Our Little Day Spa

Franco and I are ready to start our own salon. Last night we put Soft Paws on Bella. For those who don't know, Soft Paws are little silicone caps you glue on your kitty's front claws so they can't claw the furniture (or, in our case, the door jams). This is a last ditch effort before we pitch sweet little Bella out into the rain. Below is a picture of her manicure, or is it a pedicure?

Though they come in an array of colors, including clear, I bought the pink caps so we could easily see if they stay on her feet. After applying ten of them last night we had to reapply two -- we found one and the other is still floating around the house.

Then Sophia woke up from nap with a really awesome hair-do this morning. She can start a new trend.

"Do you like Flock of Seagulls?"

She hasn't been feeling terrific today. She has watery eyes and a very runny nose. Nap ended up being about two hours early, but it was long enough to last her though bedtime. The humidifier is running in her room and we're hoping that we are done with the worst of whatever is bugging her.

Disturbing Storytime

Today I decided to try and take Sophia for her first story time at the library. We met up with Tara and the twins. I was hoping Sophia would be excited to sit by them on the rug. It was a miracle that I got a picture of her looking at the book...

... because she mostly crawled around and played.

Sophia ended up finding some orange cones near where we were sitting and proceeded to hand them to Tara and I over and over. Nope, my one-year-old is not ready for sit-down meetings at the library. It was worth a shot. We will continue to borrow books, but will hold off on attending/disturbing story time for a while.

Since it was such a nice day out today, we went to the park after nap. It wasn't a long visit, but it was a lot more successful than our library trip.

Experimental Baked Goods

Yesterday I decided that it was time to cook. I made all kinds of Sophia-friendly items including muffins. Last time I made spinach mini-muffins (because I had extra spinach puree) without milk or egg whites and they turned out pretty good... I know they don't sound good, but they really didn't taste bad and Sophia actually liked them. This time I decided to make plain old blueberry muffins (because I didn't want the blueberries in the fridge to go bad) but decided to use some whole wheat flour in the mix. At the last minute I decided to go ahead and add some spinach (anything to get green veggies into Sophia). What I came up with was a truly ugly muffin. I think I experimented with one too many variables. They don't seem as sweet as the plain spinach muffins and I'm not sure if that is due to the wheat flour or the blueberries. Whatever the case, Sophia enjoyed a half of one with our dairy-free margarine at breakfast.

Today she and I went to the Pee Wee Gym for about 45 minutes. It was pretty busy, but there were some big kids that were especially nice today. No one was noticeably sick. :)

Here is a video of Sophia and a very sweet 4 1/2 year old girl named Isabel:



I can't even get Sophia to sit on the blanket to be pulled around, but Isabel got her to do it (for about 3 seconds).

Here is Sophia having a great time crawling around:



When we left I scrubbed her hands with two anti-bacterial wipes and then changed her clothes before I put her down in her crib for nap. She had a great time cleaning that floor!

Oops, I Did It Again

ADT called today to make sure we weren't being vandalized. Nope, it was just me forgetting to turn off the alarm system before going to get something in the garage. I've done this at least five times since we got the alarm (and we've only been in the house a month). What I don't understand is why they never called when I did this at the old house - never in the three years. The alarm didn't even go off for ten seconds this time! Did I mention that Sophia was napping? Yep, she was fast asleep, so I was extra motivated to get that bugger off. Strangely, she didn't even stir. I guess I was lucky that she was in the deep sleep portion of her cycle. So, anyway, ADT called and took down my name for the ding-a-ling list. I wonder how many times I have to set that thing off for them to call and give me a lecture...

Chinese Water Torture

Getting her hair washed is torture to Sophia these days. We only wash her hair twice a week to minimize her stress (and because her hair really doesn't get that dirty). She doesn't mind when I wet the back, but wetting the sides and the top of her head really sets her off. I pat her eyes and ears with a washcloth to keep her from becoming too frantic, but it only helps a little. She won't get in the tub if the shower massager is down so we have to use a cup. Let's hope this phase passes soon.

