided that it was too old to bother cleaning. Normally I'm not such a sissy when it comes to cleaning such things, but I just bought a new pack of socks about 3 days ago and figured I could justify throwing away the one old one. There will be no pictures attached to this posting. :)

Toddler Photo Shoot

This morning I decided that it was time to do a toddler photo shoot. Now most of you know that I used to do baby photo shoots on a pretty regular basis -- they were easy and fun. Sophia used to stay put and was delighted to smile for a half hour while I made funny faces at her. Toddler photo shoots are much shorter, have a moving target, a more disgruntled subject and result in a lot fewer usable shots. Last night my dear subject also had a rough night of sleep and woke up extra early (5:45AM) -- neither of us were at our best. Lets take some pictures!

I snapped off about 20 total. Sophia smiled in 3. Her eyes were red in the first couple from tears -- she didn't want to stand or sit with a hat on. Then I gave her little ornaments to play with. She wanted to sit -- this is when I realized that her jumper was too short for sitting in any sort of modest way.



I think this is the picture that I like best, but there are a few more in the gallery.

Later in the morning Sophia became so tired that she started bumping into things. Now she has had a nap and is doing much better. However, I'm not into doing another photo shoot any time soon. I'll be content act like the paparazzi and just follow her with my camera.

Copy Kitty

Sophia, mommy's little copy cat, now likes to have lotion put on her hands and feet. Before she could take it or leave it, but lately she sees me doing something and she wants to do it too. Hand sanitizer gets the same point and "uh-uh-uh" action as lotion. She gets very disturbed if I don't at least pretend to rub some on her hands.

In the morning she wants a bite of whatever I'm eating -- she liked the crust on my whole wheat toast these last few mornings. Her crackers, cereal, and pancakes all get eaten more quickly if I have a bite first. Tonight we each had a spoon and took turns dipping them into the bowl as I fed her dinner. I hope this new phase lasts for a bit, because it is making meals a lot easier.

Bella update: Sophia loves and hugs on poor Bella all day long these days. Bella is taking it like a champ. She hasn't hissed or swatted or anything. She doesn't even run away half the time now. I think the cat likes all the attention.

And check out this hair. Most of the time it is so curly in the back that you can't appreciate how long it has become...

A Mystery Box

Late this afternoon I was talking on the phone and UPS made an unexpected delivery. I was pretty sure all of my orders had already arrived, but the box was addressed to me... maybe I forgot about something. Well, I opened the box and low and behold it was four big bags of candy corn. This cracked me up. Right after Halloween I wrote to Brach's and told them that I got a bag of candy corn "bits" -- it looked like the delivery truck ran the bag over a few times before it got to Target. When customer service didn't email me back I figured that they round-filed my complaint. Apparently not. According to the letter they appreciated my feedback and sent me some replacement candy. It's more than 4 pounds of candy corn! During Halloween I couldn't get enough of this stuff, but the moment has pretty much passed. I opened one bag tonight and it just tasted weird... wrong thing, wrong time. Oh well, I'm pretty sure it doesn't go bad. If anyone has a craving, let me know and I'll send a bag your way!

Santa Claus?

Today Franco and I took Sophia for her very first visit to Santa. Very exciting! We never managed to do it last year. However, Santa was not the jolly, sweet-looking guy that I saw on the news a few nights back. Instead he was looking a little "worn". Franco reminds me that he was nice and we didn't have to wait in much of a line since we went early in the day. Good points. Sophia handled the experience fairly well since we let her hold her polar bear. She didn't protest until later pictures (we don't have those to share). However, I did not get to see the actual photo until we got home because we purchased the digital photo and the copyright.

Maybe the people running the show didn't think that I cared what face Santa was making as long as my little darling was looking cute... Is it just me or does Santa looks like he's making a pirate face? Next year I'm holding out for the more "polished" Santa, even if it means standing in a bit of a longer line.

