"Day After" Shopping Trip

This morning when I woke up I had no intention of going to any of the after-Christmas mayhem. I never shop on the weekends anymore, let alone on a holiday weekend. However, on the news they said it was fairly quiet. Since there were a few items I wanted to pick up for next year, I decided that we would give it a shot. We managed to get to Target and WalMart without too much hassle. We didn't get out until after eight this morning, so some stuff was pretty picked over. However, we did get a few things that I wanted.

Sophia was a trooper. The promise of looking in the toy isle of each store, combined with sufficient snacks, made her pretty agreeable. After WalMart she insisted that we go to "one more store!" before heading home. To appease her and get some lunch, we stopped at Rite Aid to see if they had any white LED lights left (yeah, right -- not at 11:30 AM). Rite Aid happened to be next to one of our favorite little Mexican places, so we went over for a chicken burrito and chips. Sophia mostly ate chips, but who can blame her? She had been snacking all morning! Now she is napping and I'm off to the shower. :)

Actual Christmas Day

Franco left on the 23rd, so on Christmas Eve Sophia and I headed down to his parents' house to hang out with them and Sophia's uncle. Lisa, Bert and Nadia showed up on Christmas Day (the real one this time).

There were more presents.

Sophia and Nadia played with baby dolls together. (Poor Nadia was SO tired at this point.)

Nadia had a bit of a nap and agreed to pose for a picture with her mommy and their new baby.

Here's Nonno feeding the new baby. He's such a good sport.

Now Sophia is wilting. She was WAY overdue for a nap by the time Auntie Lisa took this picture for us. Next year we need to remember to take pictures before presents, because bribery is a strong motivator for toddler cooperation in pictures.

Merry Christmas!

Santa Came!

This year Santa came early again! He knew Franco would be gone, so he brought her toys on Monday night after Sophia went to bed. Opening presents first thing on Tuesday morning was definitely out of routine, but Sophia rolled with it. Her favorite toy by far was a Busy Ball Popper. He must have known she would like it from seeing her play it with her buddy, Ethan, a few weeks ago.



Sophia says, "Cheese!" when she saw the camera. Look for the video of her laughing hysterically while playing with this thing.

Santa also brought Sophia some puzzles and other fun stuff that she plays with on Ball Popper breaks.

Christmas, Take 1

Our family Christmas that included all of Sophia's grandparents was held at our house on the Saturday before. Sophia wasn't in a real cooperative mood when it came to pictures, so I mostly got shots of her from the side as she opened presents and played.

Franco's mom got us a big ol' jar of peppercinis, which we love.


No, Sophia's feet aren't that huge. She's wearing Franco's shoes as she pushes around her new Barbie trike. They might actually help since her feet have a hard time reaching the pedals.


And here is a lovely picture of all the grandparents. We couldn't get Sophia in there to save our lives! We all had a nice visit, though.

December Discoveries

Discovery #1: I apparently hurt my toe.

While removing the polish on my toenail I found that there was some "natural" black coloring under the nail. My first thought was: Oh my god, I've got mold under my nail! A very distressing thought. Then I saw that there was a small triangle surrounded by the blackness and figured that I must have hit it to make that pattern. I seem to recall hitting my toe pretty hard on something last month and hopping around Sophia's room... Goes to show how often I paint my toenails this time of year.

Discovery #2: Corelle does break.

Corelle dishes are resistant to chips and breaks, but not indestructible as I once believed. Apparently they cannot be dropped from atop a high chair onto the tile floor. In that case, they shatter into a million little shards.

Discovery #3: Sophia still cannot eat egg whites.

Though not allergic, it would appear that she still has an "intolerance" to egg whites (strictly a stomach problem). Not an issue when in foods, such as cakes and cookies. But turned out to be a little bit of an issue when we discovered that she likes fried eggs. Two or three mornings in a row resulted in some diaper rash that took two or three days to pass.

Discovery #4: I remembered why I finish all my Christmas shopping early.

Went to Kohl's a on the 23rd during the day to see if a sweater I liked was on sale. I was almost relieved when I found out that they didn't have one in my size. The lines were ridiculously long and the shelves were super messy. The music was blaring. I had planned on going to Target or WalMart to pick up some household items, but instead bailed on the whole shopping thing after a half-hour in Kohl's. I gave some random woman my $10 off coupon and went home. Crazy people.

