"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.