Weekend Visitor

Sophia really liked visiting with her Uncle Dan this weekend. It probably doesn't hurt his cause that he looks a bit like Daddy.

First he came to our house, where they read books.


Then we met up again at the grandparents' house to force feed him green beans and play with plastic Easter eggs.

It was good to see you, Uncle Dan.

Sophia also got to visit with Bert, Lisa, Nadia, Grandma and Nonno. I was ready to post a bunch of pictures of them, but Blogger isn't being cooperative tonight and I'm tired. :) Maybe tomorrow.

Oops

Last week I split my khaki capris right up the back. It was probably a combination of reasons but mostly my washing them all the time and my rear increasing size (or becoming firmer from riding my bike). The big problem is that I don't know exactly when they blew. I was sitting at the kitchen table when I discovered it, but I'm not entirely sure if that is when it happened. I remember feeling a weird pull when I put them on... hopefully it was that day. Unfortunately the last time I wore them was when I went on a walk to the store a few days prior. I'd like to think that someone would have had the decency to say, "Hey lady, your ass is hanging out." Maybe.

Later that same day I decided that I needed to do some extra cleaning. And by extra cleaning, I mean I made an extra special mess. As I finished loading the dishwasher I started to put the cleanser into the machine, saw I missed a dish, sat the detergent down, put the missing dish in, then picked up the detergent and gave it one last shake. This is the fun part: I forgot that I had already opened the bottle to pour it. Detergent everywhere. And, just so you know, without the scalding hot water you need a chisel to get this stuff off of cabinets, counters and floors. Bravo.

Diaper Rash

Sophia is currently experiencing some truly heinous diaper rash. I think it is all due to the consumption of too much fiber in one meal on Saturday, but her poor little bowels are irritated to the point of having diarrhea about 5 times yesterday and at least 3 times this morning (beginning at 5AM). Her little bum is all raw. She is acting pretty normal otherwise (except when it comes time to get her diaper changed).

Here she is getting some "air time" in the Pack n' Play. I prefer to keep her contained when she is without her diaper.


Talked to the doctor a few minutes ago. I'm already doing the BRAT diet. Wash her bum in the tub instead of rubbing with a washcloth or wipe (not sure she will go along with that, but we'll try). Frequent changes (we had to go buy more diapers this morning to keep up!). Keep using the special ointment. Watch for a fever. More air time. Bring her in if it doesn't improve.

Yep, we'll be doing all of that.

Cousin Visit

Yesterday Franco's parents, brother-in-law and a couple of his cousins came with their families for a visit. It's actually one of the larger gatherings we've had since being in this house. It gave us the rare opportunity to get all of the kids together for a picture.

Baby Nadia (in front) is Sophia's first cousin. The five bigger kids are Franco's cousin's children... Sophia's second cousins (according to Wikipedia). Of course Sophia was the only one who wouldn't cooperate. It was way past nap time.




Despite what it may look like in these pictures, Sophia had a great time running and playing with the bigger kids. They were all so good with her (and Nadia, too).

After lunch everyone headed to the park for some sprayground time... except for Sophia and me. I took Sophia to her room for a much needed nap. Once I got her to relax, she passed out cold. All of the excitement wore her out!

Random Pet Hair Tip

Have you ever been through the produce section of SaveMart? Our local store has a giant flat-screen television (hanging over the bananas) that runs commercials and short informational segments. I learned how to pick out really good cantaloupe from one of the little shows. And the other day I got an odd tip from Rachel Ray. She said to use your rubber gloves (the big yellow ones often used for washing dishes) to clean pet hair off fabric. You just put the gloves on and rub your rubberized hands across the material. I tried it on the seats of my kitchen chairs (where Bella likes to hide) and it worked really well. If you have a pet, you should try it and report back on your findings.

Wedding Road Trip

Our journey began on Thursday morning. Sophia woke up with a fever and congestion. This was not in the plan. At first I decided to stay home with her and Franco would have to drive up to the wedding alone. Then, after a good dose of Motrin, Sophia was acting better and we decided to stick to the original plan of driving for about 8 hours to Oregon. If it didn't go well, we would stop somewhere along the way and finish the drive on Friday. Lucky for us, Sophia was a trooper and did great. She probably got more rest being strapped in her car seat than she would have running around at home.

When we left our home it was about 9:30AM. We were all dressed for warm weather. However, as we got to the more northern parts of California it began to rain. Hard. I would have guessed it to be December in the valley with the sheets of rain (and a brief hail storm). The heavy rain only lasted about an hour, but the gloom and sprinkles lasted all the way to Bend. Rain is always fun when you are in flip-flops. We arrived at our hotel around 6PM.