Another Playdate!

Sophia and her buddy, Cloudia, got to play for a bit on Friday evening. Cloudia is five and so sweet to Sophia. They had a great time.

I happen to know that Sophia is wearing her second outfit of that day in this picture. Strangely it is the same outfit she was wearing in her last playdate photo.

Playdate

Sophia has been hanging with Tom and Abby this week. First we went to their house Friday, then they came over Saturday (pictured above) and then we went to their house again on the bike this morning. She was so sad when they had to go to school this morning - Sophia wanted to go, too. Soon enough. We haven't been able to play for a while because different members of each household were suffering from random illnesses. Woo-hoo for being healthy!

Everyone is beginning to look so big. All three bottoms do NOT fit on the little couch. :)

Where We've Been

We have been keeping pretty busy around here, especially last week when Franco was home. On Mondays and Wednesdays we go to a mom's group (led by a certified trainer) to work out and let the kids play at the park. Last Thursday and Friday we finally managed to decorate for Christmas (and taught Sophia not to touch the tree). Over the weekend we went to Modesto and hung out with family and some friends (lots of fun). Monday I finally filled out our Christmas cards (but ran out of stamps). On Tuesday Franco took Sophia to the Pee Wee Gym (it was too cold for the park) while I ran to the grocery store. Today I took Sophia on my errands in the morning and rewarded her with a trip to the library post-nap.

Today's trip to the library was a first in quite some time. We headed downtown to our newer library and it was really nice. After reading about 15 books, we spent twenty minutes on the computer playing little kid games. Sophia liked playing something different. At home we play some games on Kneebouncers, which is part of why I hardly blog lately. Anytime I get near the computer when she is awake, Sophia wants to take a turn. Anyway, Sophia picked out one book and I picked her out three more. Check the video bar for a clip of her reading the one she picked out, Polar Bear, Polar Bear, What did you hear?, right after we got home. It will be interesting to see what happens when it is time to return these books. Calliou didn't cover that part in his trip-to-the-library episode.

Holiday Beginnings

On Sunday the three of us headed over to the nearest big store with a photo studio to have a holiday portrait taken. I've never actually taken Sophia anywhere for pictures, so I didn't know what to expect. I just figured that I'd like a picture of the three of us without someone getting their head cut out of the frame, or my bra-strap showing, or other issue. We talked it up with Sophia all day but she still completely clammed up when we got there. There were lots of tears and she kept hiding her face in my shoulder. Though we eventually got a few shots, it required a photographer change (from male to female) and a great deal of patience AND a trip to the toy department afterwards (to browse). We get the pictures December 4th and I hope they turn out OK. When you see our Christmas card, you can decide for yourselves.

Yesterday we decided to put up the Christmas tree. We bought it two years ago at an after-Christmas sale and never even opened it. Last year Sophia was newly walking and we were getting ready to move, so we didn't even bother with our decorations. Since Franco left today (yep, he's gone for Turkey Day) we thought we'd get a jump on things. He brought it in, assembled it... it looked great. Well, it looked great until we went to plug it in. Something is very wrong with the pre-wired lights and the darn thing doesn't light up. Franco checked conductivity of cords with some sort of man-device, checked all of the fuses, pulled bulbs, wiggled wires... NOTHING. Our warranty is still good, so I filed a claim today. We will see how quickly the company responds. The lady on the phone made it sound like it will be resolved very soon, but it has been my experience that people that answer phones on consumer help lines rarely know what is actually going on. So, the tree is back in the box and my decorating is on hold for now. At least I don't have to spend the week chasing Bella with a squirt bottle to keep her away from the tree.

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving and I am thankful for the wonderful Turkey dinner that I had at my mother-in-law's house last weekend. I'm also thankful that I don't have to travel anywhere with all the holiday hub-bub, that Franco reached his destination safely with all the hub-bub, and that my mom is visiting us on Friday after most of the hub-bub. Sophia and I will make Turkey noodle soup for our grand feast and Skype with Franco. I hope everyone has a good holiday and stays safe.

