Sophia's 4th Birthday - A big day in the City

To say Sophia was extremely aware of her birthday this year is an understatement. She had a countdown going and, for the final 3 weeks before her actual day, kept asking if she could bring cupcakes to school TODAY. 

Birthdays were always big in my house growing up. Some of my best memories are of times I spent with my mom and dad on my birthday. I could have whatever I wanted to eat and we always had a special day planned. 

This year, Sophia was particularly enchanted by the Make Way for Ducklings Book, as well as taking the Subway. So we built the afternoon around that. 

The morning was all about school, where I got to parent help and bring in cupcakes. It was great to see her in action at school with her teachers and friends. The cupcakes were a big hit, mostly because they were chocolate, but also because the simple recipe made them very friendly for kids, even those with allergies. 

After school got out, Sophia & I hopped on the T to head downtown the Charles street. 

But the first order of business was to get some Mac n Cheese. So, lunch at Figs it was! Great food for everyone. 

It had been raining earlier in the day, but we dried off during lunch and made our way down to the Garden. First order of business was to say hi to the ducklings & Mrs. Mallard. By this point, they had "shaved" their playoff beards and were back to normal. 

Next stop was into the Garden to feed the ducks. I had baked a loaf of bread for the occasion. (It sounds really good - usually by bread doesn't rise and is pretty painful, but this one actually stuck - lucky ducks. 

 Sophia was just ecstatic to watch the ducks eat and flat all around. It was pure joy to watch.

 Apparently, smiling big smiles isn't cool for four-year olds to do anymore... Sigh. It's like Blue Steel or something...

 Final stop of the day was to get tea. It felt like a very fun and grownup thing to do. We headed to Panifico for a cup of tea and, when the women heard it was her birthday, they brought her a special cupcake with a candle.

After a long day, we made our way home for hugs and presents from Nonni.

With that, I proceeded to pass out on the couch in exhaustion. Man, was that a busy fourth birthday! I can't wait till next year.

Mother's Day

Mother's Day is always one of my favorite days. Not because of the celebration of me (though that is fun) as a mom, but rather the great time we get to have together as a family & with friends. 

We started the tradition of running the local Mother's Day 5k in town each year. We try to get as many people we know doing it. Dave will push the double stroller with Sophia & her buddy Frances: 

 and I get to run on my own. This year, I received a beautiful bouquet of flowers from my two little munchkins and a card from Sophia she made in school.

But before the adults race, the kids run a 1k race. Here are some shots:

Zac, Sophia, Frances & Ronan - the neighborhood posse

Read to Race

Crossing the finish with Dad! 

 And then, after the race, snuggle time with my kiddos. Hooray for being a mom.

The rest of the afternoon was filled with a brunch back at our place (including homemade donuts!) and then a nice massage on my own at the spa. Ahh....what a day!

Memorial Day and Hayley's Graduation

Once Memorial Day weekend hits, the Ahouse family turns into traveling vagabonds. This year was no different. We headed down to CT to see Hayley, the youngest of the siblings, graduate from Westminster High School.

This weekend was extra special as this was the first time that all the siblings and grandkids would be together with David Sr. We couldn't wait to see the Seattle contingency!

Because the Woodbury house was so full with guests, we crashed with at the Lyons' Den down the road and go to spend some quality time with them. Any chance to catch up with my girlfriends is a luxury. And Theo got some QT with his little buddy Abigail - 2 months his junior.

Sophia was most excited about the chickens & cows, until they mooed at her!

Graduation day was a giant wash out - we had our boots on under the tent to cheer on Hayley as she received her diploma. (Fun note: Westminster doesn't give you YOUR diploma on stage, but rather a random person's. Afterwards, the entire class stands in a circle and keeps passing until everyone gets their own. Tradition is entertaining, if not wholly efficient!)

After that we headed back to Woodbury for the festivities. Food, family and fun. Despite a tent, everyone gathered in the tent. Luckily, Sunday afforded much nicer weather and a chance for some well needed outdoor time for the kids.

It was a great weekend of catching up,

Dance Party

Parades

Cheering the parade

Bonding time:

Hanging with big cousin Dillon

Theo awash in grass.  

 And Togetherness:

Full Family Shot


Sleep was left for the end of the trip...

Can't wait to see everyone again! Cousins, Aunts, Uncles, Grandparents, Siblings, Significant Others & Friends - what could be better?

Sophia the Big Girl

It is funny to compare and contrast the growth and development of Sophia and Theo. With him, it feels like leaps and bounds every day/every week. Now, at over 3, her development still happens, but isn't quite as drastic on a daily basis.  It is often tough for me to remember that she is, in fact, still my little girl. I often need her to be a "big girl" to make things easier, but I treasure the moments she wants to curl up in my lap.