Melba Toast

OK, I've got to praise the makers of Melba Toast. Sophia loves this stuff. While it has very little nutritional value because it is basically thin, crispy, white toast, it gives her extra calories. After a long day of grumpy baby I also found it has a new use. She'll eat other foods off of it and beg for more! I was having a heck of a time getting her to eat from a spoon today and she ended up eating a ton of dinner in dip form. She ate her spinach as a dip and her pumpkin applesauce. I just hope she'll continue to eat from a spoon on occasion.

American Music Awards

Miracle of all miracles: Sophia has been sleeping better for the past week or so. It has been really nice. Franco and I have even had time to sit together and watch a little television after dinner. Last night we didn't have a lot to choose from, so we decided to watch the American Music Awards. It all started out OK -- Christina Aguilara opened and we like her (she can actually sing really well). Then various stars tried their best to give out awards but seemed to have difficulty reading their lines off of the teleprompter. That was just funny. Then there was an act that was just plain disturbing... the New Kids on the Block. Have you heard that they are back?? Yeah, I don't think it will be for long. I was a big fan back in 1990 but they thoroughly trampled all of my fond memories. The guys must be in their 30's and 40's now -- not one kid amongst them. Unfortunately for the "kids" their voices aged and it seems that none of them can sing anymore. Their dance moves were pretty much like they were in their glory days, except slower and stiffer -- like geriatric patients. Franco said that he and Dan could master them in a couple hours if they had a few beers. The audience gave them a pity standing ovation. I couldn't watch anymore. I can't believe that Donnie Walhberg, who has had a fairly good acting career (we loved him in Band of Brothers), allowed himself to be talked into this. Sad, sad, sad.

Pee Wee Gym

On Thursday we took Sophia to the community center to what they call the Pee Wee Gym. For a small fee you can take your small child in to run around and play with their equipment during open hours. It's kind of like your high school gymnasium, except clean, with balls and bikes and tunnels all over the place. We happened to catch a freebie day -- not sure the occasion. Sophia had a blast. All Franco and I did was chase her around as she trotted from one area to another. She wanted to play near the bigger boys. And in true toddler style, she wanted whatever toy anyone else was holding. We stayed for about an hour, until she was crawling from being too tired to walk anymore. Naps permitting, we will definitely be going back again.

Sophia had trouble deciding which ball was the best, but the blue one was her favorite for about a minute.

Paging Doctor Salluce...

Sophia found a little cord in the office that she started putting over her head and on her shoulders. I thought, she never sees us wearing anything around our necks... where did this funny little behavior come from? Franco saw her do it yesterday and said that it looks like the stethoscope the doctor drapes around her neck. I like it. We'd better start saving to send her to medical school.

Fast as a Flash!

Maybe she isn't as fast as a speeding bullet, but I noticed this evening that Sophia has picked up speed. When Franco and I were on the phone she was running from one place to another in the room. It's probably because she has been free to roam the house most of this week. She'll follow me from room to room and, when she does wander out of sight, she'll come when I call. My little duckling.

As a follow up from the last post, Bella has been especially good with Sophia today. Bella let her pat her, feed her a bottle, and kiss her. I even got a little video of the love-fest.

Bella Exiled

Sophia and I were sitting on the couch last night and Bella decided to come sit next to us. Sophia began kicking at her gently, which the cat seemed to like at first (lots of purring). In a flash, it all got ugly and the stupid cat ended up scratching my baby on the leg. It wasn't a huge scratch but there were lots of tears. Bella, the strictly indoor cat, got pitched into the garage for an hour for a time-out. As I see it, she had a choice of whether or not to sit by us. Had Sophia cornered her or picked her up I would have been a lot more forgiving. Bella was thoroughly traumatized by her visit to the garage (I even left the light on for her) and had to be located and carried back into the house later in the evening. Today Bella seemed to walk near Sophia a lot and let her pat her extra before running away. I think she was trying to make amends...