To Grandma's House We Go

Yesterday we took a drive down to Grandma & Nonno's house. It was our first official trip with the car seat turned in the forward facing position. California law says she could have turned at age one as long as she was twenty pounds. I read that it is safest to keep our kids turned around as long as possible. Since Sophia is such a big girl, we decided that turning two was the age for her (I'd wait longer if she were more petite). At her well-child visit on Wednesday, she was found to be 28.5 pounds (with her clothes on) and 35 inches tall. That is about the 70Th and 80Th percentiles, respectively.

You may remember that she threw up in her car seat on our Disneyland trip and I attempted to wash the straps in the sink at the hotel. This did not fix the smell permanently, so I was going to wash them again when we got home. Unfortunately, the Britex instruction manual recommends not submerging the straps in water. When I called to ask them why, they said that they cannot guarantee how the straps would perform in a crash because water might make them stretch or weaken. Luckily, we could order new straps and all is good with the world again. We plan on Sophia using this car seat for a while, so we don't want to worry about it's ability to keep her safe in a crash.

We're pretty sure she likes the forward facing position...



While visiting the grandfolks, Sophia got to have a play date with her favorite cousin, Nadia. Nadia also brought along her little friend, Julia, who happens to be just a couple months younger than Sophia. Julia is visiting California with her mommy, Cynthia.




After a faux-Thanksgiving meal, we took all the little hoodlums out to feed the chickens.



We tried to get the girls to sit in a row by the vegetable garden, but Julia was the only one to cooperate.



We could only get two at a time to sit on the bench, but they rarely looked toward the camera.



Franco should have worn a Santa suit because they all wanted to sit with him for a picture (kind of...).



Cynthia and Julia brought Sophia a birthday present, which included a handmade tutu and some little red envelopes with lucky money. You'll see the tutu in pictures soon. The envelopes were so cute, I thought I'd take a picture. I put them under Sophia's mattress in the Chinese tradition. Hopefully they will bring her some good luck. :)

Sunday Evening Update

A new week is beginning and I feel terribly behind on my blog. Not that a lot is happening around here.

The rest of our Disneyland trip was uneventful. I will post a funny little video of Sophia riding the carousel soon. We all (grandparents included) had a really good time and did a lot of walking. Carrying Sophia while we walked basically crippled me on the day we drove home. Each time I got out of the car it felt like that first time I went snowboarding (lots of falling).

I think I've finally found a play group that I want to join. A woman I met through some mutual friends invited us to join a fitness group. They meet at a couple parks near my house twice a week. The moms work out and the kids play (or ride in the strollers). Everyone was very nice when I went on Wednesday. I think I'll meet them again tomorrow. Sophia loves the park.

Yesterday I unleashed my inner math-geek. While reconciling my credit card statements, I decided to add up all the coupons I've used each month. We started getting the Sunday paper earlier this year and I started clipping coupons as a type of hobby. I had three months of statements and receipts, so here are my totals.

End of July: $16.49 (the statement started on 7/22)
August: $24.52
September: $26.30
October: $83.92
Total: $151.73

October was a heck of a month because I had some irregular coupons. CVS sent out two $10 off of $20 coupons as a "come check out our new store" incentive. The guy let me use both coupons at once on my bill, not realizing how smartly I had shopped. I walked out with eight bags of Snickers (BOGO free), Crayola sidewalk chalk (marked $7) and Crayola paint (BOGO 1/2 off) for $2.14. I also used a $10 Kohl's coupon (worked like a gift card) and a couple Gap coupons. This month is off to a good start. Yesterday I bought six boxes of Chex cereal for $7.

That's all for now. Goodnight.

Report from Disneyland

OK, I'm reporting from our hotel near Disneyland. Sophia is passed out cold and I'm trying to entertain myself with something other than a nap. Today is Day 3 of our vacation adventure.