Give her a donut and glass of
 milk & we've got a successful
Conference Call

Lately it seems like she's realizing Theo is here to stay and that he gets the good "baby" treatment. Her demands to be picked up have increased ten-fold and her desire to be the only one in our arms "Put Theo Down!" is a common refrain can be taxing to say the least. Things she used to do in leaps and bounds - climbing in and out of her car seat, running up the stairs, etc. - seem unthinkable to even attempt, which makes everyone equally exasperated, (especially when one of us is exceptionally exhausted or running on fumes.)

Really, I'm not part Wildabeast!

After a recent highly frustrating night Dave (who is so good at taking a step back. Not always one of my best characteristics) reminded me that This Is Fun.

"Fun?" I replied, "How is this Fun? She's cranky, I'm cranky which, in turn makes you cranky. I'm not able to give Theo any attention that I feel like he deserves. But you think this is Fun?"

Everyone is having FUN!

"Yes," he responded, "It's fun, because she's little. She needs us. She needs us more than we give her credit for. And soon enough, she's not going to need us. She's not going to climb on our laps or beg for the same Mickey book again. It's not going to be forever - not the whiny needy part or the sweet, snuggly part. So take it and have Fun with it."

See - this is fun! 

So, after a few snarky "This if FUN" comments by me amidst some tense moments, I started to realize if I said it, I could start to believe it. And things did start to become more fun. Now, I'm not kidding anyone if I said it was always fun. I still get cranky when she dawdles when we're trying to get out the door (an especially big pain point) but we're getting there.

Every night that I put her to sleep, we have a song routine. We start with "Twinkle Twinkle" and then I sing her "Good Night Baby" which is a made-up song based on one of her playgroup songs "Hello Baby (or Goodbye Baby) depending on the need" with made up lyrics that rhyme. I've sung this to her many hundreds of times.

Last week, as I started to sing the first line, "Good Night Baby..." and out of nowhere, she interrupted me and said, "No, Mama. Sing 'Good Night BIG GIRL'". I almost burst into tears, but I did it. It was hard switching the lyrics on the fly, so when I messed up, she sung over me "Good night Big Girl." So now it's good night to my big girl Sophia - who really, is still so little.

Happy New Year

It's been awhile since I've blogged - since last year!
It was amazing to have a full two weeks off with the kids. I'll admit, I was nervous about being a full-time SAHM for that time. There are definitely days when work is a sanctuary. But we all survived and filled our time up with good playdates and visits with friends.

Unfortunately, we did get hit with the norovirus (aka the puking bug). While Sophia is the only one who had it, we all got to take part in it. I don't actually wish it on my worst enemy.

Luckily it was fairly quick moving and she recovered in time for our annual New Year's Day pilgrimage to see the flag raising on Prospect Hill. Here are the munchkins bundled up for the event!

Real life resumed the next day with work and school in full swing. Little did we know that more germs were to follow....

Update on the Kids - part 2 - Theo

Somehow, my little man has been around for 10 months now. It's pretty amazing how much he has grown and how much his personality is starting to develop.
Some highlights:

• After months of backing into things, he has learned his own "creative" method of crawling forward. He is now fully mobile and getting into everything, including Sophia's toys. Should be a really interesting next 6 months. 
• He has 1.5 teeth (going on 4!) the bottom left tooth came through earlier this month, with the right one about to break any day now (poor guy). He is handling it like a trooper though. 
• Food - there isn't anything he won't eat. While he's not great at actually feeding himself (he'll pick things up but generally just flings it) he has yet to refuse anything we've offered - from his packets of food through stuff off our plate. Avocado is one his favorites as well as Grandma's applesauce, yogurt, turkey, cheese, sweet potato, scrambled eggs, tzatki sauce and bread. 
• Sounds - he makes lots of Dadada & mamamama and lights up when we come into the room. He also has quite a lot to "say" when he's in the mood. So very cute. 
• Personality - he is coming into such a little personality. He makes eye contact very well and will smile at new people, then duck his head shyly when they start to talk to him. But he just bats those big blue eyes...He also is fully into playing - with his toys or Sophia's. He can sit and play by himself for quite some time. But he makes it known that he's unhappy if we leave him for a few moments to go to another room. At least now, with his mobility, he's able to follow along. 
• He's pulling up on tables & chairs, though not able to get to standing just yet. 
• Anything Sophia does is entertaining - the crazier, the better. He'll just laugh his butt off at her shenanigans...I'm in for it! 

Theo is by far the happiest, snuggliest little guy. He's easy going and still a great sleeper & eater. We're so lucky to get to see his smiling face every day!

Pajama Party

Sophia was invited to her first pajama party this weekend - by our downstairs neighbor Eleanor. At 5:00p, we headed down, Sophia in PJs, to meet up with Eleanor and Zac, from across the street.
Story time, popcorn and some mac 'n' cheese after a dance party were everything she needed to make the night complete!

The kids played, the adults got to talk - and we have some great photos to boot!