Sophia slept between us in the king sized bed, but at least she slept pretty well. Friday morning we woke up and I began to feel yucky. I got to share her cold. Yay. Having planned for this, I pulled out the great big thing of Tylenol I stuffed in the suitcase and took it easy most of the day. Franco had to pick up his suit, we got some lunch, and then hung out at a park near our hotel for a bit.

That evening we went to the rehearsal dinner. It was really nice and Sophia got to run around and play, which allowed me to sit and relax while I watched her. The gang did their wedding walk-thru, we all ate, then Franco and I headed back to the hotel. Sophia and Franco slept fairly well. I did not because breathing through my nose had become impossible and I kept waking up.






Saturday morning came and I felt like complete yuck. Sophia was entertained by some Dora the Explorer that Franco saved to his laptop for the trip. At lunch I sent Franco on a mission to find me some soup. He found a great place called Soba. The noodle soup he brought back was awesome. It had tons of white meat chicken, pad Thai noodles, green onions, bean sprouts and a nice broth. Sophia probably ate half of the chicken, but would not touch the noodles. We'll be actively searching for a Soba equivalent in our neck of the woods now.

Feeling a bit better, Sophia and I took a nap while Franco got suited up and headed to the wedding site for pictures. We went a couple hours later. It was a beautiful wedding.






As Kevin began reciting his vows, a huge hawk began to circle over the lake. Then it dove down to the water, made a big splash and then flew away. I can only assume it got a fish, but I could not see -- I was too busy trying to capture it digitally.


The rest of the reception included the usual food and fun. I had the added bonus of blowing my nose every two minutes. Hopefully the wedding photographer didn't catch that. He did get a kick out of taking pictures of Sophia. She actually turned to him and said "cheese" at one point. We did not have the same luck.

The happy couple were very cooperative about posing for a picture. I would have liked to get one us with them, but they were very busy and I wasn't as quick as usual.


We didn't leave the party until Sophia became a disgruntled guest. She behaved during the ceremony, stuck close when she played around our table, ate a few bites of dinner, enjoyed some wedding cupcake, but was "done" when the dancing started. That night we both slept a little better.

On Sunday morning I woke up feeling pretty human. We had breakfast downstairs (instead of up in our room) and then packed up to go. On the way out of town we stopped by Kevin and Christa's to say goodbye and drop off Franco's tux. The weather was clear and sunny on the drive home and I actually got a good look at Mount Shasta. We did not dare to stop and take a picture (making good time was way more important), but I got a decent one as we drove.


Overall, it was a good trip. Makes us think that a trip to Disneyland will be no problem. Baa was with Sophia everywhere she went and was a filthy beast by the time we got home. I'm going to need to wrap Baa in a plastic wrap "dress" for any other big trips.

Stay tuned for a link to all of the pictures we took on this trip.

Night Terror

Much to our delight, Sophia has begun to sleep through the night. She goes to bed around 9PM and wakes up sometime between 6 and 7AM. However, last night around midnight I heard a terrifying cry on the monitor. It was like she was being hurt. I ran and scooped her up before I was even awake enough to think. She calmed down immediately, but my heart was going a mile a minute. We sat in the rocking chair long enough for me to calm down, but she seemed to go back to sleep immediately. I don't think she was awake. Sophia did protest for a minute or two when I put her down, but it was nothing like the blood-curdling cry from before.

Has anyone else experienced this with their toddler? It happened with Sophia one other time about a month ago and I'm curious if it is common.

Baa

This little lamb is affectionately referred to as "Baa" by Sophia. It has recently become a favorite. A few days ago she randomly dug around in her basket of stuffed animals and pulled it out. Now she carries it around everywhere. I have a hard time persuading her to put it down to eat. Last night, after going on a bike ride to the park, Baa was all dirty. She "disappeared" into the laundry and reappeared this morning clean. Luckily Sophia still had Pooh Bear to sleep with last night. Luckier still is that Baa is pretty washable - I get the feeling she will be taking lots of baths.

The Fancy Sock Hunt

Considering the size of Sophia's foot, I thought it was ridiculous that a local kiddie boutique charge six dollars for a single pair of frilly socks. This is where the hunt began. We are going to a wedding next week and I don't want to put Sophia in tights. Despite the fact that she is not in the wedding, I'm still particular about her socks. They need to be thin to go with her dress shoes and look nice with her dress.

The baby section of Target had no dress socks. Nordstrums is not the place to look for a good deal, because I found another six dollar pair of socks with big ruffles (they were much too puffy). This was after I checked Children's Place, Gymboree, Baby Gap and Janie and Jack and could not find what I was looking for. WalMart had ugly dress socks.

So where did I finally find the darn socks? The little girls section of good ol' Target. Two pair for four dollars. If only I thought to check in that section a month ago, I would have saved myself a lot of searching. At least I know for next time.