Let's begin our story with Day 1, Thursday. It was a bright sunny morning and our house was busy with packing - but not frantic. We left before 10AM... totally on schedule. Though I packed a variety of toys for her, Sophia most enjoyed playing with toys she picked: her pumpkin candy bucket from Halloween and a stuffed Chick-Fil-A cow that she insisted was a panda. We drove a couple hours and stopped for lunch. None of us ate much because the meal was only satisfactory, but at least we ate. Sophia caught a nap for a couple of hours and woke right as we got to the Grapevine. We made a pit stop, gave Sophia a quick snack and then let her run around. Back in the car. A couple hours later we got stuck in rush hour traffic near L.A., which was our own fault for not leaving earlier (to account for stops). Oh well, we tried to make the best of it. Then Sophia got sad. Then Sophia threw up. I then did some fancy acrobatics getting to the back seat in under 10 seconds. The pumpkin bucket became a trashcan for yuck-filled napkins. Franco quickly maneuvered the car off to the nearest exit and miraculously found a McDonald's parking lot (in a sketchy neighborhood in "little Mexico"). Sophia got a bath with handy wipes, a new outfit and felt better. Franco took the car seat out and cleaned out the bigger chunks that I missed. Back in the car. Somehow managed to get back to the freeway. An hour or so later we were washing car seat straps in the bathroom of our hotel room. Unfortunately Franco's throat was getting scratchy and his sinuses were getting plugged. He caught Sophia's head cold. Good thing I insisted on bringing the humidifier. Everyone slept as comfortably as you can in a hotel room.

Day 2 was a little slow to get going, but we were all in pretty good spirits. Franco had some Tylenol and was feeling decent. We had a good breakfast at the hotel and headed off to Mickey's house as soon as we got all situated. We decided that we wanted to go to the It's a Small World ride first because we knew that Sophia would love it. It was closed! They're getting all ready for the holidays in Disneyland, so it takes like two weeks for them to change all the doll's clothes. OK. We instead went to Toon Town to meet Minnie and Mickey. Sophia enjoyed this and we got pictures (I'll post them when we get home). Then we rode a few rides and came back to the hotel for lunch and a nap. My folks arrived around this time and we all headed back for some more fun in the evening. Sophia isn't used to being out at night and was very clingy. However, she enjoyed the Dumbo ride, the carousel (twice - no waiting), the submarine and she LOVED the parade. On the walk back to the hotel we stopped at Denny's to have a bite to eat. Sophia ate more than half of her grilled cheese sandwich, a hand full of grapes, and various bites of our breakfast dishes. She slept like a rock and didn't wake up until 6:45, even with me getting up at 6 to shower.

This morning we added Franco's parent's to the mix. Franco said he was already feeling better. We all went to breakfast and then took the bus over to the park. Franco and Sophia went on the rocket ships in Tomorrowland (I took pictures) and the grandparents went on Star Tours. Then we shopped for a few minutes, met up with Franco's brother, and went on Pirates of the Caribbean. Sophia didn't freak out, but she did NOT like it. She hid her face and covered her ears. It was pretty loud. She did like the jungle cruise, the little Winnie the Pooh ride, and the big riverboat show we saw as we ate lunch. After lunch I headed back with Sophia and Franco's dad for some quiet time at the hotel. As we walked to the gates, Sophia dropped a little tiny Minnie Mouse (on a key chain)that my mom had bought her a couple hours before. Dominic stayed with Sophia in the stroller as I quickly double-backed to the last time I saw Minnie - of course she was gone. (I don't know why I bothered.) Fast forward to my panic attack as I could not find Sophia and Dominic. When I left they were by the Arcade on Main Street, but they were NOT when I came back. They were only about 4 stores down, but that was a long minute and a half as I realized that he did not have a cell phone on him and I had no way of knowing how far he had gone. Though not a truly dangerous situation, Sophia was badly in need of a nap and I did not want to miss the next bus back to the hotel. We barely made it. Sophia fell asleep about 3 minutes after getting in bed. She was even more tired than I had thought!

Despite a few kinks, we're having a great time. I look forward to heading back this evening for more Disney fun.

Pre-Disneyland Sickness Fun

Yesterday we ran some errands and got back a little late for nap. Sophia was crabby and resistant. Then she started yelling and crying for me when I put her down in the crib - she dropped her toy cupcake out of the crib. Ten minutes later she started crying again and I figured she was just over-tired. I spent five minutes rubbing her back and she went to sleep. Less than twenty minutes later she woke up crying. I knew she owed me a diaper, so this was probably why. On my way to her room she gagged and threw up a little, and the diaper did not need to be changed. Uh-oh. Franco cleaned up the crib while I rocked Sophia in the chair. She fell back to sleep, went back in crib, and we repeated the scenario all over again in another twenty minutes. Needless to say, baby wasn't feeling well and nap was over.