Storytime (Sophia was more interested in popcorn)

Dinner

The Three Amigos

What are you up to these days?

An update on Sophia at 2years (I have fully decided while my best attempts to keep a written baby book are sincere, it's much easier to type it all in and add pictures for effect.)

Sophia seems to have two speeds - running and dawdling. Rarely is there an in between. As long as there is someone or something to chase, she'll run. Otherwise, she much prefers being carried and lets you know with an insistent "Up Momma. Pick Up." She also likes wearing mom & dad's old sports clothing, just to have fun!

(Web- this shot's for you!)

She is fully attempting to test her limits, preferring to eat her dinner on the stool at the counter with me on my stool (which she proudly pushes over). We're edging her back into her booster chair, but some nights, well, the fights just aren't worth it! And it's a nice change of scenery.

Her vocabulary has totally exploded. I've lost count of all the words - she basically repeats most everything you say and she has a great recall for animals (Dogs are actually dogs now and not just woofs!) as well as numbers. We do lots of counting with her, especially going up the stairs at Whole Foods, so she can actually count to twenty. She really takes delight in the word twenty, too - she says it with flair! She also is getting pretty good with names of our neighbors and friends - the roll call list is growing!

Dogs and monkeys are still her favorite animals, though kitty-cats are fun and Mice (all of them except Mickey and Minnie) are "Eww" (thanks to Lidiana, our nanny, who desperately hates mice!) :)

She loves little babies - her baby doll is a huge favorite and comes everywhere with us. She does not like, however, when I am holding a baby. She gets insanely jealous and immediately demands a pick up. Clearly, we're working on this one (ahem, T-3 months...)

We're working on the potty - no action yet, but she does enjoy it.

She clearly is taking after her dad though with the reading room concept:

She's growing tall (over 3 feet now!) and is a very healthy weight. Most of all, she is happy - full of laughter, loves to be tickled, to give hugs and kisses to all. We are so lucky...can't wait to see what the next year has in store!

Fall is in the Air

I haven't blogged in a bit because we have been embracing Fall and all it's weather full force.

Our days have been filled with lots of outdoor time - riding along in the stroller for a run to the park, going to the Farmer's Markets for fresh veggies or riding in the Burley trailer around town.

I'm definitely loving the trailer, and it seems like Sophia is too. It makes life much easier than trying to drive and find parking everywhere around town. And, we can stowe a bunch of stuff in there.Somerville just put in great new bike lanes down Somerville Ave, a huge plus on the safety front.

We've had a few cruddy weather days, but luckily we're members of the Children's Museum
so we can sneak in there for an hour of crawling time in the toddler room. It's great, because there is a specific area sectioned off for crawlers - full of pads, mirrors and this cool waterbed thing. (And no, the waterbed didn't burst, her hair looks like that as a result of the rainstorm we got caught in while walking to the museum!)

In terms of indoor time, we broke down and got a Zany Zoo - Sophia was totally digging her friend Charlie's ZZ,and it's perfect for pulling up/standing at and lots of fun open and closing options. Here she is in action:


Thanks to our friend Lee & her son Andrew, we acquired a tunnel. Sophia really enjoyed it!













Finally - a quick video clip from this morning - Sophia is exploring all over the condo and getting quite adept at the "Tony Pena" crawl - right leg out straightish for pushing off while the other leg is bent.

10 Months - how big? Sooo big!

Today is Sophia's 10 month birthday. I honestly can't believe it's September already. She has changed so much over the summer. To look back at the photos when we first got to Newport on Memorial Day and to look at today - what a difference!!

No doctor's appointment this month, but she is definitely gaining weight. With all the tasty "solids" she eats, how can she not? Besides loving most every fruit, we recently started cheese, homemade turkey meatballs, scrambled egg yolk with pasta and olive oil, mashed potatoes, broccoli & cheese balls, pieces of turkey from my sandwich - well, anything from what I'm eating she will generally try - as evidence, her first bite of lobster from my lobster roll yesterday! She loved it.

On the locomotion front, she is figuring out forward crawling, but would much rather work on her standing. She gets all over the floor, wherever she needs to go, but it is in a crawl, sit, scoot & full layout combination that is adorable. Here is a quick video of her working on standing:



She is up to 5 teeth now - her latest came in this weekend - upper right incisor. It always takes me a bit to realize that she is teething. But I'm catching on. She's been a good sport about them. She actually chewed one of her puffs with her two front teeth the other day - it was so cool to watch! We also started brushing her teeth and gums. No cavities here!

Finally, her newest trick is clapping. She does this when she gets really excited or is proud of herself for accomplishing something new. My favorite clapping incident happened today in the car - I guess I took a corner at a decent rate of speed and from the back seat I hear her squealing with delight and clapping! When I looked back in the mirror, she had a big smile.

I guess my daughter has the need for speed. Hmm, wonder where she gets that from???