Thank Goodness for Cousins

If it weren't for cousin Katherine showing Sophia this face at Christmas and doing it in about half of her mom's blog entries, who knows how long it would have taken Sophia to figure it out!!

Teacher:

Student:

If only we could apply this technique to potty training we'd be set!!

(And yes, that is Daddy's work tie she's wearing with her PJ's!)

2nd Birthday Party

For Sophia's 2nd birthday, we decided to just have a small casual party at our house since I'm still so tired. We had a turn out of about 8 kids and 10 adults, so I'm glad we didn't have more elaborate plans. We opened presents with Nana and Pops in the morning, and Sophia loved her new baby doll, cradle and changing table. Her new train set was also a favorite, but we don't have any pictures yet. (Nana did most of the picture taking during the party so more pictures may follow soon)



By the look on her face, I'm not sure Sophia liked the hat Nana made her!

I fell in love with this cupcake stand, so we decided to have a Tinkerbell themed party.

Here's the kids table with fruit, goldfish crackers and juice boxes.

We spent all week preparing Sophia for the birthday song and blowing out her candles. Unfortunatley, the little stinker who lives across the street blew out her candles first, but Sophia didn't seem to mind and did great blowing them out a second time.

Sophia had so much fun that she kept reliving the magic moment again and again the rest of the night!

Elmo's Potty Time

With Sophia's 2nd birthday quickly approaching and a new baby on the way, we've been encouraging Sophia to use the "big girl potty" more and more. As part of this effort, I bought her a DVD called Elmo's Potty Time.
The video was an instant hit and the next day she asked to watch it first thing in the morning. After it was over, she wanted to use the potty, and although it wasn't a successful trip to the potty, we were encouraged by her interest. An hour or so later, Sophia became really quiet which is a red flag for all parents. After a short search of the house, this is what we found:

Sophia had put her Elmo doll on the potty and was reading to him just like we do with her! While I'm glad she's showing so much interest in the potty, I was hoping she would apply the lessons from the video a little differently! At least she used the Elmo doll that is washable!

A Special Project

Last week, my dad was hospitalized for 2 days to have an internal radiation procedure done for prostate cancer. Because of the radiation, I didn't think it'd be a good idea for me to visit him in the hospital, so Sophia and I decided to make a special art project for him to take to the hospital. Sophia and I had a great time working together and the finished product turned out really cute.


The procedure went great without any complications or side effects, but he still has to go through 6 weeks of external radation and 6 months of hormone therapy. We're praying that Grandpa has a complete remission of his cancer.

A Big Announcement!

We are thrilled to introduce our newest family member "Junior":

That's right: Sophia is going to be a big sister!!! Junior is due July 30th and we are just ecstatic! We should find out by early March whether Junior is a boy or girl, but we really can't decide which we'd prefer more.

Sophia loves to tell everyone about the "mamy" in Mommy's belly. She lovingly hugs my belly and even offers the baby sips of her drinks by holding her straw up to my belly button!

And it is so true that you tend to get a belly much sooner with the second kiddo. I'm 14 weeks along and am already in maternity clothes! I've also been able to feel some kicks and punches much sooner, and Will is impatiently waiting to be able to feel them too.

I'm already so excited to meet this little person. I hope July gets here quickly!!

Winter Games

It can be challenging to entertain a toddler all day long, but the task can be even more daunting during the cold dreary winter months. Here are a few winter time activities that Sophia enjoys:

1. Playing under the covers in Mommy and Daddy's bed

2. Blowing spit bubbles in the mirror

3. Making funny faces in the mirror and then trying to get Mommy and Daddy to imitate you (she's good at this one)

4. And you can always bundle up and brave the cold

It's been a great winter, but I think we're all coming down with a little spring fever already!

Snow Day

Last month we decided to spend a day at the condo before our winter leasers moved in. A good storm had just past through leaving about 1 1/2 feet of fresh snow, so we brought a sled and lots of warm clothes. Since it was Sophia's first time sledding, we decided to stick to the bunny slope (aka our driveway) but it worked great!

Sophia was so bundled up that she had a hard time getting around in all the snow, but we got a good laugh watching her!

The snow was so light and fluffy that it wouldn't stick together to make a snow man, so that'll definitely be at the top of our list for our next trip to the snow.