Sophia spent the rest of the afternoon having her poor runny nose wiped a lot. She was sneezing (messy) and cuddly. We gave her an early bath and bed time. With the humidifier running and the mattress slightly elevated on one end, Sophia lasted about an hour without intervention. Then she woke up twice in one hour. I took her to the guest bedroom to sleep (so she would have enough room for her big body to move around). We got about 5 hours of restless sleep. Around 4am she was awake but not so restless. She was super hot, though! I stripped off her fleece footie pajamas and she was a lot better in minutes. Then I gave her a dose of Motrin (in case it was a fever), changed her diaper and put her to bed. She slept a solid three hours and woke a bit after 7.

I went back to our bed and got back to sleep pretty easily... until the burglar alarm siren went off. Yep, another false alarm! Franco turned it off pretty quickly because it gave the same message as last time. Sophia didn't budge. I went back to sleep within minutes. Poor Franco was up. Stupid alarm.

Sophia woke feeling great. She hit a slump around lunch and took an awesome 3 hour nap. I took a 2 hour nap. Franco even got an hour nap. Everyone is feeling better. Sophia still has lots of goo in her nose, but hopefully it won't spoil her fun in Disneyland.

Trick or Treat

Actually, "tri tee" is more what it sounded like. We went trick-or-treating around our subdivision with our neighbors tonight. Here we are getting ready to go:



She said "tri tee" before people ever opened the door. She tried to go into the first three houses. She was very good about saying "tank you" and "bye-bye." Several people let her have her way with their candy bowls and she would have cleaned them out of I let her. She loved putting things into her bucket - she didn't really care what. It was very frustrating to her if someone slipped something into her bucket for her.

Sophia told me she was done after we went to about twenty houses (and walked half way around our neighborhood). We even skipped some of the houses just so we could keep up with the big girls. As I carried her away from a house she just said "all done." We asked if she wanted to go to one more house and she said "no." When asked if she wanted to go home and take a bath, she said "yeah." Luckily, she agreed to stop at one more house as Franco carried her home so I could take a picture.

And that was that.

Birthday Party Fun

Saturday we had a small party to celebrate Sophia's 2nd Birthday. It was just family and a few friends, some pizza, cupcakes and presents. We had it at the house in the backyard and, for the second year in a row, lucked out on getting some truly gorgeous weather. Here are some of the highlights:

Little girls playing:



Alfie, the dog (a.k.a. the entertainment):



Birthday girl eating cake:



Mommy holding the birthday girl down to open presents:


We had a nice day and enjoyed seeing everyone. Sophia is having a great time playing with her new toys and some of the decorations from the party. She is also loving cupcake leftovers, as are we! Thank you to those who took extra... ;)

Substitute Teaching

For the first time in more than two years I took a sub job. The automated system called me in advance about a two-day job at a local elementary school (Florence Markofer) in the computer lab. Sophia stayed home with Franco and I went to work. As far as sub jobs go, this one was a piece of cake. The kids were busy and I just walked around looking over their shoulders most of the day. It wasn't even that weird to be away during the day... it felt like it did when I used to work. When I got home it felt weird, though, because I missed so much of Sophia's day.

I'll probably keep substituting occasionally on weeks when Franco is home. However, it will be at least a month before I do it again because we have a trip planned for his next week home. The trip is only a few days, but any vacation requires planning and recovery time. Disneyland here we come!

Wednesday Was Alarming!

Early Wednesday morning, around 5:00 AM, our burglar alarm went off. Franco was home and we were both sound asleep. I was so sound asleep that I barely heard the alarm. I actually woke to the sound of Franco telling me that the alarm was going off and that he wanted me to stay down. After becoming alert enough to have a thought, I wanted to run and "save" Sophia from the frightening sound and potential intruder. However, I checked the video monitor and she was still laying down with her rear in the air, asleep. I decided to leave her alone for the time being. Next I had to answer the call from the alarm monitoring company (sirens still screaming) and wait for Franco to clear the house. Scary. Once he cleared it we told the ADT people that they did not need to dispatch the police. Then we were stuck awake waiting for the adrenalin to subside. Though Sophia moved around for a few minutes (maybe a little awake?), she seemed to settle down pretty quickly.

Later in the morning, Franco reset the alarm and it went off five minutes later. It appears that there may be a short or a defective connector or something. No actual burglars, thankfully.