While on the subject of cleaning, yesterday we took Sophia to the Pee Wee Gym again. It was cold and we didn't want to go to the park. Lots of other parents had the idea as well, so it was pretty busy. I hope they clean the equipment on a semi-regular basis because one mom brought her little hacking, coughing, runny-nosed toddler to play. What nerve! I know that he's probably been couped up, but what gives her the right to bring him to a place with a bunch of other kiddos to spread the germs?! Grrr. Every time Sophia went near him or toys he was playing with I wanted to make a "not nice" comment to that mom. Instead we just tried to distract Sophia off in another direction.

Nadia's Baptism

Yesterday we all went to cousin Nadia's baptism. Though we were a little slow to get going (OK, that was me), it turned out to be a really nice day. First we met up with Nadia's fan club for lunch in Brentwood. Sophia started out a little shy -- for like 15 minutes -- then she thought she owned the joint. She wanted to run and play with the big kids and eat whatever was on my plate. Sophia was admired for being "independent" and "head-strong" and "strong willed"... her "spirited" temperament really shined through. She was actually very good and played very nicely, but she was SO busy that it was hard to keep up with her.

Then we went to the church and while Nadia got her hair washed...

Sophia walked around between the pews and moved the books and balanced on the kneeling pad/bar thing. She paused once for me to take a picture...

After that we went back to Nadia's house for a bit of a family visit and then back into the car for the ride home. Sophia passed out, since she didn't get a good nap all afternoon.

A Total of Nine

Sophia has her first molar! I was feeling around in her mouth carefully (so as not to get chomped) and discovered three little points of a molar on the left side, bottom. This explains why she was extra whiny and wouldn't let me brush her lower teeth for a couple days. I've figured that she was working on some teeth for a while, but I didn't know exactly what would come in first. This likely means that there is at least one more coming soon, if not three more. I noticed her chewing on her fingers on both sides this evening.

The pointy spot that I felt near her eye teeth went away, so I'm not sure what happened there. Can they start to come in and then go away?

My New Workout Plan

Sometimes I worry that I'm not getting enough exercise... this is not one of those times.

Yesterday I decided to clean the kitchen floor. No big deal. I began by vacuuming the crumbs. Sophia used to be afraid of the vacuum, but not any more. She found this process to be hilarious and kept standing in front of the vacuum so it would chase her. (Weird kid!) I ended up scoping her up to finish the job. Still not impressed? Try carrying around a twenty-five pound weight while you are trying to vacuum in a hurry. I was a little out of breath.

To thank Sophia for sitting in the pack-n-play while I finished cleaning, I took her for a walk around the neighborhood -- our second time that day. We like to look for cats and dogs. Only, she was apparently tired and wanted to be carried for the last half of the trip. Mommy's back was starting to hurt a little.

Today we went grocery shopping. This is definitely not supposed to be an Olympic sport, right? Well, I managed to find a lame basket. Usually I can identify a bad basket in a short test run as I walk it to the car to load Sophia. It didn't seem bad. However, half way through the store (as the cart started gaining in weight) it took my whole body to turn this thing. It wanted to steer to the right, like in a freaking circle! I was sweating by the time we got out of the store and had a hard time getting it to our car. As soon as everything was out, it steered fine to the cart return area.

I guess I don't have to look into gym memberships as long as I keep this up. :)

Pajamas of Fire

I've been meaning to tell of Sophia's "issue" with footie pajama's. She doesn't like them. A lot. She screams and cries as if she is in pain, before they are actually put on. I've never caught her with the zipper. They all are generously sized, so it isn't that they are tight. I've let her wear nothing but a diaper underneath to make sure that it wasn't that she is getting too hot. Nope. Nothing makes these things OK. The dislike has also grown to include a cute pair of thermals she got for Christmas that don't have feet but are all one piece. I give up... they are all retired. Cousin Nadia will have some really cute, barely worn, pajamas when she reaches the 18 month size.

Tonight as we got ready for bed I realized that Sophia is down to three pairs of usable pajamas. They are cute, but getting pretty worn from all the washing. I've resisted buying more because I kept thinking this phase would pass. They are basic long sleeved pjs -- hopefully WalMart will have more next time I'm there (long sleeves might be out of season now). I put socks and an extra pair of non-matching sweat pants over them to make sure she stays warm. *GASP* I know, non-matching. At least she doesn't scream bloody murder when I put them on, so I'm thinking they stay.