Another hour later he set off the alarm by opening the door to the garage. That evening we set the alarm early and I set it off going to the garage. This morning my mom set the alarm off because she isn't used to it. I won't be surprised if they send us our monthy fee back and tell us to find a new monitoring company.

Pre-Birthday Photo Shoot

This morning I dressed Sophia in her "2" shirt and drove us over to the regional park to take some pictures. I know that she isn't technically two, yet. I figured that sometimes we get good pics and sometimes we don't, so let's start a little early. The lighting was perfect because it was an overcast morning. Of course, Sophia didn't really want to sit and look at the camera. What toddler would? But, after chasing some ducks and picking up leaves, we did manage to take a few...

This picture is kinda cute, except that the background is all crooked. No, the fountain and pond are not defying gravity... I'm just that talented. :)


Now we have a beautiful blanket of leaves leading up to some distant trees. Sophia's smile is perfect. Too bad it looks like one of the trees is coming out of her head. And the cars in the distant parking lot are a little more visible than it looked like in my view finder (but still not too noticeable). Oh well, we had fun. Maybe we'll capture the perfect picture another day.

More pictures are in the gallery, if you are interested. :)

Fabulous Shelves

Here is some type lapse photography that documents our latest house project:

It only took Franco a couple of days to build these guys (with lots of interruptions) and me a few hours on our big rainy day to fill them. The cute little boxes came from IKEA. The top two shelves are only accessible with a ladder, but still make great storage. The bottom "shelf" is desk height/width, but we put our file cabinets (the black mass) under to keep them out of the way. Crazy fun stuff. We love to organize! :)

Lost and FOUND!

Remember that little pink bow? The one I thought Sophia might have eaten? Yeah, Franco found it today. It was under a rug in the kitchen. I vaguely remember her sitting on the rug while I was chopping or washing dishes... Sophia must have put it under there.

Yet another reason why I am happy that my husband is home. :)

Bigfoot Sighting

This morning I took Sophia out shoe shopping. We ended up with a cute little pink pair of Pedipeds, size 7.5-8! When I measured her left foot it was clearly size 7 (23) but when I measured her right it was nearly a half size bigger (24!). The shop owner assured me that most two-year-olds are in a seven. That's reassuring, I guess. Since we already have 3 pairs of size seven shoes we are really going to have to keep an eye on that right foot to make sure the toes aren't getting scrunched.

In other news, I randomly found pee in Sophia's potty chair this evening when she went to sit down. She sits on it several times a day with her diaper, but without her diaper only at bath time. She must have gone last night and I didn't see it! Then, after I cleaned it out tonight, she went pee again before getting into the bath. That's two nights in a row!! If this keeps up, I'll be forced to actually potty train her.

Crafty Mama

I wanted to purchase Sophia a special "2" shirt for her birthday. Today I saw one in a little children's specialty shop for about $30. Ridiculous! I can make one of those with craft supplies. So, I bought a red shirt for $3.50 and some iron-on rhinestones for $3. Then I printed a big #2 on some card stock and cut out a stencil.



Here is my #2 where I plan to put it:



It took a little figuring, but (since they aren't "stick-on") I put the sticky paper on the #2 and started sticking rhinestones:





I was going to fill it, but I ran out (198 rhinestones!):



Reconfigure:



Now I peeled the stencil off and stuck the #2 on:



Iron and there you go:



This took a little longer than I had expected (still less than 2 hours after washing the shirt), but for $6.50 I made Sophia a heck of a cute shirt. Hers is unique, too. All of the ones at the store were pink and short sleeved.

Those little guys are on there pretty good, too. A few hours later I picked at them to make sure they won't pop off too easily. Nope. They're really stuck.

Broken TV and Other Nonsense

During Sophia's nap yesterday I decided to sit down with a snack and watch a few minutes of TV. About five minutes into my mindlessness I heard a loud pop... then the screen went dark... then the sound disappeared... then I could smell burning! I jumped up and switched off the power strip (after pulling the whole stand out).

Franco said the symptoms point to a burned out bulb. He called a couple repair shops and confirmed the suspected diagnosis. Apparently he can fix it with some online directions and a special order bulb. What did we do before the Internet?

Sophia doesn't seem to mind the TVs absence (mostly because she mainly watches cartoons in our room when I'm in the shower). I missed having the news on with breakfast. We still have the TV in our bedroom, but I don't actually want to eat breakfast in bed... too messy.

Favorite Phrases

Sophia used a new phrase tonight that I think I'll be hearing more of: "Mama, What's that?" She said it when I was washing a couple sweet potatoes. I think it was her first direct question.

Other people rarely can decipher what she is saying (sometimes I have trouble, too) but she has started using a lot more phrases. The one everyone understands is "me, too!" She says it constantly throughout the day. It is her way of asking/demanding to have or do whatever she sees (whether we are doing it or not).

She is also parroting things she hears. Two weeks ago she would probably pick out one word of someone's sentence to repeat. This week she seems to pick out about three words and is making a little more sense. We're looking forward to what next week brings.

Only one more month until Sophia's second birthday! :)

(This evening she also started pointing to airplanes flying overhead and saying "ooo, airplane." It's like taking a walk with Franco now.)

I Love Kirby!

Kirby is not my new boyfriend. I've got a new vacuum and I love it. Nope, not exaggerating. Our old vacuum was your run-of-the-mill, fine-for-an-apartment vacuum. It did not have great suction and it was a pain in the rear to push. The work-expended to cleanliness-achieved ratio was so poor that it was hardly worth plugging it in. You can ask Franco, I rarely did. He was the most likely to do the floors and it was a workout for him. This new-to-us Kirby is super sucky (and I mean that in the best way) and is self-propelled. When I cleaned this morning, it was like I traded my push mower (you know, the blades without an engine) for a riding mower.

Best of all, we bought it refurbished so we got it for a steal. :)

This site helped us decide on a Kirby, if you are interested in the specs.

A Trip to Grandma's House

On Sunday, Sophia and I headed up for a four night visit to my mom's house. This is the longest I've ever taken Sophia anywhere by myself... I detest all the packing and planning that any overnight visit requires. However, Sophia is a better sleeper than she used to be and we needed to get away while Franco was (is) gone at training. So I packed up the car, the kiddo, and the cat and drove a couple hours up the hill. Not really a bad drive, except for when Sophia dropped Baa on to the seat and she had to wait (cry/complain) until we got off the freeway for me to pull over and retrieve her.

First thing Monday morning Bella got to take a special trip up to my mom's favorite vet while we were visiting. She got her nails removed. I hated the idea of doing this, but it was that or get rid of her. I've been capping her nails for many moons and, instead of "getting used to them," Bella seemed to be getting more efficient at getting them off. I'm happy to say that she is recovering from the surgery very quickly and is running around the house as fast as she did before we left (not even on pain meds!). She is eating and drinking lots. I also discovered her "pawing" at the wall today -- it was nice to not have to scold her.

Sophia and I hung around with my mom on Monday and most of Tuesday (she took some time off from work). My grandparents came by for dinner Tuesday night, but Sophia wouldn't pose for a picture with anyone. This is as close as I got.



On Wednesday I took Sophia out and about to the park, then the library and then WalMart where we also caught some lunch. Like a rookie, I forgot to charge the camera batteries before the trip and didn't bring the charger. However, I did manage to get quite a few shots before the thing shut down completely.





The rest of the pictures are in this month's gallery. You can click on the slide show at the top of the page to get there, if you haven't already figured that out.

Overall it was a very nice trip. Sophia had fun and slept pretty well, which means I enjoyed myself, too. It was good practice for both of us for Disneyland in November. :)

Missing Bow and Garage Kitty

Two unrelated topics, one title. ;)

First off, we have a missing hair bow. I can pinpoint the hour it went missing yesterday. After nap I found it on the floor and put it back in Sophia's hair. As I put her in the high-chair to color a picture (30 minutes later?), I saw that it was missing. Not a big deal at first because I figured it was somewhere in the Pack n' Play with all of the stuffed toys. However, I checked there, and under the furniture, and in the couch cushions, and on/under/around the changing table... so on and so on. I just kept looking and looking because I know she couldn't have swallowed it. Did she swallow it? Oh my god, she might have swallowed it! When asked, she says "yeah" but I don't know how much I can count on her confirmation. All I know is that I can't find it. Since it is made with a metal clip I called the doctor. The nurse practitioner that finally called me back after I called a second time said to watch and wait since she doesn't seem to be having symptoms and I don't know for sure that she swallowed it. So I guess we wait.

In kitty news, Bella is sleeping outside in the garage tonight. I left her box, some food and water, and her travel crate (open). She has woken me up the past few nights around four in the morning when Sophia makes the slightest peep. The problem is that her nail caps have not been staying on and she is scratching to get my attention. I think the glue is bad. I'm not opening a new tube because that would require that I open a new package. I'm not opening a new package because Bella is getting her claws removed at the vet this next Monday. It's a last resort -- she chews the caps off daily (I change 3-5 every other day) and she is still freaked out when she goes outside. So, for the next few nights she will sleep in the garage (hope she doesn't scratch anything up or she'll sleep in her crate in the garage) and then we will go get this problem solved permanently. Poor kitty. She was much easier to discipline when she was an only child.

100 Posts!

As I got on to write this evening I noticed that this is my 100th post, which is probably more exciting to me than anyone reading this... ;)

Today I managed to pull a quick-one on Sophia. When she got up from nap she found a little block "castle" on the floor of the living room. She was very interested in it and began to pull it apart and move things around. Then she put Baa down... then I snuck Baa under my skirt... then I snuck backwards down the hall... then Baa got a bath in the washing machine! Yippee!! Baa has been filthy for days and she has been taking it everywhere, so I haven't been able to pull my "clean while we are shopping" maneuver. After Sophia played with blocks for about 20 minutes, she was ready for a snack. I pulled the high chair over to the TV and cleaned the kitchen floor while she ate. Baa was done drying and back on the table when she was playing again -- never the wiser.

Birthday Party Fun

Yesterday we took Sophia to a birthday party for our friends' little girl, Cloudia. The day began with Sophia sleeping in until nearly 8 o'clock, which is very unusual (I think she woke up for a bit during the night). Then, when we got to the party, it began to sprinkle. Luckily I was expecting nice weather with excessive sun at the park and put Sophia in a long sleeve shirt and pants. However, Sophia proceeded to get her pants wet and filthy. I think the bounce house was wet and she was sopping up all the water with her pants. She had to change into an alternate outfit (wearing the long sleeved shirt over the top).

Sophia loved the bounce house. She climbed in and out of that thing about 50 times chasing all the big kids. We were amazed at how good she was at bouncing and how long she lasted. The bounce house was what eventually sent us home because big boys started getting too rough and she (and others) got knocked around too much... it was time to go. She melted down before presents were opened. She slept about 40 minutes on the drive but did not manage to continue her nap when we got home (though she did rest). Bedtime came about an hour early last night (8 PM) and she still slept until 7:30 this morning. THAT was a good stretch.

I have absolutely no pictures because we forgot the camera. Ah well, next time.

The Reason We Have a Lock

I'm way late on reporting this one. On Monday Franco was coming home from the airport and we (Sophia and I) were getting ready to hop in the car to go to Modesto. We were doing great on time! I was showered, had Sophia dressed and ready, and was beginning to pack all the essentials for a day trip with a toddler. Sophia was in watching a cartoon when I ran into her bedroom for diapers and a back-up outfit when I heard her get into the pantry. I always groan to myself for not locking the darn thing when I walked out, but figured that there really wasn't anything on her shelf that could do too much damage. Then I heard a loud crack. I still wasn't terribly worried because she often drops things onto the tile without consequence. Then I heard "Mama, Help!" and I walked in to find Sophia standing next to a busted jar of baby pears. She has dropped these things in the past and they just bounced. Not this time... it was a glass and pears mess. Sophia went straight to the Pack N' Play and I proceeded (with caution) to pick up all the little pieces and thoroughly mop the floor. Good thing we were doing so well on time!

First Potty Success!

Let me first say that we are not really potty training Sophia yet. We are just now getting her used to the idea of sitting on the seat. A couple times a day I will use the hall bathroom so that she can sit on her seat (with her diaper on) while I sit on mine. She seems to get a kick out of it. I have offered it to her at bath time a few times and she has agreed to sit on it once before. Tonight, however, she starting whining about "poo!" after I took her diaper off to go to the bath. "Poo" seems to be short for any potty function. I offered her to sit on her potty while I sat on the toilet lid. She actually went pee!! I was shocked. I took a picture (the camera was right there). So here is the picture that I will show her future boyfriends:

"I can't believe you are actually taking a picture of this, Mommy."

It will probably not happen again for a while, but it is still exciting stuff around here.